MEN OF PROGRESS:
EMBRACING
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
OF
REPRESENTATIVE MICHIGAN MEN
WITH
AN OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE STATE

DEDICATED TO
THE NEWSPAPER PRESS OF MICHIGAN

DETROIT, MICH.:
PUBLISHED BY THE EVENING NEWS ASSOCIATION
1900

Bentley Historical
Library
University of Michigan


COPYRIGHT, 1900,
BY THE
EVENING NEWS ASSOCIATION.

Press of JOHN F. EBY & Co.. 65-69
Congress St. W., Detroit, Mich.
M
PUBLISHER'S PREFACE.
EN OF PROGRESS is a legitimate fruit of the law of evolution. Modern
journalism takes note of events in the history of persons as well as of
peoples. When any noteworthy event in the life of a person of prominence
in the social or business world occurs, the newspaper press regards it as
within the line of its duty to publish a brief sketch of the person, in many
cases giving, also, an etching or miniature likeness. When a person pays.
the last debt of nature, these publications are a source of information to the
public, as well as of a satisfaction to friends, and may, in many cases, be
valuable as matter of record in cases involving the rights of living persons.
The difficulty of procuring information of the character indicated, just at
the time when it is wanted, suggested to those connected with publications of
The Evening News Association the desirability of the preparation, arrange-
ment and publication of sketches in the form embodied in this work. Pri-
marily, therefore, the work is designed for the convenience of the newspaper
press of the State, and hence is, as first stated, a legitimate fruit of the law
of evolution.
Only a limited number of copies of the work are published. Aside from
copies supplied to those directly represented in the work, copies will be
placed in the leading libraries and leading newspaper offices of the State,
and here its circulation will end.
THE EVENING NEWS ASSOCIATION.

INDEX TO HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
THE CIVIL COMMONWEALTH.
POSITION AND EARLY HISTORY.
— -
Geography and Topography-First European Visitations-A French Dependency-Early Explora-
tions Roman Catholic Missions - First Permanent Settlement Territorial Sovereignty-
Part of the State of Virginia-Claims of Massachusetts and Connecticut-General George
Rogers Clarke-The Western Reserve-Civil Jurisdiction of the United States.......
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT.
The Ordinance of 1787--The Governor and Judges-A Landed Qualification-A Legislative Coun-
cil Provided for The Territory to Be Formed Into States-First Seat of Government-The
Five States of the Northwest-Michigan as a Separate Territory-Large Grants of Land to
Revolutionary Heroes-Comparative Influence of Cities-The Landed Qualification Abrogated
ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT.
The Right to Statehood-Adoption of the Constitution and Election of State Officers-Meeting
of the Legislature-Election of United States Senators-The Disputed Boundary-Objections
to the Admission of the State-Judge Campbell's View of the Case, and Other Authorities-
Terms Proposed by Congress-Military Demonstrations-A New Territorial Governor Ap-
pointed-The Slavery Question a Factor-Two Conventions of Assent-Final Admission of
the State Calendar of Events Leading Up to Statehood-Seat of Government and State
Capitol
1-3
3-4
5-8
CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY HISTORY.
First Constitution and Statutes Similar to Those of New York Method of Choosing State
Officers and Judges-Time of Elections-Process of Amendment-Senators and Representa-
tives, How Chosen-Salaries-Constitution of 1850-Legislative in Its Character-Variances
from the First Constitution-The More Important Amendments-Constitutional Convention
of 1867 and Constitutional Commission of 1873-The Work of Both Rejected by the People-
Subsequent Votes on the Question of Ordering a General Convention-Legislative Authority
Under the Territory-Compilations of the Statutes in 1822 and 1833-Revised Statutes of
1838 and 1846-Compilations of 1857 and 1871-The Howell Compilation-The Miller Com-
pilation-Reprint of Territorial Laws....
THE JUDICIARY.
Judges and Courts Under the Territorial Government and Under the First Constitution-Asso-
ciate Judges in the Counties-Increase in the Number of Circuits County Courts-The
Supreme Court-When Provided for and Organized-Provision for a Fifth Judge Circuit
Court Commissioners and Masters in Chancery....
8-12

12-13
THE MILITARY RECORD.
COLONIAL AND INDIAN WARS.
First Conflict on Michigan Soil-One Thousand Indians Slain-Decisive Campaigns Elsewhere-
Conspiracy of Pontiac-Battle of Bloody Bridge-Massacre at Mackinac...
THE WAR OF 1812.
14-15
Indian Discontent-Tecumseh and His Brother, "The Prophet"-The Hull Surrender-Massacre
at the River Raisin-Perry's Victory on Lake Erie Battle of the Thames and Death of
Tecumseh-British Occupancy of Detroit-A British Provisional Government-Joint Procla-
mation by General Harrison and Commodore Perry-Capture of Mackinac Island by the British 15-17

viii
INDEX TO HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
THE SHADOW OF TWO WARS.
The Toledo War-A Bloodless Campaign-The Patriot War-Canadian Refugees in Detroit-
Local Sentiment in Sympathy With Them-Efforts of State and Government Officials to
Maintain Neutrality-Invasion of Canada at Windsor-Its Disastrous Failure-Participants
Hanged and Transported-John H. Harmon-Dr. E. A. Theller...
THE WAR WITH MEXICO.
Causes Leading to the War-The Annexation of Texas-Michigan Troops in the War-General
Taylor-General Scott-Alleged Political Scheming
THE GREAT CIVIL WAR.
First Steps Taken in Michigan-First Troops Raised - Succesive Calls for Troops - Ready Re-
sponse on the Part of the State-Enlistments, Drafts and Commutations-Whole Number of
Troops Sent to the Front From Michigan-Table of Enlistments by Counties-Bounty Jump-
ers "We are Coming, Father Abraham"-Southern Refugees in Canada-C. L. Vallandig-
ham-Capture of the Philo Parsons-Bennet G. Burley-"Michigan in the War"-A Brief
Summary-Tabular Exhibit of Michigan Regiments in the War-The Artillery Service-Col.
C. O. Loomis Grand Army of the Republic...
THE WAR WITH SPAIN.
War Loan Authorized-Mobilization of the National Guard-Regiments Mustered In-Summary
of Their Service-Gen. Henry M. Duffield-Col. Cornelius Gardener-The Naval Reserves....
THE STATE MILITARY.
Early Laws on the Subject-General Trainings-Derivation of the Custom-Fell Into Disfavor-
Independent Volunteer Companies-Absence of Military Spirit-A Marked Revival Preceding
the Civil War-A Demand for Legislation Favorable to the Military-Revision of the Militia
Laws The State Troops-Re-organization After the War-Encampment-Home Service of
the State Troops-Michigan National Guard-The Naval Militia-General John E. Schwarz
and General John Robertson...
17-18
18-19
19-25
25-26
26-29
EDUCATIONAL.
EARLY AND CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES.
The Ordinance of 1787-Land Grants by Congress-Provisions of the State Constitution-First
Superintendent of Public Instruction-A Comprehensive System Outlined....
THE STATE UNIVERSITY.
Act of Congress, 1804-Judge Woodward's Pedantic Scheme-Second Act of Establishment, 1821-
Branches-Local Academies The Branches Abandoned..
THE UNIVERSITY UNDER STATE CONTROL.
Organic Act of 1837-Located at Ann Arbor-Proposed Separate Departments for Females-State
Loan for Building Purposes-First Opened in 1842-The First Professorships-Financial
Embarrassment-Elements of Hostility-First Graduating Class-Dismissal of Members of
the Faculty-Professor Ten Brook's Work......
THE UNIVERSITY UNDER THE NEW REGIME.
First Elective Board of Regents-President Tappan-A Feeling of Unfriendliness Toward Him-
Tempest Over the Term "Chancellor'-Other Carping Allegations-Fruits of Dr. Tappan's
Work-The Astronomical Observatory-The Law Department-Remission of the University
Loan-Dr. Angell's Tribute-Removal of Dr. Tappan-President E. O. Haven-Acting Presi-
dent Henry S. Frieze....
THE UNIVERSITY UNDER PRESIDENT ANGELL.
Appointment of Dr. Angell-His Diplomatic Service-Acting President Hutchins-Incidents in
the History of the University-Admission of Women-Introduction of New Schools and Ex-
tension of Courses-The Semi-Centennial and the Quarter Centennial of President Angell's
Administration-A Comparative Summary-A Metrical Prophecy-Homeopathic Medical
College Annual Revenues-List of Acts Relating to the University....
30-31

31-32
32-34
34-36
36-38
INDEX TO HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
OTHER STATE COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS.
The Agricultural College-The Normal Schools-College of Mines-Schools for Deaf Mutes and
the Blind-Educational and Reformatory Institutions..
THE PRIMARY AND HIGH SCHOOLS.
Views of the First Superintendent-Views of Governor Mason-Development of the High School
-Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor-Teaching of Foreign and Classical Languages in the Schools-
Changes in the School Laws-Comparative School Statistics-Former Superintendents.......
THE TRUST FUNDS.
Origin of the Trust Funds-First Loaned to Private and Local Interests-Absorbed Into the State
Treasury-Constitutional Provision-Tabular Exhibits-Are the Trust Funds a Debt?......
RELIGIOUS TEACHING IN STATE SCHOOLS.
Early Sentiment on the Subject-The Historical Ordinance-Condition of an Early Land Pur-
chase As Related to the Primary Schools-As Related to the University-Views of Presi-
dent Angell, Professor Frieze and President Tappan-The Select Bible Readings...
ix
39-40
41-43
43-45
45-49
MATERIAL INTERESTS.
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS BY THE STATE.
Fanciful Schemes of the Earlier Days-Prophetic of What Is Now Seen-Work Projected-The
Five Million Loan-Views of Governor Barry-Sale of the Railroads-Abandonment of the
System
49-50
BANKING AND CURRENCY.
First Effort at Banking-Chartered Banks-General Banking Law of 1837, or "Wild Cat" Banks
-Collapse of the System-Scarcity of Bank Currency-Canadian, Indiana and Illinois Notes
-General Banking Law of 1857-State Banks of Issue Superseded by National Currency-
Shinplasters and State Scrip-Savings Banks, State Banks and National Banks-Tabular
Exhibits
RAILROADS.
First Railway in New York-Western New York Immigrants and Nomenclature-First Railway
Charter in Michigan-"Success to the Railroad"-The Trunk Lines-Sale of the Roads by
the State-Wonderful Development of the Railway System-Methods in Early Construction
-Land Grants in Aid of Railways-Local Aid to Railways-Railway Statistics..
GOVERNMENT LAND GRANTS.
50-52
52-56
The University Lands-Primary School Lands-Agricultural College Lands-Salt Spring Lands-
Sault Ste. Marie Canal Lands-Swamp Lands-Railway Land Grants..
57-60
MINERAL RESOURCES.
Early Discovery of Copper-Later Explorations-Discovery of Iron Ore-Geological Survey-Dr.
Douglass Houghton-Work on the Survey by Others-Copper and Copper Mining-Statistics
of Copper Production-Ancient Mine Work-Iron and Iron Mining-Iron Ore Shipments-
Saline Interests-Gold and Silver-Other Mineral Products...
RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS.
ROMAN CATHOLIC.
St. Anne's Church and Father Del Halle-Father Gabriel Richard-Diocesian Data-Statistics of
Church in Michigan..
60-65
66-67

X
INDEX TO HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS.
Rev. David Bacon-Early Methodist Missions-Dr. Nathan Bangs-Ministration of Father Rich-
ard-First Protestant Societies-A Couple of Anecdotes...
67-69
CHURCH DOCTRINE AND POLITY.
Methodist Episcopal- -Baptist
Statistics
-
Congregational - Presbyterian - Protestant Episcopal Church
69-71
MISCELLANEOUS.
POLITICAL PARTIES.
Derivation of Party Names-Early State Politics-Governor Mason-Woodbridge and Reform-
Succeeding Democratic Rule-Governor Barry-Anti-Slavery Parties-The Van Buren Candi-
dacy of 1848-Disastrous Whig Defeat in 1852--The Know-Nothings-Ex-President Fillmore
-Bell and Everett-Formation of the Republican Party-Mergence of the Whig Organization
-The "Silver Greys"-Anti-Chandler Campaign in 1862-The Prohibitionists-The Greeley
Campaign of 1872-Ex-Governor Blair-The Liquor Traffic in the Campaign of 1874-The
Greenback and other Third Parties-Democratic-People's-Union-Silver Combination - - Politi-
cal Fusions Not a Success..
72-77
THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.
Historical Reference-Local Option Laws-Prohibition Laws-Non-license Clause of the Consti-
tution of 1850-The Taxation Law of 1875-Rate of the Tax Under Different Acts...
77-79
TABULAR EXHIBITS.
State Institutions-Population-Equalized Valuation-State Taxes-Comparative Farm Statistics
-Farm Products at Different Periods...
79-80
INDEX TO BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Page.
Page.
Ainsworth, Corydon E.
Aitken, David D....
Allen, Charles T.
269
Brown, Elbridge G.
232
214
Brown, Michael....
461
393
Buck, Homer E...
463
Allen, Ethel M....
312
Buckley, Edward.
457
Alvord, Austin W.
338
Buhl, Theo. DeL.
516
Alward, Dennis E.....
351
Burrows, Julius C..
383
Anker, Samuel.
340
Burt, Wellington R.
. 362
Aplin, Henry H.
459
Burtless, Wm. E..
319
Austin, Charles..
308
Bush, Matthew..
192
Austin, Edward..
347
Bush, Sumner O.
452
Avery, Aaron B.....
105
Bush, Willard K....
84
Baart, Peter A.....
431
Cahill, Edward..
85
Baird, Robert B..
109
Callaghan, Miles M.
445
Bacon, Augustus E.
Baldwin, Augustus C.
Baldwin, Frank D..
. 137
Campbell, Andrew.
145
110
Campbell, Henry D...
434
456
Campbell, Milo D..
125
Ball, Daniel H...
378
Canfield, Charles J.
466
Ball, William..
350
Carey, Henry W....
440
Bandholtz, Harry H...
446
Carhartt, Hamilton.
526
Barber, Julius S..
356
Carlson, Conrad....
213
Barre, Corvis M.....
196
Carroll, Thomas F....
261
Bawden, Frederic J.
303
Cartier, Antoine E...
430
Baxter, Charles E..
517
Carton, John J.....
257
Beamer, Wm. H.
519
Case, Claude W.
.. 260
Beck, George..
524
Case, Fred. H...
114
Beekman, Wm. M...
156
Caswell, Jabez B..
140
Begole, Charles M.
305
Begole, Fred. H.....
162
Chaddock, John B..
Chamberlain, Geo. L.
211
. 481
Belknap, Charles E.
286
Chamberlain, Henry.
322
Bell, George M....
355
Chamberlain, Wm....
405
Bellaire, John I..
160
Chandler, William..
407
Bement, Arthur O....
126
Chase, Charles H....
455
Bement, George W.
228
Chase, Henry E.....
122
Bennett, Albert D...
97
Christian, Thomas H....
320
Bennett, Ebenezer O..
335
Churchill, Worthy L.
367
Bible, John F.....
189
Clarage, Charles...
229
Bird, Arthur C....
149
Clark, Frederick O..
352
Birkett, Thomas.
.426
Clarke, Francis D....
200
Bishop, Roswell P.....
462
Clarke, Wm. R.....
87
Blacker, Robert R.
477
Cole, Thomas F.....
262
Blakeslee, Edwin A....
115
Colgrove, Philip T.....
295
Bliss, Aaron T...
503
Colman, Hutson B...
318
Bonine, Fred. M.....
497
Connine, Main J.....
153
Boudeman, Dallas.
443
Corliss, John B..
249

Boutell, Benj.....
527
Corns, Henry C....
523
Boynton, Charles L..
98
Coutant, Arthur S.....
255

Boynton, Nathan S.
108
Covell, George G...
244
Braastad, Frederick..
326
Coye, James A.....
280
Breitung, Edward N....
165
Cox, James N...
90
Brewer, Mark S.....
376
Cox, Joseph L......
134
Brewster, Charles E.
138
Crawford, Hugh A..
297
Briggs, Charles..
230
Crosby, Will A..
504
Brown, Addison M..
243 Crouter, George W.
473


xii
INDEX TO BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Page.
Page.
Croze, Joseph...
Crump, Rousseau O.
231
Gerow, Arthur M..
154
304
Giddings, J. Wight..
388
Cruse, Alfred..
346
Gilkey, Patrick H..
375
Cuddihy, John D....
333
Glasgow, Silas W..
450
Curry, Solomon S.
359
Glavin, John M..
399
Curtis, Miles S....
191
Godfrey, Marshal H..
491
Cutler, Fred., Jr.
349
Godsmark, Alfred J.
188
Graham, Robert D....
143
Daley, William J..
334
Graham, Rodney S.
273
Danaher, Cornelius D..
263
Grant, Claudius B.
124
Danaher, Michael B.
471
Green, Edward H.
410
Darragh, Archibald B.
500
Griswold, Norris O..
234
Davis, George B..
123
Grove, Wm. E...
86
Davison, Mathew.
302
Grosvenor, Elliot 0.
120
Dee, James R...
175
Grosvenor, E. O....
241
Dempsey, James.
429
Diekema, Gerrit J..
366
Hackley, Charles H..
437
Dingley, Edward N.
216
Hall, Albert J...
343
Dodds, Francis H..
309
Hall, De Vere....
195
Dodds, Peter F.
387
Hambitzer, Joseph F.
159
Dodge, Frank L....
323
Hanchette, Charles D..
176
Doherty, Alfred J.
404
Handy, Sherman T.
345
Donovan, John..
403
Hannah, Perry..
425
Dougherty, Andrew B.
507
Hanson, Rasmus.
438
Doyle, James E...
300
Harison, Beverly D
397
Duff, William J.
400
Harris, Samuel B.
253
Duncan, Murray M.
251
Hart, George A.
422
Durand, George H.
289
Hart, Rodney G.
275
Durant, William C.
525
Hartz, John C...
514
Harvey, Harrie T.
483
Earle, Horatio S..
398
Hatch, Reuben..
358
Edwards, Wm. M...
186
Hawkins, Victor.
279
Eis, Frederick...
371
Hazeltine, Chas. S.
268
Ellis, Adolphus A.
218
Hebard, Charles.
161
Eslow, James C...
394
Heck, George R....
209
Eveleth, Erwin...
204
Hemans, Lawton T.
402
Everard, Herbert H.
395
Hill, George R...
157
Hill, Joshua....
129
Fedewa, John H.
194
Hills, Charles T..
432
Ferry, Dexter M.
520
Hinman, Edward C..
187
Fifield, Henry O...
207
Holbrook, John..
150
Filer, E. Golden..
475
Holmes, William..
264
Fisher, Spencer O...
377
Hooker, Frank A..
135
Fisher, Walter J.
271
Hopkins, Mark..
330
•
Fiske, Lewis R.....
258
Hosking, Wm. H.
93
Fitz Gerald, John C..
389
Hotchkiss, Edgar H.
180
Fitzgerald, John W...
272
Hovey, Horatio N..
496
Flood, James K..
474
Howard, William G.
236
Flowers, Charles.
518
Hoyt, Hiram J....
465
Forsyth, Alexander.
490
Hubbell, Jay A..
354
Forsyth, Richard S.
96
Hume, Thomas...
436
Forsythe, Lee K.....
451
Hummer, George P..
476
Freeman, George W..
166
Humphrey, Chas. M.
203
Frost, George E..
139
Fuller, Otis....
183
Janes, Oscar A...
Jewell, Harry D.
Gaige, Joseph M...
Gale, Charles W...
Garfield, Charles W..
288
Jochim, John W.
254
Joslyn, Charles D...
Gardener, Cornelius.
155
Joslyn, Lee E....
235
Judd, George E...
. 506
298
163
492
512
237
INDEX TO BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
xiii
Page.
Page.
Kaufman, Nathan M..
Keliher, Peter C....
468
Morris, Edmund C.
408
324
Morse, Allen B..
227
Kidwell, Edgar...
172
Morse, Grant M.
142
Kollen, Gerrit J...
480
Mulvey, John.....
174
Knappen, Loyal E.
374
Munroe, Thomas.
454
Lane, M. Henry..
484
Murphy, Alfred J....
Musselman, Amos S.
522
386

Lang, Archibald B.
270
Langell, John D..
158
Newkirk, Charles T...
439
Langlois, Theo. J.
266
Nims, Frederick A....
498
Larke, Fredk. D...
413
Newnham, Richard L..
177
Latta, Frank H..
348
Newton, William.
292
Lawton, Charles DeW.
327
Nichols, Alva W
372
Lee, Fred. E....
281
Norris, Mark...
226
Leisen, Jacob...
North, George S..
325
171
Lillie, Walter I..
Noud, Patrick..
418
448

Little, Andrew J...
511
Lockerby, Wm. H..
Oakman, Robert.
339
510
Loennecker, Martin G....
O'Brien, Michael.
282
121
Long, Charles D.....
116
O'Brien, Thomas J
247
Long, James W....
Olds, Ransom E..
384
94
Long, Oscar R.
Oren, Horace M.
285
147
Longyear, John M...
Orr, Brakie J..
168
460
Loomis, Arthur P.
144
Orr, George H.
233
Loranger, Ubald R...
414
Orr, George W....
197
Lothrop, Henry B.
Osborn, Chase S..
515
131
Loud, George A..
167
Osborn, James W.
415
Loud, Henry M.
Luce, Cyrus G...
307
284
Padgham, Philip..
250
Lyon, Frank A..
259
Palmer, Ambrose E..
419
Parker, G. Whitbeck.
329

McCall, Lyman H.....
Parsons, James M.
91
424
McClintock, Gilman J
Pealer, Russel R..
208
222
McCurdy, Hugh....
Peavey, Frank A.
442
239
McDonell, Archibald.
Pelton, David C......
141
433
McKnight, Wm. F.
Penberthy, Frank.
181
406
McLaughlin, James C.
Perry, George R....
185
495
Person, Rollin H.
McMillan, James....
224
391
Peterman, John P
MacNaughton, James.
276
316
Peters, Richard G..
Mackenzie, Fred'k...
464
321
Magee, Michael J.
Pettyjohn, Elmore S...
306
148
Main, John T....
Phelan, James...
513
357
Maltz, George L...
Pierce, Charles S.....
151
132
Mann, Alexander V.
Pingree, Hazen S..
225
449
Marr, Charles H.
Potter, William W...
130
104
Marshall, Joseph..
Preston, Wm. P..
360
416
Marvin, Henry M..
Prince, William I....
199
486
Mason, Richard..
Pringle, Eugene.
.. 315
379
Merriman, George W...
441
Michelson, Nels..
409
Quick, Martin H.
Mills, Alfred J.
88
Quirk, Daniel L.....
252
101
Miner, John...
489
Mitchell, Samuel..
341
Ramsdell, Jonathan G....
427
Mitchell, Wm. H. C...
470
Rankin, Francis H....
296
Montgomery, Robert M.
117
Rathbone, Alfred D....
248
Moore, Franklin....
118
Ranney, Frederick E.
287
Moore, George Wm. (Detroit).
528
Reed, George..
447
Moore, George Wm. (Port Huron)
113
Reid, Edwy C...
311
Moore, Joseph B.....
Morgans, Wm. H...
Morrill, Roland.
. 119
Robinson, Orrin W....
99
385
Rogers, J. Sumner.
83
373
Roos, Elbert S...
417

xiv
INDEX TO BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Rose, Henry M..
Rowley, Louis E.
Ruppe, Peter..
Russell, James.
Page.
364
Page.
Thomas, Charles E....
336
502
Thompson, James R..
201
182
Thompson, Wm. B..
299
380
Townsend, Emory..
420
Ryan, Edward..
193
Trueman, George A..
164
Tupper, Horace.
428
St. John, J. Edgar.
136
Tyrrell, John E..
219
Salling, Ernest N..
412
Salsbury, Lant K.
223
Savidge, William.
411
Van Kleeck, James...
485
Saviers, Lemuel.
501
Van Orden, Mathew C.
95
Sawyer, Eugene T.
458
Van Riper, Jacob J...
401
Sawyer, Walter H.
198
Van Zile, Philip T.
494
Sayre, Ira T.....
127
Vaughan, Coleman C...
291
Scallon, Joseph E.
337
Vivian, Johnson..
173
Scott, Archibald J..
392
Scott, Robert D.
100
Wade, Charles F...
435
Scully, James...
92
Wagar, Edgar S.
128
Seager, James H.
220
Wager, H. R..
184
Searl. Kelly S....
469
Wait, Frank W.
423
Shank, Rush J.
267
Warner, Fred. M...
283
Sharpe, Nelson...
421
Warren, Henry M.
245
Shearer, G. Henry
444
Watson, Thomas..
106
Shelden, Carlos D.
277
Wayne, Duncan A.
217
Shepherd, Frank..
146
Weadock, George W....
368
Shields, Robert H.
382
Weadock, John C...
369
Sibbald, John A.
314
Weadock, Thos. A. E.
508
Simonson, Albert B.
344
Webb, Robert B..
353
Sligh, Charles R.
274
Webster, William..
290
Smith, Clement M.
278
Weeks, Edgar..
102
Smith, John M. C....
396
Weier, August J..
210
Smith, Robert..
488
Wells, Franklin....
294
Smith, Samuel W.
112
Wesselius, Sybrant.
361
Smith, Thomas R.
111
Weter, James E...
215
Smith, Wm. Alden.
363
Whaley, Robert J.
221
Soper, Daniel E...
482
Wheeler, A. Oren...
242
Soper, Julius M..
205
White, William H.
479
Spaulding, Oliver L...
301
Whiting, Justin R.
332
Spies, August..
478
Whiting, Stephen B.
202
Stanton, Frank McM.
265
Willard, George..
246
Starr, John V..
212
Williams. Fitch R..
487
Stearns, Justus S..
133
Williams, Gershom M.
313
Stephenson, And. C.
238
Willits, Warren J...
206
Stevens, Herman W.
107
Wilson, Charles L..
370
Stevens, Mark W....
472
Wilson, Mathew..
505
Stevenson, Elliott G.
521
Wilson, Wm. D..
103
Stewart, Frank M..
256
Winans, George G..
317
Stewart, G. Duff..
509
Winsor, Lou B...
381
Stewart, Hugh P.
493
Wolcott, Frank T.
453
Stewart, Nathaniel H.
178
Wood, Edwin O..
293
Stewart, Wm. F.
240
Wood, Lucien E...
499
Stone, George W
152
Woodworth, Fred. D.
331
Stone, John W....
170
Wright, Ammi W...
89
Stuart, Wm. J..
190
Wright, Cass T....
179
Sundstrom, Chas. F.
169
Wright, Hamilton M.
365
Sutherland, Wm...
390
Terriff, William W....
328
Yaple, George L..
310
Thielman, Wm. H.
342
Youngquist, Otis E..
467
MEN OF PROGRESS
HISTORICAL SKETCHES

BY S. B. MCCRACKEN.
THE CIVIL COMMONWEALTH.
POSITION AND EARLY HISTORY.
Geography and Topography-First European Visi-
tations A French Dependency-Early Explora-
tions-Roman Catholic Missions-First Perma-
nent Settlement-Territorial Sovereignty-Part of
the State of Virginia-Claims of Massachusetts
and Connecticut-General George Rogers Clarke
-The Western Reserve-Civil Jurisdiction of the
United States.
The State of Michigan occupies a position
approximating the center of the North Ameri-
can continent, and is embraced between the
parallels 41° 45′ and 48° 20′ north latitude,
and the meridians of 82° 25' and 90° 34' of
longitude west from Greenwich. The center
of the State is marked by the position of
Carp Lake, in Leelanaw County, which is 670
miles in a straight line from the city of New
York. The land area of the State consists of
two natural divisions, known as the Upper
and Lower Peninsulas, and adjacent islands.
The Upper Peninsula has its greatest extent
from east to west, and the Lower its greatest
extent from north to south. The following
exhibits the length and breadth in miles, and
the number of square miles, and number of
acres, in each peninsula:
Upper
Lower
DIVISIONS.
Length. Breadth. Sq. Miles. Acres.
318.104 164.286 22.580 14,451.456
277.009 259.056 33,871 21,677,184
The total length of the lake-shore line is
1,620 miles, embracing, or enclosing the en-
tire Lower Peninsula with the exception of
less than 200 miles on its southern boundary,
and the entire of the Upper Peninsula except
its western boundary. To this should be
added the numerous bays and rivers available
for floatage and navigation, connecting with
the larger waters. The State also has within
its bounds, but unconnected with the great
lakes, over 5,000 smaller lakes, having an
area of 712,864 acres.
The history of Michigan is essentially
modern. As compared with many countries
having a written history, it is as but of yester-
day. The earliest European visitations are
placed at about the middle of the seventeenth
century, up to which time its only inhabitants
were the aborigines, of which the Chippewas
or Ojibuays, the Hurons or Wyandots, and
the Ottawas, were among the principal tribes.
The territory now comprising the State of
Michigan was a French dependency, forming
a part of what was originally known as New
France, the seat of government of which was
at Quebec. In 1669 or 1670 explorations
were undertaken under authority of the
French viceroy or intendant, with which the
names of De St. Lusson and La Salle are con-
nected. These explorations were chiefly con-
fined to the great waterways, extending as
far as Lake Superior, and from thence by
La Salle down the Mississippi River. To aid
in his work, La Salle, in 1679, built a small
vessel of sixty tons burthen, which he named
the Griffin, with which he made the tour of
the upper lakes, the first vessel, more preten-
tious than the Indian canoe, that ever sailed
those waters. The official explorations were
preceded by some years by the Jesuit mission-
aries, who were also contemporaneous with
them. Among the names prominently ap-
pearing in this connection are those of Mes-
nard, Allouez, Hennepin, and Marquette.
There are intimations, not fully verified, of
visits by the French navigator, Champlain, to
the lake region, as early as 1612.
The first permanent settlement of Euro-
peans in Michigan, having the elements of
civil life and municipal regulation, was that

2
MEN OF PROGRESS.
by Cadillac, at Detroit, in 1701. The French
sovereignty was terminated by the surrender
of Detroit to the British in November, 1760,
as the result of the triumph of the British
arms over the French in the war that had
been waged for some years between the two
nations, for supremacy in the western hemis-
phere. The British occupation continued
until July 11, 1796, when the British gar-
rison retired from Detroit and the flag of the
Union was raised over Fort Shelby. Detroit
was at that time the gateway to the northwest
territory, and by its occupancy the sover-
eignty of the United States was established
over the entire territory between the great
lakes on the north and the Ohio River on the
south. Although this territory was conceded
to the United States by the peace of 1783,
which terminated the war of the revolution,
the occupancy of Detroit and Mackinac Island
was continued by the British under various
pretexts.
Under the French and British rule the
Northwest Territory was politically associated
with the Canadas, but became a part of the
territory of Virginia upon its occupancy by
the United States. Both Connecticut and
Massachusetts, however, asserted a color of
title to portions of the territory now embraced
in the State of Michigan. Connecticut
claimed from the 41st parallel of latitude to
42° 2′, and Massachusetts from the last
named line to the 45th parallel. These claims
were based upon their original charters, which
defined their northern and southern bound-
aries as above given, running from the sea-
board west, and presumptively as far west as
the possessions of the English crown, from
which their charters were derived, extended.
Without discussing the subject, it would seem
that these claims were more fanciful than
real. But for the action of a Virginian, Gen.
George Rogers Clarke, the entire Northwest
Territory would have been lost to the United
States, and the national boundary line would
have been fixed at the Ohio River instead of
the great lakes. Gen. Clarke was commis-
sioned by the State of Virginia to undertake
a campaign against the British posts in the
northwest, and was granted a small appro-
priation for the purpose. His success secured
the Northwest Territory to the United States
in the peace settlement, which thereby be-
came a part of the State of Virginia. This
was the opinion held by the late Judge
Charles I. Walker, of Detroit, who was con-
sulted by the writer on the subject. Judge
Walker had made the subject of northwest-
ern history a study, and no one was better
qualified than he to give an opinion with
judicial fairness. However, in the cession of
the Northwest Territory to the United States,
the three States of Virginia, Connecticut and
Massachusetts were severally parties. The
land embraced in what is known as the West-
ern Reserve, in Ohio, was conceded to Con-
necticut in consideration of the release of her
claimed sovereignty. That is, she "reserved"
so much land, reserving title to it, while re-
linquishing her claim of political sovereignty
over the boundaries above described.
A brief reference to the history of the gen-
eral government in its relation to territorial
possession seems appropriate in this imme-
diate connection, especially in view of the
recently acquired foreign possessions. The
constitution of the United States was adopted
in convention in 1787, and the government
went into effect under it, through its ratifica-
tion by the requisite number of States, in
1789. Up to that time the general govern-
ment was simply a confederation of sovereign
states, with very limited powers, and cum-
brous in its mechanism. It had, strictly
speaking, no territorial jurisdiction. It did
not, and could not, exercise sovereignty over
a foot of land that was not included in some
one of the States. Territories, as bodies
politic, were unknown. But by the cession of
the Northwest Territory, above referred to,
a territorial condition was created, and for the
purpose of government the ordinance of 1787
was adopted on July 13 of that year. This
ordinance was framed in conformity to the
acts of cession, and provided for the ultimate
division or organization of the territory into
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
3
not less than three nor more than five States,
of which the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illi-
nois, Michigan and Wisconsin are the pro-
duct. This assumption of territorial sover-
eignty by the congress of the confederation.
was special, and under clearly defined terms,
and its exercise was expected to terminate
with the erection of the territory into States.
The constitution adopted in September of
the same year had in view the ceded
territory when it provided that "The Con-
gress shall have power to dispose of, and make
all needful rules and regulations respecting
the territory or other property belonging to
the United States." The use of the words "ter-
ritory or other property" leaves the clear in-
ference that the word "territory" had refer-
ence only to so much of the soil as might be
the "property" of the United States, and not
to the exercise of political sovereignty over
limitless areas of the earth's surface. This
view of the matter is strengthened by clause
16, section 8, of the first article of the consti-
tution, which gives to Congress exclusive jur-
isdiction over such site as might be ceded by
any of the States not exceeding ten miles
square (now the District of Columbia), as the
seat of the general government, and over such
sites as might be acquired with the consent of
the States in which located, for government
uses. By this specific grant of power the
inhibition of similar power outside of it must
be preserved. But the right of the govern-
ment to acquire and exercise jurisdiction over
outlaying territory has passed beyond dis-
cussion. If not conferred by the constitu-
tion, it is a right acquired by use and acquies-
cence, if it be not a right forcing itself upon
a growing nation as a necessity. The subject
has been so far treated, however, only for the
purpose of showing how radical a departure
from early traditions has taken place.
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT.
The Ordinance of 1787-The Governor and Judges requisite population, a representative assem-
A Landed Qualification-A Legislative Council
Provided for-The Territory to Be Formed Into
States-First Seat of Government-The Five
States of the Northwest-Michigan as a Separate
Territory-Large Grants of Land to Revolution-
ary Heroes-Comparative Influence of Cities-
The Landed Qualification Abrogated.
The Congress of the Confederation, by the
ordinance of July 13, 1787, provided that for
the purposes of temporary government the ac-
quired territory should "be one district, sub-
ject, however, to be divided into two districts,
as future circumstances may, in the opinion
of Congress, make it expedient." Until such
time as the district should contain five thous-
and free male inhabitants of full age, the
government and the making of laws was com-
mitted to a governor and three judges to be
appointed by Congress. The governor must
be the possessor of a freehold estate "in one
thousand acres of land." The judges, and a
secretary whose appointment was provided
for, must each have an estate of five hundred
When the district should contain the
acres.
bly and council was provided for, analogous
to a house of representatives and senate. The
members of the assembly must have a free-
hold estate of two hundred acres, and only
those possessed of a like estate could vote.
The members of the council must each have
an estate of five hundred acres. No time or
place is specified in the act or ordinance when
or where the government thus provided for
should go into effect.
Article 5 of the ordinance provides for the
ultimate division of the territory into States,
as previously noted. After the organization
of the government under the constitution, an
act was passed August 7, 1789, vesting the
appointment of the Governor and Judges in
the President.
The first seat of government of the North-
west Territory was at Chillicothe, in the now
State of Ohio. By act of Congress of May
7, 1800, the territory was divided, prepara-
tory to the admission of Ohio into the Union
4
MEN OF PROGRESS.
as a State, and the "Indiana Territory" was
erected, with the seat of government at Vin-
cennes.
By the act of January, 1805, the Territory
of Michigan was set off from the Indiana Ter-
ritory, the same system of government being
continued as originally provided, the seat of
government being established at Detroit. By
this act the southern boundary of Michigan
was fixed by a line drawn due east from the
southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan
until it intersect Lake Erie, and the western
boundary a north and south line through
Lake Michigan to the northern boundary of
the United States, the British possessions
forming the northern and eastern boundary.
This included on the south the strip of terri-
tory that was subject of dispute with Ohio,
and did not include the northern or Upper
Peninsula. By act of Congress February 3,
1809, the territory now forming the States of
Illinois and Wisconsin was detacher from the
Indiana Territory and given a separate terri-
torial organization. Upon the admission of
Illinois into the Union as a State in 1818, the
Wisconsin portion was made a part of the
Michigan Territory, but was detached in 1836
and given a territorial government by itself.
It was made a State in 1848, thus completing
the quintet of States as contemplated by the
ordinance of 1787, Indiana having been ad-
mitted in 1816.
Aside from the mere narration of events in
connection with the government of the North-
west Territory and its organization into
States of the Union, the property qualifica-
tion required as a condition of holding office
and voting will strike the citizen of the
pres-
ent day forcibly, to say the least. No matter
what the position or standing of the person
might be, or what the value of his possessions
other than land, he must be possessed of so
much land in the district.
imposed at the time,
strange or unusual one. Our civil polity was
inherited from England, where the landed
proprietors were the governing class. The in-
terests of the realm were deemed safer in the
hands of this class than in those of the city
denizen. The influence of cities in fact, even
in the older countries, had not reached the
But the condition,
But the condition,
was by no means a
magnitude to which it has since attained.
There is perhaps another reason by which
this landed qualification may be explained.
Large grants of land had been made to indi-
viduals in consideration of their services in
the war of the revolution, or secured by other
means. The act of Virginia in ceding the
Northwest Territory contained a stipulation.
that a tract of one hundred and fifty thousand
acres in one body should be assured to Gen.
George Rogers Clarke and the soldiers of his
command in recognition of their services in
the war of the revolution, and that other
grants should be assured to other persons for
similar services. It is a fair presumption that
those holding these grants were influential in
securing the adoption of the landed qualifica-
tion in the governing act, in order that they
might thereby wield the political power. But
the territory became rapidly settled by small
proprietors as well as by those without hold-
ings of any kind, and in the organization of
the new States the property qualification was
not imposed. It is worthy of mention, how-
ever, that in the earlier days of the republic
a property qualification was the rule in most
of the States, and is no doubt still the practice
in some of them. Another fact is worthy of
special note, namely, that by the growth of
the cities the political power has become
largely centered in them, with a correspond-
ing diminution of influence and power on the
part of the rural population.
The landed qualification for holding office
and voting necessarily governed in Michigan
until it was changed by act of Congress. In
the matter of choosing a delegate to Congress
from Michigan there was an authorized de-
parture from the terms of the ordinance. The
latter provided that the delegate should be
elected by the Legislative Council, but Con-
gress, by act of February 16, 1819, author-
ized the election of a delegate from Michigan
by popular vote, all white male citizens
twenty-one years of age, who had resided in
the territory one year, and who had paid a
county or territorial tax, being entitled to
vote for such delegate. By a subsequent act
the right to vote at all elections, and to hold
office, was similarly conferred.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
5
ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT.
The Right to Statehood-Adoption of the Constitu-
tion and Election of State Officers-Meeting of
the Legislature-Election of United States Sena-
tors The Disputed Boundary-Objections to the
Admission of the State-Judge Campbell's View
of the Case, and Other Authorities-Terms Pro-
posed by Congress-Military Demonstrations-A
New Territorial Governor Appointed-The Slav-
ery Question a Factor-Two Conventions of
Assent-Final Admission of the State Calender
of Events Leading Up to Statehood-Seat of
Government and State Capitol.
The resident population of Michigan, other
than Indian, when it came into possession of
the United States, was very small. It is given
as 551 in the year 1800; 4,762 in 1810;
8,896 in 1820, and 31,639 in 1830.
The
last named decade shows a marked increase
as compared with the one immediately pre-
ceding. But the ratio of increase was greatly
exceeded during the next decade, 1830 to
1840, when the population had reached 212,-
267. The increase was so marked up to the
middle of the decade (87,273, according to a
census taken by authority of the Legislative
Council in 1834), that steps were taken for
the organization of a State government. This
step the people of the territory, represented
by their Legislative Council, had a right to
take, without an enabling act by Congress,
as has been the custom with reference to
inchoate States other than those forming part
of the Northwest Territory, and as was done
also in the case of Illinois. The ordinance
of 1787, as has been heretofore stated, pro-
vided that the territory should ultimately be
formed into States, one or two of which should
be north of a given line.
Congress had already (1835), and long be-
fore that time, organized three States south of
the line, though encroaching upon territory
north of it. It had organized one Territory
(Michigan) north of the line, with defined
boundaries, and there was no moral question
but that this territory would form one State,
and that the remaining territory north of the
line would form another State. Michigan,
therefore, acting under the clause of the or-
dinance which provided that when any State
should have sixty thousand free inhabitants it
should "be at liberty to form a permanent
constitution and State government," and be
admitted as a member of the confederation
on a perfect equality with the other States,
took steps in the year 1835 for assuming full
statehood. An act was passed by the Legis-
lative Council January 26, 1835, for an elec-
tion to be held on Saturday, the 4th day of the
following April, for the choice of delegates to
a convention to frame a State constitution.
The convention was to meet at the capitol in
Detroit on the second Monday of May, with
power to adjourn its sitting to any other place
within the Territory. The convention met
on the second Monday of May and concluded
its work in Detroit. The constitution framed
by it was submitted to a vote of the people on
the first Monday of October, State officers
and a legislature being chosen at the same
time the election of the latter to have effect
only in case of the ratification of the constitu-
tion by popular vote. The constitution was,
however, adopted by a vote of 6,299 in its
favor to 1,359 against. The Legislature met
and organized on the first Monday of Novem-
ber, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor
were duly installed (Stevens T. Mason, known
as the boy Governor, as Governor, and Ed-
ward Mundy as Lieutenant Governor), and
the wheels of the State government were
formally set in motion. One of the earliest
acts of the Legislature was the election of
two United States senators, John Norvel and
Lucius Lyon being chosen. Isaac E. Crary
had been elected member of the lower house
of Congress at the October election. Thus far
the new ship of state (to use a metaphor) had
proceeded on its voyage without a ripple, but
breakers were ahead.
The constitution of the State, and her appli-
cation for admission as a State of the Union,
were submitted to the United States Senate
December 9, 1835, in a message from Presi-
dent Jackson. A motion to admit the sena-
6
MEN OF PROGRESS.
tors from Michigan to seats on the floor of the
Senate met with opposition. The constitu-
tion of the State, as adopted, placed its south-
ern boundary on the line designed by the or-
dinance, namely, on "an east and west line
drawn through the southerly bend or extreme
of Lake Michigan." This would include a
strip of land some ten miles in width then
belonging, or claimed to belong to Ohio, and
including the city of Toledo, and a strip of
greater width in Indiana, from the Ohio line
to Lake Michigan. If the principle were ad-
mitted also, that the exact terms of the ordi-
nance were to govern, it would rob Illinois
of a broad strip on her northern border, in-
cluding the city of Chicago, which would
have gone to Wisconsin. The admission of
Michigan, therefore, with her claimed bound-
ary, was resisted especially by the three States
of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. It was also
objected that she had assumed State sover-
eignty without the assent of Congress pre-
viously obtained in the form of an enabling
act. This, as has been shown foregoing, she
had a right to do, and this right is conceded
by President Jackson in his message before
mentioned.
It would be outside the purpose of this
sketch, and exceed its prescribed limits, to
trace the history of the controversy or the evi-
dence on which the conflicting claims were
based. Judge Campbell, in his "Outlines of
the Civil History of Michigan," treats the
claim of Michigan as conclusive, both in law
and justice. But the three States of Ohio,
Indiana and Illinois had previously had the
sanction of Congress, either direct or implied,
to their northern boundary lines. They had
at least title by possession. The gordion knot
was cut so far as Congress was concerned, by
the passage at the session of 1836, of an act
fixing the southern boundary of Michigan as
now established, and giving her the Upper
Peninsula in consideration of the surrender
by her of her claim of title to the disputed
strip, and providing for the admission of the
State upon her acceptance of the same. The
merits of the controversy are discussed at
some length by Judge Campbell, and the
whole subject is quite fully treated in a mono-
graph, with many citations of authorities,
by Annah May Soule, of the State Univer-
sity, published by the Michigan Political
science Association. There is a collection of
pamphlets in a bound volume in the hands of
the State Librarian (the only one in existence
so far as known), that gives much valuable
information on the subject in the form of
official documents.
The subject of the northern boundary of
Ohio was agitated at the time of her admis-
sion into the Union, and her right to the
claimed line was called in question. It at-
tracted the attention of the Michigan authori-
ties as early as 1820, as appears from com-
munications of Gov. Woodbridge (then sec-
retary of the Territory and acting-Governor),
addressed to Gov. Brown, of Ohio, and to
John Quincy Adams, then Secretary of State
of the United States.
of the United States. When it was proposed
to form a State government in Michigan and
to assert jurisdiction over the disputed terri-
tory, the Legislature of Ohio, acting under
the advice of Gov. Lucas, passed acts asserting
jurisdiction, and looking to military measures
to support the claim. Counter steps were
taken by the Legislative Council of Michi-
gan, and military forces were mustered on
both sides of the border, but without coming
into actual collision. Stevens T. Mason, as
secretary of the Territory, was then acting-
Governor, and it was under his advice and
direction that these steps were taken. His
action not being approved by President Jack-
son, the President in August, 1835, appointed
Charles Shaler, of Pennsylvania, to succeed
him. Mr. Shaler having declined the ap-
pointment, John S. Horner, of Virginia, was
appointed on September 15. He reached De-
troit a few days later, but was coolly received.
The people looked forward to their coming
statehood as the solution of their civil status,
and regarded a change in the territorial ex-
ecutive at the time, which they deemed could
be for but a few weeks, as unnecessary if not
offensive. Gov. Mason made no objection to
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Mr. Horner assuming the nominal duties of
acting-Governor, but the latter performed no
official acts of importance. By direction of
President Jackson he refused to recognize
the State officers after they were elected, and
under other circumstances a conflict of au-
thority might have occurred. But he perhaps
thought prudence the better part of valor,
and removed to Wisconsin, which was still a
part of the Territory of Michigan. Here he
could execute the functions of Governor of
Michigan, with Michigan left out.
The interests of the then slave States en-
tered more or less into the problem regarding
Michigan. Up to the time of which we are
writing and for some years subsequently, the
effort was continued to maintain a sort of
"balance of power" between the free and
slave States. They being equal in number,
the study was to keep them so, so that each
section would have equal representation in
the United States Senate. Michigan would,
of course, be a free State. Arkansas, lying
south of Missouri, and forming a part of the
Louisiana purchase, was prepared to enter the
Union as a slave State. Her population was
much less than that of Michigan, but it was
within the power of Congress to admit a State
regardless of the number of inhabitants. The
acts, therefore, for the admission of both
States, were made concurrent, but with the
difference that the admission of Arkansas be-
came at once a fact, while the admission of
Michigan was made contingent upon the con-
dition elsewhere spoken of.
The
and restive under the delay and the uncer-
tainty of their position. The administration
at Washington was democratic, and members
of the Democratic party in Michigan desired
a completed statehood to be in harmony with
the national
national administration. Democratic
conventions in Wayne and Washtenaw Coun-
ties had declared in favor of another conven-
tion, and acting upon this demand several
gentlemen, members of the Democratic party
in Detroit, united in a call for a convention
to be held at Ann Arbor on December 14.
An election for delegates was held December
5 and 6. The convention met and agreed to
the terms proposed by Congress. The whole
proceeding was irregular, but met a sort of
silent acquiescence as the solution of a trou-
blesome problem. Some protest was made in
Congress by reason of the irregularity, but
the existence of the State government was
formally recognized by the admission of its
Senators and its one Representative January
26, 1837.
The following calendar shows the order in
which the several steps leading up to the ad-
mission of the State into the Union were
taken:
Jan. 26, 1835: Act of the Legislative Council
providing for an election of delegates to a con-
vention to frame a constitution.
April 4, 1835: Delegates elected.
May 11, 1835: Convention met; adjourned
June 24.
Oct. 6, 1835: Constitution ratified by popular
vote; Legislature and State officers elected.
Nov. 3, 1835: Legislature met; State officers
installed.
Dec. 9, 1835: Constitution and application for
admission submitted to Congress by the Presi-
dent.
June 15, 1836: Act of Congress (with condition
of boundary) passed for admission of State.
July 25, 1836: Act of Legislature authorizing
first convention of assent.
Sept. 12, 1836: Election of delegates to conven-
tion.
Sept. 26, 1836: Convention met-declined terms
Dec. 5-6, 1836: Delegates elected to second con-
vention of assent.
Dec. 14, 1836:
Jan. 26, 1837:
The Legislature, by act of July 25, 1836,
ordered an election to be held for delegates
to a convention to act upon the terms pro-
posed by Congress. The sentiment of the
people, without party division, was generally proposed by Congress.
adverse to accepting those terms, and the dele-
gates elected reflected this sentiment.
covention, which met at Ann Arbor Septem-
ber 26, voiced the popular sentiment by re-
jecting the proposed condition. This has been
called the first convention of assent, though
it was more properly a convention of dissent.
The people, however, had become impatient
of Congress.
Convention met-assent given.
State formally admitted by action
The first constitution (1835), provided
that the seat of government should be per-
manently established by the Legislature not
later than the year 1847. It remained in De-
troit up to this time, the capitol building
8
MEN OF PROGRESS.
being the former territorial capitol, located
on what is now known as Capitol Park. The
building and site ultimately passed into the
hands of the Detroit Board of Education, and,
with considerable additions, was used for
school purposes up to January, 1893, when it
to January, 1893, when it
was destroyed by fire. The Legislature of
1847, in obedience to the constitutional re-
quirement, passed an act establishing the cap-
ital at Lansing. There was much difficulty
in agreeing upon a location. Nearly every
interior town of much consequence in the
State was proposed, only to be rejected.
Lansing was finally agreed upon as being a
point central to the then settled portion of the
State. The locating act is probably one of
the shortest public acts every passed. After
the enacting clause it provides "that the seat
of government of this State shall be in the
township of Lansing, in the county of In-
gham." A supplementary act was passed,
however, providing for the removal. This
act provided for the laying out of a village
plat to be designated as the town of "Michi-
gan," in which the capitol should be located.
"Michigan" was therefore the name of the
capital of the State for one year, until, by act
of April 3, 1849, the name was changed to
Lansing.
Commissioners were selected to locate a site
within the town of Lansing, and the site of
the present city of Lansing was chosen, partly
because it was a "school section," there being
but a single settler in the immediate vicinity.
A frame building, costing, with an addition
subsequently made, about $22,500, was erect-
ed during the summer of 1847, and occupied
by the Legislature on the first of January,
1848, and continued to be used as the "State
House" until 1877.
House" until 1877. At the legislative ses-
sion of 1871, an act was passed providing for
the erection of a new State capitol. A "Board
of State Building Commissioners" was pro-
vided for, who solicited competitive designs
for the new capitol, the preference being
given to the design furnished by Mr. E. E.
Myers. The cost of the building and inci-
dental expenses was limited to $1,200,000,
$100,000 payable in 1872, $200,000 in each
of the years 1873, 1874, 1875, and 1876, and
$300,000 in 1877. A preliminary appropria-
tion of $10,000 was made for plans, etc., in
1871, and in 1875 special appropriations for
heating and ventilating, for changes and im-
provements, roofing, cornice, etc., were made,
amounting to $175,000. The length of the
building, exclusive of porticoes, is 345 feet;
width, 191 feet; height of lantern, 265 feet.
The edifice accommodates the Legislature,
State offices, Supreme Court, State Library,
etc. The cornerstone was laid on the second
day of October, 1873, and the contract time
for its completion was the first of December,
1877. It was completed and occupied by the
State during 1878, the Legislature holding
its first session in the new edifice in 1879.
CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY HISTORY.

First Constitution and Statutes Similar to Those
of New York-Method of Choosing State Officers
and Judges-Time of Elections Process of
Amendment-Senators and Representatives, How
Chosen-Salaries-Constitution of 1850-Legisla-
tive in Its Character-Variances from the First
many of its features, modeled after the con-
stitution of New York. The general statutes
and polity of the State also reflected those of
the State of New York, from which the
Constitution The More Important Amendments migration to the State during the 1830
-Constitutional Convention of 1867 and Consti-
tutional Commission of 1873-The Work of Both
Rejected by the People-Subsequent Votes on the
Question of Ordering a General Convention-
Legislative Authority Under the Territory-Com-
pilations of the Statutes in 1822 and 1833-Re-
vised Statutes of 1838 and 1846-Compilations of
1857 and 1871-The Howell Compilation-The
Miller Compilation-Reprint of Territorial Laws.
decade, forming the great bulk of the popula-
tion, was largely drawn. The only elective
State officers provided for by the constitution
of 1835 were the Governor and Lieutenant
Governor. The administrative officers were
either appointed by the Governor or chosen
by the Legislature. Judges were appointed
The first constitution of the State was, in by the Governor, subject to confirmation by
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
6
jects. The first constitution contemplated in
express terms internal improvements by the
State. Its successor forbade them except in
the expenditure of grants to the State. Among
the inhibitions upon legislation by the con-
stitution of 1850 were: The granting of spe-
cial charters, other than municipal; granting
extra compensation to public officers or con-
tractors; against special legislation in certain
cases; against granting licenses for the sale
of liquor-subsequently expunged.
Many amendments have been made to the
present constitution, the more important of
which are summarized following:
the Senate. Late in the 1840 decade, how-
ever, the constitution was so amended that
judges and State officers were made elective.
The general elections were held two days
the first Monday and Tuesday of November,
following in a measure the practice at that
time in New York, where the elections were
held three days. A person entitled to vote
at a general election could vote at any poll in
the county in which he resided. Amend-
ments to the constitution had to be approved
by two consecutive Legislatures, and then
submitted to popular vote. As the Legisla-
ture held annual sessions, the process of
amendment was less dilatory than might
otherwise seem. An amendment proposed by
the Legislatures of 1843 and 1844 changed article 5 so as to make stockholders ratably liable
the time of the general election to the first
Monday of November. State Senators were
elected by districts composed of several coun-
ties, each, the term being two years, but so
classified that one-half were chosen each year.
Representatives were elected in the counties.
at large. The fixing of salaries of all State
officers and judges was left to the Legislature, public officers in certain cases. (1862.) This
the pay of members of the latter being limited
to three dollars per day, as at present.
The constitution of 1850 was a radical de-
parture in some of its features from the in-
strument that it superseded, without, in all
cases, being an improvement. Legislation
under the first constitution had in view a
prudent economy in the fixing of official sala-
ries, an economy that was every way com-
mendable in the infancy of the common-
wealth with an immigrant population strug-
gling to make homes for themselves and to de-
velop the State. The framers of the consti-
tution of 1850 seem to have assumed that
these salaries were fixed for all time, and for
a State grown to opulence, with a population
numbered by millions. The salaries that had
been fixed by legislation were by them made
constitutional and unchangeable except by
amendment to the fundamental law. In
many other respects the new constitution be-
came legislative in its provisions. It also
restricted or forbade legislation on many sub-
Banking corporations: Amending section 3 of
for obligations to the amount of their stock.
Legislative sessions: Under the constitution, as
first adopted, legislative sessions were limited to
forty days. The amendment limits the introduc-
tion of bills to fifty days, but places no limit upon
the duration of the sessions. (1860.)
Removals from office: Amending section 8 of
article 12 so as to empower the Governor to remove
amendment was adopted by a vote of 3,180 in its
favor to 1,273 against, the vote in favor being only
about two per cent. of the voting population of the
State.
As to banks: Under the constitution, as first
adopted, banks could be organized only under a
general law. By the amendment, the Legislature
was empowered, by a two-third vote, to create "a
single bank, with branches." (1862.) The organi-
zation of the U. S. banking system rendered this
provision wholly nugatory.
Regents of the University: Providing for the
election of eight regents in the State at large
instead of one from each judicial district. (1862.)
As to soldiers voting: Providing that Michigan
soldiers in the field may be authorized to vote at
elections. (1866.)
Railroads: Authorizing the Legislature to fix
maximum rates for transportation so as to guard
against discrimination, and forbidding the con-
solidation of competing lines. (1870.)
Salaries: Increasing the salaries of circuit
judges to $2,500 per annum. (1882.) Increasing
the salary of the Governor to $4,000 per annum.
(1889.)
10
MEN OF PROGRESS.
Amendments proposing an increase in the sal-
aries of State officers have been submitted at vari-
ous times, and have been uniformly rejected ex-
cept as above. Noteworthy under this head was
an amendment voted upon in 1891 increasing the
salary of the Attorney General. The vote as re-
turned to the Board of State Canvassers was 69,-
622 in favor to 68,385 against. Suspicions of fraud
or error arose, and a recanvass was ordered by the
Supreme Court, showing 69,248 for and 69,651
against. A proposed amendment voted upon in
1893 made a general increase in the salaries of
State officers. First reported adopted, 64,422 to
62,601. A recanvass for reasons similar to those
above stated gave 59,317 in favor to 70,772 against.
Fraud was so manifest in the matter that prose-
cutions followed, and a conviction in one case in
Wayne County, but there was no sentence, and the
matter was for some reason allowed to drop.
Improving roads: Authorizing the creation of
county and township boards and the contraction
of loans for improving highways. (1893.)
Liquor traffic: Propositions submitted under
this head will be found noted in the chapter on
that subject.
The constitution provides that every six-
teenth year, beginning with the year 1866,
"and at such other times as the Legislature
may by law provide, the question of the gen-
eral revision of the constitution shall be sub-
mitted to the electors qualified to vote for
members of the Legislature, and in case a
majority of the electors so qualified, voting at
such election," shall vote in favor, the Legis-
lature shall provide for the election of dele-
gates to a convention for the purpose of fram-
ing a revision. In 1866 the vote was in
favor of a convention. The convention met
in 1867 and framed a revision, which was
voted upon at the April election in 1868 and
rejected, 71,733 to 110,582.
At the legislative session of 1873 a joint
resolution was passed for the appointment of
a commission, two from each congressional dis-
trict, to prepare amendments to the constitu-
tion, to be submitted to the Legislature at a
special session or at the next regular session.
The members of the commission were ap-
pointed by Gov. Bagley, and reported the re-
sults of their labors to him on the completion
of their work October 16, 1873. It was by the
Governor submitted to the Legislature at a spe-
cial session in March, 1874. It was considera-
bly changed by the Legislature from the form
in which it was reported to them, and was sub-
mitted to the people at the November elec-
tion in a single joint resolution as "amend-
ments" to the constitution. It was to all in-
tents and purposes a revision, and the manner
of its preparation and submission was irreg-
ular and outside of any process contemplated
by the constitution for making amendments,
and there is little doubt but that it would
have been held illegal by the courts. Had
it been approved by a clear majority of
the voting population it might have been sus-
tained as the latest expression of the popular
will, but with a bare majority of those voting,
it could hardly have stood the test. It is
doubtful if the people who voted upon it real-
ized to any great extent its questionable char-
acter. Its failure may be credited largely to
the liquor dealers, who opposed it through a
State organization, and to the railway inter-
ests, who looked upon it with disfavor. It
was disapproved by a vote of 39,285 to
124,034.
In 1882, pursuant to the constitutional
provision, the question of calling a conven-
tion for the purpose of a revision was voted
upon and the proposal failed by a vote of
20,937 to 35,123. The same question was
submitted by the Legislature at the general
election in 1890 and again in 1892. It
failed in the first instance on a vote of 16,431
to 26,261, and in the other case it carried by
the small margin of 703 votes, there being
16,948 for and 16,245 against. But although
the proposition had a majority of the votes in
its favor, it did not receive the majority con-
templated by the constitution. An amend-
ment to the constitution may be ratified by a
majority of the votes cast for and against the
particular proposition, but a convention for
the purpose of a general revision must receive
a majority of all the votes cast at the election
at which the question is voted upon. Not
having such majority, the Legislature of 1893
took no action in the matter. At the election
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
11
in 1898, the third recurring sixteenth-year
period, the question of calling a general con-
vention was again voted upon, receiving
162,123 votes in favor to 127,147 against.
With this large margin in its favor it still
failed, not having a majority of the total vote
cast, the total vote- at that election being
421,164.
A brief reference to the history of the
statutes of the State will appropriately fol-
low a sketch of its constitutional history.
Under the first territorial organization the
Governor and Judges were both the makers
and administrators of the law. Later the
Legislative Council became the law making
power. A revision and compilation of all acts
in force was ordered by the first Legislative
Council and printed in 1822 in a volume of
some 700 pages. A further compilation was
made and printed in 1833. With the or-
ganization of the State government came the
necessity for adapting the laws to the new
order of things. By act of the Legislature
of March, 1836, William A. Fletcher was
appointed a commissioner to prepare and ar-
range a code of laws for the State. He was
then one of the territorial judges and was
soon after appointed chief justice of the
Supreme Court of the State. The double
labor delayed the preparation of the code
until November 9, 1837, on which day the
Legislature met in adjourned session for the
purpose of acting upon the report. Their ses-
report. Their ses-
sion continued into the regular session of
1838, and the Revised Statutes of 1838 was
the product. E. B. Harrington and E. J.
Roberts were appointed commissioners to
supervise the publication. In a preface it is
said:
"In the change from a Territorial to a State
government, great inconvenience was experi-
enced in adapting the territoriol laws under
the State constitution. They consisted of en-
actments of a period of more than thirty years,
commencing with those adopted and pub-
lished by the Governor and Judges, a part of
which had been re-enacted by the first legis-
lative council of the late Territory of Michi-
gan. Each subsequent council passed its ad-
ditional quota of acts, seemingly without any
regard to former enactments, and they appear
in many instances without date of approval.
Several repealing acts had been passed with-
out designating the acts or parts of acts in-
tended to be repealed, and frequent legaliz-
ing and explanatory acts, all serving to con-
fuse rather than explain. These various acts
were scattered through loose and fragmentary
publications, commencing in the year 1805."
The statutes of 1838 are comprised in a
single volume of 688 pages, exclusive of in-
dex, which is quite full. The work is admir-
ably arranged and the mechanical execution
excellent.
The next (and last) revision of the statutes
is that of 1846. The work was begun in
1844, under an act of the Legislature of that
year, by Judge Sanford M. Green.
The re-
vision was passed upon by the Legislature of
1846, and Judge Green was commissioned to
superintend its publication. The work is in
one volume, but little larger than its predeces-
sor, although of much closer print. It is not
out of place to mention that this work was
printed on the first power printing press
brought into Michigan, and it is believed the
first one ever used west of Rochester, N. Y.
By the State Constitution, adopted in
1850, it is provided that no general revision
of the statutes shall be had, but that "when a
reprint becomes necessary the Legislature in
joint convention shall appoint a suitable per-
son to collect together such acts and parts of
acts as are in force, and without alteration,
arrange them under appropriate heads and
titles." Under this provision the late Judge
Thomas M. Cooley was appointed in 1857,
and the Compiled Laws of that year were the
result. They are in two volumes, with con-
secutive section numbers running through the
whole, giving great convenience of reference,
with marginal notes referring to decisions
bearing upon the matter of the text. The
next compilation, that of 1871, by Judge
James S. Dewey, has nothing specially to dis-
tinguish it from the former compilation.
12
MEN OF PROGRESS.
In 1882 the Legislature authorized the
purchase and official use of Judge Andrew
Howell's work, "The General Statutes of
Michigan in Force," popularly spoken of as
Howell's Annotated Statutes. The original
work is in two volumes, with very full nota-
tions, and a supplementary or third volume
published subsequently.
A new compilation was ordered by the
Legislature in 1885, and Lewis M. Miller was
appointed to the work. The publication of
the work was delayed for some months pend-
ing a suit at law in behalf of Judge Howell,
who alleged an infringement of copyright.
The case was, however, decided adversely to
Judge Howell, and the work has since been
published in three volumes, with an index
forming a fourth volume.
In 1873 a reprint of the territorial laws was
ordered by the Legislature, which is com-
prised in three volumes.
THE JUDICIARY.
Judges and Courts Under the Territorial Govern-
ment and Under the First Constitution-Associate
Judges in the Counties-Increase in the Number
was followed in organizing the courts under
the State government, the judges being ap-
of Circuits County Courts-The Supreme Court pointed as judges of the Supreme Court (one
-When Provided for and Organized-Provision
for a Fifth Judge-Circuit Court Commissioners
and Masters in Chancery.
per
The "Governor and Judges," as the law-
making and law-executing power under the
first territorial organization, have been else-
where referred to, the civil machinery was
aided by inferior courts. By act of the Gov-
ernor and Judges, July 27, 1818, a Court of
Probate was established in each county. A
system of County Courts and of District
Courts was also in vogue. A "Court of Gen-
eral Quarter Sessions of the Peace" was pro-
vided for by act of November 25, 1817, com-
posed of the justices of the county courts and
the justices of the peace of each county. They
were required to hold four stated sessions
year, their duties being similar to those of the
board of supervisors as now constituted.
Judicial officers (other than the federal
judges), including justices of the peace, were
appointed by the governor. Under the later
territorial regime the federal judges became
simply judicial officers, subject to the laws
enacted by Congress and by the Legislative
Council. By act of the Council of April 13,
1827, the three judges were constituted the
Supreme Court of the territory, with two ses-
sions of such court each year. The judges
were, however, made judges of the Circuit
Courts to be held in the counties. This plan
of them as Chief Justice), but assigned to the
several circuits as presiding judges. The
County Courts were composed of a chief jus-
tice and two associate justices. They had
jurisdiction in civil cases of all matters not
cognizable by justices of the peace up to one
thousand dollars, and concurrent jurisdiction
with the Circuit Courts in criminal cases, ex-
cept capital crimes. The office of master in
chancery existed, with powers analogous to
those of Circuit Court commissioners at the
present time.
By the constitution of 1835 it was provided
that "the judicial power shall be vested in one
Supreme Court, and in such other courts as
the Legislature may from time to time estab-
lish." It, however, provided for the election
of judges of probate, for judges of County
Courts, and for associate judges of Circuit
Courts. The provision as to judges of County
Courts was obsolete, as no County Courts ex-
isted at that time, it having been abolished by
the territorial law some years before and its
functions transferred to the Circuit Courts.
The judicial system, under the constitution,
was instituted in 1836. The appointment of
judges of the Supreme Court was provided
for, the judges being assigned to hold courts
in the circuits. Two associate judges were
elected in each county, who sat with the pre-
siding judge in the trial of causes, thus con-
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
13
tinuing a practice established under the terri-
torial regime. These "side judges," however,
as they were called, were found to be more
ornamental than useful, and they were dis-
pensed with in 1846. The State was first
divided into three circuits, which had in-
creased in number until by the constitution of
1850 it was provided that the State should be
divided into eight circuits, the judges being
elective. The number of circuits has in-
creased until there are now thirty-six, with
six judges in the Wayne circuit and two each
in the Kent, Saginaw and St. Clair circuits, a
total of forty-four judges. A Court of Chan-
cery was established in 1836, but was abol-
ished ten years later and its powers and func-
tions transferred to the Circuit Courts.
A County Court (which held no relation
to the territorial court by that name, which
had been discontinued as previously stated),
was provided for by statute in 1846. A
judge and second judge were to be elected,
each for a term of four years. The second
judge was to act only in cases where the judge
was a party in interest or in cases of absence
or disability. The court was to sit in term on
the first Monday of each month, and during
such part of the month as might be requisite
for transacting the business before it. This
court was the fruit of a reform agitation
largely centering in Washtenaw county,
which demanded cheaper and more speedy
means of securing (or trying to secure) justice
for the average citizen or poor litigant than
was afforded by the Circuit Courts. It was
not a popular institution with the lawyers,
who dubbed it "the one-horse court." It
went out of existence with the adoption of the
constitution of 1850. The circuit judges, sit-
ting together, constituted the Supreme Court
of the State until the system was changed as
hereafter noted.
Section 1 of article 6 of the constitution
provides: "The judicial power is vested in
one Supreme Court, in Circuit Courts, in Pro-
bate Courts, and in justices of the peace,"
with authority on the part of the Legislature
to establish municipal courts in cities. It was
provided that after six years the Legislature
might provide for what was popularly termed
an independent Supreme Court, "to consist of
one chief justice and three associate justices,"
to be elected by the people. This power was
acted upon by the Legislature of 1857, and
judges were elected at the spring election in
that year, the court being organized January
1, 1858. The term of the judges was eight
years, and they were so classified that their
terms expired successively every second year.
It is provided in the constitution that the
court, when established, should not be
changed for eight years. To what extent
changes might be made after eight years may
be a matter of construction. In 1867 the
Legislature so far departed from the letter of
the constitution as to provide that the judges
should be elected as judges or justices of the
Supreme Court, without designating any per-
son as chief justice, and that the senior judge
in service should be chief justice. An even
number of judges was found to work great
inconvenience, because on some questions of
importance there was an equal division, and
hence no decision. In 1885 a bill was intro-
duced in the State Senate by Senator Hubbell,
providing for an additional judge. An exam-
ination of the convention debates of 1850,
made at his request, showed quite clearly that
the intention was to have a bench of four
judges only. Whether this was his reason for
not pressing his bill is not known, but no ac-
tion was had upon it at that session. At the
next session a bill was passed for a fifth judge
with a ten-year term.
It was provided by the constitution that the
Legislature should, as far as practicable,
abolish the distinction between law and equity
proceedings. The office of master in chan-
cery was abolished, and the election of officers
known as Circuit Court commissioners was
authorized.
THE MILITARY RECORD.
COLONIAL AND INDIAN WARS.
First Conflict on Michigan Soil-One Thousand
Indians Slain-Decisive Campaigns Elsewhere-
Conspiracy of Pontiac-Battle of Bloody Bridge-
Massacre of Mackinac.
hand.
The first encounter of hostile forces within
the Territory of Michigan, of which we have
any record, was between the French and their
Indian allies on the one hand, and the Indians
in sympathy with the British on the other
The French and their allies were be-
sieged in their fort at Detroit, May 13, 1712,
but the besiegers finally decamped and en-
trenched themselves at Windmill Point, at
the foot of Lake St. Clair. They were fol-
lowed and themselves became the besieged
party. After four days they surrendered, and
all but the women and children were slain.
The loss of the French and allies was sixty
Indians killed and wounded. The enemy lost
a thousand.* The French, in their dealings
with the Indians, were more fortunate (or
more politic) than their English neighbors.
Their policy was one of good fellowship, of
conciliation and fairness, thus avoiding much
of the friction from which the English colo-
nists suffered.
The fate of nations is many times deter-
mined by battles fought outside of their own
territory. This has been the case twice, at
least, in the history of Michigan. From be-
ing a French dependency it came to the Brit-
ish as a result of the wars between the two
nations, 1754-63. The successful campaign
of Gen. George Rogers Clarke against the
British posts in the northwest during the war
of the revolution secured Michigan and the
Northwest Territory to the United States.
But the soil of Michigan, like that of every
*Judge Campbell's History, p. 84.
other part of the habitable globe, has drank
the blood of those who stood in its defense.
The conspiracy of the famous Indian chief,
Pontiac, in 1763, is detailed in all of the his-
tories. It is said that a council of Indians
was held, which was addressed by Pontiac.
He told them that it was the design of the
English to drive the Indians from their coun-
try, and that they were their natural and in-
veterate enemies. Whether the last be true
or not, or whether the first was true, as a mat-
ter of design, the aggressive chieftain was a
prophet of his race. The Indians have been
most effectively driven from their country.
Pontiac drew to his standard the Ottawas, the
Chippewas, the Miamis, the Pottowatomies,
and others. Their military operations ex-
tended along the entire line of the waters of
the lower lakes. They attacked the posts of
Le Boeuf, Venango, Presque Isle, Mackinac,
St. Joseph, Miami, Green Bay, Ouiatonon,
Pittsburg and Sandusky.* Detroit was the
pivotal point to which the campaign was di-
rected. It began substantially on May 1,
1763, and the first act in the drama occurred
some days later, when the plot to capture the
fort and garrison by surprise was betrayed to
the British commandant, Major Gladwin.
Pontiac and a party of his warriors, having
been admitted to the fort under pretext of a
conference, found the garrison under arms
and prepared to receive him, and was con-
fronted with the evidence of his treachery.
There was thenceforth a well understood
declaration of war. The Indians, as they
passed out of the fort, turned round and fired
upon the garrison, upon which they made suc-
cessive attacks, more annoying than danger-

*Lanman, p. 44.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
15
ous, and committed various acts of cruelty and fully reinforced by men, arms and supplies
barbarism.
A regular state of seige was established, the
fort was effectually blockaded and it supplies
cut off. A vessel with reinforcements and
supplies was sent from Niagara. Reaching
Point Pelee, the officer in command, appre-
hending no danger, made a landing and en-
camped. They suffered an early morning
attack from the Indians, by which two-thirds
of the command were made prisoners, the bal-
ance escaping to Sandusky. The Indians
compelled their captives to man the boats, in
which they proceeded up the river to Hog
Island (now Belle Isle), where they were mas-
sacred, except two who made their escape.
There was a practical termination of the war
with the battle of Bloody Bridge, or Bloody
Run, July 31. Although this encounter was
a costly one for the English, they had been so
that they were beyond immediate want or
danger. Intelligence of the treaty of peace
between France and Great Britain placed the
French inhabitants in the position of non-
combatants, even were they inclined to be
anything but friendly. The Indian force,
unsupported, had gradually lost strength and
confidence, and the British occupancy there-
after met with no serious resistance. The
massacre of the British garrison and post at
Mackinac, June 8, 1763, formed one of the
tragic scenes of the Pontiac conspiracy, but
can only be mentioned in passing. No battles
were fought on Michigan soil between the
American and British forces during the war
of the revolution, although Detroit was made
the base of operations by the British for some
of their military enterprises during the war.
Indian
THE WAR OF 1812.
Discontent-Tecumseh and His Brother,
"The Prophet"-The Hull Surrender-Massacre at
the River Raisin-Perry's Victory on Lake Erie-
Battle of the Thames and Death of Tecumseh-
British Occupancy of Detroit-A British Provis-
ional Government-Joint Proclamation by Gen-
eral Harrison and Commodore Perry-Capture of
Mackinac Island by the British.
Michigan enjoyed comparative exemption
from wars and rumors of wars until during
the first decade of the present century. Dis-
content with the Indian tribes then began to
manifest itself under the leadership of Tecum
seh, a Shawanese chief, who seems to have
been endowed with an organizing power equal
to that of Pontiac. His plan was to surprise
the posts of Detroit, Fort Wayne, Chicago, St.
Louis and Vincennes, and to unite all of the
tribes east of the Mississippi. He had a valu-
able ally in a brother, called the Prophet,
whose mission was to work upon the super-
stitious fear of the Indians. He repeated the
warning of Pontiac, that the design of the
whites was to push the Indian steadily back-
ward and to occupy his land. But except
some cases of lawlessness and violence, the agi-
tation seemed to bear no worse fruit than as a
preparation on the part of the Indian tribes
for becoming the allies of the British in the
war which was then threatened and which be-
came a fact in 1812.
Gen. Wm. Hull was then governor of
Michigan, and the defense of the territory fell
to his lot. Troops were mustered in Ohio and
dispatched to the territory. Among them
the name of Lewis Cass appears as a colonel.
After various manoeuvers and skirmishes on
the frontier on both sides, the British forces
under Gen. Brock crossed the river from
Sandwich on August 16. Advancing up the
river, they were preparing to engage the
American forces, when a flag of truce dis-
played by order of Gen. Hull stopped their
progress and the disgraceful surrender of the
town and of the American army without a
shot being fired, became a matter of history.
Comment upon the transaction and upon the
character and motives of Gen. Hull would be
entirely out of order in this connection.
was tried by court-martial for treason and
cowardice, but was acquitted on the first
He
16
MEN OF PROGRESS.
charge and convicted on the other, and sen-
tenced to be shot. He was pardoned by the
President in consideration of his former ser-
vices in the war of the revolution.
The massacre of the River Raisin was the
next notable event in the progress of the war
immediately affecting Michigan. To recover
the ground lost by the surrender of Detroit
and to give the British forces ample occupa-
tion, three armies were organized, threatening
the Canadian frontier, that of the west being
under Gen. Harrison, whose base was to be at
the head of Lake Erie. An advance division
of the army, composed of recruits from Ken-
tucky, reached Frenchtown, on the River
Raisin, January 13, 1813. On January 22
On January 22
they were surprised and attacked by a force of
British and Indians from Malden, now Am-
herstburg. A sanguinary battle ensued, re-
sulting in the surrender of the American
forces, with a guarantee of protection from
Indian barbarities. The stipulation on the
part of the British may have been intended in
good faith, although in view of the well-
known cruel instincts of the commander,
Proctor, this supposition may be taken with
much allowance. The American prisoners
were placed under guard, most of them being
confined in two houses, and Proctor, with his
regulars and Indian allies, took up a return
march to Malden, the ice affording passage
way. Next morning many of the Indians re-
turned, most of them drunk and decked with
war-paint. The sequel hardly needs to be
told. The houses in which the prisoners were
confined were set on fire and the inmates
burned within them. Others were cut down
and tomahawked, until the massacre was coin-
plete.
The naval command of Lake Erie now be-
came a necessity for recovering Detroit, which
was the key to the northwest. This was
effected by the victory of Commodore Perry,
September 10, 1813. This was soon followed
by the evacuation of Detroit by the British.
The water route to Canada being made clear
by the victory of Perry, the American troops,
under Harrison, occupied Malden, September
On
27. The place had been abandoned by Proc-
tor and the fort and storehouses burned.
September 30 Col. Richard M. Johnson, of
Kentucky, afterwards Vice-President under
Van Buren, reached Detroit by a land march,
with a division of Harrison's army. The
British occupancy of Detroit continued from
August 16, 1812, to September 28, 1813,
substantially thirteen and a half months. Dur-
ing the time many of the leading citizens were
compelled by the British commandant, Proc-
tor, to leave, because he feared, or pretended
to fear, their influence in opposition to his
rule. The citizens were subjected to many
other hardships for which, however, they were
amply repaid by events soon to follow.
Proctor, in his retreat, had taken a position
on the Thames river, near Lake St. Clair, in
Canada, his force consisting of some nine
hundred regulars and fifteen hundred In-
dians under Tecumseh. He was pursued
and given battle by Gen. Harrison, with
a force of about twenty-seven hundred,
largely young Kentuckians, who were burn-
ing to avenge the massacre of their fellows at
the River Raisin. The battle, which occurred
on October 5, was decisive in its results.
Proctor was defeated and his soldiers, other
than the Indians, were made prisoners. Te-
cumseh was killed, and by his death the
Indian power in the northwest was broken.
During their occupancy of Detroit, the
British, having virtual possession of the
northwest, established a provisional govern-
ment. Upon their return to Detroit, after
the victory over Proctor, October 18, 1813,
Gen. Harrison and Commodore Perry issued
a joint proclamation for the better govern-
ment of the territory, and guaranteeing to the
inhabitants their rights of property and the
enjoyment of their ancient laws and usages.
With peculiar alertness, those in command.
of the British forces in Canada dispatched a
body of troops to capture the island of Macki-
nac, immediately upon the breaking out of
hostilities. These troops, supported by a
thousand or more Indians, were the first to
apprise the American garrison at Mackinac,




7
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
17
consisting of a mere handful of men in charge
of a lieutenant, that war had been declared.
The alternative was presented to the garrison
of a peaceful surrender or a massacre as the
price of an assault, and as resistance would
have been hopeless, the prudent course was
adopted from necessity. An unsuccessful
effort was made in July, 1814, under Col.
George Croghan, to recover the island, but as
its possession was of little importance with
Detroit secure to the American arms, it was
thereafter suffered to remain in the undis-
puted possession of the British till the close of
the war.
THE SHADOW OF TWO WARS.
The Toledo War-A Bloodless Campaign-The international comity required at least a show
Patriot War-Canadian Refugees in Detroit-
Local Sentiment in Sympathy With Them-
Efforts of State and Government Officials to
Maintain Neutrality-Invasion of Canada at
Windsor-Its Disastrous Failure-Participants
Hanged and Transported-John H. Harmon-Dr.
E. A. Theller.
Two wars that cast brief shadows over the
borders of Michigan are usually adverted to
by writers with more or less of lightness, bor-
dering on the ludicrous. The campaign
undertaken by Michigan, known as the To-
ledo war, to assert her just claim to the strip
of land in which the city of Toledo is situated,
was one fully justified by the condition of
affairs at the time. The land unquestionably
belonged to Michigan, and Michigan had a
right to assert her claim to it by force of arms
as a last resort. A military force was regu-
larly mustered and dispatched for the purpose.
Had the expedition resulted in a sanguinary
battle, it would have been dignified in the his-
tories, but as its greatest recorded exploit was
a charge upon a melon patch, it has been re-
garded as a burlesque. The peaceful issue
was more to the honor of the chief actors than
a bloody battle would have been.
The "Patriot War" was of another stamp.
The occasion of it was a revolt on the part of
certain Canadians against British authority,
and an effort to wrest Canada from the Brit-
ish crown.
The first outbreak was on the
Niagara frontier, but the scene soon changed
to the west, and was the cause of a local agita-
tion for over a year.
In December, 1837,
large numbers of refugees sought asylum in
Detroit. The general sentiment of the peo-
ple was favorable to them and their cause, but
popu-
of neutrality. It should be borne in mind
that at that time popular feeling in the United
States was specially hostile to everything Brit-
ish. It could hardly be characterized by any
term short of bitter, and was not modified by
any refinement of sentiment among a people
whose environment compelled them to wrestle
with the stern realities of a life on the border.
The spirit of '76 was still very much alive in
the hearts of the Americans, and the recollec-
tion of the war of 1812 was still vivid with
many. Hence, while officially there was a
sincere effort to preserve neutrality, the
lar voice favored the so-called partiots. Arms
designed for the local militia readily found
their way into the hands of the patriots.
Steamboats on the river were either stolen or
otherwise impressed into their service, and
they were given aid and comfort by means of
supplies and in various other ways. The
patriots planned to establish a base of opera-
tions against Fort Malden at Gibraltar, a point
on the river a few miles below Detroit. They
occupied Fighting Island, and were shelled by
the Canadians with considerable loss. In the
winter of 1837-8 a small company openly pa-
raded at Pontiac, receiving some recruits
there. The United States and State authori-
ties co-operated in the effort to prevent overt
acts that would compromise the country, al-
though largely no doubt sympathizing with
the patriots. The last desperate cast was made
December 4, 1838, when a band of two hun-
dred or more boarded the steamboat Cham-
plain (which had doubtless been left in a con-
dition to be so taken), crossed the river to a
point a short distance above Windsor, and

18
MEN OF PROGRESS.
burned the barracks. Their march was
quickly cut short by the British regulars.
They suffered a loss of over twenty killed,
with many prisoners, and in their efforts to
recross the river a number were frozen to
death. Among those who were of the party,
and who escaped, was the late ex-Mayor John
H. Harmon, of Detroit, then a young man
about twenty years of age. Several who fell
into the hands of the Canadians during the
imbroglio were hanged, but the greater num-
ber were transported. The agitation was
kept up for some time after this tragic end-
ing. Dr. E. A. Theller, who had been taken
prisoner during the early part of the trouble
and confined in a prison at Kingston, had
escaped, and was a resident of Detroit. In
the winter of 1839-40 he was publishing a
paper devoted to the patriot cause, entitled
"The Spirit of '76."
THE WAR WITH MEXICO.
Causes Leading to the War-The Annexation of
Texas-Michigan Troops in the War-General
Taylor-General Scott-Alleged Political Schem-
ing.
The war with Mexico came as a conse-
quence of the admission of Texas as a State of
the Union. The Territory of Texas was a
part of Mexico, but the northern portion of
it was settled by emigrants from the United
States, who set up an independent govern-
ment. The government of Texas was recog
nized by the United States as a sovereign
power, but was not recognized by Mexico,
although she had probably little hope of ever
recovering the territory. It was the general
expectation that the annexation of Texas,
which had been agitated for some years, meant
war with Mexico. Among the last acts of
the twenty-eighth Congress, in the expiring
days of the administration of President Tyler,
was the act for the admission of Texas as a
State of the Union, in 1845. Thereupon en-
sued a political game of chess. President
Polk's administration expected war, but did
not want to begin it. Mexico would proba-
bly have swallowed the annexation pill, even
though a little bitter, if the River Neuces had
been made the southern boundary. But the
United States claimed to the Rio Grande,
and Gen. Taylor, with the "army of occupa-
tion," was ordered to the north bank of that
river, metaphorically with "a chip on his
shoulder." The Mexicans crossed the river
in force and gave him battle at Palo Alto,
May 8, 1846, suffering a defeat, however.
On May 13 Congress declared that "by the act
of the republic of Mexico a state of war ex-
ists." In this way the war with Mexico came
about. The record, so far as it affects Michi-
gan directly, is a brief one.
The first requisition for troops for the war
was for a company of dragoons for the regu-
lar army, which was soon raised. Gen. An-
drew T. McReynolds, who died at Grand
Rapids during the last months of 1898, was
captain, and the men were recruited under
his direction. A company of infantry was
also raised for the regular army, and an addi-
tional company for garrison duty. A full
regiment of infantry was subsequently raised,
with T. B. W. Stockton as colonel, A. S. Will-
iams as lieutenant-colonel, John V. Ruehle as
major, and J. E. Pittman as adjutant. This
regiment was made a part of the force with
which Gen. Scott made the campaign from
Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico.
A word as to the course of the Mexican cam-
paign. Gen. Taylor had won every battle in
which he had encountered a foe in Northern
Mexico, and in every case with greatly in-
ferior numbers. The Washington authorities
changed the plan of campaign, placing Gen.
Scott in command of the principal army that
was to march against the City of Mexico, by
way of Vera Cruz. The greater part of Gen.
Taylor's force was withdrawn to help make
up the army under Gen. Scott.
It was
charged at the time that this was dictated by
political considerations. The national admin-
istration was Democratic, and Gen. Taylor

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
19
was understood to be a Whig in politics. It
was alleged that the principal campaign had
been diverted from Taylor and his force deci-
mated, lest his continued success should give
him a prestige that would make him a dan-
gerous rival in the next presidential cam-
paign. But Gen. Scott, to whom the main
command was given, was also a Whig and &
presidential possibility, and if there was any
politics in the deal the more reasonable pre-
sumption would be that it was designed by
Gen. Scott himself to prevent the rise of a
rival in his own party. There would seem to
have been good military reasons for the
change, however. The land march from Vera
Cruz to the City of Mexico was less than half
what it would have been by an overland cam
paign from the north.
THE GREAT CIVIL WAR.
Troops
First Steps Taken in Michigan-First
Raised-Successive Calls for Troops-Ready Re-
sponse on the Part of the State-Enlistments,
Drafts and Commutations-Whole Number of
Troops Sent to the Front from Michigan-Table
of Enlistments by Counties-Bounty Jumpers-
"We are Coming, Father Abraham"-Southern
Refugees in Canada-C. L. Vallandigham-Cap-
ture of the Philo Parsons-Bennet G. Burley-
"Michigan in the War"-A Brief Summary-
Tabular Exhibit of Michigan Regiments in the
War The Artillery Service-Col. C. O. Loomis-
Grand Army of the Republic.
As we reach the greater military epoch in
the history of the State and nation, the record
must needs grow proportionately less as to
detail. A reference to the history of politi-
cal parties will show the trend of events lead-
ing up to the armed conflict which raged for
four years, beginning with the capture of
Fort Sumter, April 4, 1861. For full details
of the part borne by Michigan in the great
struggle, reference is made to the work en-
titled "Michigan in the War," a volume of
over 1,000 pages, compiled by Adjutant-Gen-
eral John Robertson, under authority of the
Legislature, from which this sketch is mainly
compiled.
The first act in the drama directly appeal-
ing to Michigan was in response to the requisi-
tion of President Lincoln, calling for a regi-
ment of infantry from the State. A confer
ence, suggested by Gov. Blair, was held in
Detroit, April 16, 1861, at which financial
pledges were made on which the necessary
work could be undertaken, there being no
available fund in the State treasury for the
purpose. By proclamation of the governor,
the work of raising the ten companies of in-
fantry was at once begun. The Legislature
was called to meet in extraordinary session
May 7, at which a war loan of one million
dollars was authorized. For such specific in-
formation as can be given regarding the forces
raised and sent to the front by the State dur-
ing the war, reference is made to the tabular
exhibit which appears in another place.
The troops first raised were for a three
months' service only, it being believed and
hoped that the war would be of short dura-
tion. The requisition for one regiment was,
however, soon followed by a call for three ad-
ditional regiments. The enlistment of 500,-
000 volunteers was authorized by act of Con-
gress, August 3, 1861, under which the quota
of Michigan was 19,500. Quoting from the
work above cited, page 20: "Michigan, in
response to this requisition, continued con-
stant recruiting, sending regiment after regi-
ment to the field, and up to December, 1861,
had sent to the front thirteen regiments of
infantry, three of cavalry and five batteries of
light artillery, with a total strength of 16,475
officers and men. In addition to this, thir-
teen companies had gone into service in regi-
ments of other States, failing to find service
in those of their own." Reports made to the
adjutant-general's office in July, 1862,
showed a total enrollment of 24,281 officers
and men,since the commencement of the war,
to which, adding those gone outside and oth-
ers incidentally mentioned, gave a presumed
total of 27,000. Recruiting was continued
energetically and systematically. The con-
20
MEN OF PROGRESS.
ference of loyal governors at Altoona, Pa.,
had advised President Lincoln to further steps
for increasing the effective force, and on July
2, 1862, a further call for 300,000 troops was
made, of which the quota of Michigan was
11,686. The next call for troops was for
300,000 to be raised by draft, the quota from
Michigan being the same as under the last
preceding call, 11,686. Not to follow up the
various calls, the last of which was on Decem-
ber 19, 1864, for 300,000, the Annual Cyclo-
pedia for 1865 gives the total under all the
calls during the war at 2,759,049. Of this
total, Michigan furnished, in round numbers,
90,000; 4,281 having been raised by draft at
different times, the others by enlistment.
Under a law of Congress, drafted persons were
allowed to commute by a money payment of
$300, and of the number drafted 1,982 are
reported as having commuted, paying into the
United States treasury the sum of $594,600.
Without being exact, it is near enough for
the purpose to say that the State had sent to
the front, before a draft was ordered, say
30,000. The remaining 60,000 of the total
of 90,000 demanded of the State would pre-
sumably have been raised by draft in default
of enlistments. So that of the 60,000 that
might have been raised by draft, only 4,281
were so raised; the remainder offered their
services by enlistment. Of this number (over
55,000), there is no means of knowing what
proportion was impelled by a patriotic sense
of duty, and what proportion by the large
bounties offered. It is presumed, however,
that, obedient to the patriotic spirit then prev-
alent, a sense of duty was the controlling, if
not the only, motive, with most of them. To-
ward the close of the conflict, it is said in
"Michigan in the War," page 60: "With the
great increase of government, State and local
bounties in 1864, commenced the decrease of
patriotism to a great extent among those en-
listing, and which continued to lessen and
lessen, and at the commencement of 1865 it
was not held out as any inducement to enter
the service. Enlistments had become a mat-
ter of bargain and sale, dollars and cents
almost entirely ruling the action." With this
class the mercenary was the impelling motive,
and many of them, after securing the bounty
fled to Canada, so that the term "bounty
jumper" became a current and most expres-
sive, as well as opprobious, one.
In many
cases the same person, after securing the
bounty, would skip and re-enlist in another
place, not unfrequently repeating the per-
formance two or three times. Along the Ca-
nadian frontier, especially, this was a com-
paratively easy matter. Very many of the
recruits in eastern Michigan were drawn from
Canada, although there is no warrant for say-
ing that bounty-jumping was any more com-
mon with this class of recruits than with any
other class.
As showing the sentiment that prevailed
with the people of the north during the war,
and their determination to prosecute it to a
finish, the following song, inspired by one of
the earlier calls for troops, is worthy of re-
production:
THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE.
We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred
thousand more,
From Mississippi's winding stream and from New
England's shore;
We leave our ploughs and workshops, our wives
and children dear,
With hearts too full for utterance, with but a
silent tear;
We dare not look behind us, but steadfastly be-
fore;
We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred
thousand more.
If you look across the hilltops that meet the
northern sky,
Long moving lines of rising dust your vision may
descry;
And now the wind, an instant, tears the cloudy
veil aside,
And floats aloft our spangled flag in glory and in
pride,
And bayonets in the sunlight gleam, and bands
brave music pour;
We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred
thousand more.
If you look all up our valleys where the growing
harvests shine,
You may see our sturdy farmer boys fast forming
into line;
And children from their mothers' knees are pull-
ing at the weeds,
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
21
And learning how to reap and sow against their
country's needs;
And a farewell group stands weeping at every
cottage door;
We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred
thousand more.
You have called us, and we're coming, by Rich-
mond's bloody tide,
To lay us down, for freedom's sake, our brother's
bones beside,
Or from foul treason's savage grasp to wrench the
murderous blade,
And in the face of foreign foes its fragments to
parade.
Six hundred thousand loyal men and true have
gone before;
We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred
thousand more.
Canada was a land of resort for the south-
ern people during the war. Many southern
families who were accustomed to spend the
summer months at the north, chose Canada
rather than the popular resorts in the north-
ern States for their summer abode. These
were sojourners rather than refugees. The
refugees, however, formed much the larger
proportion of the southern contingent in Can-
ada. These were made up of refugees from
the border States and of Confederate soldier-
prisoners escaping and taking refuge in
Canada.
man,
Clement L. Vallandigham was an Ohio
and an ex-Congressman. He was by
conviction an ultra State Rights Democrat,
and could not give his assent to a war which
(if successful) must be fatal to the State
Rights doctrine. He was outspoken in his
views, was arrested by military authority
while martial law was paramount, at the place
of his residence, and was transported across
the border into the Confederate lines. He
made his way into Canada and took up his
residence at Windsor, where he was, so to
speak, the lion of the day, receiving many
calls form prominent men of Michigan, who,
while not sympathizing with his views, felt,
at the same time, a degree of admiration for
his spirit. The Democratic national conven-
tion in 1864 met in Chicago, at which Mr.
Vallandigham was in attendance, having
braved whatever danger there might have
been of a re-arrest. This reference to a single
fact of history is not with the view of recall-
ing the causes of the partisan differences that
existed forty years ago. It was inevitable
that members of the Democratic party, of
strong convictions, should look with little
favor upon this war, although it was beyond
the power of man to avert it. Mr. Vallan-
digham was one of these. He was a man of
marked ability, honesty and sincerity. A
reference to his tragic end will be pardoned
in this connection, though not strictly ger-
mane to the matter in hand. He returned to
his home and resumed the practice of the law.
He was defending a man who was on trial for
a murder alleged to have been committed with
a pistol. In endeavoring to show how the
shot might have been accidental, he placed a
pistol in his pocket, and as he drew it out for
the purpose of illustration, the weapon was
discharged, the ball taking effect in his abdo-
men.
During the war there were rumors at vari-
ous times of plots, originating with the south-
ern refugees in Canada against Detroit and
other points along the border. One of these
rumors was to the effect that a plot existed for
firing the city on the night of October 3,
1863. It occasioned a whirl of popular ex-
citement, the fire department and the local
military companies were cautioned to be in
readiness for any emergency, and a special
citizen police was organized. Other rumors
looked to the seizure of arms in the State
armory at Detroit and in the government ar-
senal at Dearborn. There was but one plot,
however, that came to a head. This plot con-
templated the seizure of the steamboat Philo
Parsons, then plying between Detroit and
Sandusky, the capture of the United States
revenue cutter Michigan, the liberation of the
Confederate prisoners on Johnson's Island, in
Lake Erie, and the prosecution of such further
enterprises as, by the fortunes of war, might
come in the way of the projectors. The
scheme was undoubtedly a part of the plan of
campaign projected or approved by the Con-
federate government at Richmond, and Jacob
22
MEN OF PROGRESS.

Thompson, who had been a cabinet officer
under the administration of President
Buchanan, was regarded as its chief organizer
and promoter in Canada. Those who were to
be the active agents in the work held commis-
sions from the Confederate authorities for
both naval and land service. On the morn-
ing of September 19, 1864, Bennet G. Bur-
ley, who held a commission as an acting mas-
ter in the Confederate navy, with several
others, took passage on the Parsons at Detroit.
and were joined at Sandwich and Amherst
burg, in Canada, where the Parsons called on
her route to Sandusky, by others, some thirty
in all. When near Middle Bass Island, in
Lake Erie, those in command of the Parsons
were made prisoners, and the boat was taken
possession of by the plotters. They also cap-
tured the steamer Island Queen, with some
twenty-five United States soldiers on board.
Failing to receive the signal of co-operation
that was looked for on nearing Sandusky, the
conspirators put about on a return course,
touched at lighting Island, and landed their
prisoners, and came to dock at Sandwich,
where they abandoned the Parsons, and the
boat was subsequently reclaimed by her own-
Burley was arrested by the Canadian
authorities, and was in due course surrendered
to the United States and brought to Detroit
from Toronto, where he had been confined.
It was found that there was no law of the
United States under which he could be tried
for any offense. But his offense having been
committed on the waters of Lake Erie, within
the jurisdiction of Ohio, he was tried in an
Ohio court for robbery. There was a disa-
greement of the jury under the charge of the
judge, that Burley, holding the commission
of the Confederate States, his act was an act
of war and not a common felony. Pending
a second trial, Burley escaped from jail and
returned to Scotland, his native country.*
With the close of the war, the Michigan
troops were the first to receive homing orders,
the first to arrive being the Twentieth regi-
ment, June 4, 1865, and the last the Third
and Fourth, June 10, 1866. A welcoming
address, in the form of a proclamation, was
issued by Governor Crapo.
The annexed tabular exhibits of the organ-
ization and service of Michigan regiments in
the war give much information in condensed
form, and will be found of interest.
*Letter of Hon. Alfred Russell, Michigan in
War, p. 137.
REGIMENTS.
CAVALRY
WHEN
MUSTERED OUT.
DIED OF DISEASE.
KILLED AND
DIED
OF WOUNDS.
Men.
AND SKIRMISHES.
No. OF BATTLES
Officers.
COLONEL
COMMANDING.
WHEN
MUSTERED IN.
LEFT
FOR THE FRONT.
REGIMENTS.
First Regiment.
Second Regiment.
Third Regiment.
Fourth Regiment
Fifth Regiment,.
Sixth Regiment
Seventh Regiment.
Eighth Regiment.
Ninth Regiment.
Tenth Regiment.
Eleventh Regiment.
T. F. Brodhead
..
Wm. C. Davis, Lt. Col.
F. W. Kellogg
R. H G. Minty.
Jos. T. Copeland
George Gray
John Stockton...
Wm. D Mann
James I. David...
Thaddeus Foote.
Simeon B. Brown.
Sept. 13, 1861.
Oct. 2, 1861.
Nov. 1. 1861.
Aug. 29, 1862.
Aug. 20, 1862.
Oct. 13, 1862.
May 2, 1863.
May 19, 1863.
Nov. 18, 1863.
Dec. 10, 1863
Sept. 29, 1861.
Nov. 14, 1861.
Nov. 28, 1861.
Sept. 26, 1862
Dec. 4, 1862.
Dec. 10, 1862.
Feb. 20, 1863.
Dec. 1, 1863.
Dec. 10, 1863.
HORR
15
138
251
2
68
268
Aug. 17, 1865
3
32
379
Feb. 15, 1866
3
44
328
July 1, 1865
5
117
236
113
266
4
71
247
30
290
Sept. 22, 1865
224
153
July 9, 1865
240
Nov. 11, 1865
114
† In December, 1862, the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh regiments were formed into a brigade at Washington, under Col. Copeland as Brigadier General. The First
regiment was afterwards added. The brigade is credited with having participated in 55 battles and skirmishes.
* Capture of Jeff. Davis under Lieut. Col. Pritchard, May 10, 1865.
sent west to aid in quieting Indian troubles.
After the close of the war a portion of the brigade was

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
23

REGIMENTS.
PLACE OF
RENDEZVOUS.
INFANTRY REGIMENTS.
COLONEL
COMMANDING.
WHEN
MUSTERED IN.
LEFT
FOR THE FRONT.
KILLED IN
BATTLE AND
DIED OF
WOUNDS.
No. OF BATTLES
AND
SKIRMISHES.
Officers.
Men.
DIED OF DISEASE.
WHEN
MUSTERED OUT.
First Regiment, 3 months
First Regiment, 3 years..
*
Second Regiment.
Third Regiment.
Third Regiment
*
Fourth Regiment.
Fourth Regiment
Fifth Regiment
Sixth Regiment
Eighth Regiment..
Seventh Regiment.
Ninth Regiment.
Tenth Regiment.
..
Detroit (Ft. Wayne)
Ann Arbor...
Detroit
Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids..
Adrian.
Adrian
Detroit (Ft. Wayne)
Kalamazoo...
Monroe
Grand Rapids
Detroit (Ft. Wayne)
Flint
White Pigeon.
Niles
Kalamazoo
Eleventh Regiment.
Twelfth Regiment.
Thirteenth Regiment
Fourteenth Regiment,
Fifteenth Regiment..
Ypsilanti
Monroe..
Sixteenth Regiment.
Detroit
Seventeenth Regiment.
Detroit
· Eighteenth Regiment.
Hillsdale
Nineteenth Regiment.
Twentieth Regiment,.
Twenty-First Regiment.
Twenty-Second Regiment..
Twenty-Third Regiment..
Twenty-Fourth Regiment.
Twenty-Fifth Regiment,.
Twenty-Sixth Regiment
Twenty-Seventh Regiment.
Twenty-Eighth Regiment..
Dowagiac.
Jackson
Ionia
Pontiac
East Saginaw
Detroit
Kalamazoo.
Jackson ..
Ypsilanti.
Marshall
Saginaw
Detroit
Twenty-Ninth Regiment.
Thirtieth Regiment..
Colored Regiment, 102d U. S....
Detroit
First Regiment Sharpshooters
Engineers and Mechanics
Kalamazoo
Marshall...
•
Orlando B. Wilcox...
John C. Robinson
J. B. Richardson
Daniel McConnell
M. B. Houghton.
Dwight A. Woodbury.
Jarius W. Hall
Henry D. Terry.
Fred'k W. Curtenius.
Ira R. Grosvenor..
Wm. M. Fenton.
Wm. W. Duffield.
Charles M. Lum...
Wm. J.May.
Francis Quinn.
Chas. E. Stuart..
Rob't P. Sinclair
John M. Oliver
T. B. W. Stockton
Wm. H. Withington.
Chas. E. Doolittle
Henry C. Gilbert.
A. W. Williams
Ambrose A. Stevens.
Moses Wisner
Marshall W. Chapin
Henry A. Morrow
Orlando H. Moore
Judson S. Farrar.
Dorus M. Fox..
Wm. W. Wheeler
Thomas Taylor
Grover T. Wormer.
Henry Barnes
Chas. V. DeLand..
Wm. P. Innes
May 1, 1861.
May 13, 1861.
2
3
3
4
Aug. 7, 1861
46
15
135
93
July 9, 1865
May 21, 1861.
June 6, 1861.
41
11
194
116
July 29, 1865
June 10, 1861.
Oct. 15, 1864.
June 20, 1861.
Oct. 14, 1864.
Aug. 28, 1861.
June 13, 1861.
36 4
143
77
June 20, 1864
Oct. 20, 1864.
2 1
1
156
June 10, 1865
June 25, 1861.
53
12
165
96
June 19, 1864
Oct. 22, 1864.
3
17
141
June 10, 1866
Sept 11, 1861.
38 16
216
166
July 5, 1865
Aug. 30, 1861.
21 2
61
476
Sept. 5, 1865
Sept. 5, 1861.
37 11
160
157
July 5, 1865
Sept. 27, 1861.
36 12
194
197
Aug. 3, 1865
Oct. 15, 1861.
Feb. 6 1862
Sept. 24, 1861.
March 5, 1862.
Oct. 25, 1861.
10
2
18
272
Sept. 15, 1865
April 22, 1862.
29
7
81
211
Aug. 1, 1865
Dec. 9, 1861.
15
5
81
199
Sept. 30, 1864
Mar. 18, 1862.
9
51
380
Feb. 15, 1865
Jan. 17, 1862.
Feb. 13, 1862.
March 20, 1862.
24
5
70
316
July 25, 1865
April 17 1862.
18
48
198
July 18, 1865
Mar. 27, 1862.
24
3
66
268
Sept. 1, 1865
Nov. 16, 1861.
52
12
203
128
July 25, 1865
Aug. 27, 1862.
30
7
124
152
June 3, 1865
Aug. 26, 1862.
Sept 5, 1862
Aug. 19, 1862.
Sept. 4, 1862.
Aug. 29, 1862.
Sept. 4, 1862.
6
13
297
June 26, 1865
Sept. 14, 1862.
12 7
88
142
June 13, 1865
Sept. 1. 1862.
29
13
2:0
176
June 9, 1865
Sept. 12, 1862.
13
3
71
294
June 13, 1865
Sept. 4, 1862.
8
3
79
292
June 26, 1865
Sept. 13, 1862.
Aug. 15, 1862.
Sept. 18, 1862.
25
4
55
228
June 28, 1865
Sept. 22, 1862.
Dec. 12, 1862.
April 10, 1863.
Aug. 29, 1862.
Sept. 29, 1862.
Dec. 13, 1862.
20 13
156
144
June 30, 1865
28
1
34
131
June 24, 1865
29
3
98
158
June 16, 1865
April 12, 1863.
29
206
203
July 26, 1865
Oct. 26, 1864.
2
1
4
123
June 5, 1866
Oct. 3, 1864.
Jan. 9, 1865.
Feb. 17, 1864.
July 7, 1863
Dec. 11, 1861.
Oct. 6, 1864.
5
1
5
65
Sept. 6, 1865
On home duty only
18
June 30, 1865
Mar. 28, 1864.
10
9
129
Sept. 30, 1865
23
6
107
150
July 28, 1865
Dec. 17, 1861.
9
342
...
Oct. 1, 1865
::
A number of the regiments were organized under special authority by well known citizens, who did not accompany them to the field. Among them were:
Tenth, E. H. Thompson; Seventeenth, James E. Pittman; Eighteenth, Henry Waldron; Twentieth, Fidus Livermore; Twenty-First, J. B. Welsh; Twenty-Third,
David H. Jerome; Twenty-Fifth, H. G. Wells; Twenty-Ninth, John F. Driggs. The regiment of Sharpshooters and of Engineers and Mechanics, though not properly
Infantry regiments, are given that classification as matter of convenience.
* Re-organized.
24
MEN OF PROGRESS.
The First Regiment of Light Artillery was
formed under Col. C. O. Loomis, of Cold-
water. The regiment consisted of twelve bat-
teries, to which two were afterwards added.
The regiment never served as a unit, the sev-
eral batteries being assigned to service in vari-
ous commands. Hence the facts of their his-
tory cannot well be tabulated. The regiment
carried on its rolls 3,333 officers and men.
Battery "A," of the regiment, was the famous
"Loomis battery," renowned for the effective-
ness of its service, its dramatic history and the
equally dramatic history of its commander.
The story of the gruesome travels of the com-
mander's remains after his death makes a pa-
thetic chapter in the history of the war.
Michigan furnished forty-five regiments
during the war. These, with an average of
one thousand to each regiment, would repre-
sent only one-half of the 90,000 credited to
the State. But a number of the regiments
were reorganized with an entire new enroll-
ment, while many others received additions to
make for losses so as to keep their numbers
up
good. Some of the regiments had on their
rolls at different times over three thousand
names. This will explain the apparent dis-
crepancy between the number of regiments
and the whole number of soldiers supplied by
the State. In "Michigan in the War," page
62-3, is a tabular exhibit showing the number
of troops apportioned to each county under
the several calls, and the number supplied by
enlistment and by draft.
As supplemental to any history of the civil
war, a reference to the Grand Army of the
Republic familiarly designated by its initial
letters, G. A. R.-cannot well be omitted.
The organization was first proposed by Major
B. F. Stephenson, of Springfield, Illinois, and
was perfected at that place in 1866. Its ob-
jects are officially stated to be:
1. To preserve and strengthen those kind and
fraternal feelings which bind together the soldiers,
sailors and marines who united to suppress the late
rebellion, and to perpetuate the memory and his-
tory of the dead.
2. To assist such former comrades in arms as
need help and protection, and to extend needful
aid to the widows and orphans of those who have
fallen.
3. To maintain true allegiance to the United
States of America, based upon a paramount respect
for, and fidelity to, its constitution and laws; to
discountenance whatever tends to weaken loyalty,
incites to insurrection, treason or rebellion, or in
any manner impairs the efficiency and permanency
of our free institutions; and to encourage the
spread of universal liberty, equal rights and justice
to all men.
In September, 1866, Gen. R. A. Alger
went to Pittsburgh, Pa., and was made a mem-
ber of the order. In May, 1867, at a gather-
ing of soldiers and sailors in Detroit, an or-
ganization was perfected and Gen. Alger was
chosen department commander. He served
until March 28, 1868, when, at an encamp-
ment held at Detroit, Gen. Wm. A. Throop
was elected to that office. At Lansing, Janu
ary 27, 1869, at an encampment held, Col.
Wm. Humphrey was elected. In 1870 Col.
C. J. Dickerson, of Hillsdale, was elected, and
during this administration the order in Michi-
gan virtually disbanded, as it did in several
other of the western States, said to have been
because of politics entering the counsels of the
order.
The supplement to the last published jour-
nal of the encampment, held at Port Huron
in June, 1898, is introduced by this para-
graph:
"In March, 1878, the Provisional Depart-
ment of the Grand Army of the Republic in
Michigan, barely existed. There were sup-
posed to be in existence four posts in reality
there were but two that showed any life."
From this it would appear that a provi-
sional organization existed, with a view to the
formal reconstruction of the order in the
State. This was undertaken by Col. C. V.
R. Pond, of Quincy, Branch County, who was
appointed by the commander-in-chief of the
national organization as "Commander of the
Provisional Department of Michigan." The
formal reorganization was effected at a meet-
ing held in Grand Rapids, January 22, 1879.
Col. Pond was elected department commander
and was elected for a second year in 1880.
The annual gatherings of the order are known


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
25
as encampments, the last one having been
held at Petoskey, June 21-22, 1899, being
the twentieth annual encampment under the
reorganization. The order is distinctively
military in its official nomenclature and in its
forms and methods. Subsequent department
commanders have been: A. T. McReynolds,
Byron R. Pierce, O. A. Janes, R. J. Shank,
Chas. D. Long, John Northwood, L. G. Ruth-
erford, Washington Gardner, Michael Brown,
H. M. Duffield, C. L. Eaton, Henry S. Dean,
J. H. Kidd, Louis Kanitz, S. B. Daboll, Wm.
Shakespeare, A. T. Bliss and Alex. L. Patrick.
Russel R. Pealer was chosen at the Petoskey
encampment in 1899. Col. Pond has been for
some years past the assistant adjutant-general
and practically in charge of the executive
work of the order, having an office in the
capitol building at Lansing. The order has
official recognition in various acts of the Leg-
islature, and its reports are addressed to the
governor. The number of posts in the State
June 30, 1899, was 335, and the total mem-
bership 15,237.
THE WAR WITH SPAIN.

of the Na-
In-Sum-
War Loan Authorized-Mobilization
tional Guard-Regiments Mustered
mary of Their Service-Gen. Henry M. Duffield-
Col. Cornelius Gardner-The Naval Reserves.
Early in the year 1898 a conflict of arms
between the United States and Spain became
inevitable. The legislature being in session,
a loan of $500,000 was authorized to meet the
exigency that was expected to arise, and to
enable Michigan to act promptly in meeting
any demand that might be made upon her for
troops for the national service. On April 23,
1898, President McKinley issued his procla-
mation calling for 125,000 volunteers to en-
gage in the war with Spain. Michigan's
quota of this number was 4,104, to consist of
four regiments of infantry of 1,026 officers
and men each. On the following day Gen-
eral Order No. 5 was issued for the mobiliza-
tion of the entire Michigan National Guard at
Island Lake April 26, 1898, and the work of
re-forming the Michigan National Guard to
meet the exigency of the call made upon it
by the President, was undertaken. The four
regiments were designated as Thirty-first,
Thirty-second, Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth
Michigan Volunteer Infantry, following in
numerical order the infantry regiments of the
civil war. On May 25 an additional regi-
ment from Michigan was called for by the
President, and was numbered as the Thirty-
fifth. The five regiments were mustered as
follows:
REGIMENTS.
WHEN MUSTERED.
Thirty-first
May 10.
Thirty-second
May 11.
May 20.
May 25.
July 25.
Thirty-Third.
Thirty-fourth
Thirty-fifth..
COLONEL
COMMANDING.
Cornelius Gardener.
Wm. T. McGurrin.
Chas. L. Boynton.
John P. Petermann.
E. M. Irish.
The Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth Michi-
gan formed part of the expedition under com-
mand of Gen. Shafter against Santiago, and
bore their full share of the hardships and dan-
gers of that expedition.*
Col. Henry M. Duffield, of Detroit, was ap-
pointed a brigadier-general of volunteers May
27, 1898, and was in command of a brigade
embracing the two regiments last named and
the Ninth Massachusetts. He was the only
general officer appointed to a command in the
volunteer service from Michigan during the
war.
While the Thirty-first, Thirty-second and
Thirty-fifth regiments were never under fire,
they were ready and eager for active service
when the bugle sounded. After American rule
was established in Havana, the Thirty-first
regiment was one of those chosen for the
policing of the island in order to prevent law-
lessness and possible insurrections in the in-
terior. The Thirty-second and the Thirty-
fifth never left the soil of the United States.
The Thirty-first lost 17 men who died of dis
20. The Thirty-third lost 61, three of whom
ease in the service. The Thirty-second lost
*Adjutant-General's Report, 1898.
26
MEN OF PROGRESS.
were killed by a bursting shell at Aguadores.
The Thirty-fourth suffered most from yellow
fever and lost in all 88 men. The Thirty-
fifth lost 24.
When the government decided to increase
the forces engaged in putting down the Phil-
ippine rebellion, Col. Cornelius Gardener and
a large number of his men re-entered the ser-
vice and left for the seat of war in Septem-
ber, 1899.
The Michigan Naval Reserves, consisting
of 11 officers and 270 men, were detailed on
the auxiliary cruiser Yosemite and saw service
at Havana, Santiago, Guantanamo and San
Juan de Puerto Rico, in all situations winning
the approval of the regular naval authorities
for the admirable manner in which they dis-
charged their duties, and winning the respect
and gratitude of Michigan for the honor con-
ferred upon the State by their conspicuous
gallantry in actual warfare.*
*Adjutant-General Report, 1898.
THE STATE MILITARY.
Early Laws on the Subject-General Trainings-
Derivation of the Custom-Fell Into Disfavor-
Independent Volunteer Companies-Absence of
Military Spirit-A Marked Revival Preceding the
Civil War-A Demand for Legislation Favorable
to the Military-Revision of the Militia Laws-
The State Troops-Re-organization After the
War Encampment-Home Service of the State
Troops-Michigan National Guard-The Naval
Militia-General John E. Schwarz and General
John Robertson.
To persons of middle age and under, the
early military history of the State will be
scarecly less entertaining than a romance. The
constitution of the United States confers upon
Congress power to "provide for organizing,
arming and disciplining the militia." On
On
May 8, 1792, Congress passed an act "more
effectually to provide for the national defense,
by establishing an uniform militia throughout
the United States." It provided for the en-
rollment of all free white male citizens be-
tween the ages of eighteen and forty-five
years, except those exempt by law, and that
each person so enrolled should "provide him-
self with a good musket or firelock, a sufficient
bayonet and belt, two spare flints and a knap-
sack; a pouch, with a box therein, to contain
not less than twenty-four cartridges, suited to
the bore of his musket or firelock, each cart-
ridge to contain a proper quantity of powder
and ball; or with a good rifle, knapsack, shot
pouch and powder horn, twenty balls suited to
the bore of his rifle, and a quarter of a pound
of powder, and shall appear so armed, accou-
tred and provided, when called out to exercise
or into service, except that when called out on
company days to exercise, he may appear
without a knapsack." The act required the
militia thus enrolled to be "arranged into divi-
sions, brigades, regiments, battalions and com-
panies, as the Legislature of each State shall
direct." Each battalion was required to have
at least one company of grenadiers, light in-
fantry or riflemen; and for each division at
least one company of artillery and one troop
of horse. There were specific provisions for
officering and ordering the militia forces thus
organized.
The Legislative Council of the Territory,
by act of April 23, 1833, after repeating the
act of Congress, provided for carrying it into
effect. The act is quite elaborate, covering,
together with the act of Congress, some
twenty-six pages of print. A company mus-
ter, "for the purpose of improving in martial
exercise," was required to be held on the first
Tuesday in May of each year, and a regimen-
tal muster, or "general training," once a year
in the month of October. The officers, both
commissioned and non-commissioned, and the
musicians, of each regiment, were required to
hold a three days' drill in the month of Octo-
ber of each year. A court-martial was pro-
vided for, to try offences and delinquencies,
and a schedule of fines was prescribed, rang-
ing from nominal up to one hundred dollars,
according to the character of the offense and
the rank of the offender. Fines for non-at-
tendance at musters ranged from two to five

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
27
dollars, and for appearing at musters without
the required arms, one dollar, with twenty-
five cents for lack of bayonet and belt, pouch,
spare flints, knapsack, etc.
The early militia trainings were an inherit-
ance from earlier times. They had their
counterpart in the ancient wappen-schaw (or
weapon show), of Britain, which was a mus-
tering of the yeomanry and gentry with their
weapons of offense and defense, for the pur-
pose of practice and review. The armament,
either by voluntary act or by requirement of
law, became a necessity in colonial days, as
the best and only defense against the Indians.
It became a patriotic duty no less than a ne-
cessity in the war of the revolution and the
war of 1812, and it was continued as a matter
of pride with the citizen-soldiery for many
years thereafter. It was, in short, but a leg-
acy from the ages, when war, or the means
war, or the means
of prosecuting war for the purpose of offense
or defense, was the chief study of the race.
The arms, be it noted, were not furnished by
the State, but each person was required to fur-
nish his own.
As early as 1840 the system
had fallen into disfavor. The musters were
held, but there was no pretense of complying
with the law regarding equipment. Men ap-
peared in the ranks armed with sticks or with
any kind of bludgeon that came handy, and
many times in grotesque costumes. The
whole tendency was to throw the system into
ridicule and contempt, into which it had in
fact fallen. It finally gave way, and with it
crop of colonels, majors and captains that
had grown upon it. What had for years, if
not for ages, been a system invested with dig-
nity, evoking the pride and eliciting the re-
spect of the people, became a burlesque and a
by-word, the best evidence, perhaps, that it
had outlived its day.
the
The act of 1833 provided for the organiza-
tion of independent companies, but left the
equipment to the members. Amendments
were made to this act in 1838, 1840, 1841,
1844 and 1845. A revision of the militia law
was made at the Legislative session of 1846
(page 241 of the session laws of that year), by
which the act of 1833 was superseded. By
this act the general parades or musters of the
militia were dispensed with, but the organiza-
tion was continued under what may be termed
a skeleton form. The militia was divided into
two classes: The "enrolled militia," embrac-
ing all who were liable to military duty not
belonging to volunteer companies, and the
"acting militia," embracing all thus belong-
ing. The volunteer companies were to be-
provided with arms and equipment by the
State, but were to provide their own uniforms.
They were required to parade on four Satur-
days in May, and to hold a rendezvous or en-
campment for three days, beginning
beginning on the
second Tuesday in June. There was no pro-
vision for paying the expenses of such gath-
erings.
Gen. John E. Schwarz had been adjutant-
general of the State for many years, but after
the political revolution of 1854 he was retired,
and Col. F. W. Curtenins, of Kalamazoo, was
appointed to the place. In his report for the
year 1858 he deprecates the apathy that had
prevailed in military circles, and states that
when he first entered upon his duties in the
year 1855, of the ten or twelve volunteer com-
panies having a nominal existence, there were
but three that were entitled to recognition.
All the others had been disbanded, and of the
three it was said that they were made up of
foreign-born citizens. But he reports that
since the year named "an unusual flow of mili-
tary spirit has abounded," and that there were
then (1858) thirty-three companies on the
muster-roll. A speculative thought may be
indulged here, as to whether this outcrop of
the military spirit was in any way prophetic
of the storm that burst in 1861. Was it
stimulated by a certain inner sense of some-
thing to occur, but which was undefined and
unexpressed at the time, for it is said that
"coming events cast their shadows before?"
A convention of those actively interested in
the military was held at Kalamazoo, Novem-
ber 30, 1858, for the purpose of memoralizing
the Legislature in favor of certain changes in
the laws. Some ten points on which legisla-
28
MEN OF PROGRESS.
tion was asked were formulated, the more im-
portant of which were some provision for rais-
ing a military fund, and a restoring of the
provision for courts-martial and courts of in-
quiry, which had been abolished by the act of
1846. The Legislature, at its session of 1859,
responded to this memorial by Acts No. 54
and 169. A military fund of $3,000 per
year was provided for, and also a State mili-
tary board, with other changes designed to
add to the efficiency of the service. The vol-
unteer uniformed companies went practically
out of existence during the early days of the
war. They formed the nuclei for the organ-
ization of the active force which took the
field in behalf of the government in response
to its call for troops.
The Legislature, at its special session in
1862 (Act. No. 16), revised the militia laws.
The uniformed companies that had before
been known as the "acting militia" were given
the name of "State Troops." The offices of
adjutant-general and quartermaster-general,
which had been discharged by one person,
were made separate, and the office of inspec-
tor-general was created. It was provided that
the State Troops should have "so many pa-
rades, encampments and other meetings of
instruction, and full dress parades in each
year, not exceeding ten full days, as may be
prescribed by the State military board." One
or more camps were authorized to be held each
year, to continue not more than five days. The
necessary expenses of transportation were to
be paid by the State, and thirty-five cents per
day to officers and privates alike for subsis-
tence. The adjutant-general (Gen. John
Robertson), in a special report to the gov-
ernor, November 27, 1866, states that up to
that time only three companies had been mus-
tered into the service under the act of 1862.
In 1872 nine companies were reported. In
1874 there were two regiments of eight com-
panies each, which had increased to three regi-
ments in 1876. In 1886 there were four
regiments of eight companies each, forming
a brigade, with a total force of 2,489. In
1898 there were the same number of regi-
ments, but two of them with twelve com-.
panies each, making forty companies in all,
being the statutory limit.
Begin
Prior to 1860 regimental encampments had
been held, but somewhat irregularly. After
the close of the war the force did not reach a
point in numbers calling for such an assem-
blage until in the early seventies, when regi-
mental encampments were held at different
times and places during the decade.
ning with 1880, brigade encampments have
since been held each year, except in 1881 and
1885. In the former year, instead of the en-
campment, six companies were detailed to at-
tend the centennial celebration at Yorktown,
Va., commemorative of the surrender of the
British force under Cornwallis, October 19,
1781. In 1885 the encampment was deferred
in apprehension of some disturbances in the
State at which the services of some of the
force might be required. The first brigade
encampment was held at Kalamazoo in 1880.
Since that time these encampments have been
held at Island Lake, a point on the Detroit,
Grand Rapids & Northern railroad, near
Brighton (omitting 1881 and 1885, as above),
except as follows: 1888, Mackinaw Island;
1889-90, Battle Creek; 1891, Whitmore
Lake.
The State troops have been called out to
guard against popular disturbances on several
occasions. The first was in 1877, during a
general prevalence of unrest throughout the
country. Regiments were ordered into camp
at Jackson, Grand Rapids and Detroit. The
order was simply to go into camp, without
reference to the possibility of their active in-
terference being required (as it proved not to
be), but the precaution doubtless averted vio-
lence that would very likely have followed
some acts of lawlessness that had been com-
mitted. In July, 1885, in consequence of
disturbances threatening possible violence in
the Saginaw Valley, four companies, at the
request of the sheriffs of Saginaw and Bay
counties, were ordered by Gov. Alger on duty
in that locality. In 1894 similar disturb-
ances in Gogebic county induced Gov. Rich
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
29
to order a rendezvous of four companies at
Ironwood. Fortunately, in neither case, was
the active interference of the military called
for.
Act No. 198, Public Acts,. 1893, made a
number of changes in the law of 1862. The
"State Troops" (so denominated by the last-
named act), are, by the act of 1893, to be
known as the "Michigan National Guard,"
and a per capita tax of four cents on each in-
habitant of the State is provided, in place of
fifteen cents on the voting population, as by
the prior act. The National Guard seems to
have been effected by the Spanish war very
much as the volunteer militia were by the civil
war. The adjutant-general, in his report for
1898, says: "The National Guard, as it ex-
isted at the outbreak of the Spanish war, does
not now exist. It must be built up again
de novo.
Of the members of the National
Guard on the rolls, it was found, upon ex-
amination, when they were called upon for
service in the field, that twenty-three per
cent. of them were physically unfit. The
adjutant-general recommends "a complete
and thorough reorganization of the National
Guard, to the end that only those free from
bodily defects and mental infirmities may be-
come members."
By Act No. 184, Public Acts, 1893, the
organization of a naval force as part of the
military equipment of the State, is authorized.
It provides for the enrollment of those en-
gaged in the commercial marine, similar to
that required as to the land forces, and they
are similarly classified. Those unconnected
with
any corps are to be known as the "reserve
naval militia," and the organized force is to
be known as the "Michigan State Naval Bri-
gade." The provisions of the act follow, as
nearly as may be, the same lines as the law
governing the land forces. Three companies
or divisions of the naval militia have been or-
ganized two at Detroit and one at Saginaw.
The naval militia made a record in the
war with Spain, which is noted under another
head.
John E. Schwarz was appointed adjutant-
general in 1836 (the first under the State gov-
ernment), and held the place for four years,
until the political revolution of 1839-40. He
was reappointed in 1844, holding the place
until 1855, when he was retired by another
political change, but having served in all fif-
teen years. John Robertson was appointed
in 1861, serving until the time of his death
in 1887, a continuous service of twenty-six
years. No apology is needed for mentioning
these two veterans, where it would be imprac-
ticable to enumerate other officers of the State
militia.
EDUCATIONAL.
EARLY AND CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES.
The Ordinance of 1787-Land Grants by Congress
Provisions of the State Constitution-First Super-
intendent of Public Instruction-A Comprehen-
sive System Outlined.
Whatever interpretation may be given to
the clause of the ordinance of 1787, which
speaks of "religion, morality and knowledge,"
the pledge and solemn injunction that "schools
and the means of education shall forever be
encouraged," has been scrupulously observed,
both by Congress and by those who have been
called to administer the affairs of the States
concerned.
Liberal grants of land have been made from
time to time by Congress for the endowment
and support of universities, colleges and
schools. The University of Michigan was
established by act of the governor and judges
of the territory, although not definitely
located and organized until a later day by the
State.
Acts granting charters to local col-
leges and seminaries form a prominent feature
of early legislation under the State govern-
ment, institutions of this class, however, hav-
ing largely given place to the modern high
school, which covers a much wider field. The
act of 1805, organizing the territory of Michi-
gan, reaffirmed the provision of the ordinance,
and the territorial authority, as early as 1827,
enacted laws for the establishment of schools
in accordance with the intent. In 1828 Con-
gress placed the school lands under the super
vision of the governor and council, to protect
and lease, so as to make them productive. The
act of Congress of June 23, 1836, making cer-
tain propositions to Michigan as conditions of
her admission into the Union, declared: "That
section numbered 16 in every township, of
the public lands, and where such section has
been sold or otherwise disposed of, other lands
equivalent thereto, and as contiguous as may
be, shall be granted to the State for the use of
schools." The constitution of the State de-
clares: "The proceeds from the sales of all
lands that have been or hereafter may be
granted by the United States to the State, for
educational purposes, and the proceeds of all
lands or other property given by individuals,
or appropriated by the State for like purposes,
shall be and remain a perpetual fund, the in-
terest and income of which, together with the
rents of all such lands as may remain unsold,
shall be inviolably appropriated and annually
applied to the specific objects of the original
gift, grant or appropriation." Another pro-
vision of the State constitution largely aug-
ments the primary school fund through speci-
fic taxes received from corporations. Through
the measures enumerated (and others that
might be mentioned), it will be seen that the
early condition is being religiously fulfilled,
with an added and accumulating interest
(speaking in a financial sense), as if in grati-
tude for the wisdom and foresight that im-
posed the beneficent obligation.
The first constitution of the State (1835)
contemplated the organization of the educa-
tional forces into a complete system. The ap-
pointment of superintendent of public instruc
tion was provided for. While the superinten-
dent has a general supervision of all educa-
tional institutions in the State, the primary
schools (which include as well the graded and
high schools) are the more especially under
his superintendence. The first superinten-
dent was Rev. John D. Pierce, a minister of
the Congregational church and a man of
broad and comprehensive views. The act of
the Legislature defining the duties of the
superintedent, required him, among other
things, to submit to the Legislature "all such
matters relating to his office and the public
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
31
schools as he may think proper to communi-
cate." The duty was devolved upon him of
preparing a system for common schools and
a plan for a university and its branches. In
his first report to the Legislature he submitted
his plan, which defined the rights, powers and
duties of school districts; the duties of district
officers, of township officers, school inspectors
and townships; proposed the establishment of
libraries, and plans for school houses; the
establishment of academies as branches of the
university, and a method of organization for
the university. The officers of the system
proposed for school districts were moderator,
vice-moderator, director and assessor, and
three township school inspectors, with the
township clerk as clerk of the board.*
*Public Instruction and School
School Law-F. W.
Shearman, Supt. Pub. Inst., 1852.
THE STATE UNIVERSITY.
Act of Congress, 1804-Judge Woodward's Pedantic
Scheme Second Act of Establishment, 1821-
the erection of a small building and the open-
Branches-Local Academies The Branches Aban- ing of a school, nor is there any record that
doned.
The University, as standing at the head of
the educational structure, is properly given
first place under the general head, "Educa-
tion." The initiative of the University may
be traced to the Act of Congress of 1804, by
which a township of land was reserved to each
of the divisions of the Northwest Territory,
as prospective States, for seminary purposes.
The first act looking to the establishment
of a university in Michigan was by the gov-
ernor and judges, in the year 1817. The act
was drawn by Judge Woodward, one of the
judges of the territory, a pedantic personage,
with a fondness for airing his Latin. To the
mind accustomed to the use of plain English
in the affairs of life, the phraseology of the
act is ludicrous, to say the least. The docu-
ment is reproduced in the University Semi-
Centennial (1887), with note, stating the copy
as published* has "apparently many errors of
transcription." The University copy is said
to be "an exact transcript of the draft in the
handwriting of Judge Woodward, now pre-
served in the University library." Any ver-
bal variances between the two copies may per-
haps be accounted for on the theory that the
act as adopted differed more or less in its
wording from the manuscript copy.
But little progress was made in the estab
lishment of the "Catholepistemiad," beyond
*Public instruction and school law, 1852.
the lottery authorized by the act ever materi-
alized. That a lottery should at the time be
deemed a legitimate means of promoting a
higher education in which religion was to play
a prominent part, stands in contrast to the
sentiment of the present time, when lotteries
are outlawed by both the State and national
governments.
In 1821 the Woodward scheme was super-
seded by act of the governor and judges, en-
titled "An act to establish a university." The
institution was to be located in Detroit and to
be under the management of twenty-one trus-
tees, of whom the governor of the territory,
for the time being, should be one, the others
The corporate name of the institution was
being appointed by the governor and judges.
"The Trustees of the University of Michi-
gan," and they were empowered to establish,
from time to time, such colleges, academies
and schools, depending upon the said Uni-
versity, as they may think proper, and as the
funds of the corporation will permit." They
were given control of the land grants, and
were empowered to receive gifts or dedications
under the Woodward act was continued under
The work begun
of money or property.
the new regime, but with no great progress.
Some local academies may have been estab-
of the University. There was at Pontiac a
lished, which subsequently became branches
two-story frame building, with a cupola,
known as the Academy, in which a school was
32
MEN OF PROGRESS.
taught, presided over by Prof. Geo. P. Will-
iams, subsequently and for many years an
honored member of the faculty of the Uni-
versity. This school was in operation in 1837
(if not earlier), and must have antedated the
organization of the University under a board
of regents, and its establishment at Ann Ar-
bor in the year mentioned. There was also a
building at Ann Arbor, the counterpart of the
one at Pontiac, and similarly designated, with
manifestly an equal antiquity. Whether these
buildings were the work of the trustees under
the act of 1822, or whether they were built
as local academies by local enterprise, there
should be records to show. They may have
had their origin through both agencies co-
operating. But under whatever auspices, they
undoubtedly suggested the idea of branches
of the University, as recommended by the
superintendent of public instruction, and in-
corporated in the organic act of 1837. But
however the idea of branches of the Univer-
sity may have originated, the system was prac-
tically abandoned in 1846.
THE UNIVERSITY UNDER STATE CONTROL.
Organic Act of 1837-Located at Ann Arbor-Pro-
posed Separate Departments for Females-State
Loan for Building Purposes-First Opened in 1842
-The First Professorships-Financial Embar-
rassment-Elements of Hostility-First Gradu-
ating Class-Dismissal of Members of the Faculty
-Professor Ten Brook's Work.

The real history of the University dates
from the year 1837. By the organic act of
that year, the government by trustees was
superseded by a board of twelve regents and
a chancellor, to be appointed by the governor,
by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate. The chancellor was made ex-officio
president of the board. From the language
of the act it would seem that the chancellor
was to be appointed in the same manner as
the twelve regents, but by a subsequent sec-
tion the twelve were to be classified by equal
divisions, to serve one, two, three and four
years, and there is no further mention of the
chancellor in the act. The governor, lieu-
tenant-governor, judges of the Supreme Court
and the chancellor of the State were made ex-
officio members of the board. The "chancel-
lor" first spoken of should not be confounded
with "the chancellor of the State," an officer
standing at the head of the Court of Chan-
cery, subsequently abolished. On March 18,
1837, the names of twelve persons as regents
were sent to the senate by Gov. Mason, but
there is no mention of a chancellor. The or-
ganic act was approved and went into effect
March 18, 1837. By a subsequent act, March
20, the location of the University was fixed at
Ann Arbor, and by a still further act passed
at the special session, June 21, it was provided
that the chancellor should be elected by the
board of regents (not being one of their own
number), and that they should have power to
prescribe his duties. The Governor was also
made president of the board, and in his ab-
sence the board was empowered to elect one of
their own number president pro tem. From
this action, it is not altogether clear what the
functions of the chancellor were to be-pos-
sibly such an officer was looked to prospec-
tively as the executive head of the several de-
partments when they should be organized.
The discussion or mention of the matter is
perhaps unimportant except as a reminiscence
and as bearing upon a slight tempest subse-
quently raised, and to which reference is
made farther on. Three departments of the
University were provided for: That of liter-
ature, science and the arts, of law, and of
medicine. A provision that will read a little
curiously at this time contemplated, that in
connection with each branch of the Univer-
sity "there shall be established an institution
for the education of females in the higher
branches of knowledge, whenever suitable
buildings shall be prepared." The manifest
intent being that the branches being for males
only, a separate institution, though under the
same management, should be provided for
females.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
33
In the discussions attending the organiza
tion of the University, there was a manifest
unwillingness on the part of some to encour-
age the establishment of private seminaries,
and a disposition to withhold charters from
some that were proposed, the controlling
thought being to center everything in the
University and its branches. The conferring
of degrees was reserved to (or at least strongly
contended for), as the exclusive prerogative of
the State institution.
The land for the immediate site of the Uni-
versity was donated by the people of Ann
Arbor, and consisted of forty acres lying to
the eastward of the then village. By act of
the Legislature, April 6, 1838, a loan to the
University of $100,000 was authorized, in the
form of twenty-year bonds of the State, at
six per cent., the interest and principal, as
they became due, to be taken care of by the
University. The proceeds of this loan were
employed in building the first University
buildings, consisting of a main building
(which served the several purposes of stu-
dents' dormitories and study rooms, recitation
rooms, library, and apartments for apparatus
and museum), and four dwellings for profes-
sors. The University was opened in its pres-
ent home September 20, 1842, in charge of
two professors-Prof. Williams, before men-
tioned, and Rev. Joseph Whiting, both hav-
ing been principals of branches. The former
was an Episcopalian, and the latter a Presby-
terian. They were each allowed a salary of
$500 per annum and occupancy of one of the
dwellings. Dr. Douglass Houghton, then the
State geologist, had a couple of years pre-
viously been appointed professor of geology
and mineralogy, but with duties wholly vol-
untary and without salary. Dr. Asa Gray
had held the chair of zoology and botany on
terms similar to those of Dr. Houghton, and
on his resignation Dr. Abram Sager was ap-
pointed to succeed him. In 1844 Rev. Ed-
ward Thompson was appointed to the chair of
intellectual and moral philosophy, and one
tutor was employed. This comprised the
working force of the University at the time
There was no
of its first commencement.
graduating class until the year following, but
class exercises were held in 1844 and one or
two degrees were conferred upon examina-
tion.
But details in connection with the subject
matter must necessarily be cut short. Dur-
ing the first years of the active work of the
University, four principal chairs were estab-
lished, and the policy attained to select, for
these chairs, men representing the leading
Protestant religious denominations. There
were some few appointments to chairs in the
natural sciences that were made irrespective
of religious predilections.
The ten years following the opening of
the University in 1842 may be regarded as
the first period of its history. The report of
the regents to the Legislature in 1843 repre-
sents the institution as under great embar-
rassment financially, with the necessity star-
ing them in the face of suspending the work
both of the University proper and the
branches. The work struggled along, how-
ever, and in 1844 some remedial legislation
was had, not in the way of direct appropria-
tions, but by accommodation transfers of lia-
bilities, so that in 1845 the regents say in
their report:
to
"It affords the board the greatest pleasure
express the deep and grateful sense of
obligation under which they feel themselves
placed by the very efficient and opportune
aid extended to them by the last Legislature.
Happily, all ground of fear and
cause of complaint have been removed by
the Legislative enactments."
*
* *
There was
more or less of complaint
against, and hostility to, the University,
manifested in various ways, during the
decade. Denominational colleges were con-
testing the ground, and the localities that
they represented felt a direct interest in pro-
moting them at the expense of the Univer-
sity. Secret societies among the students
crept in, and were a source of irritation.*
*"American State Universities and the Univers-
ity of Michigan," Ten Brook, p. 192 and following.
34
MEN OF PROGRESS.
The Medical department was opened in 1850,
and some feeling grew up between the two
faculties. There was no common head, no
chancellor or president having been ap-
pointed, and some feeling of jealousy between
the two faculties was unavoidable. The first
graduating class in 1845 numbered twelve
members, the number graduated each year
up to 1852 varying, sometimes above and
sometimes below that number, the highest
being twenty-four, in 1849.
The first election of regents under the
constitution of 1850 was at the April elec-
tion in 1851, the regents then chosen enter-
ing upon their duties January 1, 1852. The
retiring board, however, at their final ses-
sion, December 30, 1851, vacated the prin-
cipal chairs in the literary department, those
of natural philosophy and mathematics, of
logic, rhetoric and history, and of the Greek
and Latin languages. The reason for this
action was recited in a resolution, namely:
"That in view of the duty devolving upon the
board of regents-elect to reorganize the
faculty of arts in the University, and to ap-
point a president, it is expedient that the
board provide for that contingency by deter-
mining the terms of the existing members of
said faculty," etc. The terms were made to
The terms were made to
terminate at the close of the then academic
year, June, 1852. There were reasons, how-
ever, lying back of the one given that in-
fluenced the action. The record is given in
the work of Prof. Ten Brook, one of the de-
posed professors, previously referred to in
note. The other professors removed were
Williams, Agnew and Whedon. Prof. Wil-
liams was subsequently reinstated by the in-
coming board, and Prof. Ten Brook was again
connected with the University as librarian,
1864-67. Dr. Louis Fasquelle, professor of
modern languages and literature, was undis-
turbed in his seat, as were also the five mem-
bers of the medical faculty. The enumera-
tion here given comprised the working force
of the University at the beginning of the
year 1852, with some possible tutors and
assistants.
The
Prof. Ten Brook's work gives brief sketches
of persons serving as regents up to 1852,
among whom the clergy are quite well rep-
resented, and it is said of Martin Kundig,
regent 1841-44, that he was a Catholic priest,
and the only one ever on the board.
first elective board consisted of nine members,
and so far as appears the clergy were not
represented, the membership being composed
wholly of professional and business men. In
surrendering their trust, the outgoing board
adopted a memoir, prepared by Dr. Zina
Pitcher, one of its members, giving a partial
resume of the work of the regents under the
organic act of 1837. Its more salient feature,
however, is an argument against homeopathy,
which was then clamoring for popular recog-
nition and knocking at the doors of the Uni-
versity for admission.
THE UNIVERSITY UNDER THE NEW REGIME.
First Elective Board of Regents President Tappan
-A Feeling of Unfriendliness Toward Him-
Tempest Over the Term "Chancellor"-Other
Carping Allegations-Fruits of Dr. Tappan's
Work-The Astronomical Observatory-The Law
Department-Remission of the University Loan-
Dr. Angell's Tribute-Removal of Dr. Tappan-
President E. O. Haven-Acting President Henry
S. Frieze.
The first elective Board of Regents, as be-
fore stated, entered upon their duties January
1, 1852. On August 12, 1852, Dr. Henry
P. Tappan was chosen as President of the
University. The administration of President
Tappan may be regarded as the second stage
or period in the history of the institution.
Dr. Tappan was a minister of the Congrega-
tional denomination, though his work had
been mostly that of teaching and authorship.
He was at the time a resident of New York
City. A feeling of unfriendliness met him
at the threshhold. His appointment had been
disapproved by the regular school of medi-
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
35
cine because of his understood preference
for the homeopathic practice. In his inaug-
ural address he assumed the title of "chan-
cellor" instead of President of the University.
It will be noticed that prior to the adoption
of the constitution of 1850 the term chan-
cellor had been uniformly used in the stat-
utes as defining the prospective head of the
University. What term was used in the ap-
pointment as made, or in the notification to
the appointee, only the records would show.
Dr. Tappan had most likely read the organic
law, which provided for a chancellor, and
quite as likely had not read the constitu-
tional provision, which provided for a presi-
dent. The error was one which should have
been explained and rectified in a friendly
spirit, if that had been the desire, which it
was not on the part of his opponents. In his
inaugural he also dwelt upon the "Prussian
system" as the model after which the Michi-
gan educational work was patterned. In this
he had the authority of the first Superintend-
ent of Public Instruction, by whom the Mich-
igan plan was outlined. His utterances, how-
ever, were seized upon as evidence of his
sympathy with something foreign and mon-
archical, rather than American. He was re-
garded as pompous and aristocratic, in har-
mony with his predilections, and his assump-
tion of the title of chancellor, which was de-
risively Germanized as "kanzler," was her-
alded as evidence conclusive that he was a
Prussian, with the mistake of having been
born in America. A fairly liberal liver, he
was not averse to the decent use of wine, and
fell under the ban of the ultra temperance
folk as a wine bibber.
In contrast with what was laid at his door,
should be placed the record of what he ac-
complished for the University and the prog-
ress which it made during the ten or eleven
years of his presidency. When this is done
he must be written down as a man of broad
and comprehensive views, of marked execu-
tive ability, and of equal energy and force
of character. This estimate of Dr. Tappan
will be approved by those who were students
under him at the University, of whom the
writer was not one. A very fair and quite
lucid analysis of Dr. Tappan's character will
be found in Prof. Ten Brook's work, page
229 and following.
The astronomical observatory owes its in-
ception and its completion and equipment to
Dr. Tappan. The first direct State aid to the
University came through his efforts. Up to
1853 the University interest fund had been
charged regularly each year with the sum of
$6,000 as interest upon the bonds authorized
in 1838. In 1853 an act was passed remit-
ting this interest for two years. Similar acts
were passed in 1855 and in 1857, and in 1859
the remission was made without limitation of
time, thus making the $100,000 loan a vir-
tual gift to the University. The law school
was opened in 1859 and a building for its use
was erected a year or two later. The law
school was part of the general plan, and was
not original with the president, but its estab-
lishment at the time was made possible by
the added resources due to his efforts. The
fruits of Dr. Tappan's work are epitomized
by Dr. Angell, in his oration at the semi-
centennial of the University, in these words:
"When Dr. Tappan closed his official career,
after eleven years of service, the literary de-
partment had more than quadrupled the
number of students it had on his accession to
office, the medical department had two hun-
dred and fifty students, the law school one
hundred and thirty-four, the total attendance
was six hundred and fifty-two, and the Uni-
versity was recognized on both sides of the
Atlantic as a great and worthy school of lib-
eral learning."
Some of the stimulants to an increase in
numbers were not felt during the 1850
decade and up to 1863, as they have since
been felt. The influence of the high schools
as feeders to the University had hardly begun
to be felt during that time, and the financial
ability of the people had not received the im-
pulse that it did as a consequence of the flush
times occasioned by the war in the early
sixties. At the close of the June commence-
36
MEN OF PROGRESS.
ment in 1863, by a vote of the regents, Dr.
Tappan was removed from the office of Presi-
dent of the University, and from the chair
of philosophy which he held. The episode
cannot, from the necessity of the case, be en-
larged upon. Efforts were made for his re-
instatement by the new board which came
into office the following January, but without
avail. Dr. Tappan subsequently published a
pamphlet covering a statement of his con-
nection with the University and the causes
attending his removal. No copy of this state-
ment is to be found in the State Library, and
any person having a copy can do the State a
service by placing it in the hands of the
Librarian. The same may be said of a book
or pamphlet by Dr. A. J. Sawyer, of Monroe,
giving a history of the contest for the intro-
duction of homeopathy into the University.
Dr. Tappan, soon after the question of his re-
instatement was finally settled, took up his
residence in Switzerland, and died there in
1881.
The Rev. E. O. Haven, a minister of the
Methodist Church, who had formerly held a
professorship in the University, was appointed
to the presidency at the time of the removal
of the former president. He held the posi-
tion until 1869, when he resigned to become
president of the Methodist College at Evans-
ton, Illinois. He was afterwards made chan-
cellor of Syracuse University, New York,
was made a bishop of his church in 1880, and
died at Salem, Oregon, in 1881. Prof. Henry
S. Frieze was made provisional president on
the retirement of Dr. Haven, serving as such
until 1871. He also served as acting presi-
dent during the absence of President Angell
as United States Minister to China, 1880-82,
and died at Ann Arbor Dec. 7, 1889.
THE UNIVERSITY UNDER PRESIDENT ANGELL.
Appointment of Dr. Angell-His Diplomatic Service
-Acting President Hutchins-Incidents in the
History of the University-Admission of Women
-Introduction of New Schools and Extension of
Courses The Semi-Centennial and the Quarter
Centennial of President Angell's Administration-
A Comparative Summary-A Metrical Prophecy-
Homeopathic Medical College-Annual Revenues
-List of Acts Relating to the University.
The appointment of the present president,
Dr. James B. Angell, was made in 1871. He
has held the office continuously for a period
of 28 years.
He was relieved from duty dur-
ing his absence as minister to China, 1880-82,
and again as minister to Turkey, during the
collegiate year 1898-99. The duties of the
presidency were filled during this latter
absence by Prof. H. B. Hutchins, dean of the
law faculty.
The history of the University, for a score
and a half of years has been without marked
incident of a disturbing character, if we ex-
cept the homeopathic agitation, which is
briefly treated of farther on, and an imbroglio
connected with the administration of the
chemical laboratory during the latter half of
the 1870 decade.
The more important events of Dr. Angell's
administration have been the establishment
of the Homeopathic Medical School, the ad-
mission of women to equal privileges in the
University, the addition of the College of
Dental Surgery and the School of Pharmacy,
the establishment of advanced degrees in the
several departments, and the extension of the
law and medical courses to three years each.
The semi-centennial of the University was
celebrated at commencement time in 1887,
and the twenty-fifth anniversary of President
Angell's administration was fittingly com-
memorated in 1896. These two events form
milestones in the history of the University.
The two professors in 1842, with their $500
of salary, have given place to some two hun-
dred professors and assistants, with salaries
fairly proportionate to the service. The num-
ber of students has risen from a score (resi-
dents of the State) to three thousand and
more, representing every State in the Union


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
37
and every country on the globe. The ex-
penses of maintenance in 1843 (report of Re-
gents), of $1,260 per year, with total receipts
of $9,946, reach for the former, in 1897, as
"current expenses," $397,452, with total re-
sources in round numbers of $430,000. The
small library of less than 4,000 volumes has
grown to 130,000. The one college building
for all uses is supplemented by a score of
buildings devoted to special uses, which, with
libraries and appurtenances, are valued at
near $2,000,000, while the graduates of the
institution, to the number of 15,000, are
found in all the useful walks of life, and in
all parts of the world, barring those who may
have paid the last debt in the natural order of
things or have fallen martyrs as missionaries
in foreign lands, or as heroes on the field of
battle. And here it may be stated parentheti-
cally that the University supplied a large con-
tingent from its membership to the armies of
the Union during the war of the States, and a
due quota during the late Spanish war. It
may not be amiss to close this paragraph with
a prophecy contained in a poetical effort that
lays claim to no further merit than its good
intentions:
From this Imperial Temple has gone forth
An army potent, east, west, south and north-
They hold in nation counsels honored seats-
They mould the structure of new-forming States-
Within the State that doth the Temple own,
Their thought inspires the parliament and throne.
Its revenues are ample and secure-
Its life and usefulness will long endure,
With broad'ning and expanding energy,
'Till the whole continent shall bow to its decree.
Reference is made elsewhere to the Homeo-
pathic question as connected with the Univer-
sity, and to the antagonism of the regular
practice to its introduction. There seems noth-
ing to be gained by tracing the struggle which
eventuated in the establishment of the "Ho-
neopathic Medical College" in 1875. It is
regarded as a branch of the University separ-
ate and distinct from the Medical Department
proper, a distinction which seemed necessary
to avoid a complete rupture with the latter,
the controversy having previously caused the
resignation of two of its professors. There is
an annual appropriation of $6,000 in aid of
the Homeopathic College. It has a faculty
of eight members, which was the number of
its graduating class in 1898.
The financial receipts of the University for
the academic year 1897-8 were approximately
as follows:
University interest fund..
1-6th mill tax ..
Annual appropriation and miscellan-
eous
Tuition fees
$37,139 45
189,500 00
18,937 23
177,383 62
$422,960 35
The item of $189,500, income from the
1-6th mill tax, will be swelled in future years
to $280,000 by the Act of the last Legislature
fixing the tax at 1-4th mill on the dollar.
The following list of acts relating to the
University, beginning with the organic act of
1837, will be found convenient for reference.
The figures refer to the number of the act in
the printed volume of Session Laws for each
year, respectively:
1.
Organic Act-Act No. 55, 1837.
2.
3.
Act locating the University-Act 70, 1837.
Act relative to the disposition of University
and School lands-Act 104, 1837.
4. Act relative to appointment of Chancellor-
Act No. 4, special session, 1837.
5. Act amendatory of Act relative to University
lands-Act 13, special session, 1837.
6. Act releasing certain lands to United States-
Act 44, 1838.
7. Act to extend time for payment on lands-
Act 103, 1838.
8.
9.
Act authorizing loan of $100,000-Act 118, 1838.
Act for payment certain expenses Regents-
Act 11, 1839.
10. To extend time of payment on lands-Act
16, 1839.
11. To provide for sale of certain lands to settlers
-Act 64, 1840.
12. To amend Act to extend time, etc.-Act 87,
1840.
13. To reduce price of University and School
lands-Act 67, 1841.
14.
15.
Same object as last cited-Act 27, 1842.
To provide for sale of certain lands-Act
16, 1842.
16. For relief of certain settlers on University
lands-91, 1843.
17. Authorizing receipt of State obligations for
University lands-20, 1844.
18. Fixing price of University and School lands-
68, 1844.
38
MEN OF PROGRESS.
53. Resolutions relating to defalcation in chemical
laboratory.
19.
For relief of University-83, 1844.
20.
Relative to department of natural history--
122, 1846.
54.
21.
Relative to amount due fund from Lenawee
County-50, 1847.
55.
22.
Setting apart specific taxes to pay interest on
fund-107, 1847.
56.
23.
Joint Resolution relative to amount due on
mortgages-24, 1847.
24. Authorizing sale lands near Toledo-26, 1848.
25. Authorizing sale lands in Berrien County-
86, 1848.
26. For relief of purchasers University lands-
34, 1851.
27. Remitting interest on loan for two years-
60, 1853.
28. Remitting interest on loan for two years-
73, 1855.
29. Requiring establishment Homeopathic chair
-100, 1855.
30. Remitting interest on loan for two years-
56, 1857.
31. Regents to be elected in new judicial districts
-5, 1858.
32. Remitting interest on loan without limit-
143, 1859.
33. Geological specimens, etc., to be deposited in
library-206, 1859.
Amending Act relative to report of Regents-
219, 1859.
Joint Resolution for transfer of scientific
works to 5, 1861.
34.
34.
35.
For election and classification of Regents-
143, 1863.
36.
Act to extend aid to, with Homoeopathic con-
dition-59, 1867.
37. Homoeopathic condition of Act last cited elim-
inated-14, 1869.
38. Concurrent Resolution favoring admission of
women--7, 1869.
39.
40.
Appropriation $75,000 for new hall-30, 1871.
Amending Act relative payment for lands-
67, 1873.
41. Appropriating $25,000 for hall and $13,000 to
cover deficit-7, 1873.
42.
48.
1-20th mill tax in place of aid Acts of 1867
and 1869-32, 1873.
Requiring appointment of two Homoeopathic
professors-63, 1873.
44. Appropriating $6,000 annually for Homoeo-
pathic department-128, 1875.
45.
To provide water supply for University--
74, 1875.
Appropriating $40,000 for museum-56, 1879.
Appropriating $55,000 for various purposes, in-
cluding Homoeopathic hospital-122, 1879.
Bodies for dissection to be sent to University-
16, 1881.
57. Appropriating $160,000 for general purposes-
60, 1881.
58. Supreme Court Reports to be sent to library-
116, 1881.
59. Dependent children to be treated at hospital-
138, 1881.
60. Appropriating $62,000 for general purposes-
96, 1883.

61.
62.
Amending Act relative to dissection-83, 1885.
Appropriating $107,500 for general purposes-
191, 1885.
63. Appropriating $155,000 for general purposes-
243, 1887.
64. Appropriating $206,789 for general purposes-
145, 1889.
65. Providing for treatment of paupers at Univer-
sity hospital-246, 1889.
66. Appropriating $185,000 for general purposes-
25, 1891.
67. Reports of veterinary associations to be sent
to medical library-56, 1891.
68. Relating to dental students and dental col-
lege 98, 1891.
69. Property of Women's Association exempt from
taxation-143, 1891.
70. Authorizing Faculty to grant teachers' certifi-
cates-144, 1891.
71. As to inventory, etc., of property of State in-
stitutions-146, 1891.
72. Act for 1-6th mill tax instead of 1-20th mill-
19, 1893.
73. Time and manner of payment of mill tax-
53, 1893.
74. Authorizing Regents to receive bequests, etc.

-36, 1895.
75. Trust funds to be paid to State Treasurer-
140, 1895.
76. Providing for admission to practice of law
department graduates-205, 1895.
77.
For treatment of indigent poor at hospital-
42, 1897.
78. Providing for analysis of waters at University
43, 1897.
46. Appropriating $13,000 to pay outstanding war-
rants-113, 1875.
79.
Amending Act cited in No. 76-93, 1897.
80.
81.
Amending Act relating to dissection-119, 1897.
Amending Act relative to treatment dependent
children-233, 1897.
47. Appropriating $3,000 for two years for Dental
School-186, 1875.
48.
For establishment School of Mines in Univer-
sity-205, 1875 .
49. Appropriating $7,500 for hospital and equip-
ment-207, 1875.
50.
51.
Proceeds from land sales to go into State
treasury-23, 1875.
Incidental provisions as to lands, Acts 23 and
124, 1875.
52. Appropriating $49,000 for sundry purposes
University-185, 1877.
82. Relative to investment of bequests, etc.-86,
1899.
83. Increasing annual income tax to 14th mill on
the dollar-102, 1899.
84. Relative to issue of diplomas to medical stu-
dents-151, 1899.
85. Amending Act relative to subjects for dissec-
tion--193, 1899.
86. Authorizing incorporation of loan-fund asso-
ciations for the benefit of students-250, 1899.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
39
OTHER STATE COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS.
The Agricultural College-The Normal Schools-
College of Mines-Schools for Deaf Mutes and
the Blind-Educational and Reformatory Institu-
tions.
The Constitution of Michigan provides that
"The Legislature shall, as soon as practicable,
provide for the establishment of an Agricul-
tural School." In pursuance of this provision,
the Legislature, in 1855, passed an act "for
the establishment of a State Agricultural
School," which provided that the college
should be located within ten miles of Lan-
sing, on not less than 500 acres of land in
one body. The location was made June 16,
1855, on a farm of 676 57-100 acres, three
and one-half miles east from the capital.
About three acres only were cleared of tim-
ber at the time of purchase. The soil is very
varied, there being hard clay, clay loam,
peaty soil, sand, sandy loam, alluvial plats,
sandy loam, alluvial plats,
The Red Cedar river runs through the
farm. The college was opened to students
May 13, 1857, and has been in uninter-
rupted operation from that time. It opened
It opened
in charge of the State Board of Education,
with seven professors and instructors and
sixty-one students. The management of the
institution was in 1861 transferred from the
State Board of Education to a State Board
of Agriculture. This board is a body cor-
porate, consisting, besides the governor of the
State and the president of the College, who
are ex-officio members, of six persons, who
are nominated by the governor and confirmed
by the Senate.
etc.
The immediate management of the insti-
tution is committed to a faculty consisting at
the present time of a president and thirty-
six professors, instructors and foremen, ex-
clusive of the secretary, who is a member ex-
officio of the faculty.
The law provides that "The Agricultural
College shall be a high seminary of learning,
in which the graduate of the common school
can commence, pursue and finish a course of
study terminating in thorough theoretic and
practical instruction in those sciences and
arts which bear directly on agriculture and
kindred industrial pursuits," and requires
that "the full course of study shall embrace
not less than four years." A full course of
study is laid out, requiring four years to com-
plete it, although students are received for
shorter periods, for the study of select
branches. The College is authorized to con-
fer degrees. The law also provides that the
institution "shall combine physical with in-
tellectual labor," and it requires that stu-
dents shall, with some exceptions, labor three
hours each day. This labor is required on
each afternoon of the week excepting Satur-
days and Sundays, and is paid for according
to its value at a maximum rate of ten cents
an hour. The institution is conducted on
the plan of making the expense to students
as small as possible. Most of the students
board in the College, and the law provides
that "in assessing the price of board it shall
be so estimated that no profit shall be saved
to the institution." Tuition is free. The
average attendance is over 400. The
The Col-
lege has graduated 728 students, and has a
library of 20,000 volumes.
The State Normal School at Ypsilanti was
established in 1859. Its object is the train-
ing of teachers for educational work. The
number of instructors is given in the latest
report at 42. Number of students or those
attending during the year, 958. This num-
ber is made up, to a considerable extent, by
local attendance. The whole number of
graduates since the establishment of the
school is given as 3,198. Number of vol-
umes in library, 17,500. By Act of the
Legislature, 1897, the title of "Michigan
State Normal College" was authorized to be
used in official reports of the institution, and
by Act 52, laws of 1899, the name of the in-
stitution was changed to correspond.
The Central Michigan Normal School, at
Mt. Pleasant, was established in 1895, by
the purchase of the properties of a then ex-
isting private institution. The published re-
ports give 11 instructors and a membership
40
MEN OF PROGRESS.
of 196. As in the case of the Ypsilanti
school, the membership is no doubt to a con-
siderable extent, local. The Normal students
proper, or those who design to make teaching
their occupation, are apportioned to the
Legislative districts and admitted upon the
recommendation of the members represent-
ing the districts.
By Act No. 51, laws of 1899, a third
normal school was established at Marquette,
to be known as the Northern State Normal
School, with an appropriation of $25,000 for
buildings and $10,000 for operating expenses.
The establishment of a third normal school
may be regarded as the development of a
"Normal School System," of which the State
Board of Education has the general manage-
ment.
The position of President, as the ex-
ecutive head of the system, has been recently
created, to which Dr. Albert Leonard, of the
Syracuse (N. Y.) University, has been ap-
pointed, with his official residence at the State
Normal College at Ypsilanti.
The College of Mines was established by
Act of the Legislature in 1885. Its special
Its special
function is instruction in mining and metal-
lurgy. Fifteen instructors are reported, with
an attendance of 139, and a library of 12,500
volumes.
The character of the School for the Blind
at Lansing and the School for Deaf Mutes at
Flint, will be sufficiently understood from
their tiles. The State Public School at Cold-
water receives only dependent and neglected
children who are free from physical taint or
criminality, and gives them care and instruc-
tion until homes can be provided for them.
The Industrial School for Boys, at Lansing,
and the Industrial Home for Girls, at Adrian,
combine educational with reformatory feat-
ures. These institutions all report to the
Superintendent of Public Instruction. Some
general statistics of all State institutions will
be found tabulated under another head.
There are some forty private and denomina-
tional colleges and schools, business and
medical colleges, and one law school, that also
report to the superintendent.
The "Industrial School for Boys" was first
established as the "House of Correction for
Juvenile Offenders," to which girls as well as
boys were committed.
boys were committed. Its title was after-
wards changed to that of the "State Reform
School," and later to the name that it now
bears. It was originally built with barred.
windows and other prison features, but the
later policy has been to divest it of these
marks of degradation, under the belief that
boys can be more easily reformed and trained
for usefulness in life by moral means. The
inspiring thought has been that if a boy be
once impressed with the conviction that he is
a criminal and an inmate of a prison, the
taint of criminality will remain with him as a
detriment to whatever good intentions he
may have. The evolution of this institution
from its first conception to its later status is
worthy of especial notice, as showing a
marked change in public sentiment as regards
the method of dealing with youthful way-
wardness. The theory that punishment, by
the rod of the parent or by the arm of society,
was the best corrective, has given place to the
conviction that it is wiser to cultivate the
good in the young than to stimulate the bad
tendencies by harsh treatment. There is still
an element of restraint in the discipline of
the institution, but it is manifested only
where the conduct of the inmate shows the
necessity for it. The boys necessarily go
there under sentence either for truancy or
criminality, but when there their treatment
differs but little from that of boys in a well-
regulated family.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
41
THE PRIMARY AND HIGH SCHOOLS.
ernor Mason-Development of the High School-
Views of the First Superintendent-Views of Gov-
permanent aristocracy in our land, for the
Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor-Teaching of Foreign monopoly of wealth is powerless when mind
and Classical Languages in the Schools-Changes
in the School Laws-Comparative School Stat-
istics-Former Superintendents.
Some of the thoughts expressed by the
first Superintendent of Public Instruction
with reference to primary schools (or com-
mon schools, as they were then called), are
worthy of reproduction after more than sixty
years have passed, and the plan then inaugu-
rated has grown and developed to its present
proportions, preserving, however, the one
feature of universality and equality that was
then urged in its behalf. Quoting from the
report previously referred to:
*
* *
"It has been said, and rightly too, that
common schools are truly republican. The
great object is to furnish good instruction in
all the elementary and common branches of
knowledge, for all classes of community, as
good, indeed, for the poorest boy of the State,
as the rich man can furnish for his children,
with all his wealth. The object is universal
education--the education of every individual
of all classes. The great thing that has ren-
dered the Prussian system so popular and effi-
cient, which has so strongly attached it to the
hearts of the people, and made it an essential
element of the social state, is its truly repub-
lican character.
It is this feature
of free schools which has nurtured and pre-
served pure republicanism in our own land.
In the public schools, all classes are blended
together the rich mingle with the poor, and
are educated in company. In these schools
the poor are as likely to excel as the rich, for
there is no monopoly of talent, of industry,
or acquirements.
It is this sys-
tem which brings forward and elevates to
places of distinction, a due proportion of that
class of citizens which the Romans called new
men-men who owe nothing either to birth
or fortune, but all to the free schools and
their own exertions.
Let free
schools be established and maintained in per-
petuity, and there can be no such thing as a
* * *
*
is allowed freely to come in contact with
mind."
The conceptions of the first superinten-
dent, verging as they did somewhat on the
enthusiastic, clearly indicate the theory on
which the public school system has pro-
ceeded. Whether the system has realized all
that was expected of it, must be judged by
results. The term rich, as descriptive of
worldly possessions, has a meaning quite dif-
ferent now from what it did fifty years ago.
The rich of today can send their sons to be
educated in the most expensive private insti-
tutions, which the rich of the earlier time
could not do.
could not do. The wealth of today can com-
mand to its service the best brain power of the
land. How far, therefore, the educational
system, or any system yet devised, has proved,
or can prove, a certain security against class
distinctions, is a problem for the political and
social economists to solve.
It is due to Governor Mason to refer in
this connection to his messages to the Legis-
lature, in which the educational mechanism
of the young State was commended to the
careful attention of the law-making power.
The necessity for the general diffusion of
knowledge as the best or only security for
popular institutions, and the influence of a
common educational system in preserving and
perpetuating a sentiment of social equality so
essential in a democratic State, were dwelt
upon by Governor Mason in terms equally
forcible with those of his Superintendent of
Public Instruction.
The initiative of the modern high school in
the State, it is believed, belongs to Ypsilanti.
Among the earlier efforts at founding semi-
naries, one was begun at Ypsilanti under the
name of the Union Seminary. A building
of moderate pretensions was built and the
school ran along in an indifferent way dur-
ing the 1840 decade, but eventually failed en-
tirely. The public school authorities of Ypsi-
lanti then became possessed of the building,
42
MEN OF PROGRESS.
which was far more pretentious than the av-
erage school building of the time. The style
of the structure and the association connected
with it possibly suggested that the school to
be established within its walls should be of a
higher character than the average common
school had up to that time attained, and an ad-
vanced course of study was introduced. This
summary statement is made on the strength of
the recollection of the writer, who was then a
resident of the neighboring city of Ann Ar-
bor. There was at the time a considerable
feeling of rivalry between the two towns,
Ann Arbor having no school of equal preten-
sions with that of her neighbor. The Ypsi-
lanti school had, in fact, quite a wide reputa-
tion because of its advanced character. It is
recalled that about the year 1851 or 1852, at
the annual school meeting in Ypsilanti, the
sum of $2,500 was voted for an addition to
the school building. This was commented
upon in Ann Arbor as a piece of unprece-
dented extravagance, but as evidencing the en-
terprise and liberality of their neighbors in the
matter of education. Early in the 1850 de-
cade the people of Ann Arbor began to agitate
the question of what was at that time termed
a "union school."
It should not be inferred that their action
was prompted by a desire to eclipse their
neighbors, although it may have been stimu-
lated by a comparison that was unavoidable.
The impelling thought was that in the town
that was the seat of the State University there
was no intermediate step between that institu-
tion and the common school, and that one
ought to be supplied. The result was the erec-
tion, about the year 1855, of a school build-
ing, at the cost of some $30,000. It is re-
called that the first Republican State Conven-
tion, for the nomination of judges of the Su-
preme Court, was held in the third story of the
building, which was designed as the general
assembly-room or auditorium, before it was
finished off, in the spring of 1857. Soon after
the completion of the Ann Arbor building
the Ypsilanti edifice was burned, and in re-
building care was taken that the new structure
should surpass that of the neighboring city.
There seems an especial appropriateness in
the fact that the high school should have thus
taken its rise in the neighboring towns, one
the seat of the University and the other of the
Normal School. The example was conta-
gious, and other towns soon followed—an evi-
dence, it may be presumed, that the time was
dence, it
ripe for such a development. The plan of
"branches," as part of a University system,
had been abandoned long before the time
in question. The numerous private or cor-
porate institutes or seminaries had proven
failures, in most cases, at least. That there
was a deficiency in the educational system was
apparant, and the high school came into ex-
istence to supply the deficiency. That the
system has the approval of the mass of the
people is presumed to be above question. And
yet the fact is recognized that there are those
who doubt its wisdom. The office of the an-
nalist is, however, to present facts, and not to
espouse or combat theories.
The growth of
the system was not without objection and legal
contest. Suit was brought in the earlier years
of its history by the late Senator Charles E.
Stuart to restrain the school authorities of
Kalamazoo from teaching foreign and the
classical languages in the schools of that place,
on the plea that English being the official
language of the State, money collected by
taxation could not legally be applied in pay-
ment for teaching languages other than the
English. The case was decided by the Su-
preme Court adversely to Mr. Stuart.*
Probably no feature of our State policy has
been subjected to so many changes in the gov-
erning statutes as has the public school sys-
tem. In this connection, an extract or two
from early State papers seems appropriate.
Governor Barry, in his message to the Legis-
lature in 1842, said: "Above all others, the
laws on the subject of common schools should
be plain, simple and easy to be understood.
Such, however is not the present condition of
our legislation on this important subject. The
enactments are various and are scattered
through many volumes, and it is with diffi-
*30 Mich., 69.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
43
culty that even their meaning can, in all cases,
be ascertained." Franklin Sawyer, Jr., suc-
ceeded Mr. Pierce as Superintendent of Pub-
lic Instruction. In his report, as such, in
1842, he makes this comment: "A law is
"A law is
hardly known in many districts before it is
repealed or amended, and it not unfrequently
happens that while the original law governs
the official acts of one portion of a township,
amendments to it, or even amendments to the
amendments, regulate the conduct of another
portion of the same township." Reference
has been made to the first superintendent (Mr.
Pierce), and to his fitness for the position. No
less can be said of his successor, Mr. Sawyer.
He was a New England man, and by profes-
sion a lawyer, although his tastes inclined
more to the literary than to the legal field.
The educational system was fortunate in being
thus ably represented in the days of its in-
fancy.
There have been seventeen Superinten-
dents of Public Instruction. Under the first
Constitution they were appointed by the Gov-
ernor and Legislature. Since 1851 they have
been elected, except where appointments were
made to fill vacancies. Ira Mayhew was
appointed in 1845, serving until 1849. He
was subsequently elected for two terms under
the Republican regime (1854 and 1856), giv-
ing a total service of eight years. John M.
Gregory served three terms, 1859-65, and
Ornamel Hosford four terms, 1865-73. Su-
perintendents, other than those mentioned,
have been: Oliver C. Comstock, 1843-45;
Francis W. Shearman, 1849-54; Daniel B.
Briggs, 1873-77; Horace S. Tarbell, 1877-
79; Cornelius A. Gower, 1878-81; Varnum
B. Cochran, 1881-83; Herschel R. Goss,
1883-85; Theodore Nelson, 1885-86; Joseph
Estabrook, 1887-91; Ferris S. Fitch, 1891-
92; Henry R. Pattengill, 1893-96. Jason E.
Hammond is the present superintendent, hav-
ing been first elected in 1896 and re-elected
in 1898.
Mere current statistics are of little value in
a work designed for the future as well as for
the present. For the purposes of reference
and investigation they are the more readily
found in the annual reports. But as showing
the comparative progress in the matters cov-
ered by the data below, the annexed figures
are given:

Number of townships in the State reporting
Number of school districts in the State ...
Number of volumes in town libraries..
Number of volumes in district libraries..
Number of teachers employed......
Total wages of teachers for the year....
Total value of school houses and lots..
Total number school houses....
Number children between 5 and 20 years.
Number attending school.....
Average number months at school..
Amount of 2-mill tax*..
Amount of primary school fund.
District taxes for all purposes..
Receipts from all other sources.
Total resources for the year....
Amount paid for building and repairs..
Paid for all other purposes.
Total indebtedness of the districts.
1865.
1898.
713
1,284
4,474
7,157
58,653
158,033
95,577 664,377
8,792 15,673
$720,251 $4,146.449
2,355,982 17,977,447
7,885
4,495
298,607
703,730
228,629
496,025
6.2
7.22
$281.770
$650,973
137,354 950,080
473,908 4,524,995
201,541 331,884
1,237,524 7,867,646
175 471
170,600
621,194
1,387,932
221,703 2,007,874
*1-mill tax, the amount now provided to be raised for library
purposes.
THE TRUST FUNDS.
Origin of the Trust Funds-First Loaned to Pri-
vate and Local Interests-Absorbed Into the State
Treasury-Constitutional Provision-Tabular Ex-
hibits Are the Trust Funds a Debt?
The messages of the Governors of the State
usually contain a reference to the "trust
funds." The reports of the State Treasurer
and the Auditor-General exhibit the state of
the accounts current between the State and
the trust funds. The trust funds have ac-
crued from the sales of lands granted to the
State for educational purposes. Reference is
made to the land grants and the conditions
attached to them under the heads respectively
of "Educational" and "Government Land
Grants." In accepting the grants under the
conditions attached, the State became a party
to a contract. The covenant on the part of
the State was that the income from the grants
should be devoted in good faith to the several
purposes for which the grants were made.
The State thus became a trustee, but neces-
44
MEN OF PROGRESS.
sarily with a wide discretion as to the manner
in which the trust should be administered.
The plan of leasing the lands and relying
upon the rental as income, which was at first
proposed, was soon abandoned. The next
most feasible plan was to sell the lands and
invest the proceeds, applying the interest to
the purpose for which the grant was made.
This plan was adopted in 1837, and the sale
of the lands placed in charge of the Superin-
tendent of Public Instruction. The proceeds
were to be loaned to supposed responsible par-
ties upon adequate security, and in some in-
stances loans were made to counties. But or-
dinary business sagacity soon discovered what
it should have seen beforehand, that this was
a very cumbrous, uncertain and unsafe way
of administering a great trust, and one open-
ing a vast field for fraud and jobbery.
Whether any of these results followed the
experiment, is immaterial. In 1844 the plan
was abandoned. The sale of the lands was
placed in the hands of the Commissioner of
the Land Office, and the proceeds turned into
the State treasury. The proceeds from the
sales constituted an accumulating fund, on
which the State agreed to pay, and has ever
since continued to pay, interest at the rate of
seven per cent. per annum. Two objects
were thus secured: The State treasury was
replenished by so much, and the people to
that extent relieved from taxation in their
then impoverished condition, and the fund
was relieved from the uncertainty and inse-
curity of being loaned in small sums to Tom,
Dick and Harry. The lands were sold, and
are being sold, on part payments, the sums
paid going into the treasury and being cred-
ited up to the proper fund, thus adding to
the principal indebtedness on which annual
interest is paid, while the interest on the un-
paid portion is credited up to the interest
fund, which is drawn upon in behalf of the
beneficiary and a balance struck each year.
There are thus two accounts kept, as, for ex-
ample, with the primary school fund. The
primary school fund proper never suffers any
diminution, but is steadily being added to,
as the lands are sold. The primary school
interest fund is made up from interest on
the principal sum, from interest received on
account of part paid lands, and from specific
taxes, and is apportioned semi-annually to
the counties, and through the counties to the
townships and school districts, according to
their population of school age.
Section 1, article 14, of the Constitution,
provides: "All specific State taxes, except
those received from the mining companies of
the Upper Peninsula, shall be applied in
paying the interest upon the primary school,
University and other educational funds, and
the interest and principal of the State debt,
in the order herein recited, until the extin-
guishment of the State debt, other than the
amounts due to educational funds, when such
specific taxes shall be added to, and consti-
tute a part of the primary school interest
fund." A table in the Auditor-General's
report for 1898, page 100, shows the amount
of specific taxes received during the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1898, to have been $1,028,-
This sum was apportioned as fol-
832.40.
lows:

Interest on Normal School Fund..
Interest on Agricultural College fund.
Interest on University fund...
Interest on Primary School fund.
Surplus to credit of Primary School interest fund
$
3,957 59
41,234 34
37,139 45
309,518 52
391,849 90
636,982 50
$1,028,832 40
It thus appears that the receipts from spe-
cific taxes pay the entire interest on the sev-
eral trust funds, and also leave a munificent
surplus to the credit of the primary school in-
terest fund. This surplus ($636,982.50), to-
gether with $309,518.52 to the credit of the
fund as interest, gives a total dividend to the
primary schools of the State $946,501.02 for
the year, equaling in the year 1897 $1.44 per
capita of the children of school age.
The ap-
portionment is made semi-annually, in May
and November.
In the following exhibit the first column.
shows the total amount paid from the State
treasury as interest on the several trust funds
since the organization of the system up to
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
45
June 30, 1898, and the second column shows
the receipts by the several funds from interest
on part paid lands:
Primary School fund..
University fund
Normal School fund..
Agricultural College fund
Interest
Trust Funds
$17,506,115 54
1,347,135 85
125,116 07
541,461 28
Int. pt. pd.
Lands.
$2,075,982 90
512,771 57
67,537 36
231,724 77
The amounts to the credit of the several
funds on which interest is payable at the close
of the fiscal year, June 30, 1898, was:
Primary School, 7 per cent....
Primary School, 6 per cent..
University, 7 per cent..
Agricultural College. 7 per cent.
Normal School, 7 per cent..
$3,859,738 52
833,612 96
532,556 81
625.790 98
66,125 12
$5,917,824 39
There will be no substantial increase in the
University fund, as only forty acres of the
lands remain unsold, as shown elsewhere, and
the same is relatively true of the Normal
School fund. The other funds, however, will
be considerably increased by further sales.
The question has been raised, are the trust
funds a debt? This may be answered both
But
ways. If the funds had been loaned out as
was first proposed, there would certainly be a
debt due from the borrowers to somebody.
But the State used the money, and does it
owe somebody for it? As regards the State-
supported institutions, the question answers
itself, because if there were no revenue from
an endowment fund, it is presumed that the
State would increase its appropriations to an
extent to equal the sums-total required.
with the primary school fund it is different.
If the districts received no dividend from the
State, they might or might not add to the
local tax voted by them for the support of
their schools each year the $1.44 per capita
now received by them from the State. So it
seems clear that this fund is a debt due from
the State to the districts in an amount at least
equal to an equitable annual interest on say
$4,000,000, more or less. On the other hand,
it may be held that the whole matter is
merged by the Constitutional provision. But
the Constitution may be changed, and yet the
obligation would remain.

RELIGIOUS TEACHING IN STATE SCHOOLS.
Early Sentiment on the Subject-The Historical
Ordinance-Condition of an Early Land Purchase
-As Related to the Primary Schools-As Related
established or state church, the support of re-
ligion became of the first importance, as giv-
to the University-Views of President Angell, ing strength to the state. While, in our gov-
Professor Frieze and President Tappan-The
Select Bible Readings.
In view of an agitation comparatively re-
cent, growing out of the introduction into the
public schools of Detroit of a text book known
as the "Select Bible Readings," and the deci-
sion of the Supreme Court in a case brought
thereon, an historical reference to the subject
of religious teaching in the State schools will
be read with interest. In the early schools of
the country the teaching of religion was an
essential function. It may be said, in fact,
to have been the primary object. In Great
Britain, from which our earlier population
and manners and customs sprang, the church
and the state were one. As the State was.
founded upon religion, as represented by an
ernmental structures, there was a formal di-
vorcement of church and state, the thought
and belief of the dependence of the one upon
the other remained. Hence religious teach-
ing in the schools was either ordained by the
early statutes or established by custom.
The same sentiment, unquestionably, in-
spired the ambiguous language of the ordi-
nance of 1787, which declares that "Religion,
morality and knowledge, being necessary to
good government and the happiness of man-
kind, schools and the means of education
shall forever be encouraged." This has been
construed by some as pledging the States
formed from the Northwest Territory to the
encouragement of some form of religious
worship or belief, by means of teaching
through State-established schools; or if not

46
MEN OF PROGRESS.
some one form, then of all forms the latter,
of course, not presumable. This claim, how-
ever, seems inconsistent with a prior declara-
tion of the same ordinance. After prescrib-
ing the method of civil administration in the
ceded territory, the ordinance lays down cer-
tain "fundamental principles," of what may
be termed civil ethics, beginning as follows:
"And for extending the fundamental princi-
ples of civil and religious liberty, which form
the basis whereon these republics, their laws,
and constitutions, are erected," etc.., "the fol-
lowing articles shall be considered as articles
of compact between the original States, and
the people and the States in the said terri-
tory." Religious liberty could not well be
maintained under a State where some form
of religion was established, or encouraged, to
the disfavoring of other forms. Possibly a
compromise construction may be reached by
interpreting the ordinance to mean that in a
State in which knowledge is disseminated by
means of schools, the people, in the broadest
exercise of their "religous liberty," will be
naturally led to embrace that form of religion
most conducive to "good government." The
preceding was written before the opinion of
Judge Carpenter (referred to later on) was
rendered, or had come under the eye of the
writer. In this opinion the same view is
expressed in the following language: "It is
an expression of the faith that I was taught
as a child, and that I, in common with many
others, still hold, that, as you increase the effi-
ciency of schools and other means of educa-
tion, religion, morality and knowledge will
prosper."
In the year 1787 a purchase of a million
and a half acres of land, including what is
now the city of Cincinnati, was made (or at
least negotiated for), by Judge John Cleves
Symmes, of New Jersey, on behalf of a com-
pany. It was stipulated that the tract should
be surveyed under the government system,
and that section 16 of each township should
be set apart for educational, and section 29
for religious, purposes. This would seem to
have been a stipulation in behalf of a com-
pany, rather than a covenant which the gov-
ernment would have interested itself in en-
forcing. It was most likely an enterprise on
the part of some religious society.
One of the topics on which information
was asked for from school districts, by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, in
1841, was "the religious instruction" im-
parted in the schools, and the answers were
summarized by the words "that sectarianism
was not taught, while a certain amount of
religious instruction was encouraged.' The
first Superintendent of Public Instruction, in
outlining the plan of the University, says:
"It is not to be expected that the study of
theology, as a profession, can ever be made
a separate department of the University.
There is no connection, and it is devoutly to
be hoped there never will be, between church
and state, under our government. We have,
therefore, no establishment, and consequently
no ministry to provide for it. But **
the basis on which Christianity has reared its
stupendous fabric, and founds its claims to
the confidence and affection of the world,
would be fruitful topics for the predilections
of such a professorship as is proposed to be
established. Besides, it will be found to be
essential to the prosperity of the University.
Without something cf the kind it would be
abandoned by all religious denominations.".
The religious character of the University
(having reference more specifically to the sys-
tem of religion represented by the Christian
cult), has been dwelt upon and emphasized
by chairs in the University, notably by Presi-
dent Angell, in his inaugural address. It may
be said to have been authoritatively stated by
Prof. Frieze, who was designated to give the
leading address at the University semi-cen-
tennial, June 26-30, 1887, his theme being
"The University in Its Relation to Religion."
The following extract from the address is
given:
"In its future it (the University) must be
expected to maintain the same position as
heretofore. Until Michigan shall cease to be
a Christian State, its University cannot cease

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
47
to be a Christian school of learning, for it is
governed and controlled by the people
through regents of their own choosing; and,
therefore, its teachers must in general repre-
sent the religious opinions of the people as a
whole. But to believe that Christianity is
ever to lose its grounds in the State is to
throw up our faith in its Divine Author. On
the contrary, His word cannot fail; His good.
work must go on and prosper; the people
must become more and more imbued with His
spirit, and make that spirit to be more and
more manifest in the character and working
of their institutions. And we have in this a
sure promise that the University will never
cease in the future to maintain that reason-
able and strong position, as a Christian insti-
tution, of a Christian commonwealth, which,
as a historical fact, it has held throughout the
half century this day completed."
Dr. Tappan, the first president of the Uni-
versity, in an address before the Christian
Library Association, June 22, 1858, used lan-
guage strongly implying that no system of
religion should be taught or represented, as
by authority, in a State institution. A few
of his sentences are appended:
"But egregiously do those mistake the char-
acter and ends of this institution who imagine
that because it belongs to no sect or party in
particular, it therefore belongs to all sects
and parties conjointly, and of equal right. It
not only does not belong to any sect or party
in particular; it belongs to no sect or party at
all. It is a purely literary and scientific in-
stitution; it is in no sense ecclesiastical. It
is designed for a single purpose-advancing
knowledge and promoting education. The
State is not composed of religious sects, but
of the people. And the institutions of the
State do not belong to the sects into which
the people may chance to be divided by their
opinions and practices, but to the people con-
sidered as the body politic, irrespective of all
such divisions. The right of prescription, in-
terference, or of any control conceded to one
religious body, would involve a concession of
the same to all similar bodies. What is con-
ceded to the Protestants, the Catholics may
equally claim. What is conceded to Metho-
dists or Presbyterians, all other Protestant
sects may equally claim. Nay, what is con-
ceded to religious sects must be conceded also
to those who belong to no sect. The only
practical alternative is that of committing an
institution of learning to one sect, or to none
at all. State institutions, of course, are com-
mitted to none at all."
A liberal view would certainly not object
to the teaching in the State schools of the
history and tenets of all religions, as matter of
information, without teaching any one of
them ex-cathedra, leaving it to the intelligent
student to determine in his own mind which
is the right one or the preferable one.
A study of this character, however, would
not be adapted to the primary schools, and it
is here that the greatest friction has arisen.
The Roman Catholics, more especially, have
claimed that religious instruction should be
concurrent with that of a secular character.
The same view is held by many of the Pro-
testants, but in view of the difficulty of intro-
ducing any religious teaching without offend-
ing persons of some one or more sects or of
no sect, there has been a general concurrence
in the propriety of omitting religious instruc-
tion from the public schools.
A case involving the right of the Board of
Education of Detroit to introduce the so-called
"Select Bible Readings" into the schools of
that city was decided by the Supreme Court of
the State, December 6, 1898, (Pfeiffer vs.
Board of Education of Detroit). This case was
before the court for many months before a de-
cision was handed down, showing the extreme
care exercised by the judges before reaching
a decision. The contention of the relator,
Pfeiffer, was that the Select Bible Readings,
being a religious book and intended for reli-
gious instruction, their use in the schools was
violative of sections 39, 40 and 41, article 4,
of the State Constitution, as follows:
Sec. 39. The Legislature shall pass no law to
prevent any person from worshipping Almighty
God according to the dictates of his own conscience.
48
MEN OF PROGRESS.
or compel any person to attend, erect or support
any place of religious worship, or to pay tithes,
taxes or other rates for the support of any minister
of the gospel or teacher of religion.
Sec. 40. No money shall be appropriated or
drawn from the treasury for the benefit of any
religious sect or society, theological or religious
seminary, nor shall property belonging to the State
be appropriated for any such purpose.
Sec. 41. The Legislature shall not diminish or
enlarge the civil or political rights, privileges and
capacities of any person on account of his opinion
or belief concerning matters of religion.
It was contended by the Board of Educa-
tion, in its answer, that the book was not in-
troduced into the schools as a book of reli-
gious instruction, but as a reading exercise,
valuable for its moral precepts. Its use was
defended on this ground, and this was the
ground on which the right of the school
authorities to place it as a text book in the
schools was affirmed.
The case was first brought in the Wayne
Circuit Court, and Judge Carpenter, of that
Court, in a very elaborate opinion, decided in
favor of the relator, Pfeiffer, and against the
use of the book in the schools. His decision
was reversed by the Supreme Court on writ
of error, four of the judges-Montgomery,
Grant, Hooker and Long-concurring, Judge
Moore filing a dissenting opinion. The spirit
of the decision in the case is fairly repre-
sented by the following extract from the
opinion handed down by the four judges:
"No interference, by way of instruction, with the
views of the scholars, whether derived from paren-
tal or sacredotal authority, is shown. The Bible
was used merely as a book in which instruction
in reading was given. But reading the Bible is
no more an interference with religious belief than
would reading the mythology of Greece or Rome
be regarded as interfering with religious belief or
affirming the pagan creeds. A chapter in the Koran
might be read, yet it would not be an affirmation
of the truth of Mohammedanism, or an interference
with religious faith. The Bible was used merely
as a reading book, and for the information con-
tained in it, as the Koran might be, and not for
religious instruction. If suitable for that, it was
suitable for the purpose for which it was selected."
Virtually, therefore, the opinion would
deny the right of the school authorities to
prescribe any form of religious teaching for
the schools.
In his dissenting opinion Judge Moore
quotes the opinion in full of Judge Carpen-
ter, in the lower court, from which the fol-
lowing extract is taken:
"It is no answer to the charge that the contem-
plated use of 'Readings from the Bible' is teaching
religion, to say that the book also teaches morality.
What religious book could not be taught in the
schools, if the morality of its doctrines were to
determine its use? Teaching religion at the expense
of the taxpayers is forbidden by the constitution,
and teaching morality is not commanded by it.
Nor is it possible to take a middle ground, and
insist that the religion of the Bible can be taught
in the schools, and other religious teachings
excluded. It is impossible to frame an argument
which, under our constitution, will permit respon-
dent to carry out its proposed action, which will
not permit it to teach any religion it may choose
to teach. The constitution prohibits all religious
teachings in the public schools, or it prohibits
none."
Judicial decisions are supposed to be
reached upon the law as it is found to exist,
independently of popular opinion. But an
advancing tendency in popular opinion, run-
ning through decades, comes to be recognized
by the courts, and assumes the form of law.
Had the same issue been tried fifty years ago,
as in the case cited, it is a safe assumption that
it would have been decided much more
promptly and with an added emphasis. The
history is of value, as showing the evolution
of thought on the special line indicted.

MATERIAL INTERESTS.
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS BY THE STATE.
Fanciful Schemes of the Earlier Days-Prophetic
of What is Now Seen-Work Projected-The Five
Million Loan-Views of Governor Barry-Sale of
the Railroads-Abandonment of the System.
Under the territorial government a number
of companies were chartered for building
railways and for improving the interior water-
ways, although but little progress was made
in construction. At the time of the organi-
zation of the State government immigration
was at high tide. Everybody was wealthy in
imagination. Visions of a magnificent future
filled the public eye. And if a thought verg-
ing on the fanciful may be pardoned, it is
that our visions are real while they exist.
Castles in the air are real castles until they
are blown away. So our predecessors in the
thirties had visions and built air castles.
When the constitution of 1835 provided
that internal improvements should be encour-
aged, the popular pulse-beat responded to it.
Many schemes of internal improvement were
undertaken, only to prove failures. But
while the castles of those days may have been
ethereal as to their then permanence, they
were prophetic of what should come after.
The improvements of the present day far ex-
ceed in extent and surpass in excellence the
most fanciful dreams of the enthusiasts of the
earlier days. Though these improvements
have not been made directly by the State,
they have been made by private enterprise
fostered by the State. They have been made
possible and have been made indispensable by
the growth in population and wealth-fac-
tors, by the way, which the improvements
themselves have been potent agents in devel-
oping. Let those who will, strike the balance
between cause and effect. In passing, also, it
may be noted that while the State entered
upon an extended policy of public works in
its infancy, only to abandon it later, there is
now a rising demand for public ownership of
public works, especially by municipalities,
but not stopping short of the general govern-
ment in its relation to the great transportation
agencies.
In 1837 the State, pursuant to authority of
the Legislature, entered upon an extended
system of internal improvement, including
three trunk railway lines-the Southern, the
Central, and the Northern, the latter between
Port Huron and Grand Rapids and the
Clinton and Kalamazoo canal, from Mt.
Clemens westward to Lake Michigan. For
carrying out these gigantic enterprises, whose
cost at this day would exceed the hundred mil-
lion mark, a loan of $5,000,000 was nego-
tiated on the credit of the State. The full
amount of the loan was, however, never real-
ized by the State, a portion of the bonds hav-
ing been negotiated with the Morris Canal &
Banking Company, of New Jersey, and with
the United States Bank, both of which be-
came insolvent. The final settlement became
a matter of compromise between the State and
the holders of the bonds. It was a matter of
history at the time also that $20,000 of the
money received on account of the loan mys-
teriously disappeared on its way from New
York to Detroit in the custody of the Michi-
gan agents. Of the public improvements pro-
jected, Gov. Barry, in his message to the Leg-
islature in 1842 said: "Our whole system of
internal improvement, it will be seen, em-
braced about five hundred and ninety-six
miles of railroad, about two hundred and
fifty-three miles of canal, and the improve-
ment of five rivers. The estimated cost of
these improvements is $10,489,275.76,
though probably their real cost, were they
completed, would not be less than $15,000,-

50
MEN OF PROGRESS.
000." The Governor's estimate of the cost
illustrates the want of knowledge at the time
as to the cost of works of the character in
question, while the nicety with which the
probable cost of so comprehensive a system is
figured down to centals in the first estimates
is not a little amusing. The entire system of
internal improvements was placed under a
board of seven commissioners.
Some further comments of Gov. Barry in
the message already quoted from are worthy
of reproduction. Speaking of the scheme as
a whole, he says: "The conception of the
plan on a scale so magnificent, is to be at-
tributed to the erroneous opinions of the
wealth produced by a too redundant paper
currency. The system was altogether too ex-
tended for our wants, and required expendi-
tures beyond our means. It was projected at
a time when things were too often viewed
through a magnifying glass. Individuals
embarked with confidence in enterprises
which they now regard as extravagant and
visionary. The spirit of the times unfor-
tunately became the governing policy of the
States, and Michigan projected a system of
internal improvements which would have
been a grand undertaking for the oldest and
most wealthy States. This general delusion
has now passed away. Men have returned
to sober senses and rely on the realities of
life."
Gov. Barry recommended the abandon-
ment of the system as a whole, while hus-
banding those works already completed, or
nearly so. There was a growing sentiment,
however, that the State should wash its hands
of the whole business, and this sentiment cul-
minated in 1846 in the sale of both the Cen-
tral and Southern railroads. The former
had been completed as far as Kalamazoo
and the latter as far as Hillsdale. The pur-
chase price of the Central was $2,000,000,
and of the Southern $500,000, but it was
paid by retiring so much of the $5,000,000
loan bonds. No work other than some grad-
ing and grubbing had been done on the north-
ern route (Port Huron and Grand Rapids).
Some work had been done on the Clinton and
Kalamazoo canal, extending as far as Roch-
ester in Oakland County, at an expense of
$56,754.68, and various small sums had been
expended for other improvements up to 1842.
But with the sale of the two railroads the
State cut loose from all work of the kind.

BANKING AND CURRENCY.
First Effort at Banking-Chartered Banks-General
Banking Law of 1837, or "Wild Cat" Banks-Col-
lapse of the System-Scarcity of Bank Currency
-Canadian, Indiana and Illinois Notes-General
Banking Law of 1857-State Banks of Issue
Superseded by National Currency-Shinplasters
and State Scrip-Savings Banks, State Banks and
National Banks-Tabular Exhibits.
The first effort at banking in Michigan
was under the auspices of Gov. Hull and
Judge Woodward, who in 1806 established a
bank in Detroit, of whose operations fabulous
tales were old. The institution had no legal
existence, and closed out at the end of two
years. The Bank of Michigan was chartered
by the Legislative Council in 1817, and did
a prosperous business for twenty-four years,
when it went under in the general financial
collapse of the time. The Farmers' and Mer-
chants' Bank (1830), and the Michigan State
Bank (1835), both of Detroit, both suffered
the fate of their predecessor about the same
time and from the same causes. The Michi-
gan Insurance Company (bank) was char-
tered in 1834 and continued doing business
until it was superseded by the national bank-
ing system. Aside from the Detroit banks
mentioned, a dozen or more had been char-
tered and were doing business at interior
points. In 1837 the speculative fever ran so
high that the Legislature was overwhelmed
with applications for bank charters, and in
lieu of special charters the general banking
law was passed, under which the brood of
"wild cat" banks, so well remembered by the

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
51
also.
few now living who were then residents of
the State, came into existence. Within a
year and a half from sixty to seventy banks
had been organized in the State. The col-
lapse of the system was as sudden as its rise,
carrying with it most of the chartered banks
At the close of the year 1839 four
chartered banks and four under the general
law remained, and three years later the Mich-
igan Insurance Company was the only asso-
ciation doing a banking business in the State.*
For a period of over twenty years the
banking facilities of the State, so far as banks
of issue were concerned, were mainly confined
to a couple of banks in Detroit. In the early
fifties a bank known as the Government Stock
Bank was doing business at Ann Arbor,
though under what charter right is not re-
called. It was of a speculative character, and
was not held in favor by the Metropolitan
Bank, of New York, by which its notes were
gathered up and presented for redemption be-
fore they became crumpled. This pressure
forced it out of business. Several banks in
the interior were revived and transacted busi-
ness under old charters.
The present constitution, adopted in 1850,
forbade special charters, and provided that
any general banking law should be sub-
mitted to a vote of the people. The Legisla-
ture in 1857 passed a general banking act,
which was approved by popular vote at the
November election in 1858. Its provisions
were such, however, that no banks were es-
tablished under it so far as known. The busi-
ness interests of the State had increased to
an extent that the absence of banks of issue
at which accommodation loans might be had
was seriously felt, as was the scarcity of cur-
rency for ordinary business exchanges. In
the eastern part of the State, Canadian bank
notes were largely in circulation, and were
*T. H. Hinchman's "Banks and Banking in
Michigan." In the report of the State Treasurer
for 1853 five banks are mentioned: The Bank of
Macomb County, at Mt. Clemens; the Government
Stock Bank, at Ann Arbor, and the Michigan State
Bank, the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank and the
Peninsular Bank, at Detroit.
valued for their supposed security and gold
equivalent. Indiana bank notes were also in
evidence. In western Michigan, Illinois cur-
rency was the more plentiful, but it was re-
garded with suspicion, and was sometimes
characterized by the unpoetic term of "stump
tail." The embarrassment had become so
great and the need for relief so pressing, that
the Legislature of 1861 proposed an amend-
ment to the constitution providing that the
Legislature, by a two-thirds vote of each
house, might establish a single bank, with
branches. The amendment was adopted at
the ensuing November election, and became
part of the constitution. The system contem-
plated was similar to that on which the In-
diana banks were organized. The establish-
ment of the national banking system, how-
ever, made action under the amendatory
clause impracticable, as all State banks of
issue were soon merged into national banks.
Private banks or banking offices for the pur-
pose of discount and exchange had sprung up
in many places where there was a demand for
them during the dearth of other banking
facilities.
During the wild cat period there was a
suspension of specie payments by the banks,
and silver coin for small change was unob-
tainable. To supply the need, private firms,
and in some cases municipalities, issued frac-
tional currency known as "shinplasters," an
experience that was practically repeated in
the first years of the war of the rebellion, be-
fore the issue of the fractional currency by
the general government. In 1841 an issue of
State scrip was authorized, of which over
$200,000 was put in circulation. The notes
were paid out for all purposes required by the
needs of the State government. No direct
provision was made for their redemption, but
they were made receivable for taxes. The
financial credit of the State was at a low
mark, and the notes were looked upon with
distrust. They could be converted into coin
only at a considerable discount, and were in
many cases declined in matters of ordinary
traffic except at a discount. Those who had
52
MEN OF PROGRESS.
taxes to pay, paid them in State scrip. If
they did not have the notes, they bought
them up at a shave from those who had them.
The consequence was that in a year or two
the scrip had substantially all been returned
to the State in the way of taxes, and the
State was without available means with which
to meet its ordinary obligations.
Savings banks, at least in Michigan, are an
essentially modern institution. The first law
under which savings banks were organized
was passed in 1869. The act was revised in
1889 so as to include discount and deposit
banks for commercial purposes, as well as
savings deposits. These banks are under the
supervision of a bank commissioner, having
his office at Lansing, who is required to make
an examination of the affairs of every bank
organized, at least once each year, similar to
the examination of national banks required
by the general government. Below is given
some comparative statistics of State and sav-
ings banks, beginning with the year 1873, the
reports up to that time being meagre and of
little value. Up to and including 1888 the
reports of "State banks" and "savings banks"
are made separately. Beginning with 1889
all are reported as "State banks," but the de-
posits are classified as "commercial" and "sav-
ings." Trust companies are included in the
number of banks-two in 1890, four in 1895,
and three in 1898. The apparently large
commercial deposits in 1890, 1895 and 1898,
are swelled by deposit certificates, $6,000,000
to $8,000,000 in each case.
Comparative figures for the years given are
as follows, omitting the centals:

Year.
BANKS.
No. of
Bks.
Capital.
Com. Savings
Deposits. Deposits.
1873 State banks
1873 Savings banks.
1875 State banks.
13
$1,184,897 $2,266,477
10
681,800
$4,102,401
15
1,337,825 2,890,514
1875 Savings banks.
11
805,660
4,828,968
1880 State banks.
13
1880 Savings banks.
15
108
173
187
1890 State banks.
1895 State banks.
1899 State banks
874,750 2,533,833
1,160,000 114,926 8.236,094
8,460,835 15,355,117 27,779,136
12,518,117 24,927,315 41,192 483
12,262,100 24 522,326 62,659,912
The first National Bank Act went into
operation in February, 1863. But one bank
was organized in Michigan and found a place
in the report for that year. The progress of
the national banking interest in the State is
shown by the leading items in their transac-
tions for the years given in the table below.
The figures are given in thousands, thus-
$32. for $32,000; $38,463. for $38,463,000:

Year.
No. of
Banks.
Loans and
Discounts.
Capital.
Surplus.
Undivided
Profits.
Circulation.
Outstanding
Individual
Deposits.
241
1863
1865
$32
$75
$ 1
$52
3 681
4,148
$160
$3,765
4,370
1870
9,655
5,585
1,520
502
3,897
6,282
1875
81
19,101
10,447 2,815
1.282
6,615
11,381
1880
79
19,938
9,335 2,591 1,358
6,108
18.205
1885
102
29,979
13,095 2.194 1,319
3,851
25,889
1890
410
48 856
15,515 3,356 2,268 2,732
38,659
1895
94
37.570
1899
46,146
13,434 3,026 1,628 4,191
80 46.504 11,530 3,153 1,303 4.142 50,765
RAILROADS.
First Railway in New York-Western New York
Immigrants and Nomenclateur-First Railway
Charter in Michigan-"Success to the Railroad"-
The Trunk Lines-Sale of the Roads by the State
-Wonderful Development of the Railway System
-Methods in Early Construction-Land Grants in
Aid of Railways-Local Aid to Railways-Rail-
way Statistics.
The history of railroads in Michigan is
coeval almost with the history of like enter-
prises in other parts of the country. The first
railroad built in the State of New York (the
Albany and Schenectady), was put in opera-
tion about the beginning of the 1830 decade.
A large influx of population was then just be-
ginning to pour into Michigan, mainly from
Western New York. The local nomenclature
of Oakland and Macomb Counties tells very
clearly where much of the immigration to
those sections came from. Rochester, Au-
burn, Avon, Troy, Utica, etc., at once sug-
gest that the people who bestowed those
names upon given localities came from the
vicinity of places bearing like names else-
where. These immigrants came, bearing
with them the impulses that acuated the peo-
ple of the regions
ple of the regions from whence they came.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
53
It requires no stretch of the imagination to
connect the active thought of those people
with a new enterprise then freshly inaugurat-
ed, namely, the railway first mentioned. What
the people of the Empire State had, the peo-
ple who came from thence might have and
ought to have; why not? They had brought
with them the intelligence of the East. They
had brought with them the spirit of the towns
they had left at least they had brought their
names, and hoped in time to build the towns
that should equal or surpass their patro-
nymics. They had brought with them the
enterprise of the East. Why should they not
also bring its newest achievement, the rail-
road? That they desired and sought to do
so may be read in the fact of the incorpora-
tion, in 1830, of the "Pontiac & Detroit
Railroad Company," by the Legislative Coun-
cil of the Territory of Michigan. No prog-
ress was made under the first organization,
and in 1834 the corporation was succeeded by
the Detroit & Pontiac Company, with author-
ity to build a branch to Rochester. A track
was extended toward, and perhaps reached
the latter place, leaving the main line a little
east of Royal Oak. There was some traffic
by means of horse cars on the branch, but it
was never honored by a locomotive, and fell
into disuse and final abandonment. Among
the incidents of the early railroad enthusiasm,
the writer recalls having seen, when a small
boy, a glass half-pint flask, with the inscrip-
tion, "Success to the railroad." The use to
The use to
which the flask was designed was unmistak-
able, and it may be supposed that every one
who took a drink from it voiced (without the
trouble of expressing) the sentiment. It
might be reasonably supposed that with the
moral leverage of so many persons drinking
"Success to the railroad," it should have been
a success, but it did not prove such to the
fullest extent. It was opened to Royal Oak
in the summer of 1838 and a year later to
Birmingham, where it made a long halt, not
reaching Pontiac until 1843. The subse-
quent history of this road merges it with the
great railway systems of the country. The
Oakland & Ottawa Railroad Company was
chartered to build a road from Pontiac to
Lake Michigan, and the two were eventually
merged as the Detroit & Milwaukee, subse-
quently being reorganized as the Detroit,
Grand Haven & Milwaukee. Its manage-
ment fell into the hands of British capitalists
who furnished the necessary means for its
building and equipment, and it now forms a
part of the Grand Trunk railyway system.
The next railway enterprise born in the
State was the Detroit and St. Joseph, pro-
jecting a line from Detroit to the mouth of
the St. Joseph River on Lake Michigan, a
company for the purpose having been char-
tered in 1832. Some work in the way of
surveys and grading was done as far as Ypsi-
lanti, and possibly some track may have been
laid on the eastern end, when the properties
passed into the hands of the State under the
internal improvement Act of 1837, the State
paying the company for the work already
done, the enterprise thereupon becoming the
initial section of the Michigan Central line.
A brief sketch of the progress of the road un-
der State auspices is given under the head of
"Internal Improvements." Its history since
passing into the hands of the company is the
history of the progress and development of
Central and Western Michigan and of the
Northwest. As a State work it could not be
carried beyond the limits of the State, and its
western terminus was to have been either St.
Joseph or New Buffalo, whence further prog-
ress for those westward bound must have been
by boat across Lake Michigan or by such land
transportation as they might find. But in the
hands of a company no limit could be put to
the extent of the line or its connections.
was urged by those who were negotiating for
the purchase of the line from the State that
it was designed to form part of a western sys-
tem especially in Illinois. Northern Illinois
was then but sparsely settled, and railway en-
terprises there were of doubtful utility so far
as immediate returns might be concerned. It
was argued that while the Michigan section
might be remunerative, its returns would be
It
54
MEN OF PROGRESS.
expected to help make good deficiencies which
were looked for for a time from lines farther
west. As the Central passed into the hands
of the company chartered for the purpose, the
work of construction westward was pushed
with all possible energy. Its objective point
was Chicago. In this it had a competitor in
the Southern, both roads reaching the Gar-
den City about the same time in 1852.
The Southern road had its initiative as the
Erie & Kalamazoo railroad, a charter for
which was granted by the Legislative Council
in 1833. The project was, however, absorbed
by the State in its general plan of internal
improvements, the work under the State aus-
pices taking the name of the Michigan South-
ern. In its corporate character it was known
as the Michigan Southern & Northern In-
diana, and through its eastern connection it is
known as the Lake Shore & Michigan South-
ern.
Previous to the opening of railway com-
munication with the east, Michigan was
effectually isolated during the winter months.
The only routes eastward were through Can-
ada or the more tedious one by the south
shore, both by land carriage. The comple-
tion of the Great Western through Canada in
January, 1854, opened the first direct rail-
way route to the east. The Southern road
had, however, some time previously, formed
an eastern connection.
The route originally projected for the
Northern railway from Port Huron to Grand
Rapids, remained unoccupied for over thirty
years. The section from Port Huron to Flint
was eventually covered by. the Chicago &
Grand Trunk, opened in 1871. The present
trunk line known as the Chicago & Grand
Trunk was first built in four or five sections
by as many different companies the eastern
section as noted, the section from Flint to
Lansing by a company in the Vanderbilt in-
terest, the section between Lansing and Bat-
tle Creek by a local company, and west of
Battle Creek by other companies. The con-
solidation of the whole was effected in 1880.
Any detailed history of railways is, of
course, out of the question in this connec-
tion. But those who care to take a backward
glance may profitably indulge a thought as
to the marvelous development of the railway
system. How many are there who know or
think that it is less than fifty years since
Michigan was brought in social and commer-
cial touch with the east during the winter
season? Let the reader concentrate his mind
on the railway system of the country. Let
him view in imagination the moving trains
crossing the continent in all directions. Let
him enter the depots and yards in half a
thousand cities and study the equipment and
interlacing trackage. Let him enter the pas-
senger trains and find them equipped with
every comfort and luxury required for rest
and refreshment. If one can conceive the
whole panorama in fanciful view, there comes
with the vision the thought as a verity that
it is all the product of seventy years of time.
There are those now living who had reached
adult life before there was a single rail laid on
the continent. But it is not within the prov-
ince to dwell upon the wonderful or marvel-
The electric light has flashed upon the
world, and maybe the next seventy years will
throw the last in the shade, and hold him who
should write of the past with wonderment, as
a simpleton.
ous.
In some of the earlier experiences in rail-
roading the cars were drawn by horses on a
wooden rail. This was only provisional, how-
ever. The strap rail was looked forward to
as the ultimate and the perfect in railroad
building. The strap rail was a wrought iron
strap or plate of convenient length for hand-
ling, about half an inch thick and two inches
or more in width. The ties were placed on
the roadbed, on which wooden rails were
placed, and on these the iron or strap rail was
fastened by spikes. Early passenger cars
were modeled much after the stage coach,
the resemblance being strictly in accordance
with the law of evolution. Up to within a
few years it was the custom to designate each
locomotive by some name, but there came to
be so many locomotives that there were not
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
55
names enough to go around, and they are now
known, like the convicts in a prison, by their
numbers only.
Three of the important railways of the
State owe their construction largely to gov-
ernment land grants; wholly so, it may be
said, because without the land grants the
roads would probably not have been built.
The Grand Rapids & Indiana railroad, run-
ning from Fort Wayne, Ind., to the Straits of
Mackinac, a distance of 368 miles, like many
other trunk lines, is the fruit of consolidations
with several shorter lines. It received land
grants from Congress aggregating 1,160,382
acres. The Flint & Pere Marquette Railway
was originally projected from Flint to Pere
Marquette on Lake Michigan, in aid of which
a liberal grant of land was made by Congress.
The Flint & Holly, extending from Flint to
Holly, a distance of 17 miles, was built by the
late Governor Crapo as a means of transporta-
tion for the lumber product centering at
Flint, of which he was the largest manufac-
turer. It was absorbed in 1868 by the F. &
P. M., under a hundred year lease. The Holly,
Wayne & Monroe road, running from Holly
to Monroe and Toledo, was
Toledo, was also consoli-
dated with the F. & P. M. in 1871, giving a
continuous line from Ludington to Monroe,
253 miles, and to Toledo, 273 miles, with a
branch from Plymouth to Detroit, 25 miles,
and other branches. The Detroit connection
is, however, essentially a part of the main
line. The Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw road
extends from Jackson to the Straits of Mack-
inac, a distance of 295 miles. It was largely
constructed upon the strength of a land grant
made to the Amboy, Lansing and Traverse
Bay Railroads, of whose franchises it became
possessed.
The Mackinac & Marquette Railroad,
which connects the Straits of Mackinac with
the city of Marquette, and the I.ower with the
Upper Peninsula through connecting lines
southward, owes its construction to a State
land grant. In the later sixties, the city of
Chicago enjoyed direct railway connection
with the iron and copper districts of the
Upper Peninsula, while the Lower Peninsula
was entirely cut off from such communication
during the winter months. The business in-
terests of the Lower Peninsula felt themselves
at a serious disadvantage by reason of this
condition of things, and the necessity for a
railway connection was apparent. The State
had at its disposal a considerable portion of
the lands originally ceded by Congress to the
State as swamp lands, but most of which were
excellent agricultural lands as well as being
valuable for their timber and mineral depos-
its. At the Legislative session of 1873, par-
ties proposed the construction of a railroad
from Mackinac to Marquette on condition of
a grant of these lands. A grant of ten sections
per
mile of road to be built was made in 1873,
which was increased in 1875 to sixteen sec-
tions. The construction of the road was, how-
ever, not begun until 1879, it being com-
pleted to Marquette in December, 1881.
It should be stated in farther explanation
that the land grants by Congress were to the
State, but for the purposes more or less specif-
ically set forth. And in so far treating of the
several grants, the effort has been to touch
as lightly as possible upon the history of the
roads, that the work may not seem invidious
toward other roads whose history cannot be
given for obvious reasons.
The flush times, growing out of a re-
dudant currency during the 1860 decade, as
a fruit of the war, greatly stimulated railway
enterprises in the State. There was a press-
ing demand for municipal or local aid to these
enterprises. Their promoters desired author-
ity on the part of townships and municipali-
ties to vote such aid, to be represented by cor-
porate bonds, and there was a marked willing-
ness on the part of the people to respond to
the demand. At the special Legislative ses-
sion in 1864 and the regular session of 1865
à score or more of acts were passed authoriz-
ing the extension of such aid, which was in
most cases willingly voted by the people. The
plan was one which grew by what it fed on,
and at the session of 1867 many additional
measures were proposed on the same line, and



56
MEN OF PROGRESS.
a number of enabling acts passed both houses
of the Legislature. Gov. Crapo, however, in-
terposed his veto to check what he regarded as
an unwise and dangerous course of legislation.
There was
a determined, though unsuccess-
ful, effort to pass the bills over the veto, and
legislation on the subject was brought to a
standstill. The constitutionality of the acts
that had been passed at previous sessions was
called in question, and the Supreme Court of
the State (20 Mich. 452), declared them un-
constitutional, and the bonds that had been
voted and issued in pursurance of such acts,
null and void. Gov. Baldwin felt that the
good name and credit of the State were in-
volved, and he called a special session of the
Legislature, which met July 27, 1870, at
which he recommended the submission of an
amendment to the constitution authorizing
the payment of the bonds that had been nego-
tiated in good faith. The amendment was
accordingly submitted by the Legislature, but
was defeated by popular vote at the Novem-
ber election in that year. The matter went to
the United States courts, however, and it was
there held that bonds negotiated in good faith
before the adverse decision of the State Court,
were valid, and must be paid.
an
In the winter of 1873, the office of Com-
inissioner of Railroads was established by the
Legislature, and the value of that office in
systematising railway management, as
agent between the corporations and the peo-
ple, and in the collection of facts and statis-
tics, is shown by the work of the department.
The progress of railway construction in Mich-
igan is practically shown by the following
figures. The figures are approximations
only up to the year 1873, since which time
they are official through the office of the Com-
missioner of Railroads, and are designed to
show the number of miles in operation at the
beginning of each year given, namely: 1841,
138 miles; 1850, 342; 1855, 474; 1860, 779;
1865, 941; 1866, 1,039; 1867, 1,163; 1868,
1,199; 1869, 1,325; 1870, 1,638; 1871,
2,116; 1872, 2,214; 1873, 2,975; 1874,
3,253; 1875, 3,315; 1880, 3,823.95; 1885,
5,247.48; 1890, 6,957.27; 1895, 7,608.61.
By the report of the commissioner for the
year 1874, thirty-four railway corporations
were doing business in the State, representing
5,278.36 miles of track, of which 3,314.98
miles were within the State. By the reports
for 1896 there were eighty-nine roads doing
business in the State, including eight ore and
forest roads, with a total mileage in the State
of 9,958.15, of which 2,165.86 miles were
sidings and spurs. During the year 1897 six
new companies were formed, with a proposed
track construction of 247 miles. The greatest
track construction on record in any one year
was in 1872, being 901 miles. The least,
since authentic reports were made, was 44.53
miles in 1877. The desparity between the two
years forcibly impresses the effect of the
financial depression beginning in 1873.
As part of the railway system of the State,
the transfer ferries, by which entire trains
are carried across Detroit river and the Straits
of Mackinac, the tunnel at Port Huron, and
the international bridge at Sault Ste. Marie,
deserve mention.
The following statistics are taken from
tables accompanying the report of the Com-
missioner of Railroads for 1898:
According to the report of the Railroad
Commissioner for 1898 there were 7,816
miles of railroad in the State or 10,018 reck-
oned as single track. This was an increase
of 57 miles over the previous year.
The paid in capital stock of these roads
amounted to $439,076,478, of which $10,-
$11,799 was owned in Michigan. The total
debt of these roads amounted to $664,861,
718.
During the year 43,401,571 passengers
were carried and the passenger revenue
amounted to nearly $1 per passenger carried.
In the same year 88,987,235 tons of freight
were carried and the revenue aggregated
$61,453,120.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
57
GOVERNMENT LAND GRANTS.
The University Lands-Primary School Lands-
Agricultural College Lands-Salt Spring Lands-
Sault Ste. Marie Canal Lands-Swamp Lands-
Railway Land Grants.
Michigan has not been overlooked in the
matter of bounties by the general government
in the way of land grants. The government
became an extensive land owner by the ces-
sion to it of the Northwest territory. A con-
troling motive in making this cession was to
place the government in possession of a do-
main from which it might discharge in part
its obligations incurred in the war of inde-
pendence. In saying that Michigan has been
liberally dealt by in the way of land grants
does not imply that she has fared any bet-
ter than other new States.
By Act of Congress of 1804 an entire
township of land was set apart in each of the
territories of the northwest "for seminaries of
learning."*
This land was to be in one body,
and the original intent was that it was to be
leased, but not sold. No location of the sec-
tion had been made up to 1819. Gov. Wood-
bridge, who then represented the territory in
Congress, fearing that by reason of the rapid
settlement of the territory an entire town-
ship of desirable land could not well be se-
cured, agitated the plan of having the terms
of the grant so changed that the land might
be selected in detached tracts. The effort was
successful in 1826, at which time land to the
extent of an additional township was also
granted. These two grants, with three addi-
tional sections of land secured by means of an
Indian treaty negotiated at Fort Meigs in
1817, constitute the original endowment of
the University of Michigan. The lands have
been sold, and the proceeds have gone into
the State treasury, forming one of the "trust
funds," on which the State pays interest at
the rate of 7 per cent. to the University, equal
to about $37,500 per annum. Only forty
acres of the University lands remain unsold.
The University lands were of the choicest
farming lands in the State. The minimum
*Public Instruction and School Law, 1852, p. 3.
price at which they were to be sold, as by
Act of March 21, 1837, was $20 per acre.
The earlier sales averaged $22.85 per acre.
A payment was required to be made at the
time of purchase, but the greater part of the
purchase price was allowed to remain for a
term of years upon payment of interest. The
financial stringency and industrial depression
of the period came on, and in a number of
cases easier terms were granted to some of
the settlers. The minimum price of the un-
sold lands was finally reduced to $12 per
acre. In brief, while an endowment fund of
$1,000,000 had been looked for, only a lit-
tle more than half that sum
was realized.
Prof. Ten Brook, in his work, analyzes the
situation quite fully, with an implication of
bad faith (or at least a want of prudent care),
on the part of the Legislature, in administer-
ing the trust. The problem seems hardly
worth considering. Had the expected sum
been realized it would have brought $70,000
per annum, at seven per cent., as against
$38,500, which the fund now receives. If,
by the dereliction of the State, the annual
income from the interest fund is $31,500 less
than it should be, the difference is repaid
more than six fold by present State appro-
priations.
The first formal dedication of land to edu-
cational uses was by ordinance of the Con-
gress of the Confederation, May, 1785. By
this ordinance Section 16 of each surveyed
township was dedicated to the support of com-
mon schools. It would seem a little puzzling
how Congress could make this dedication
when it had no land to dedicate. The public
lands at that time all belonged to the States
in which situated. Congress became the dis-
penser of the public domain only by virtue of
the ordinance of 1787, and it was perhaps in
anticipation of what was to be that the action
of 1785 was taken. Passing this query, how-
ever, the dedication or consecration of one-
thirty-sixth of the public domain in the States
of the west for the support of common schools,
is a feature of their history as ineradicable as


58
MEN OF PROGRESS.
are their rocks from their geological structure.
The Act of 1785 has been confirmed by vari-
ous Acts of Congress under the constitution,
and specifically as to Michigan in the Act
providing for her admission into the Union
June 23, 1836. About 1,070,016 acres of
land accrued to the State by virtue of these
Acts, of which some 190,000 acres remain
unsold. The school lands are held at the
minimum price of $4 per acre.
Congress, by an Act approved July 2,
1862, granted to the several States and Terri-
tories which may provide colleges for the
benefit of agriculture and mechanic arts, an
amount of public lands equal to 30,000 acres
for each Senator and Representative in Con-
gress to which such State was entitled under
the census of 1860. Under this grant Michi-
gan received about 240,000 acres, of which
about 80,000 acres remain unsold. The Leg-
islature, by Act 221, 1875, granted to the
Agricultural College all of the unsold swamp
land in the townships of Lansing and Meri-
dian, in Ingham County, and in the town-
ships of Dewitt and Bath, in Clinton county.
Congress, by Act June 23, 1836, granted to
the State of Michigan all salt springs within
the State, not exceeding twelve in number,
with six sections of land adjoining or as con-
tiguous as may be to each, for its use, the
same to be selected to be used on such terms,
conditions and regulations as the Legislature
might direct. This would be equal to sev-
enty-two sections, or two entire townships.
March 3, 1847, Congress gave consent to the
sale of the salt spring lands by the State.
March 28, 1849, the Legislature appropriated
ten sections of salt spring lands for the pur
pose of defraying cost of the erection and
completion of the buildings for a Normal
School and for the purchase of necessary ap-
paratus and books, and for various other in-
cidental expenses of the institution. By the
same Act fifteen sections of salt spring lands
were appropriated for an endowment fund
for the Normal School. By Act 187, Laws of
1848, eight sections of salt spring lands were
appropriated for the erection of suitable
buildings for the Michigan Asylum for edu-
cating the deaf and dumb and the blind, and
the Michigan Asylum for the Insane. Act
282, Laws of 1850, appropriated ten addi-
tional sections for the same purpose. There
remains unsold of the salt spring lands less
than 1,500 acres.
By Act of Congress August 26, 1852, an
aggregate of 750,000 acres of land in Michi-
gan was granted to the State to aid the con-
struction of the canal at the Sault de Ste.
Marie, popularly contracted as the "Soo."
This grant was turned over to a company pur-
suant to Act of the Legislature in 1853, in
consideration of the construction by them of
the first Sault canal. The company kept an
office in Detroit for a number of years for the
sale of these lands, but it was closed many
years ago, and if there are any of the lands
remaining unsold they are controlled by
agents of the company at the east.
By Act of September 28, 1850, Congress
granted to certain States to enable them to
reclaim the swamp lands within their limits
by constructing the necessary levees and
drains, the whole of the swamp and over-
flowed lands within their borders respectively
remaining unsold at the time of the passage of
the Act. By arrangement between the State
and Federal Government the basis of the se-
lection of such lands in Michigan was to be
the field notes of the surveys as made by the
surveyors and deputy surveyors employed by
the general government. Lists of such lands
were prepared by the surveyor general and
submitted to the Commissioner of the Gen-
eral Land Office and by him to the Secretary
of the Interior for approval or rejection.
From lists approved by the Secretary of the
Interior, patents were prepared and issued to
the State. Michigan received, approximately,
six million acres under this grant.
Many of the lands patented to the State as
swamp lands were among the best farming
lands in the State, having on them barely
enough swamp to make a trace on the field
notes of the surveyors. It was for a consid-
erable time a question how the terms of the
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
59
grant, which contemplated the construction
of levees and drains, could be complied with.
It was a work that the State did not want to
undertake, even could it have been carried
on by any practicable method. It was finally
determined that the spirit of the con-
tract, as implied by the terms of the grant,
would be equitably met if the drainage and
reclamation was effected by means less direct
than by the State itself. This was the course
substantially recommended by Gov. Bing-
ham in his message to the Legislature in spe-
cial session in 1858, that instead of the State
doing the work, it should be the policy "rather
to dispose of them (the lands) in all the dis-
tricts where there are settlements, at such a
low price as would justify the purchaser in
making the necessary provision for their
drainage and improvement." Act No. 117,
Laws of 1859, in a preamble, set forth that
"In the opinion of the Legislature, the most
efficient means of effecting that end (the
drainage, etc.), is the construction of roads,
with proper ditches and drains." The Act
provided for laying out ten State roads, the
cost to be met either by money proceeds from
swamp land sales or by lands direct. Later it
became the practice to appropriate lands in
specific quantities for the construction of
roads on defined routes, or the improvement
of certain water courses, and the session laws
for a dozen years or more are replete with
Acts for this purpose. Details of the legisla-
tion are necessarily out of the question.
Grants of swamp lands have been made by
the State in aid of railway construction as
follows: To the Chicago & Northwestern
Railway Co., 141,674 acres; Detroit, Macki-
nac & Marquette R. R. Co., 1,327,041; Mar-
quette, Houghton & Ontonagon R. R. Co.,
82,422; Menominee River R. R. Co., 144,-
371. Of the 6,000,000 acres embraced in the
grant, only about 100,000 remain in the
hands of the State. This is certainly evidence
of the original value of the lands and of the
industrious manner in which the State has
passed them out of its hands.
Under the provisions of an Act of Con-
gress, June 3, 1856, lands were granted to
the State of Michigan to aid in the construc-
tion of a railroad from Little Bay De No-
quet to Marquette, and thence to Ontonagon,
and from the last two named places to the
Wisconsin State line. Also from Amboy, by
way of Hillsdale and Lansing, and from
Grand Rapids to some point on or near Tra-
verse Bay, and from Grand Haven and Pere
Marquette to Flint, and thence to Port Hu-
ron. By Act of the State Legislature, Feb-
ruary 15, 1857, the grant was conferred upon
various companies named in the Act, some
nine in number. Under this Act a Board of
Control, with the Governor as president, was
created to manage and dispose of the grant,
and do all things necessary to carry out the
provisions of the granting Act. The Acts
were several times amended by Congress and
by the Legislature, and new Acts and joint
resolutions were passed respecting the lands.
The original companies in several cases never
filed maps of location; others failed in whole
or in part to comply with the requirements of
the Act as to time of completion, and by con-
solidations others were absorbed into new cor-
porations.
By the terms of the grants, the lands were
to be confirmed to the companies propor-
tionally, on the completion of their roads
in twenty mile sections. Failure to con-
struct within the specified time, with other
lapses, wrought a forfeiture of right, and on
March 2, 1889, Congress declared a forfei-
ture of all the land co-terminous with the un-
completed portion of any railroad in aid of
which the Act of 1856 was made, and joint
resolution 19 of the legislative session of 1889
authorized the relinquishment by the State of
all lands certified for railroad purposes and
unearned. This legislation practically closed
one of the most perplexing and complicated
grants ever made by Congress. The total of
lands certified to the State under the Act of
Congress was approximately 3,776,590 acres.
There is no ready means of ascertaining what
portion of these lands passed into the hands
of the railway companies before the Act of


60
MEN OF PROGRESS.
forfeiture. The principal beneficiaries were
the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw (591,000
acres), the Flint & Pere Marquette and the
Grand Rapids & Indiana, in the Lower Pen-
insula, and in the Upper Peninsula the Chi-
cago
& Northwestern, the Marquette, Hough-
ton & Ontonagon (now part of the Duluth,
South Shore & Atlantic) and the Ontonagon
& Brule River.
The data on which the foregoing is pre-
pared has been largely supplied by Messrs.
Loomis and Wilkinson, deputies respectively.
in the State Land Office and Auditor Gen-
eral's Office.
MINERAL RESOURCES.
Early Discovery of Copper-Later Explorations-
Discovery of Iron Ore-Geological Survey-Dr.
Douglass Houghton-Work on the Survey by
Others Copper and Copper Mining-Statistics of
Copper Production-Ancient Mine Work-Iron
and Iron Mining-Iron Ore Shipments-Saline
Interests-Gold and Silver-Other Mineral Pro-
ducts.
It was deemed a hard bargain by the peo-
ple of Michigan when they consented to the
surrender of a strip of productive land on the
southern boundary and the acceptance in its
stead of a rock-bound and comparatively un-
known region, as a condition of the admit-
tance of the State as a member of the Union.
It was a profitable exchange, nevertheless, as
results have shown.
While iron and copper are not by any
means the only minerals that are found, as the
more important, they justly claim first nien-
tion. The first account of the occurrence of
native copper on Lake Superior is in the work
of "Lagarde," published in Paris, in 1636, in
which some interesting accounts are found
concerning the richness of the country. He
says: "There are mines of copper which
might be made profitable, if there were in-
habitants and workmen who would labor
faithfully. That would be done if colonies
were established. About eighty or one hun
dred leagues from the Hurons there is a mine
of copper, from which Truchement Brusle'
showed me an ingot on his return from a
voyage he made to the neighboring nation.'
Father Claude Allouez, a Jesuit mission-
ary, who visited the region in 1666, says: "It
happens frequently that pieces of copper are
found weighing from ten to twenty pounds.
I have seen several such pieces in the hands
of the savages; and since they are very super-
stitious, they esteem them as divinities, or as
presents given to them to promote their hap-
piness, by the gods who dwell beneath the
water. For this reason they preserve these
pieces of copper, wrapped up with their most
precious articles. In some families they
have been kept for more than 50 years; in
others, they have descended from time imme-
morial-being cherished as domestic gods."
Father Dablon, 1669-70, says: "After hav-
ing reached the extremity of the lake there
may be seen, on the south shore, by the
water's edge, a mass of copper weighing 600
to 700 pounds, so hard that steel cannot cut
it; but when heated it may be cut like lead.".
On one of the islands near Chagnemegon bay,
he relates that copper rocks and plates are
found, and that he bought of the savages a
plate of pure copper, two and a half feet
square, weighing more than 100 pounds. He
supposes that they have been derived from
Menong (Isle Royale). He mentions the
fact that the Ottawa squaws, in digging holes
in the sand to hide their corn, find masses
weighing 20 to 30 pounds.
In 1689, Baron La Houton, in a book relat-
ing to travels in Canada, mentions that "upon
Lake Superior we
Lake Superior we find copper mines, the
metal of which is fine and plentiful, there
being not a seventh part base from the ore."
In 1721, P. de Charlevoix describes the
native copper deposits, and superstitions
which the Indians had in regard to them, in
considerable detail.
Captain Jonathan Carver visited Lake Su-
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
61
perior in 1765, and in his account dwelt so
largely on the abundance of native copper
that a copper company was formed in Eng-
land in 1771, which actually began mining
operations on the Ontonagon river, under the
direction of Mr. Alexander Henry, who seems
to have been a better historian than miner;
for he gives a detailed account of the winding
up of his operations in 1772, and concludes,
as the result of his unsuccessful experiment
in mining, "that the country must be culti-
vated and peopled before the copper can be
profitably mined."
In 1819 Gen. Lewis Cass, under authority
of the Secretary of War, directed an explor-
ing expedition, which passed along the south-
ern shore of Lake Superior and crossed over
to the Mississippi. This expedition had,
among its principal objects, that of investi-
gating the northwestern copper mines; and
was accompanied by H. R. Schoolcraft in the
capacity of mineralogist and geologist.
In 1831 an expedition was sent out by the
United States government under the com-
mand of Mr. Schoolcraft, for the purpose of
ascertaining the sources of the Mississippi.
Dr. Douglass Houghton was attached to this
party, and he subsequently speaks of the aid
afforded by the observations made at this time
in tracing the fragments of copper to their
place in the rock.
The outline of the history of the discovery
of the copper deposits here given is found in
the report of T. B. Brooks, 1873, and in other
published reports. Citations to original
sources cannot well be given.
The date of the iron discovery is quite un-
certain, but is much more recent than that of
copper. In his geological report of 1841,
Dr. Houghton says: "Although hematite ore
is abundantly disseminated through all the
rocks of the metamorphic group, it does not
appear in sufficient quantity at any one point
that has been examined, to be of practical im-
portance." At this date Dr. Houghton had
traversed the south shore of Lake Superior
five times, in a small boat or canoe, on geo-
logical investigations. It is, therefore, prob-
able that up to 1841 no Indian traditions
worthy of credence, in regard to large de-
posits of iron ore, had come to his knowledge.
As there are, so far as known, no considerable
outcrops of iron ore which come nearer than
seven miles of the shore of the lake, it is plain
that investigations, based on observations
taken along the shore only, could have deter-
mined no more than its probable existence,
which is plainly indicated in the extracts
given. The United States surveyors, in the
fall of 1844, officially established the fact
that iron ore in considerable quantities existed
in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Steps had been taken with a view to an ex-
ploration of the copper region during the
presidency of John Adams, but nothing was
ever effected. The work of systematic scien-
tific exploration was first undertaken by Dr.
Douglass Houghton, the earliest State geolo-
gist, pursuant to Act of the State Legislature
of February 23 and March 22, 1837. Dr.
Houghton, in his annual report to the Legis-
lature in 1841, presented the results of his
labors up to that period in so able a manner
that the attention of the world became
directed to the Northern Peninsula with
greatly increased interest. The Acts of the
Legislature, providing for the geological sur-
vey, contemplated also the topographical, zoo-
logical and botanical features, embracing the
entire State, but the two latter were discon-
tinued in 1840. For the purposes contem-
plated by the original Act, Dr. Houghton
was supplied with a corps of assistants, who
were probably mostly amateurs without com-
pensation, as may be inferred from the resig-
nations of those in charge of the zoological
and botanical departments in 1839. The
first annual report, 1838, reasonably enough,
was a brief one, but the one for 1839, com-
prising 153 pages, covers the several depart-
ments of geology, zoology, botany and topo-
graphy. The third and fourth annual re-
ports followed, having reference more or less
to localities in the Lower Peninsula, but
treating more particularly of the Lake Supe-
rior region. For a full resume of the early geo-


62
MEN OF PROGRESS.

logical work, with citations of authorities, see
Prof. Winchell's report, 1860, from which
synopses here presented are largely drawn.
The financial stringency in the early forties.
compelled a suspension of the work of the
geological survey. Dr. Houghton's devotion
to the work, however, inspired him to devise
another means for its prosecution. An ap-
propriation was secured from Congress in
1844 for connecting a geological and mineral-
ogical survey with the linear surveys of the
public lands of the Upper Peninsula, the
former under Dr. Houghton and the latter
under Wm. A. Burt, a name intimately asso-
ciated with Upper Peninsula history. The
work of one season had been nearly com-
pleted, when it was brought to an unfortunate
termination by the death of Dr. Houghton
by drowning, October 13, 1845. Mr. Bela
Hubbard, a former resident of Detroit, and
well known in literary and scientific circles,
was associated with Dr. Houghton in the first
geological work under State auspices. He
was therefore chosen, in connection with Mr.
Burt, to compile reports of the work of 1845
from the field notes of that year-Mr. Burt
from his own notes and Mr. Hubbard from
those of Dr. Houghton. "These two reports
unfold in an admirable manner the geological
structure of the trap and metamorphic regions
of Lake Superior, and anticipate results which
were subsequently worked out by the United
States geologists.'
99%
After the death of Dr. Houghton the
names of Charles J. Jackson, Foster and
Whitney, Prof. Alexander Winchell, Brooks
and Pumpelly, Dr. Charles Rominger,
Charles E. Wright, W. E. Wadsworth and
Lucius L. Hubbard are associated with the
survey, either under State or government
auspices.
Copper mining on Lake Superior com-
menced in 1845. The discoveries of Lake
Superior were of native copper, which was a
novelty in copper mining, and so improbable,
according to all geological precedents, that
much doubt was expressed by scientific men.
*Prof. Winchell's report, 1860.
in regard to its reality. The facts were, how-
ever, abundantly proven.
In the report of Foster and Whitney, made
in 1847, the copper region is divided into
three districts, each with an estimated area as
follows:
I. The Keweenaw Point district, embrac-
ing the country from the eastern end of the
Point to Portage lake, 61,620 acres;
II.
Portage lake to the Montreal river,
including the Ontonagon district, 18,270
acres;
III. Isle Royale, 77,380 acres. This lat-
ter is a narrow rocky island, about 45 miles
in length, lying northeast by southwest, vary-
ing in width from three to eight miles, and
some of its hills have an altitude of three to
four hundred feet. The island, although
within the State of Michigan, lies much
nearer the north or Canada shore, than it does
to the American shore.
It is unnecessary to repeat (what is said in
substance if not in terms elsewhere) that
much of detail that would be of interest (but
which may be found in print in other forms),
must be passed over in these sketches. Some
comparative statistics of the copper produc-
tion are given: From 1845 to 1858 the total
production of ingot copper was estimated at
27,910,000 pounds, of the value of $9,000,-
000. The production gradually increased
from 7,000,000 pounds in 1858 to 35,000,-
000 in 1875. The highest price reached per
pound during the period named was 55 cents
in 1864, and the lowest 22 cents in 1870.
The highest figure given was, of course, phe-
nomenal during the war period, and has never
since been reached. The lowest figure at any
time was 9 cents in 1894. The latest table
accessible, showing annual production, is that
prepared by Charles E. Wright, commis-
sioner of mineral statistics, in 1878. The
total number of tons of refined copper pro-
duced up to this time was given as 253,035, of
an aggregate value of $123,394,000. It is
not improbable that subsequent reports of the
commissioner of mineral statistics may cover
similar figures for later years, but these re-
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
63
ports are not printed at Lansing, and are not
properly State documents, so that they are
not accessible for all years. The total divi-
dends paid to stockholders of all copper min-
ing companies is given in the report of the
commissioner for 1898 at $79,641,375.
this total, the Calumet & Hecla Company
divided $52,850,000, or 65 per cent. of the
whole. The total production in the United
States in the year 1897 was:
Montana
Michigan
Arizona
Other sources
Total
Pounds.
231,902,796
144,930,670
80,592,049
26,656,000
484,081,515
Of
The evidences of ancient mine work by a
primitive and unknown race are a notable
feature of the Lake Superior mines. The dis-
covery of this old work was the discovery
of the mines.
In speaking of the ancient mines, Prof. J.
W. Foster, in his late work on the Pre-His-
toric Races of America, says: "The high an-
tiquity of this mining is inferred from these
facts: That the trenches and pits were filled
even with the surrounding surface, so that
their existence was not suspected until many
years after the region had been thrown open
to active exploration; that upon the piles of
rubbish were found growing trees which dif-
fered in no degree, as to size and character,
from those in the adjacent forest, and that the
nature of the materials with which the pits
were filled, such as a fine washed clay envel-
oping half decayed leaves, and the bones of
such quadrupeds as the bear, deer and cari-
bou, indicated the slow accumulation of years
rather than a deposit resulting from a torrent
of water."
At a deep inlet, known as McCargoes'
Cove, on the north side of the island, excava-
tions extend in almost a continuous line for
more than two miles, in most instances the
pits being so close together as barely to per-
mit their convenient working. The stone
hammers, weighing from ten to even thirty
pounds, the chief tool with which the labor
was performed, have been found in cart loads.
They are either perfect, or are broken from
use, and the fragments of large numbers of
them are found intermingled with the debris
on the edge of the pits, or at their bottom.
The sample of mass copper noted as taken
from the Minong mine is more remarkable
for these stone-hammer marks upon its sur-
face, than for its weight.
Though it is probable that not one-tenth of
these ancient excavations have so far been
revealed, some idea of their extent may be ar-
rived at, from the statement of a gentleman
familiar with the mines, who has calculated
that, at one point alone on three sections of
land toward the north side of Isle Royale, the
amount of labor performed by those ancient
men far exceeds that of one of our oldest cop-
per mines on the south shore of Lake Su-
perior, a mine which has now been constantly
worked with a large force for over twenty
years. Or, stated in another form, that it
would have required a force of one hundred
thousand men fifty years (with their means of
working) to do an equivalent amount of
work.
The practical working of the iron mines,
commencing about 1845, is the period from
which dates the chief interest in the subject.
The first company was a Michigan one, or-
ganized at Jackson, which gave the name to
the oldest working iron mine on Lake Su-
perior, the Jackson location and mine. Mr.
P. M. Everett, then of Jackson, who formed
one of the company, and was its treasurer and
agent, writing November 10, 1845, from that
point, speaks thus of his previous summer's
explorations: "I left here on the 23d of July
last, and was gone until the 24th of October.
I had considerable difficulty in getting any
one to join me in the enterprise, but I at last
succeeded in forming a company of thirteen.
I took four men with me from Jackson and
hired a guide at the Sault, where I bought a
boat and coasted up the lake to Copper Har-
bor, which is over 300 miles from Sault Ste.
Marie. We made several locations, one of
which we called Iron at the time.
It is a


64
MEN OF PROGRESS.
mountain of solid iron ore, 150 feet high.
The ore looks as bright as a bar of iron just
broken."*
In the report of the Geological Survey,
1873, it is said that the "Marquette Iron Re-
gion" embraces all the developed iron mines
of the Upper Peninsula. It is said of the
"Menominee Iron Region" that it has as yet
sent no ore to market. Further, it is said:
"The 'Lake Gogebic and Montreal River Re-
gion' (or Range) is so little known that it
may be questionable whether it should have
a place in this economic grouping; it em-
braces the country between Lake Gogebic and
the west boundary of Michigan, and is 100
miles west of the Marquette region." The
subsequent development of this region shows
the want of adequate estimate of it in 1873.
Twenty-five years later the Commissioner of
Mineral Statistics says of it (report, 1898):
"The Gogebic range is one of the important
ones of the State, and is the youngest in the
order of discovery and development."
Ore shipments from Michigan, Wisconsin
and Minnesota mines on Lake Superior are
reported as follows:
DISTRICT OR RANGE.
No. of Shipments Total ship-
Cos. 1897, tons. ments, tons
24224
135,813
Marquette Range, Mich....
82
2,711,505
Menominee Range, Mich..
54
1,799,856
Gogebic Range, Mich.
29
1,882,640
Menominee Range, Wis.
Gogebic Range, Wis
Mesaba Range, Minn.
Vermillion Range, Minn
211
1,278,482
12,463,793
374,634
4,280,863
49,258,759
21,788,278
19,294,161
2,992 833
3,414,503
12,355,446
10,498.687
119 602,667
The cost of railway haulage from mines to
lake shipping points ranges from 32 to 80
cents per ton, according to distance. Lake
transportation to distributing centers is
quoted, in one instance, as high as $2.75 in
1880, but ranging from 45 to 70 cents in
1897.
Of the production of pig iron, it is said in
the report from which these statistics are
taken: "All of the pig iron manufactured in
Michigan is charcoal iron. There are no
coke furnaces. The competition of the coke
*Geological Survey, 1873, page 14.
irons is so keen that but little profit remains
to the Michigan smelters. The margin has
steadily been growing less, and the present
finds but little inducement for new stacks or
improvements upon the old ones." Furnaces
are reported as at Mancelona, Elk Rapids,
Ishpeming, Fruitport, Gladstone, Manistique,
and three in Detroit, employing 763 men,
and with an output in 1897 of 126,113 tons.
Next to iron and copper, ranks the salt in-
dustry of the State in the line of its mineral
products. The first satisfactory evidence of
the existence of saline water within the limits
of Michigan, of a strength sufficient to make
the manufacture of salt profitable, was ob-
tained by Dr. Douglass Houghton, the first
State geologist, previous to 1840. The first
successful experiments in salt manufacture
were in the Saginaw Valley, in 1859, under
the auspices of the East Saginaw Salt Manu-
facturing Company. The fact is authorita-
tively stated that greater progress was made
in the manufacture of salt in Michigan in
four years than in the Kanawha Valley in
fifty years, and greater progress in the former
in five than at the Onondaga Salt Springs in
forty-two years succeeding 1797. Much of
this progress was doubtless due to the policy
of the Legislature in encouraging the manu-
facture by a small bounty, during the earlier
years of the enterprise.
The salt manufacture of the State is under
a system of inspection established by law, at
the head of which is the State Inspector, with
deputies at such points as may be required.
There are four grades, marked as Fine, Pack-
ers', Solar and Second Quality. The salt
product of 1860 was 4,000 barrels. In 1861
it had reached 125,000 barrels, and showed a
quite regular rate of yearly increase, until, in
1875, it had reached over 1,000,000 barrels.
In 1880, 2,676,588 barrels; in 1885, 3,297,-
403; in 1890, 3,838,637; in 1895, 3,529,362.
The salt inspection is by districts, which
are grouped as follows, with the number of
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
65
barrels inspected in each district in the year found in many places in the Huronian rocks,
1897:
No.
12345678
Saginaw County..
284,387
and numerous attempts at developing a pay-
ing lode have been made." He attributes the
lack of interest in the gold quest to the
greater attention that the coarser metals have
received. Several efforts at developing profit-
able mining are reported, resulting in a total
1,827.427 product while in operation of $668,484. Sil-
ver is regarded as promising, but with the
production so far but meager.

DISTRICT.
No.
Establish
ments.
Barrels.
20
15
340,894
6
297,064
4
2
11
6
4
58
Bay County
St. Clair County.
Iosco County..
Midland County.
Manistee County.
Mason County..
8 Wayne County.
42,231
34,056
522,324
274,431
3,622,814
The price of salt per barrel in 1860 is given
at $1.80. It has since undergone various
fluctuations, until in 1897 it was 581 cents.
The Commissioner of Mineral Statistics
speaks with no little confidence of the future
of gold production. Throughout the whole
Upper Peninsula, he says, "gold has been
Other mineral productions in 1897 are
given as follows:
Mineral coal, tons
Sandstone, cubic feet
Gypsum, tons
122,850
120,338
48,500
Grindstones, marble, slate, graphite, clay
and mineral waters, each claim recognition
in the reports.


RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS.
ROMAN CATHOLICS.
St. Anne's Church and Father Del Halle-Father
Gabriel Richard-Diocesian Data-Statistics of
the Church in Michigan.
In the religious, as well as in the civil
realm, the Roman Catholics were the pioneers
in Michigan. A brief reference is made to
their work in a preceding page. The first
official occupation of the territory by Cadillac
in 1701 represented the trinity that was
deemed essential to the founding of a State---
the element of the civil, the military and the
religious. With the founder of Detroit, with
his civil commission, came also the martial
array and the bearer of the cross. One of the
first acts of Cadillac was the erection of a
chapel for religious worship. This received
the name of St. Anne's Church, a name still
retained by one of the Roman Catholic
churches of Detroit. One Father Del Halle
was post chaplain and pastor of the church.
He fell an innocent victim at the hands of
some Ottawa Indians who had become in-
volved in a brawl with some officers of the
post, June 6, 1706. St. Anne's was the only
church in the territory during the first century
of its civil history. Passing over the cen-
tury, Father Gabriel Richard appears as
time-mark, not only in the history of the
Roman Catholic church, but in the social,
civil and intellectual history of the territory
as well.
He came to Detroit in 1798 as pas-
tor of St. Anne's Church. He brought the
first printing outfit to the city in 1809.
the city in 1809. He
was an earnest promoter of educational enter-
prises, and was elected as delegate to Congress
from Michigan in 1823. He was esteemed
alike by Protestants and Catholics. He gave
his life and energies in aid of the cholera-
stricken inhabitants of the city in 1832, and
died of cholera September 13 of that year.
a
From Hoffman's Catholic Directory for
1899 the following statistics of the church in
Michigan are taken:
Bishop.
Diocesan priests..
Stations..
Chapels..
Diocese of
Detroit.
Diocese of
Gd. Rapids.
Diocese of
Marquette.
2400443
1
1
155
74
54
Priests of religious orders
44
12
Churches with resident priest
Missions with churches...
116
66
56
76
70
36
40
64
15
9
Seminary for secular clergy (Polish)...
Students...
1
155
Seminary of Religious Order..
1
Ecclesiastical students for diocese..
Colleges and academies for boys.
Students....
45
6
3
430
Academies for young ladies
Females educated in higher branches..
Parishes and missions with schools....
Pupils.......
2
1
350
64
45
20
17,200
10,383
5,440
5
2
2
500
220
90
12
12
110
House of Good Shepherd....
1
Children in preservation class
125
Total of young people under Cath. care. 20,000 10,600
Hospitals..
5,500
4
4
4
Home for aged poor.
1
1
Inmates during year.
250
110
Infant asylum..
Baptisms..
7,600
1.200
3.047 1.220
177,905*17,836
4,074
645
60,000
Orphan Asylums
Orphans...
Industrial School..
Inmates...
Marriages..
Burials.
Catholic population, about..
*Number of families. +For Indians.
Michigan was erected into a Roman Catho-
lic See in 1833, as the Diocese of Detroit,
He was suc-
under Bishop Frederick Rese.
ceeded in 1841 by Bishop Lefevre, and he in
turn by Bishop Borgess in 1870, Bishop
Foley, the present bishop, coming to the
charge in 1888. The diocese of Sault Ste.
Marie and Marquette was established in 1857,
comprising the Upper Peninsula, with the
episcopal residence at Marquette. Rev. Fred-
erick Baraga, D. D., was the first bishop,
being succeeded on his death in 1868 by Rev.
Ignatius Mrak, D. D., who in turn was suc-
ceeded in 1878 by Rev. John Vertin, D. D.,
who died February 26, 1899. Rt. Rev. Fred-
erick Eis is the present bishop. The diocese
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
67
of Grand Rapids was established in 1882,
comprising so much of the lower peninsula as
lies north and west of the counties of Allegan,
Barry, Ionia, Clinton, Shiawassee, Genesee
and Tuscola. The episcopal residence is at
Grand Rapids-bishop, Rev. Henry Joseph
Richter, D. D. A vicar-general and a secre-
tary are a part of the diocesan staff, the Rev.
F. J. Baumgartner exercising the office of
chancellor and secretary in the Detroit dio-
cese. The polity of the church, in the com-
pleteness of its organization, embraces many
subordinate officials, not practicable here to
enumerate.
PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS.
Rev. David Bacon-Early Methodist Missions-Dr.
Nathan Bangs Ministration of Father Richard-
First Protestant Societies-A Couple of Anec-
dotes
The first mention of the appearance of a
representative of the Protestant arm of the
church places it a century later than the ad-
vent of the organized church under Cadillac.
In the settlement of the northwest especially,
this difference will be noted between the work
of the two great divisions of the church: The
Roman Catholic followed the waterways,
establishing his posts at eligible points as he
went, while the Protestant found the better
field for his work where the settler had pene-
trated the interior and established a social
community. This difference between the two
divisions of the church, in their methods and
results, is illustrated by the experience of the
first Protestant missionary, Rev. David
Bacon, a Congregationalist, who had been
sent out by a society in Connecticut to estab-
lish a mission among the Indians at Mackinac
and in the northwest, but "finding no open-
ing among the Indians, stopped in Detroit,"
where he preached a few times.* This was
in 1801, and was the first Protestant service
of which there is any record to be found, as a
propagandist work.
In 1804 an itinerant Methodist minister
from Canada, named Freeman, held services
in Detroit. The first official visitation was
by Rev. Nathan Bangs, Methodist, under au-
thority of the New York Conference, in
1804.
*History of Protestantism in Michigan, Rev. E.
H. Pilcher, p. 12.
The New York Conference, in the Metho-
dist church polity, at that time, exercised jur-
isdiction over the whole country and Canada,
and it was through Canada that the work to
the westward was prosecuted. Dr. Bangs
holds a prominent place in Methodist history,
to which he was himself also a contributor.
The following anecdote is worthy of record,
as showing that the spirit of mischief was rife
an hundred years ago as well as at the present
day. Speaking of one of his sermons, Dr.
Bangs wrote: "I preached in the old council
house on a week-day evening. While preach-
ing, there arose a terrible thunder storm; the
lightning flashed, the thunder rolled through
the heavens with awful noise. But I kept on
preaching. I was afterwards informed that
two young men sat trembling, fearing that
God was about to strike them dead for what
they had done, as they had put powder into
the candles, in the expectation that they
would burn down to the powder and explode
during the sermon.
sermon."* Dr. Pilcher speaks of
the inhabitants of Detroit at the time, who
were almost wholly of French extraction, as
"given up to pleasure, especially during the
winter months, particularly to music and
dancing, which tended to weaken the mind,
vitiate the moral sensibilities, and to disin-
cline them to religion." Those who knew
Dr. Pilcher as an ardent churchman will not
marvel that he should have added: "The mere
ceremonies of Romanism did not lay any re-
straint on the people in these respects." Of
Dr. Bangs' work it is said that at the first
meeting, quoting his words, "the light-hearted

*Dr. Pilcher's work.
68
MEN OF PROGRESS.
people" flocked to hear him, but at the third,
which was on the Sabbath, only a few chil-
dren came. "So," says the historian, "he left
them, wiping the dust from his feet as a testi-
mony against them."
After the close of Dr. Bangs' mission, in
1804, there is no mention of a renewal of the
work until 1809, although the territorial gov-
ernment, presumedly Protestant in the per-
sonnel of its officials, was in operation. In
1807, Gen. Hull, the governor of the terri-
tory, with other Protestant gentlemen, in the
absence of any Protestant service, invited
Father Richard, the Roman Catholic priest,
to preach to them in English, he and his flock
being French. In accordance with this invi-
In accordance with this invi-
tation, he held meetings at noon every Sun-
day in the council house, and instruc-
gave
tions on "the general principles of the chris-
tian religion, the principles to be adopted in
the investigation of truth, the causes of errors,
the spirituality and immortality of the soul,
and the evidences of christianity in general."
An amusing anecdote is told of him in one of
his discourses. His command of the English
language was but indifferent, and his aptness
in translation apparently not the best, and in
rendering the words, "Ye are my sheep," he
gave them a savory flavor by saying, "Ye are
my muttons."*
The first Protestant religious society in
Michigan was of the Methodist denomination,
organized in 1810. It numbered seven mem-
bers, including Robert Abbott, a name promi-
nent in the civil history of the territory and
in the early days of the State. The propa-
gandist work was pursued with energy both in
Michigan and in Canada, as it was a work
that knew no territorial boundary lines, until
it was interrupted by the breaking out of the
war of 1812, to be again taken up after the
close of the war. Up to this time, according
to Dr. Pilcher, no other denomination had
made effort to gain a footing in the penin-
any
sula, other than the first feeble effort of Rev.
David Bacon, before mentioned. After the
*Dr. Pilcher's work.
close of the war the Methodist work was re-
sumed by Rev. Joseph Hickey, his work ex-
tending as far as Monroe.
The first Protestant denomination to be
represented in Michigan (except as above)
was the Presbyterian. Rev. John Monteith,
a fellow of Princeton College, came to De-
troit in 1816. Although a Presbyterian, his
mission took on a non-sectarian character, and
a society was organized under the name of
the First Evangelical Society of Detroit, and
a church edifice was subsequently built, that.
being the first Protestant church erected in
Michigan. The society, in the process of
evolution, subsequently became the First
Presbyterian Society, which is still in ex-

istence.
A couple of anecdotes are introduced in
this connection as illustrating the change that
has taken place in the tone of pulpit utter-
ances since the early part of the century. In
1817 a Methodist minister named Joseph
Mitchell was preaching in Detroit. His
church services and those of Mr. Monteith
were held alternately in the council house,
and in various ways the two were brought
into friendly conference. On one occasion
Mr. Monteith said to Mr. Mitchell: "I wish
to make an agreement with you not to preach
doctrines." He was met with the rejoinder:
"What, not to preach the doctrines of Metho-
dism! I am bound to preach them, for I be-
Not to
lieve every tittle of them to be true.
preach against Calvinism! That I am under
the necessity of doing, for I believe it to be
The
erroneous system of doctrines."
clergy at the present day give more thought
to the good and welfare of mankind and to
the ethics of life than they do to mere doc-
trinal abstractions. On a certain occasion,
when the Governor and other officers and
men of note were present in the meeting, the
preacher, pointing toward each one as he ad-
dressed them, exclaimed: "You, Governor!

an
You, lawyers! You, judges! You, doctors!
You must be converted and born again, or
God will damn you as soon as the beggar on
the dunghill." The days of Rev. Mr.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
69
Mucklewrath have passed, and language of
this kind is not now often heard from the
pulpit. But it is said that Gov. Cass was so
well pleased with the sermon that he sent the
preacher a five-dollar note.
It would be out of the question to trace the
history of any of the religious denominations
with any minuteness of detail. The Metho-
dist and Presbyterian denominations have
been already adverted to. The Episcopal
Church was first organically represented in
1824. The Baptists followed two or three
years later. The Congregationalists had a
number of organized societies in the early
part of the 1830 decade, although, according
to Dr. Pilcher, by reason of their union with
the Presbyterians, they were not distinctively
known in the State until 1842.
CHURCH DOCTRINE AND POLITY.
Episcopal Baptist - Congregational-
Presbyterian-Protestant Episcopal Church Stat-
Methodist
istics.
The population of Michigan and of the
country, so far as religious opinion is con-
cerned, is properly divisible into three general
classes: Roman Catholics, Protestants, and
those of no religious profession.* Of the
many sects of the Protestants, the five leading
ones are the Methodist, Baptist, Congrega-
tionalist, Presbyterian and Episcopal. The
term Protestant (literally protest-ant), was
the term applied to those who led in the
schism from the Roman Catholic Church in
the sixteenth century-that is, those who
stood in protest against the dogmas and prac-
tices of the church-of whom Martin Luther
in Germany, and John Calvin in France
(later of Geneva, Switzerland), were the lead-
ing lights, not forgetting John Knox, in Scot-
land, a disciple of Calvin. In England the
protest was more political than doctrinal, aris-
ing out of a disagreement between Henry
VIII. and the Pope of Rome. From this
sprang the Church of England, which is rep-
resented by the Protestant Episcopal Church
in the United States. The organic structure
of the Church of England adhered substan-
tially to the Roman Catholic, which it sup-
planted. The Methodist Episcopal Church is
an outgrowth from the Church of England,
founded by John Wesley about the beginning
of the eighteenth century. Its adoption of
the word "episcopal" has reference to its or-
*Referring to the mass of the population The Jews
are a religious people, with other minor cults.
ganic features rather than to form and doc-
trine. In this sense both the Roman Catho-
lic Church, as the parent, and the Episcopal
and Methodist communions as offshoots, are
all "episcopal," each having bishops, with
more or less of authority in their government.
The three denominations of Baptists, Con-
gregationalists and Presbyterians, are doctrin-
ally known as Calvinistic, basing their faith
upon the system of theology formulated by
John Calvin. They have no bishops, and
governmentally their polity is of the popular
rather than the centralized type. So much
by way of generalization, leading up to a
brief statement of the polity and status of the
several denominations in Michigan.
The representative assembly of the Metho-
dist Church is the conference, and the same
term refers to the geographical division which
the conference represents. The General Con-
ference of the United States meets every
fourth year.
An annual conference is held
in each conference district. There are two
conferences in Michigan. The Michigan
conference embraces the western half of the
lower peninsula, dividing on the meridian line
(the government basis for land surveys, a
north and south line passing near the city of
Jackson), as far north as Roscommon county.
Leaving this county on the east, the district
embraces everything west of it, including
Charlevoix county, to the straits of Mackinac.
The Detroit conference embraces the balance
of the State, including the Upper Peninsula.
While the Methodist conference corresponds

70
MEN OF PROGRESS.

in some respects to the Episcopal diocese, it
has no resident bishop. Bishops are created
by the General Conference, when there is a
need for them, and they are given assigned
fields of labor. Each annual conference is
presided over by a bishop assigned to the
work. The conference is subdivided into dis-
tricts, each district embracing a number of
charges, to which a presiding elder is ap-
pointed. Bay View, a locality chosen for the
purpose and so named, on Little Traverse
bay, is the favorite place of summer assembly
for the Methodist people, but to which people
of other denominations largely resort. Al-
bion College is the educational center of
Methodism in the State, and the denomina-
tion is journalistically represented by the
Michigan Christian Advocate.
The Baptist denomination ranks next to
the Methodist in point of numbers in the
State. Their annual representative assembly
is known as the convention, and is held in
October of each year, usually about the mid-
dle of the month. A president is chosen, for
the session, by the assembly itself. There
are district associations of a purely advisory
character. The Baptist denomination, in its
governmental polity, is similar to that of the
Congregational. It exercises no authority
over individual churches. Their member
ship in its representative bodies is purely vol-
untary. Their assemblies have no further
object than fellowship and mutual counsel
and co-operation. Kalamazoo College, located
at Kalamazoo, represents the denomination
educationally. Hillsdale College is under the
auspices of the Free Will Baptists, a denomi-
nation differing in tenets somewhat from the
Baptists proper.
The Christian Herald, pub-
lished in Detroit, is the recognized organ of
the Baptists of Michigan.
Congregationalism, in the matter of doc-
trine, differs but little, if at all, from Presby-
terianism. The difference is in the matter of
government and church polity. On this head
the remarks foregoing relative to the Baptist
denomination are applicable. The State or-
ganization of the Congregationalists is known
as the General Assembly, presided over by a
moderator. Olivet College is the well-known
educational center of the denomination in the
State. The Plymouth Weekly, published in
Detroit, represents the denomination in the
field of journalism.
The State Assembly of the Presbyterians
is the Synod.
is the Synod. A subordinate assembly, of
which there are nine in Michigan, is the Pres-
bytery. The national body is known as the
General Assembly, and meets every year.
The Synod meets annually, and is presided
over by a moderator. The Presbytery is the
legislative body of the denomination. The
Synod may propose measures to the Presby-
teries in the form of "overtures," and if ap-
proved by the Presbyteries, the measure is
promulgated by the Synod and becomes the
law of the church within the jurisdiction.
This method is so nearly identical with the
political machinery of the United States
under the early confederation, that it would
seem that the one must have been copied
from, or suggested by, the other. The Pres-
bytery exercises an advisory power over the
settlement of pastors over the churches, and
its consent is also asked as a matter of form
upon the severing of the pastoral relation.
This rule, therefore, differs from the Baptist
and Congregational denominations, in which
each church is the judge as to whom it will
employ. Alma College represents the de-
nomination educationally, as also a female
seminary at Kalamazoo. The Tappan Asso-
ciation is maintained at Ann Arbor as a social
and doctrinal center for students at the Uni-
versity. The newspaper organ is the Michi-
gan Presbyterian, published in Detroit.
An annual convention is held by the Epis-
copalians in each Diocese, of which there are
three in Michigan, with a resident bishop in
each. The Diocese of Michigan embraces
the eastern portion of the lower peninsula, as
does the Diocese of West Michigan the west-
ern portion. The Diocese of Marquette com-
prehends the Upper Peninsula. These are
presided over respectively by Bishops Thos.
F. Davies, Geo. D. Gillespie, and G. Mott

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
71
Williams. The Hobart Guild, so named in
honor of the late Bishop Hobart, of the De-
troit Diocese, is maintained at Ann Arbor as
a center for students attending the Univer-
sity. The church has no denominational col-
lege in the State. The Detroit Churchman is
its newspaper organ.
Dr. Pilcher gives the membership of the
several denominations, presumably at the
time of the publication of his work, in 1878,
as follows:
Methodist ....
Presbyterian
Episcopal
Baptist
Congregational
56,100
13,348
8,969
24,508
13,935
116,860
although they maintain meetings at many
places in the State, and have two places of
summer assembly-at Pine Lake, near Lan-
sing, and at Island Lake.
The following statistics are compiled from
census reports as noted:

Roman Catholic.
Presbyterian
Methodist...
Episcopal...
Congregationalist.
Baptist...
RELIGIOUS
DENOMINATIONS.
No. of Church
edifices.
The following statistics of miscellaneous
religious organizations are compiled from the
State census report of 1894:
No. of Or- Seating
ganizations Capicity.
African M. E......
18
4,200
Colored Baptist....
2
450
Christian Connection..
43
10,210
Christian Adventist.
5
1,100
Christian Reformed.
56
26,245
Church of God...
18
2,600
New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian).
2
400
Disciples of Christ......
57
13,925
Dunkards (German Baptist)
13
Evangelican Adventist
2
4,150
450
Evangelical Association.
116
30,455
Free Methodist....
148
26,700
Free Will Baptist.
72
17,810
Friends (Quakers, so-called)
15
3,625
Jewish.
5
2,800
Latter Day Saints (Mormon)
13
2,120
Lutheran
364
98,160
Mennonite..
12
1,885
Methodist Protestant
41
7,785
Moravian
2
250
Reformed Presbyterian (Covenanter)..
3
1,200
Reformed Church in America....
50
......
20,270
Reformed Church in U. S.....
9
2,325
Salvation Army
5
1,525
Seventh Day Adventist.
82
16,790
Union.
42
8,475
Unitarian
10
3,555
United Brethren
146
30,315
United Presbyterian.
7
1,900
Universalist.
26
7,250
Wesleyan Methodist.
56
10.050
Miscellaneous...
58
13,305
Seating
Capacity.
Value of Ch.
Property.
No. of Church
edifices.
Seating
Capacity.
Value of Ch.
Property.
No. of Church
edifices.
Seating
Capacity.
17,865
10,500
$84,050
59,550
123
22,026
37,865
$260,450
218
70,140
$1,029,630
252
80,536 $1,209,625
355
111,612
$1,997,910
203,950
8,825
82,800
16,051
313,450
79
114
38,320
119
33,855
142,850
71,005
483,000
22,530
142,850
101
38,030
611,400
10,122
159,775
88
88
27,915
241,600
148
132
469
140,290
26,750
62,991
45,925
2,037,230
1,069,900
2,356,906
911,250
742,200
201,140
42,489
66,613
1.444,450
1,337,550
276
87,635
1,701,900
136
40,827
1,680,745
3,047,585
162
244
93,449
53,711
1,200, 50
226
993
294,614
4,263,835
81,195
2,318,850
2,161,075
352
150,369
4,539,380
The whole number of organizations of all
denominations in the State is given at 3,936;
edifices, 3,715; sittings, 1,138,832; value of
property, $20,775,156.
In the census report, from which the fore-
going is taken, no mention is made of the
Spiritualists, who have a considerable numer-
ical strength in the State. They may be in-
cluded under the comprehensive head of
"Miscellaneous." Their organic work has
never developed any great degree of strength,
U. S. CENSUS, 1850.
U. S. CENSUS, 1860.
U. S. CENSUS, 1870.
STATE CENSUS, 1884.
STATE CENSUS, 1894.
Value of Ch.
Property.
No. of Church
edifices.
Seating
Capacity.
Value of Ch.
Property.
No. of Church
edifices.
Seating
Capacity.
Value of Ch.
Property.

MISCELLANEOUS.
POLITICAL PARTIES.
Derivation of Party Names-Early State Politics-
Governor Mason-Woodbridge and Reform-Suc-
ceeding Democratic Rule-Governor Barry-Anti-
Slavery Parties-The Van Buren Candidacy of
1848-Disastrous Whig Defeat in 1852-The Know-
Nothings-Ex-President Fillmore-Bell and Ever-
ett-Formation of the Republican Party-Merg-
ence of the Whig Organization-The "Silver
Greys"-Anti-Chandler Campaign in 1862-The
Prohibitionists-The Greeley Campaign of 1872--
Ex-Governor Blair-The Liquor Traffic in the
Campaign of 1874-The Greenback and Other
Third Parties-Democratic-People's-Union-Silver
Combination-Political Fusions Not a Success.
Partisan divisions in the early days of the
State (as indeed they have usually done) fol-
lowed national lines-Whig and Democrat.
The term Whig is of British extraction. The
Whig party of Britain was the Liberal party,
as distinguished from the Royalists, or Tories.
At the time of the revolution parties were
known by these terms. After the revolution
the Tory party was unknown, and parties
were for a time known as "Whigs" and
"Particularist Whigs," the division being
upon theories of government, as to whether
the new government should be a strong, cen-
tralized power, or one of only partial and lim-
ited powers.
In the organization of the gov-
ernment under the constitution, parties came
to be known as Republican and Federalist.
The Federalist party opposed the war of
1812, and went out of existence as a conse-
quence. There was thereafter for some years
substantially but one party, the Republican,
the organization in time taking the name of
"Democratic Republican," and later that of
Democratic. At the second election of Mr.
Monroe to the Presidency, in 1820, he re-
ceived every electoral vote cast. National
politics was largely factional during the 1820
decade, the opposition to the Democrats being
known as "Coalition" and "Republican," with
a, contingent of anti-Masonry. The Whig
party was revived (or a new party under that
name was formed) in 1832, and these were
the party divisions when Michigan entered
upon statehood.
The first election for Governor was quite
one-sided, Governor Mason receiving 7,558
votes, to 814 for his opponent, John Biddle.
The contest in 1837 was much closer, Gov-
ernor Mason's majority over his opponent,
Chas. C. Trowbridge, being but 768 in a total
vote of near 30,000. The financial and busi-
ness depression consequent upon the collapse
of the speculative and wildcat banking era
brought a political revolution in 1839 under
the cry of "Woodbridge and Reform," which
was the watchword of the Whigs in the cam-
paign, Gov. Woodbridge winning by a ma-
jority of 1,158 votes. The result in 1840,
under the memorable "log cabin and hard
cider" campaign, varied but little in the rela-
tive vote from the preceding year. Times
were not mended, however, when the election
of 1841 came round, and the Democrats were
successful, with John S. Barry as their candi-
date, by a plurality of 5,544. The "Liberty
Party" (anti-slavery) made its first appear-
ance at this election, with a vote of 1,223.
The Democrats had things their own way, so
to speak, for the next dozen years. The wise
administration of Gov. Barry had lifted the
State out of its financial embarrassment, and
there was little disposition on the part of the
people to try a new political experiment. The
Democratic popular majorities up to 1852
ranged between the extremes of 3,807 in
1845 to 8,138 in 1852. The Legislature was
preponderantly Democratic, and at one or two
sessions almost solidly so. The Liberty party
vote reached 3,639 in 1844.
In 1848 the

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
73
Liberty party had given place to the Free Soil
party, which, with Martin Van Buren as its
candidate, polled 10,393 votes. This move-
ment was a diversion against Gen. Cass, the
then Democratic candidate for President, and
the increased vote (as compared with the Lib-
erty party vote), was probably drawn about
equally from the two other parties. Gen.
Cass, however, carried the State by an ample
margin over 6,000. But the Democrats
were in a minority of nearly 4,000 votes as
against the combined Whig and Free Soil
vote. This led to a coalition at the guberna-
torial election in 1849, the two parties uniting
upon Flavius J. Littlejohn as their candidate,
but Governor Barry was again chosen by a
majority of 4,297. The election in 1852 was
contested on the same lines as in 1848, but
the Free Soil party failed to hold its own, the
vote being some 3,000 short of what it was
in 1848.
But party politics had reached a crisis.
The Whigs, at the election in 1852, carried
but four out of the thirty-one States-Ver-
mont and Massachusetts in the north, and
Kentucky and Tennessee in the south.
Plainly enough, the party was doomed. The
anti-slavery sentiment at the north received
a fresh impulse. The "Know-Nothing"
party, a secret organization, came into exist-
ence. It combined equally opposition to
Roman Catholic and to foreign immigrant
influence in politics. It was the crystaliza-
tion of a sentiment that had manifested itself
in various forms, but chiefly known as "Na-
tive American," for some years previously.
The political disturbances in Germany, in
1848, had thrown a large German contingent
into the cities. They were generally known
as non-religious or infidel in sentiment, and
were of free and convivial habits. As a
German speaker at a political meeting was
once heard to say, referring specially to this
class of immigrants, "they love liberty and
they love lager beer." This class of immi-
grants, with their sentiments and habits,
aroused a prejudice in the mind of the then
average American. This sentiment was
equally antagonistic to the two factors men-
tioned-the Roman Catholic and the Ger-
man. The rapid growth of a party on the
lines indicated was a phenomenon only com-
parable to its rapid decline. It succeeded,
however, in securing a comparatively large
and influential representation in Congress
and in securing control of a number of the
State governments. It was by no means sec-
tional, finding as strong a foothold in Mary-
land and Tennessee as in Massachusetts. It
held the balance of power in the lower house
of Congress at its meeting in 1855, postpon-
ing the organization of that body for some
weeks, and finally resulting in the election of
N. P. Banks to the speakership. It was ab-
sorbed by the Republican party in the north-
ern States, but at the south, under the name
of the American party, as it was officially
known, it continued as the only organized
opposition to the Democrats, casting the elec-
toral vote of Maryland for its candidate, ex-
President Fillmore, at the Presidential elec-
tion in 1856. In Michigan, at this election,
an electoral ticket representing Mr. Fill-
more's candidacy, was placed in the field, but
rather as an independent movement than a
partisan one, receiving 1,660 votes. The
Know-Nothing party at the south was lost in
the campaign of 1860, forming, as it did, a
component of the "Constitutional Union"
movement, under the candidacy of Bell and
Everett, who carried the three States of Vir-
ginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, the balance
of the southern States, except Missouri, which
voted for Douglass, going for Breckenridge,
the seceding Democratic candidate. The
Breckenridge vote in Michigan was only
805. As a reminiscence, it is worth the while
to state in passing, that the only electoral
votes received by Douglass were the nine
votes of Missouri and three in New Jersey,
through a combination with the Republicans,
by which the vote of that State was divided,
all the other. Northern States going solid for
Lincoln, resulting in his election. While the
so-called Know-Nothing or American party
did not come to the surface as a political

74
MEN OF PROGRESS.
factor in Michigan, it was strong in numbers
and in influence, without the aid of which it
is extremely doubtful if the Republican
party could have scored its first victory in
the State in 1854, with their then compara-
tively narrow margin of 5,000, and with
ex-Gov. Barry again leading the opposition.
The repeal of the so-called Missouri com-
promise (a slavery restriction measure ),
1853-4, gave a marked impetus to the anti-
slavery sentiment at the North. The Free
Soil party of Michigan held its State conven-
tion February 22, 1854, and nominated a
full State ticket, with Kinsley S. Bingham at
the head for Governor. The Whig party in
the State was utterly hopeless and helpless,
and an alliance with the Free Soilers was
early sought. This took the form of a pop-
ular call for a mass State convention to be
held at Jackson, July 6, 1854, with the well
understood if not avowed purpose of forming
a new party. There was an informal under-
standing with the leaders of the Free Soil
party that if the new movement assumed a
form that seemed to render such a step advis-
able, their ticket was to be withdrawn. The
call was by circulars, which were liberally
signed, the greater proportion of the signers
being, as may well be presumed, members of
the Whig party, with Free Soilers and a con-
siderable contingent of Democrats. The
convention met, as proposed, the new party
was formed, taking the name of Republican,
the Free Soil ticket was withdrawn, and
State ticket nominated, with Mr. Bingham
at its head. George A. Coe, a man of char-
acter and ability, who had made a record as a
Whig member of the State Senate, was
named for Lieutenant Governor. The Whigs
were further represented by Jacob M. How-
ard for Attorney General. The Democratic
contingent was recognized in the nominations
for Secretary of State and Auditor General,
and the Free Soilers by the State Treasurer
and Commissioner of the Land Office. The
ticket thus formed was elected by a majority
in round numbers of 5,000, carrying with it
three out of the four members of Congress to
which the State was then entitled, a working
majority in both houses of the Legislature,
and the County officers in most of the coun-
ties. The new party movement afforded an
apt illustration of practical politics. The
party had no local organization. The Whig
committees took the initiative in calling con-
ventions, but so worded their calls as to in-
vite the participation and co-operation of all
who disapproved of the legislation that had so
stirred popular feeling at the North. It was
a political drag net that worked out its pur-
pose. The local conventions were held and
nominations made regardless of former party
affiliations. New local committees were
named, but in their subsequent action they
forgot that they had been appointed as com-
mittees of the Whig party, which ceased to
be known. They became part of the Repub-
lican organization, which was thereafter to
control the destinies of the State
As part of the political history of 1854,
the
agency of the Whig party as a State or-
ganization should not be overlooked. The
hopelessness of a campaign conducted on the
old lines was apparent to all, but there was
an influential minority in the party that was
unwilling to fall in with the new movement.
The Detroit Advertiser, which had been up
to this time the leading newspaper organ of
the party in the State (although its position
as such was being contested by the Tribune),
led the opposition.
led the opposition. What the party should
do, if it did anything, was earnestly debated.
A convention was finally called, which met
at Marshall with a light attendance, but with
the large majority plainly bent on playing
into the hands of the new party in some form.
There was no proposition to endorse the Jack-
son nominations, but the next thing to doing
so was to resolve not to make any nomina-
tions. And thus ended the history of the
Whig party in Michigan. There was a com-
paratively small segment of the party that re-
fused allegiance to the new regime, and who
came to be known as the "Silver Grays."
These generally found refuge in the Demo-
cratic party. There was in Detroit an in-
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
75
fluential following of this class, who, at the
election of 1860, published a manifesto an-
nouncing their support of Mr. Buchanan, the
Democratic candidate for President. There
were sixty-nine of the signers, who were
thereafter known as "the famous sixty-nine."
The Republican party, from its first suc-
cess, went on increasing its majorities. In
1856 it had in round numbers 17,000, and in
1860, 22,000. It met a check in 1862, by
reason of some hostility that arose to Senator
Chandler. The ground of this hostility was
perhaps threefold. With many, the anti-
slavery sentiment that looked to the extinc-
tion of slavery in the South as the ultimate
end to be reached as a result of the war, had
not taken very deep root, and indeed there
was much doubt as to how far and to what
end the war should be prosecuted, and grave
concern as to the future of the country. Mr.
Chandler was thought by some to be too ag-
gressive, and an unsafe leader. Then again
there were those who thought that his habits
were not such as to do credit to the State as
its representative at the capital of the nation.
Lastly, and possibly the more controlling con-
sideration, was, that there were men in the
party who felt that as professional men, whose
ability and standing justly entitled them to
leadership, they were being overlooked in the
advancement of a man whose history, up to
that time, had been bounded by the counting
room. Whatever the motive, a movement
was started by men influential in the Repub-
lican ranks, the purpose of which was avow-
edly to defeat the re-election of Mr. Chand-
ler to the Senate. A mass convention was
called, which met at Jackson in September,
at which a State ticket was nominated.
Byron G. Stout, a promising young man, who
had been a member of the lower house of the
Legislature, and its speaker, in 1857, was
nominated for Governor. The Democratic
State convention met in Detroit subsequently,
and went through the formality of itself nom-
inating the nominees of the Jackson meeting,
although the action was by no means cordial
on the part of many members.
The influence of the movement was, how-
ever, manifest in the reduction of the Repub-
lican majority of 20,000 in 1860 to less than
one-third of the number in 1862, with Gov.
Blair, the famous "war Governor," leading
the party hosts. It is perhaps profitless to
speculate upon what might have been, but
had the Democrats, in that campaign, given
to the ticket a cordial, earnest and united
support, the probable result would have been
the defeat of the Republicans, and Senator
Chandler and Gov. Blair would have con-
tributed nothing further to the history of the
critical time in which they were actors.
The Democrats were not much in evidence
again during the war, although ex-Lieut. Gov.
Fenton, a war Democrat, who had held a col-
oneley in the army, fell but 10,443 behind
Gov. Crapo in 1864, when Lincoln's ma-
jority was 17,982. The Republican majorities
ran up to 30,000 at the next two elec-
tions, although falling to 16,000 in 1870.
The Prohibitionists made their first record as
a political party in 1870, with a vote of 2,710,
which dwindled to 1,231 in 1872, and reached
3,937 in 1874, but failed to assert itself at all
at the next two elections.
An anomalous political condition arose in
1872. There was a "reform" impulse that
precipitated itself in a gathering at Cincin-
nati, at which several Michigan men of both
parties were present. This gathering nom-
inated Horace Greeley for President, who
was also subsequently nominated by the
Democrats. It was a bitter pill, which many
Democrats could not swallow. They recalled
Greeley's life-long hostility to everything
that was Democratic in name. They treas-
ured up his famous commentary that "all
Democrats are not horse thieves, but all horse
thieves are Democrats." A protesting conven-
tion was held in Louisville, at which Charles
O'Connor was named as a Democratic Presi-
dential candidate. An electoral ticket and a
candidate for Governor were named in Michi-
gan, receiving but a light vote, less than 3,000.
Mr. Greeley's vote was 77,000, in a total of
217,000. The party was paralyzed by the con-


76
MEN OF PROGRESS.
dition in which it was placed, and made prac-
tically no contest, many of its leading mem-
bers, either tacitly or openly, giving aid and
comfort to the Republicans, deeming their
overwhelming success the best possible protest
against the action of the Democratic conven-
tion in nominating Mr. Greeley. The Re-
publicans accordingly scored a plurality of
56,644 for Gov. Bagley, with a few hundred
less for Gen. Grant, who was running for his
second term. Ex-Gov. Blair was the guber-
natorial candidate of the allied. Democratic
and reform forces, and suffered not a little in
the estimation of his former political asso-
ciates for having placed himself, or having
allowed himself to be placed, in that position,
Gov. Blair was the Republican candidate for
Judge of the Supreme Court at the election in
1881, and how far the feeling toward him
contributed to the result at that time is of
course matter of uncertainty, and at this day
can only be judged of by comparative figures.
The Democratic and Greenback coalition car-
ried the State at that election on a light vote,
Gov. Blair having 119,870 to 127,376 for his
competitor, Judge Champlin. At the same
election Judge Sherwood was elected to a
vacancy on the Supreme bench by a vote of
124,639 to
to 122,330 for his competitor,
O'Brien, showing a margin of 7,506 for
Champlin over Blair, and of 1,309 for Sher-
wood over his Republican competitor. But
whatever feeling may have existed may be
supposed to have been buried with the honors
paid to Gov. Blair by the erection of his
statue in front of the capital at Lansing,
which was unveiled in the summer of 1898.
The tide which carried Gov. Bagley into
the Governor's chair in 1872 suffered a re-
action in 1874. It was an off year, when a
light vote is usually looked for. A practical
revision of the constitution (as referred to
elsewhere) the preparation of which had
been a favorite measure with Gov. Bagley,
was to be voted upon at that election. It
It
was for some reason regarded unfavorably by
those engaged in the liquor traffic, who for
the first time in the history of the State,
formed a State organization, the declared ob-
ject of which was to agitate for the passage
of a license law in place of the statutory pro-
hibition then existing. This organization
antagonized the proposed constitution, and
with it Gov. Bagley, whose plurality shrank
to 5,969.
Of the third parties that have sprung up
from time to time, the Greenback party
showed the most vigor. It made its first rec-
ord in 1876, with Peter Cooper as its Presi-
dential candidate, polling some 9,000 votes in
the State. Two years later its vote reached
73,313, being only some 5,000 short of the
Democratic vote. The combined vote of the
two parties, however, exceeded the Republi-
can vote by 25,000, the first time in the his-
tory of that party when it found itself in a
minority on the popular vote. This led to an
effort at the fusion or combination of the two
parties, which was effected at the State con-
vention held at Lansing for the nomination of
candidates for Judge of the Supreme Court
and Regents of the University, preparatory
to the spring election in 1879. The move-
ment was unsuccessful, Judge Campbell
being elected for a third term, with the Re-
gents the same way politically. In 1880,
being a Presidential year, there was no effort.
at fusion, Weaver, the Greenback candidate,
polling 34,895 votes. But two
But two years later a
combination on Josiah W. Begole, for Gov-
ernor, who graduated from the Republican
into the Greenback ranks, was successful in
defeating Gov. Jerome. The success was
only on Governor, the balance of the Repub-
lican State ticket being elected. Gov. Jer-
ome's defeat was due to the cry that was
raised against him that he was wedded to cor-
porate interests, the catch phrase of "Rail-
road Jerome" adhering to him.
In 1884 the Republicans had a close call
in the State against a combined opposition.
Benjamin F. Butler was the candidate of
the Greenback party for President, and
under his advice the candidates for electors
were proportioned to the Democrats and
Greenbackers according to their numbers,
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
77
77
thus forming but one electoral ticket. The
combination on the State ticket was also com-
plete, with Gov. Begole at the head. The
Republican electoral ticket pulled through by
the narrow margin of 3,308, with Gen. Alger
a few votes short of 4,000 for Governor. A
fusion was again effected in 1886, with Geo.
L. Yaple as the candidate for Governor,
against Cyrus G. Luce, the latter winning by
7,432. The Greenback party from this time
on seems to have disappeared, its elements to
a greater or less extent being represented by
the term "Union Labor" in 1888, with a vote
of 4,388, by the term "Industrial" in 1890,
with a vote of 13,198, by the term "Peo-
ple's Party" in 1892 and 1894, polling re-
spectively 21,417 and 30,012. At the two
elections, 1896 and 1898, this element in our
party politics was merged with the Demo-
crats under the title of the "Democratic-Peo-
ple's-Union-Silver" ticket.
In 1882 the Prohibition party was
again in evidence, with a vote of 5,854,
which reached 22,207 in 1884, 25,189
in 1886, and 28,681 in 1890, the high-
est reached at any time by that party.
There was a factional division in the Prohi-
bition ranks in 1896 not necessary to dwell
upon. Other minor by-plays in the game of
party politics must be passed over.
It
The results that appear as the fruit of
fusions or combinations between political par-
ties and factions are suggestive. The plan
failed in 1849, in the Whig-Free Soil cam-
paign under Littlejohn as their candidate for
Governor. It failed in 1862 under the guber-
natorial candidacy of Byron G. Stout.
failed most disastrously in 1872 under the
Greeley-Blair auspices. It failed at the judi-
cial election in 1879. It was successful on
the Governorship in 1882 from special causes,
but failed as to everything else at that elec-
tion. It failed in 1884, in 1886, and in 1888.
The election of Gov. Winans in 1890 was a
Democratic and not a fusion victory, due to
special causes then existing. An analysis
would also show the fusion successes at the
spring elections in 1881 and 1885 as due to
special causes. It has achieved nothing in the
elections of 1896 and 1898.

THE LIQUOR
Historical Reference-Local Option Laws-Prohibi-
tion Laws-Non-license Clause of the Constitu-
tion of 1850-The Taxation Law of 1875-Rate of
the Tax Under Different Acts.
Historically speaking, the sale and use of
liquor was not regarded as an evil to be leg-
islated against. The advocacy of temper
ance as a moral question is old enough, but
the plan of enforcing temperance by legisla-
tion as differing from other sumptuary laws,
is of modern conception. Whence arose the
custom of "licensing" the sale of liquor? may
be asked. Equally pertinent would it be to
ask whence arose the custom of licensing
hawkers and peddlers, hacks and omnibuses.
Our customs are inherited largely from Eng-
land. Anciently the rights of overlordship
there would permit or forbid the carrying on
of any kind of traffic.
Hence a permit or
license had first to be procured. Inns or tav-
TRAFFIC.
erns bore a special relation to the State and
to the public. They were held subject to the
quartering of soldiers in times of public need.
They were liable to harbor persons of bad
character, and hence the need for their regu-
lation and for their prohibition except upon
permission given, and this permission was
simply a license. The fee to be charged was
an incidental matter, governed by varying
considerations. As inns and taverns were
vendors of liquors, the custom of requiring a
license from all places where liquors were sold
arose naturally and logically.
In the earlier days of the history of Michi-
gan, the license system attained. The mu-
nicipal authorities could grant or withhold a
license and fix the amount to be paid where
a license was granted. In many cases, espe-
cially in the smaller towns, liquor was sold
not only by taverns, but by stores and gro-


78
MEN OF PROGRESS.
ceries, openly and unreservedly, without
license. Usually, in the smaller towns, when
a license was granted, the fee was but nomi-
nal, say two, three or five dollars. In Detroit
the minimum fee was usually ten dollars, but
ranging from that up to thirty or forty dol-
lars, according to location and extent of busi-
ness.
During the 1840 decade legislation hostile
to the traffic began to be demanded. In 1845
a "local option" law was passed, which pro-
vided for a popular vote at the spring elec-
tions in the cities, villages and townships, on
the question of granting license during the
year to ensue. As the majority voted,
"license" or "no license," so was it ordered for
the year. This law died a natural death with
the adoption of the constitution of 1850,
which forbade the granting of license. Act
197, Public Acts, 1887, was the "local op-
tion" law of that year, made applicable to
counties, to be determined by popular vote.
This act was held invalid by reason of defec-
tive title, and inoperative for various reasons.
But by Act 207, Public Acts, 1889, the same
law was re-enacted with more elaborate pro-
visions, which have been sustained by the
courts.
The constitution framed in 1850 (the same
with numerous amendments now in force)
contained the following clause, which stood
as Section 47 of Article 4:
"The Legislature shall not pass any Act
authorizing the grant of license for the sale
of ardent spirits or other intoxicating liquors."
This provision, while it remained in the
constitution, wrought only mischief and em-
barrassment. Just what the motive for its
adoption was on the part of the convention
which framed the constitution, it is difficult
to determine from the debates, but in general
it seems to have been the purpose to do away
with or prohibit any further legislation on the
subject of the liquor traffic. The temperance
people (many of them, at least), supposed
that without license, liquor could not be sold
at all, while those favorable to the traffic (if
there were any) concluded that if license was
prohibited the traffic would be entirely free.
Both labored under a delusion. Of course,
with no law on the subject, the traffic would
be free, but the temperance people, finding
that no license meant free traffic, at once de-
manded prohibition.
The temperance agitation had in the early
fifties taken the form of a demand for the so-
called "Maine law," or prohibitory law.
Such a law was enacted in 1853 and submitted
to a vote of the people at a special election
held in June of that year, to determine when
the Act should take effect. It was approved
by a majority of over 17,000 in a total vote
of 63,503. It at first promised to be effective
in stopping the traffic, but soon came to be
disregarded. The constitutionality of the
law was also attacked on the ground of its
submission to popular vote. Another law was
passed in 1855, which stood the test of the
courts, and remained on the statute books for
twenty years, when, in 1875, the prohibition
of license clause was stricken from the con-
stitution. This law was repealed with the
enactment of the taxation law in 1875.
In the summer of 1874 a movement was
made for the repeal of the prohibition law and
the enactment of some law recognizing and
regulating the traffic. Under the prohibition
law, no property right existed in liquors.
Should the manufacturer or wholesaler sell to
the retailer, he could not collect the bill by
law. So long as the retailer remained undis-
turbed he paid his bills readily enough, but
when prosecutions were sprung, the retailer
found his ability to pay taken from him, and
the wholesaler had necessarily to pocket the
loss. To correct this evil was largely the im-
pelling motive in the movement inaugurated
in 1874. A State convention was held in
August, and an organization formed under
the style of the "Michigan License Associa-
tion." This organization demanded the re-
peal of the prohibition law and the enactment.
in its stead of a license or tax law.
The liquor taxation law of 1875 was the
result of a well settled conviction on the part
of the people that something should be de-
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
79
vised to take the place of the prohibitory plan.
The movement under the head of the Michi-
gan License Association had little to do in
shaping public opinion. It did, however,
present the subject as a formal issue before
the people and the Legislature, and to that
extent was influential in securing legislation.
The principal legislation of 1875 was em-
bodies in three acts: The taxation law, the
police or regulation law, and an Act fixing
penalties for the adulteration of liquors. The
taxation policy has since been adhered to, but
with many changes in the law which it would
be impracticable to trace in this connection.
The amount of liquor tax collected in the
State in 1889 was $1,568,732, and in 1896
$1,839,960, the increase being partly or
wholly due to the raising of the beer tax to
$500 by the Act of 1895.
By the earlier legislation there was a grad-
uated tax on the manufacture of beer, $65
being the highest.
being the highest. The later legislation pro-
vides a horizontal tax of $65, regardless of
the amount manufactured. By the present
law, liquor and beer by retail are placed on
the same footing. The wholesale liquor
dealer is required to pay $300 additional,
making $800 in all, if selling at retail. The
payment of the liquor tax, both wholesale and
retail, carries with it the right to sell beer
also.
The amount of the tax imposed from time
to time appears from the annexed table:

Retail
Liquor.
Wholesale
Liquor.
Retail
Beer.
Wholesale
Beer.
Liquors.
Mfg.
Mfg. Beer.
40 $100
$300
150
300
50
100
300
200
400
65
130
400
300
500
200 200
500
500
800 300
300
800
$65
500 500
500 500
800
65
Act 228, Pub. Acts, 1875... $150 $300
Act 197, Pub. Acts, 1877.
Act 268, Pub. Acts, 1879...
Act 156, Pub. Acts, 1881...
Act 313, Pub. Acts, 1887...
Act 93, Pub. Acts, 1895..
TABULAR EXHIBITS.
State Institutions-Population-Equalized Valua-
tion-State Taxes-Comparative Farm Statistics
-Farm Products at Different Periods.
STATE INSTITUTIONS.
of their organization, aggregate appropria-
tions, and value of property:

INSTITUTIONS.
EDUCATIONAL.
Where
Located.
When
estab.
Total of
State
Value of
appropria- Property.
tion.
University.
Ann Arbor.... 1837 $3,601,504*
Normal College... Ypsilanti 1849
$1,928,430
1,296,042*
38,400
329,633
43,102
35,000
1855
1,019,448*
416,947
1886
579,100
252,655
Cen. Mich. Nor. Sch. Mt. Pleasant... 1895
Nor. State Nor. Sch. Marquette..... 1899
Agricultural Col..... Lansing..
College of Mines.... Houghton.
EDUCATIONAL AND
BENEFICENT.
School for the Deaf.. Flintt.
School for the Blind. Lansing..
State Public School. Coldwater..
Home for Feeble
Minded....
EDUCATIONAL AND
REFORMATORY.
Lapeer
The character of the several State institu-
tions will be sufficiently indicated by their
titles. The figures given in the table as to
the amount of appropriations and value of
property are taken from the report of the
Auditor General for 1898, pages viii and ix.
In the list of appropriations for asylums for
the insane there is an item of $179,906
debited to "other asylums" than those enu-
merated. Omitting this item (which refers
to maintenance of State patients in private
institutions) gives a total of appropriations Indus. Home, girls.. Adrian
to all State institutions since the organization
of the State government of $27,134,938.
The total value of plant for all institutions is
given on authority of the inventories at $9,-
573,300, omitting in all cases fractional parts
of the dollar-the sum total representing both
buildings and grounds and equipment.
The following table shows the several State
institutions by classes, where located, the time
Indus. School, boys. Lansing.
1854
1881
2,265,772
522,281
610,224
155,106
1871 1,101,476
245,825
1895
291,265
132,299
1855 1,974,246
1879
285,953
823,067
191,971
ASYLUMS FOR INSANE.
..
Michigan Asylum Kalamazoo.... 1849
Eastern Asylum.. Pontiac...
1877
Northern Asylum.... Traverse City.. 1885
Upper Penin. Asy... Newberry 1894
State Asylum..... Ionia
4,041,177
1,063,804
2,803,981
881,682
2,284,542
787,498
..
391,352
246,178
1885
645,886
205,937
PRISONS AND
REFORMATORIES.
State Prison....
House Cor. and Ref. [onia....
Branch State Prison. Marquette.
SOLDIERS' HOME.
Jackson
1839
1,482,408
838,574
1877
1885
1,486,170
438,992
599,577
256,992
1,200,397
225,205
Mich. Soldiers' Home Grand Rapids. 1885
* Exclusive of receipts from interest funds. See "Trust
Funds."
+ Included also care of the blind up to 1881.

80
MEN OF PROGRESS.
POPULATION.
The population of Michigan up to 1840 is
given on an earlier page. The population at
each census period since 1840, as shown by
both the United States and State census, was
as following:
U. S. census, 1850.
State census, 1854..
U. S. census, 1870.
State census, 1874...
U. S. census, 1880..
State census, 1884...
U. S. census, 1890..
397,654
507,521
running down to $69,043 in 1847. In 1853
it was but $10,000, due to a divided surplus
made to the States by the general govern-
ment. The highest tax levy in the history of
the State was in 1897-$3,379,907. The
lowest rate of taxation (mills on the dollar),
was in 1853, being .083. The highest rate
was in 1848-5.039. The lowest per capita
noted was 2c in 1860, and the highest $1.34
in 1895.
COMPARATIVE FARM STATISTICS
The following figures are compiled from
the U. S. census reports up to 1890 and from
the State census reports of 1894:
U. S. census, 1860...
749,113
State census, 1864...
803,661
1,184,282
1,334,031
1,636,937
State census, 1894...
1,853,658
2,093,889
2,241,611
Year.
No. of
Farms.
No. acres in
farms.
No. acres
improved.
Value of farm
products.
1850 34,089
1860 62,422
1870
98,786
1880 154,008
1890 172.344
1894 178,051
4.383,890
1,929,110
7,030,831
3,476,296
10,019,142
5,096,939
$81,508,623
13,807,240
8,296.862
91,159,858
14 785,636
15,296,078
9,865,350
83,651,390
10 379.515
81,279,006
EQUALIZED VALUATION.
In 1838 the total valuation of the taxable
property of the State, as assessed by the as-
sessors and equalized by the boards of super-
visors of the several counties, was $42,953,-
495. There was a steady diminution in
amount, the total in 1847 being $27,617,240,
but increased to $29,384,270 in 1850. The
constitution of 1850 required that the Legis-
lature should provide for an equalization by a
State board in the year 1851 and every fifth
year. Pursuant to this requirement, the
Lieutenant Governor, Auditor General, Sec-
retary of State, State Treasurer, and Com-
missioner of the Land Office were made to
constitute such board. They meet at Lansing
on the third Monday of August of every
fifth year, counting from 1851. Their duties
are to equalize the assessed valuation of the
counties for the purpose of apportioning State
taxes. If they think that the valuation of
any county is too low, they add to it, and vice
versa. Their equalization for each quin-
quennial period has been as follows, includ-
ing both real and personal property:
1851
1856.
1861 .....
1866
1871
$30,976,270 1876
137,663,009 1881
172,055,808 1886
1891
307,965,842
....
$630 000,000
810,000,000
945,450,000
1,130,000,000
630,000,000 1896 ...... 1,105,100,000
STATE TAXES.
The amount of the State tax levied each
year since the organization of the State gov-
ernment is given on pages 438-41 of the re-
port of the Auditor General for the year
The amount in 1838 was $85,906,
1898.
FARM PRODUCTS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS.
The annexed table of farm products for
five census periods is compiled from the State
census reports. The live stock will be under-
stood to be the number reported for the cen-
sus year, while grain, wool, etc., are for the
year preceding:
Sheep sheared.
Sheep, number
Swine, number of.
Other Cattle....
Milch Cows, number of
Work Oxen, number of
Mules, number of.
Horses, number of
Maple Sugar-pounds.
of.
Potatoes-bushels.
Corn-bushels raised .....
Corn-acres harvested, bu
Wheat-average per acre, bu.
Wheat-bushels raised..
Wheat-acres harvested
473,451
327,642
7,128,104
15 05
9,688,627
843,881
15,456,202
1,134,4 4
Corn-average per acre.
Wool-pounds sheared.
Hay-tons cut..
2,6-0,747
496.351
2,942,526
7,635,473
23 30
843,346
4,058.271
25.74
11,007,293
427,529
11.48
7.260,931
7,729,011
5,618,863
20,792,911
1,134,077
32.4
641,329
13.62
10,680,309
22.4
19,421 938
866,144
15.12
25,597.967
1,709,535
.47
40,556,871
953,763
16 18
27.055,169
1,672,433
17,184,664
47.33
2,288,147
668,593
15,337,249
14,693,315
Butter-pounds made
1,642,250
7,926,552
13,835,452
27.972,117
€4,048,099
4,319,793
1.945,863
43,494,211
85,234
91,713
179,101
281.394
446,206
91,516
106
141,316
139,299
67 (57
60,643
1,115
38,901
3,906
4,820
55.332
275,188
321.732
210.785
307,554
485.181
407,154
26,339
11.267
239,901
335,288
401.719
964 331
2,053,356
1,651,899
2,889,278
998 394
1,676,176
2.724,789
2,323,189
2,262,951
1,045,151
312,352
506,390
1854
Census of
Census of
1864.
1875.
Census of
1884.
1894.
Census of
Census of

MEN OF PROGRESS
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
83

ROGERS, COLONEL JOSEPH SUM-
NER. Joseph Sumner Rogers was born at
Orrington, Maine, on the 5th of July, 1844.
On his father's side he is descended from
Thomas Rogers, one of the Mayflower pil-
grims; on his mother's side he is the great-
grandson of Peter Harriman, a veteran of
the Revolution.
At the age of 16 young Rogers entered
upon a military career which had for differ-
ent chapters in its history service on the
bloody fields of the Civil War, duty in Louisi-
ana during reconstruction days, and finally
the organization of a famous academy and
military school. In April of '61, on Lin-
coln's first call for troops, he left school to
enlist in the Second Maine Infantry-the
first infantry to leave the State for the front.
After year's service he was severely
wounded at second Bull Run, but as soon as
he recovered from his wound he joined his
regiment and served until honorably dis-
charged at the expiration of his term of en-
listment. In September of '64 he re-enlisted,
becoming second lieutenant of the Thirty-
first Maine, and in October of the same year
he became a captain of the Thirty-first. Cap-
tain Rogers served during the final campaign
of Petersburg and in the pursuit of Lee up to
his surrender at Appomattox. At the end
of the war he was mustered out, and subse-
quently was breveted a major for gallantry
in action.
After the war, Major Rogers served in the
War Department for one year. In October
of 1867 he became a second lieutenant in the
First Infantry, United States army, and was
ordered to Louisiana, where he served for
several years through the exciting era of re-
construction.
In 1874, while stationed at Fort Wayne,
Detroit, he was detailed by the President as
professor of military science and tactics at
the Detroit high school. Here his corps of
young men, known as the Detroit Cadets, be-
came famous as a military organization. It
was while in charge of this battalion that
Major Rogers formed the plan of organizing
COL. JOSEPH SUMNER ROGERS.
In
a school, patterned in academic features after
the best academies, and in military discipline
and administration after West Point.
September, 1877, the idea was realized, and
the Michigan Military Academy began its
long term of service and usefulness.
Today the academy is known throughout
the nation. From a small beginning, the
school has developed until it possesses a plant
and equipment not equaled by that of many
colleges. It draws students from every state
in the Union. All this work has been accom-
plished without endowment.
In September, 1866, Colonel Rogers mar-
ried Miss Susan J. Wheeler, and three chil-
dren have been born to them.
Harry L.
Rogers is paymaster in the
Rogers is paymaster in the regular army with
the rank of major. Florence, the only daugh-
ter, died several years ago. Frederick P.
Rogers is a student in the academy.
Colonel Rogers is a member of the F. A.
M. and Detroit Commandery, K. T.; the
Loyal Legion; the Detroit Post, G. A. R., at
Detroit; the Sons of the American Revolu-
tion; the Mayflower Society, and the Order
of the Descendants of Colonial Governors.
84
MEN OF PROGRESS.

WILLARD K. BUSH.
BUSH, WILLARD K. Willard K. Bush
was born in Ionia, Michigan, May 20, 1867.
Late in the fall of the same year, his father,
H. F. Bush, removed to Gaines, Michigan,
engaging in a general merchandise business,
and the manufacture of staves, heading, bar-
rels and hardwood lumber. The boyhood
days of Willard K. were spent in the public
schools of Gaines and Detroit, Michigan.
Young Bush was not infatuated with school
and his absence was noted by the teacher fre-
quently during the term. His father at last
determined to give the lad a taste of work, to
see if it would not give him a better appetite
for school. It did, and at the age of 17
he entered the Fenton Normal College, at
Fenton, Michigan, graduating in the com-
mercial course, afterward taking up stenog
raphy and becoming so proficient in the art
that he became a teacher of it.
In the spring of 1887, he entered the em-
ployment of The G. H. Hammond Co., De-
troit, as stenographer. After remaining with
this company two years, he accepted a sim-
ilar position with Armour & Co., of Chicago.
and remained with that firm for one year,
resigning when he found a more remunera-
tive position as stenographer to the auditor
of the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company,
Chicago, and one year later accepted a similar
position with the Michigan Central Railroad,
at Detroit, resigning two years later to accept
the appointment of stenographer to Hon.
Hazen S. Pingree, then Mayor of Detroit.
After five years of service as private sec-
retary to Hon. Hazen S. Pingree (while
mayor and during his first term as Gov-
ernor of Michigan), he resigned to accept
his present position, deputy secretary of
state, under Hon. Justus S. Stearns, sec-
retary of state. During the State election
of 1898, Mr. Bush had personal charge of the
campaign of Mr. Stearns, in which task he
won deserved laurels. This latter appoint-
ment was given to him as a matter of recog-
nition and reward for his efforts in behalf of
the nomination and election of his chief, for
whom he was the earliest and one of the most
zealous champions.
In 1889, Mr. Bush married Miss Helena B.
Salsbury, of Fenton, Michigan. They have
one child, a daughter, Mildred, who is now
eight years old.
On January 1, 1897, when he became sec-
retary to the Governor, he was also made
military secretary with rank of major.
On March 1, 1900, Mr. Bush engaged in
business under the name of The Willard K.
Bush Company, manufacturers of overalls,
pants, shirts, duck coats and special garments
to order. The business was launched under
most favorable auspices and gives promise of
continued growth and prosperity.
He is a member of Lansing Lodge No. 33,
F. & A. M.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
85

CAHILL, EDWARD. Edward Cahill
was born at Kalamazoo, Michigan, August 3,
1843, being the second in a family of six
children. His father, Abraham Cahill, was a
tanner, and settled in Kalamazoo in 1831.
His mother was Frances Maria Marsh, niece
of Epaphroditus Ransom, an early judge of
the Supreme Court and governor of Michigan
from 1848 until 1850.
The father sold the tannery and moved to
a farm on Grand Prairie, where young Cahill
remained until 11 years of age, attending the
district schools. In 1854 the family removed
to Holland, Michigan, where the elder Cahill
invested his means in wild lands and engaged
in lumbering. He died that same year, leav-
ing the family without income or available
means of support. If he had lived, good use
could have been made of his wild land,
though it was useless to a widow with a family
of young children. The mother returned to
Kalamazoo and managed to keep her children
in school, and in the fall of 1856 Edward en-
tered the preparatory department of Kalama-
zoo College, where he remained three years.
The next two years he was an apprentice in
the printing office of the Kalamazoo Gazette.
In August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in
Company A, Eighty-ninth Illinois infantry,
and was sent to the front immediately. After
service in the Kentucky campaign in the fall,
under Gen. Buell, he was discharged Decem-
ber, 1862, on account of disability occasioned
by illness. Returning to Kalamazoo, he began
the study of law in the office of Miller &
Burns, of that city, but his health improving,
in 1863 he decided to go to the front again.
He recruited and was made first lieutenant of
a company of colored soldiers for the First
Michigan Colored Infantry, afterwards
known as the One Hundred and Second
United States Infantry. He was subse-
quently promoted to captain, and served as
such until the close of the war. Captain Cahill
mustered out in 1865, when, returning home,
he resumed his law studies at St. Johns, Mich-
igan, and was admitted to the bar in June,
1866. He began his practice at Hubbards-
EDWARD CAHILL.
ton, Michigan, where he remained four years
and until he removed to Ionia in 1870. In
1871 he went to Chicago and established a
good practice. In 1873, while on a visit to
friends in Lansing, he was persuaded to locate
there, and that has ever since been his home.
He was elected prosecuting attorney of Ing-
ham county, 1876-1880. In 1887 he was
appointed a member of the board of pardons
by Gov. Luce, a position he held until he was
appointed justice of the Supreme Court, upon
the death of Judge Campbell, in 1890.
Judge Cahill was president of the State
Bar Association in 1891-92, and was first
president of the Michigan Political Science
Association, which was organized in 1892.
On June 11, 1867, Judge Cahill was mar-
ried at Milford, Oakland county, Michigan, to
Miss Lucy Crawford, the daughter of Hender-
son Crawford, who, from 1850 to 1865, was a
well-known teacher, having an academy where
some of the best men in Michigan received
their education, among others Hon. John
Moore and W. L. Webber, of Saginaw, Jus-
tice Moore, of the Supreme Court, and a large
number of others less widely known.
Judge Cahill has two daughters, both of
whom are married.

86
MEN OF PROGRESS.

WILLIAM EVANS GROVE.
GROVE, WILLIAM EVANS. A name
well known in Michigan is that of Judge
William E. Grove, of Grand Rapids. He
was born at Geneva, N. Y., November 22,
1833, being now in his sixty-seventh year, and
received his early education at that place, but
graduated from Hobart College, then a Free
Episcopal institution, in 1858. On his fath-
er's side he was of German descent and with
an admixture of Irish, through his mother,
Ruth Fulton. His great-grandfather was a
German military officer who fled the country
because of political troubles, settling in Penn-
sylvania. His father, Martin Grove, removed
to Geneva from York County, Pennsylvania.
Judge Grove was attracted to Grand Rapids,
soon after his graduation, by reason of having
a brother practicing medicine there, with
whom he studied medicine for about six
months. But feeling more affinity for Black-
stone than for Galen, he turned from medi-
cine to the law and began reading with
Holmes & Robinson, attorneys, of Grand
Rapids, and was admitted to practice before
Judge Louis S. Lovell, March 14, 1859. He
opened an office and pursued his first year's
practice with an income of $75. In 1860 he
was elected justice of the peace, and two years
later formed a law partnership with John T.
Holmes. In 1866 he removed to Humbolt,
Kansas, practicing there for a year, and then
went to Neosba Falls, the county seat of
Woodson county, same state, remaining until
1872 and building up an extensive and lucra-
tive practice there. While there he served
four years as prosecuting attorney of the
county. There were no railroads at that time
and the practice involved journeys of from 75
to 100 miles on horseback, to attend the court
sessions, and becoming tired of this frontier
life, he returned to Grand Rapids in 1872.
Resuming practice there alone, until 1876, he
was subsequently associated successively with
George W. Thompson, Judge John M. Har-
ris and John S. Lawrence. Judge R. M.
Montgomery, then presiding judge of the
Kent Circuit, having been elected to the Su-
preme bench, Mr. Grove was appointed and
subsequently elected to succeed him, and in
1893 was renominated by the Republicans for
the full term of six years, beginning January,
1894, and was endorsed by the other parties
and re-elected without opposition. During
his service on the Kent bench, he was assigned
to and held court for several terms in the
Wayne circuit, and is known throughout the
State as an able and impartial jurist. Since
retiring from the bench, in January, 1900, he
has resumed practice in Grand Rapids, giving
special attention to corporation and insurance
law.
He is in politics a Republican, as will
be readily inferred.
Judge Grove's religious connection is
Methodist-Episcopal, he being a member of
Division Street M. E. Church in Grand Rap-
ids. Literary and social connections are:
Alpha Delta Phi (Collegiate), Masonic, Odd-
fellows, Peninsular Club and Lincoln Repub-
lican Club of Grand Rapids. He is a mem-
ber of the Michigan Bar Association and was
one of the originators and organizers of the
State Association of Circuit Judges, and was
its president for one year. Mrs. Grove, to
whom he was married in 1884, was formerly
Miss Jennie Caswell, daughter of Zebina Cas-
well, of Kingston, N. Y. They have a son
and a daughter, William M. and Caroline

In 1860 he Ruth.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
87

CLARKE, WILLIAM RADCLIFFE.
Attorney William
William Radcliffe Clarke, of
Grand Ledge, Michigan, is the son of Thomas
Clarke, who came from the Isle of Man in
1838 and was a farmer near Watford, On-
tario. His mother's maiden name was Jane
Radcliffe. Mr. Clarke was born in Spring-
field, Ontario, October 24, 1860. He at-
tended the public schools from the time he
was six years of age until his seventeenth
year, and worked as a farm hand during the
vacation months. He then became a clerk
in a grocery store at $7 a month, and after
twenty months clerking saved $100, which
enabled him to enter the St. Thomas Colle-
giate Institute for one year. He invested his
money in some young cattle and the proceeds
took him through the course at the institute.
He intended to become a physician, but was
disheartened by the prospects afforded to a
youthful physician in Canada, so he decided
to take up law, and visiting relatives in Grand
Ledge in 1881, he entered the Law depart-
ment of the University of Michigan in the
fall of that year and graduated from there
in 1883.
Not having sufficient money to establish
himself in practice and being in debt for his
education, he entered the employ of the R.
L. Polk Co., of Detroit, publishers of direc-
tories and gazetteers, visiting nearly all the
large cities north of the Ohio, and remaining
in their employ until 1886. He then en-
tered into partnership with ex-Senator Jacob
L. McPeek, at Grand Ledge, under the firm
name of McPeek & Clarke, and commenced
an extensive and successful practice. The
partnership continued five years, when Mr.
McPeek was elected Judge of Probate. Con-
tinuing alone until 1897, Mr. Clarke admit-
ted a partner in that year, R. A. Latting, and
Clarke & Latting still conduct a lucrative
practice at Grand Ledge.
Mr. Clarke married Miss Iva J. Graves,
of Springfield, Ontario, in 1886, and has two
children, Ross D., aged nine, and Pauline,
aged seven.
WILLIAM RADCLIFFE CLARKE.
publicans in his county. He was city attor-
ney at Grand Ledge for eight years and a
member of the board of aldermen three years.
His name has been suggested for Judge of
Probate on several occasions. In 1894 the
Granger hardware stock was for sale, and
Mr. Clarke, looking for a place to invest his
money, formed a co-partnership with A. E.
Kiser and purchased it, and the Clarke Hard-
ware Co., of Grand Ledge, has the largest
store of its kind in that city. The success of
the company has been due mainly to Mr.
Clarke's hard work and good business prin-
ciples. He is honest and fair in his methods
of doing business and this fact has been rec-
ognized by all who have had dealings with
him, both in his profession as a lawyer and
as a merchant. He is also vice-president of
the Grand Ledge Canning & Preserving Co.,
an industry employing many people and
shipping goods all over the United States.
Mr. Clarke owns one of the largest law
libraries in the country, most of the volumes
being text books. He still continues to prac-
tice law, his ability and integrity having been
Mr. Clarke is one of the most popular Re- rewarded with a large clientage.

88
MEN OF PROGRESS.

ALFRED JAMES MILLS.
MILLS, ALFRED JAMES. Mr. Mills is
of English origin, his father, Alfred Mills,
having been a dry goods merchant in the
towns of Bedford, in Bedfordshire, and
Spalding, in Lincolnshire. Alfred J. was
born in 1852, and attended school until his
sixteenth year, when he came to America, ar-
riving in Kalamazoo early in 1870, where he
found a position in a drug store, which he
filled for a few months. He then entered the
law office of Arthur Brown, then a well-
known attorney of Kalamazoo, where he read
law for four years, and was admitted to the
bar. Removing to Paw Paw, he formed a
co-partnership with Chandler Richards, under
the firm name of Richards & Mills, the con-
nection continuing for several years. In
1876 Mr. Mills was elected Judge of Probate
for Van Buren county, and was unanimously
and by acclamation renominated for the same
office in 1880, but declined the honor. In
1881 he was elected judge of the Ninth Judi-
cial Circuit, comprising the counties of Kala-
mazoo and Van Buren, and in the early part
of his term removed to Kalamazoo. Before
the expiration of his term, however, he an-
nounced that he would not be a candidate for
renomination, and at the close of his term re-
turned to the practice of law at the city of
Kalamazoo, forming a co-partnership with J.
W. Osborn, the firm being Osborn & Mills.
In 1883 he was chosen a member of the
Board of Education of Kalamazoo, serving in
that capacity for six years, and was its presi-
dent during two years of the time.
He was
appointed a member of the Board of Trustees
of the Michigan Asylum for the Insane, at
Kalamazoo, by Gov. Rich, serving until the
spring of 1899, and was president of the
board during nearly two years of his term.
He was reappointed a member of the board
by Gov. Pingree in January, 1900. At the
spring election of 1900 he was elected mayor
of the city of Kalamazoo. He was appointed
by the Superintendent of Public Instructions
in the fall of 1899 as chairman of the Board
of Visitors to the Michigan State Medical Col-
leges. He is a trustee of the Michigan Fe-
male Seminary and clerk of that board. He
is a director in the Puritan Corset Co. and the
C. H. Dutton Boiler Co., of Kalamazoo.
His religious connections are Episcopalian,
he having been a member of the vestry of St.
Luke's Episcopal Church for
Luke's Episcopal Church for many years. Po-
litically, he has always voted the Republican
ticket.
He is a member of the Masonic Fra-
ternity, including the Knights Templar, and
of the Knights of Pythias and Elks.
Miss Florence Balch, daughter of Luther
Balch, of Porter, Mich., became Mrs. Mills in
June, 1874, four children being the fruit of
the marriage-Mrs. C. F. Cole, of Kalama-
zoo, and Mabel C., James A. and Helen resid-
ing with their parents.
Judge Mills is a hard-working, enterprising
man, conscientious both in opinion and action,
a close student, of quick perception and a man
in every way worthily representing the intel-
ligent and cultured community in which his
lot is cast. And this reference to the people
and city of Kalamazoo recalls an incident
which was once related in the hearing of the
writer by the late Judge Wells, of Kalamazoo,
and with which the sketch may be appropri-
ately brought to a close. In the presidential
campaign of 1856, Mr. Lincoln, who four
years later was elected to the presidency, was
one of the speakers at a Republican mass
meeting at Kalamazoo.
Remarking upon
the character of his audience, which presum-
ably (externally at least) outranked that of
audiences to which Mr. Lincoln had been ac-
customed to speak, "Why," said he to Judge
W., "they all had clean shirts on."


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
89

A na-
WRIGHT, AMMI WILLARD.
tive of Vermont, Mr. Wright justly regards
with pride and satisfaction his New England
parentage, and exemplifies in his life the love
of freedom, the independence of character,
the stern virtues of patriotism and obedience
to law and authority, that are the ruling traits
of the people who have so largely given tone
to the social and civil institutions of the coun-
try. Born at Grafton, Vt., July 5, 1822, but
removing with his family at an early age to
Rockingham, in the same State, his early edu-
cation was confined to the district school. At
the age of 17 he quitted school, spending the
next three years in farm work.
A year of
business experience in the city of Boston fol-
lowed. For two years following he engaged
in the carrying trade between Rutland, Vt.,
and Boston, taking produce from the country
to the city and bringing back supplies for the
local merchants. He next managed a hotel
in Bartonsville, Vt., for the proprietor, Jere-
miah Barton, and in 1848 married the daugh
ter of his employer, Miss Harriet Barton, and
leased his hotel. A year later he became pro-
prietor of the Central Hotel in Boston, but
came to Michigan in 1850, and in 1851
located in Saginaw, interesting himself in the
lumber and timber trade. He first engaged
in cutting and running logs, which he sold to
the mills. In 1859 he became junior mem-
ber of the firm of Miller, Payne & Wright,
who bought what was known as the "Big
Mill" in Saginaw, refitted it and engaged in
manufacturing. It would be impracticable
to trace the various co-partnership enterprises
in which Mr. Wright was successively (and
always successfully) engaged. In 1871 he
extended his operations by establishing the
lumber firm of Wright, Wells & Co., at
Wright's Lake, in Otsego county. A lum-
bermen's wholesale supply store at Saginaw,
established in 1867 by Messrs. Wright &
Pearson, was one of his varied enterprises.
The purchase of 30,000 acres of pine land in
Roscommon, Gladwin and Clare counties
grew out of the last named connection, with
some changes in the personnel of the firm.
They established a lumbering plant, built 32
miles of railroad, and cultivated a farm of
1,000 acres. In 1882 the A. W. Wright
AMMI WILLARD WRIGHT.
of $1,500,000, with Mr. Wright as its presi-
Lumber Co. was incorporated, with a capital
dent. This company absorbed most of the
large concerns in which Mr. Wright was in-
terested.
Led by his tastes, early in his Michigan ac-
tivities, he cultivated a large farm in Genesee
county. At present he has extensive grazing
lands in Texas, Dakota and Montana, and a
farm of 2,500 acres near the village of Alma,
which village is substantially a creation of Mr.
Wright's. And here, by his foresight and
open hand have been located a large beet
sugar refinery, the Alma Sanitarium-a fa-
vorite resort for health and rest-and Alma
College, which is rapidly rising to prominence
among the educational institutions of the
State.
His genius contributed to the building of
the Saginaw and St. Louis plank road and the
Saginaw Valley & St. Louis Railroad. He
has many banking and manufacturing inter-
ests in Michigan, Minnesota and New York
State.
While Mr. Wright's business aptitude pre-
sents his stronger points, he is at the same
time kind, benevolent and philanthropic and
is loved and honored by his business asso-
ciates, and especially by his employes and
those who may be regarded as in some meas-
ure his dependents.


90
MEN OF PROGRESS.
COL. JAMES NYE COX.
COX, COL. JAMES NYE. Our recent
war with Spain brought out the military capa-
bilities of the men connected with the State
Militia of Michigan, and made prominent
many of those men who have been identified
with State military organizations, better than
any other medium could have done.
When the Michigan troops were mobilized.
at Island Lake in 1898, the work was accom-
plished in an excellent manner by Michigan
officers, and Col. James Nye Cox, under Gen.
Irish, was one of the officers who assisted in
forming the Michigan regiments and prepar-
ing them for the part they took in the war
with Spain.
The Cox family came from England with
one Gresham Cox, and James V. Cox, the
father of the subject of this sketch, was a sea
captain, engaged in whale fishing.
James Nye Cox was born at Fairhaven,
Mass., April 10, 1844. His mother was Mercy
Nye Howland, a descendant of the old Massa-
chusetts family of Nyes. Young Cox at-
tended the schools of his native town and
afterwards the Wesleyan Seminary at Kent's
Hill, Maine, where he remained until he was
almost 18 years of age, and then when, in
1862, Lincoln called for "300,000 more," he
enlisted in July in the Third Massachusetts
Regiment, Co. I, and was made corporal
shortly after joining the regiment. The Third
Massachusetts was assigned to the Eighteenth
Army Corps, and saw active service in the
Carolinas. Nine months after his enlistment
Mr. Cox was made second lieutenant in Co.
G, Fifty-eighth Massachusetts, and assigned
to the Army of the Potomac, First Brigade,
Second Division, Ninth Army Corps. He
served until the close of the war, participating
in many of the brilliant but fierce engage-
ments in which the Army of the Potomac fig-
ured so prominently. Lieut. Cox was se-
verely wounded at Cold Harbor and again at
Petersburg, and when his regiment was mus-
tered out he was first lieutenant and adjutant
of his regiment. For five years after the war
he was connected with the wholesale tobacco
trade, working for a firm in New York city
and traveling most of the time on the road
as a salesman in New York and New England
States. In 1870 he was tendered and ac-
cepted the position of junior clerk in the office
of the Calumet & Hecla Mining Co., and in
1888 was made clerk of the mine, a position
which he still occupies. In 1881 he helped
organize the Calumet Light Guard and served
as first lieutenant. Lieut. Cox was appointed
colonel and aide-de-camp on the staff of Gov.
Alger, and later Gov. Luce appointed him on
his staff, where he served during the four
years of his administration. He was made
assistant inspector-general on Brig.-Gen.
Lyon's staff in 1897, and is still in that posi-
tion. Col. Cox is a member of the G. A. R.
and of the Loyal Legion, Michigan Com-
mandery. He has taken much of the honors
of Masonry, including the Knights Templar,
and belongs to Montrose Commandery of Cal-
umet, and is a Shriner of Ahmed Temple in
Marquette.
He married in 1879 Miss Edith I., daugh-
ter of Frederick Mackenzie, of Calumet.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
91

PARSONS, JAMES M. If our men of
middle age and younger may be termed men
of progress, those who have progressed to
four score and ten certainly should be. This
remark is applicable to Mr. Parsons, who is
in his ninety-first year, and has been a resident
of Marshall for sixty-six years. Born at West
Springfield, Mass., February 23d, 1810, of
farmer parents, he alternated his attendance
upon the district school with farm work until
fifteen years of age, when under an uncle's
care he went to Lowville, N. Y., where he
attended the Lowville Academy, and was a
clerk in his uncle's store for six years. He
then went to Auburn, N. Y., where he was
clerk in a general store for a year. Coming
to Sandusky, O., in the spring of 1834, he
took boat from there to Detroit. After a
short stop there he went to Ann Arbor by
stage, and from there on horseback to Mar-
shall, having less than twenty dollars in his
pocket. He soon secured a situation in a
store at Homer, where he remained about a
year, having saved during the time some
$300. Going then to Marshall, he opened a
general store, which he conducted success-
fully for six years. He "whooped it up" for
Harrison and Tyler during the memorable
log cabin and hard cider campaign of 1840,
but with the hard cider left out, as there were
no apples in the locality to make cider from.
He was appointed postmaster at Marshall in
1841, which place he held for four years. At
the close of his official service he accepted a
clerkship in Charles P. Dibble's dry goods
store, where he remained nineteen years. He
then opened a boot and shoe store on his own
account, which he conducted successfully for
twelve years. He then associated himself with
D. S. Beach in the fire insurance business,
which he has continued personally since the
death of Mr. Beach, in 1890, and still con-
tinues.
It will thus be seen that Mr. Parsons has
been an active business man at Marshall since
1834, a period of sixty-six years. In his busi-
ness relations he is identified with the Royal
Cycle Company, of Marshall, is a director in
JAMES M. PARSONS.
the Commercial Bank, also at Marshall, and
a stockholder in the Parsons Paper Company
at Holyoke, Mass. He was village clerk of
Marshall for many years before that town
became a city. His religious connection is
Episcopalian, dating from 1863, when he
united with Trinity Church of Marshall. He
was made clerk of the vestry in 1864 and has
held the position ever since, and is also senior
warden of the church. He has been an Odd-
fellow fifty-seven years; was formerly a Whig
in politics, but has since been a Republican.
He has never used tobacco or liquor, his health
has always been good, and he is today a re-
markably well preserved, bright, active and
courteous gentleman, which it does one good
to meet. Mr. Parsons's domestic life, though
less in point of years than his business life, yet
greatly exceeded the average. Married in
1836 to Miss Eleanor Dorsey, daughter of
Andrew Dorsey, of Lyons, N. Y., they cele-
brated their golden wedding in 1886. Mrs.
Parsons died in 1890. A daughter, Sarah,
who was for twelve years a teacher and six
years matron in the State Public School at
Coldwater, and
Coldwater, and is now keeping house for the
father, is, aside from the father, the only re-
maining representative of the family.


92
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. JAMES SCULLY.
SCULLY, HON. JAMES. Hon. James
Scully is classed as the leader in the House
of Representatives of the Democrats this
session of 1899, and is one of the best and
most forcible orators of that body.
He was born in Osceola township, Living-
ston county, Michigan, June 13, 1862. His
father was a farmer and the boy, as soon as
he was able to work, helped in the work-
ing of the farm and assisted his mother at
her churning. He attended the district
schools during the winter months, working in
the summers, and later supplemented his dis-
trict school education by courses at the Fen-
ton Normal School and the high school at
Howell, Michigan. Obtaining a teacher's
certificate at an examination, he became a
school teacher, teaching for five winters in
Livingston county, and farming in the sum-
mer.
He then accepted a school in Cheboy-
gan, Michigan, and while in that city con-
ceived the idea of becoming a lawyer. He
commenced the study of law and while
pre-
paring for admission to the bar, taught school
in order to pay his expenses. He read law
in the office of Frank Gaffoney, at Ionia,
and later with Ellis and Miller, at Ionia.
After his admission to the bar at Ionia, May
17, 1890, he worked by the month for a time
and at last entered into partnership with J.
B. Chaddock, under the firm name of Chad-
dock & Scully, and since that time the firm
has become one of the strongest law firms in
the city of Ionia.
In his politics, Mr. Scully is, and has
always been, a Democrat. He acted as clerk
under Attorney-General Ellis at one time,
and in 1884-1885 was township clerk for
Osceola township, Livingston county. This
was his first political office. During the
years of 1892, 1893, 1894 he was city attor-
ney for Ionia, and for several years a member
of and chairman of the Democratic City Com-
mittee. He was elected to the Michigan
Legislature in 1896 and served through the
term of 1897-1898 to the entire satisfaction
of his supporters. He was re-elected to the
house of 1898-1899 by a vote of 2,215 to
2,156 for John D. Dougherty, Republican.
Mr. Scully was the only successful Democrat
on the ticket in Ionia county.
Mr. Scully is justly proud of his work in
building his own life, for he has never been
ashamed to turn his hand to any kind of
manual labor, and feels that he has attained
his present position through his own efforts.
He is not the only one in his family that has
taken a part in the history of this state, for
his mother's father, James Gleason, was a
member of the Michigan Legislatures of
1853-1854. The elder Scully came to this
country from Ireland and was one of the
early settlers in Michigan, taking up the tract
of ground where his son was born and clear-
ing it himself for farming purposes.
James Scully is a member of the Ancient
Order of Hibernians and the Modern Wood-
men, both of Ionia, Michigan, and also a
member of St. Peter and Paul's Catholic
Church of Ionia.
He is looked upon with respect in the house
as a man of sharp wit and a ready orator.
Both sides of the house admire him, and he
has many friends throughout the county.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
93

HOSKING, WILLIAM HENRY. Wil-
liam Henry Hosking is one of the leading
Republicans of Houghton County, and also
one of the leading merchants of Calumet,
Michigan, where he owns and manages the
mercantile business of Hosking & Co., whose
general store is one of the largest in that city.
Mr. Hosking is of English birth, having
been born November 10, 1859, in Tyward-
reath, England. His father, Wm. Hos-
king, came to this country from Cornwall,
England, and located in Keewenaw County
in 1863. Here he found work on the Phoe-
nix mine, and in 1865 was in a position to
send for his family. When young Hosking
reached the proper age was sent to the so-
called district school near the mines, but at
the age of 13 he was put to work tending the
rock crusher at the rock house of the Atlantic
mine, where his father was employed. His
first salary was $28 a month, quite a good
salary for a boy of 13, but later a cut was
made and he was paid only $20 a month.
While engaged in this employment he met
with an accident and one of his legs was
broken. This laid him up for some time.
When he became 15 years of age he was
sent to school at Houghton, Michigan. This
school was four miles down the hill from
the Atlantic mine, and the boy walked that
distance night and morning. After finishing
at the Houghton school he was employed as
a porter in the Atlantic mine store. The fol-
lowing year he earned $10 a week and during
the eight years he remained with the company
he was promoted every year until in 1883,
when he severed his connection with the busi-
ness. At this time Mr. Hosking held the
position of head clerk and buyer. He then
left the Atlantic mine store to take charge of
the Central mine store in Keweenaw county,
where he only remained one year, leaving to
become manager for William Walls & Co., at
Calumet, a position he held for three years.
He had saved considerable money during
all these years, and now, in company with
M. J. Culnan, he branched out into business
for himself, purchasing the stock of William
WILLIAM HENRY HOSKING.
Walls & Co., and commencing business under
the firm name of Hosking & Culnan. The
firm conducted a successful business in dry
goods and furnishings for three years. Hos-
king had invested all his savings, some
$2,000, in the venture and gone into debt
some $2,500, but the business thrived and in
1890 Mr. Hosking sold out his interest in the
firm and went into business alone, and today
he is the owner of one of the most thriving
mercantile houses in Calumet. At the present
writing he is holding the office of postmaster
at Calumet, to which he was appointed Octo-
ber 1, 1897. He was treasurer of Calumet
township for two years.
Mr. Hosking married in 1885, Miss Annie
M. Walls, daughter of James Walls, a mer-
chant and mining man of Hancock, Michi-
gan, and two little girls, Ethel and Eloise,
have been the result of that union. Both of
them are attending school in Calumet. Mr.
Hosking is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of
the Sons of St. George, an order that has many
representatives in this country, and of the
Knights of the Maccabees.
94
MEN OF PROGRESS.

RANSOM E. OLDS.
OLDS, RANSOM E. Ransom E. Olds,
now of Detroit, Mich., president and general
manager of the Olds Gasoline Engine Works
at Lansing, and of the Olds Motor Works, of
Detroit, Mich., was born June 3, 1864, in
Geneva, Ohio.
His father was a machinist,
and from his early youth the boy was brought
up around machinery of all kinds until he
learned to become familiar with that trade
and acquainted himself with all sorts of
mechanical work, for which he seemed
for which he seemed
naturally adapted. He attended the schools
of Cleveland, and in Lansing his education
was completed. After leaving school he pur-
chased a half interest in his father's shop and
foundry, making a first payment of $300 with
money he had earned working during his holi-
days and vacations.
The year after he entered the shop with
his father as a partner the little shop, 18x26,
was found to be too small to accommodate
the growing business, and a new site across
the street was purchased, and a two-story
building, 25x110, erected. In two years'
time business increased so that the facilities
had to be again enlarged, and from this time
on the gasoline engine and boiler became one
of the main articles manufactured by the
firm. In 1890 the company was made into
a corporation with a capitalization of $50,000,
and Ransom E. Olds was made general man-
ager of the entire plant and its business. The
business still increased, and the company's
output was forwarded all over the United
States and Great Britain. In 1894 the new
gasoline engine was patented and put on the
market, and their manufacture requiring new
machinery and a larger area of factory space,
10,000 more feet was added to the floor
space, and the required machinery was placed
in operation in the plant. About this time.
the remaining interest of the elder Olds was
purchased by the son, the father's health
being slightly impaired and causing his
retirement. In October, 1898, the company's
capital was increased to $150,000, Ransom
E. Olds continuing as president and general
manager.
The present plant is one of the most com-
plete and modern in the United States. It
is supplied with all up-to-date appliances for
the handling of heavy machinery, traveling
cranes, etc., and the annual output brings in
returns averaging $200,000 annually. The
business ranks as one of the largest plants of
this kind in the United States. In 1887 Mr.
Olds invented and constructed a horseless
carriage with a gasoline engine for motive.
power. This has been improved upon and re-
constructed, and in 1892 a successful vehicle
was made and shipped to Bombay, India.
In 1896 the present style of automobile made
its appearance, resulting in the organization
of the Olds Motor Works of Detroit, with a
capital of $500,000, for their manufacture.
A new plant was built on Jefferson avenue,
Detroit, with a floor space of about two and
one-half acres, with every facility found in
an up to date works. Mr. Olds gives both
Lansing and Detroit plants his personal atten-
tion, and his success can be attributed to his
patient and untiring will in one line.
Mr. Olds married Miss Metta Woodward,
daughter of Joseph D. Woodward, of New
York state, at Lansing, Mich., June 5, 1889.
He has two children, Gladys and Bernice,
aged, respectively, seven and five years.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
95
VAN ORDEN, MATHEW C. Van Or-
den is the name of an old New York family,
brought from the Netherlands to this country
in 1600, when the Dutch were settling Man-
hattan Island, and building the town of New
Amsterdam, now grown into the Greater New
York.
Mathew C. Van Orden is the son of Will-
iam Van Orden, who was a carriage manufac-
turer in West Farms, Westchester county,
New York. Mathew Van Orden was born in
New York city, October 28, 1844, and at-
tended school in that city until he was 13
years of age, when he went to work packing
spices in a basement for a Brooklyn house. He
was put back to school by his father, but
shortly after obtained the consent of his par-
ents and went to work for two years for a re-
tail grocery in Brooklyn, and thence into a
wholesale spice house, where he was given
charge of the packing department. Shortly
after this he came to Michigan, where his
brother William was the company of Joseph
Paul & Company, and clerked in the general
store for this firm. In 1865 he was given
charge of his brother's store at Eagle River,
where he remained two years, and was then
appointed receiver for the firm of Joseph Paul
& Company, which had failed shortly after his
brother withdrew from it. Mr. Van Or-
den was then appointed assistant postmaster
at Calumet, under Artimus Doolittle, and
looked after the hardware business besides.
In the spring of 1871 he visited Carthage, Illi-
nois, where his affianced wife was very ill and
not expected to live. He remained there until
she recovered and they were married in 1872,
and Mr. Van Orden brought his young wife
back to Calumet, taking his old position, and
upon the death of Mr. Doolittle closing up his
estate, and becoming the supply clerk of the
Calumet & Hecla Mining Company. After
six months he was persuaded to remove to
Houghton, Michigan, by Judge Hubbell, and
take up
the insurance business then conducted
by Judge Hubbell. The firm was organized
as Van Orden & Company, and when Judge
Hubbell was sent to Washington he sold out

MATHEW C. VAN ORDEN.
his interest in 1873, and since that time the
firm has been Van Orden Brothers. In 1875
Mr. Van Orden branched out into the manu-
facturing of lime. For one year he was secre-
tary and manager of the Peninsular Electric
Light & Power Company of Houghton. In
1898 he was made receiver of the old Winona
mining properties, which operated about forty
years ago.
years ago. He secured options on the adjoin-
ing properties to the extent of 1,500 acres and
then organized the Winona Copper Mining
Company, which was placed on the market by
Paine, Webber & Co., of Boston, Mass. In
1898 he also organized and placed on the
market the Wyandotte Copper Mining Com-
Michigan director of the company.
pany, and Mr. Van Orden is the managing
Mrs. Van Orden died in 1890, leaving five
children, two boys and three girls.
Mr. Van Orden's interests are centered in
the manufacturing of lime, and wholesale
dealer in coal, cement, plaster, brick and
sewer pipe. He is also conducting the insur-
ance business in the firm of Van Orden
Brothers, at Houghton.

96
MEN OF PROGRESS.

RICHARD STURTRIDGE FORSYTH, M. D.
FORSYTH, M. D., RICHARD STURT-
RIDGE. To attain success through the in-
dividual efforts of one's self is to enhance the
value of success. Richard Sturtridge For-
syth, M. D., of Gladstone, Michigan, knows
the proper valuation of that word, for he has
worked hard and earnestly for the position he
now occupies in life. He was born February
27, 1867, in the village of Lexington, Michi-
gan.
His education was commenced in the
neighboring district school, but when he
reached his seventh year his father, who had
been in the business of manufacturing
pumps and fanning mills, failed and lost all
he had on a patent, and then went to farm-
ing. Young Forsyth was then compelled to
work for his living expenses, if he wished
to further his education, so he attended the
public schools of Lexington, and found work
for his board with John Mason, of that city,
who bought wheat and operated an elevator,
and dealt in live stock. The following two
years the young man worked on a farm and
attended district school until he was able to
take a teacher's certificate of the third grade,
when he became a teacher, and at one time he
had charge of the village school at Elmer,
Michigan. While teaching this latter school
he boarded at Dr. J. W. Wallace's house, and
commenced the study of medicine. The next
year he found employment with James Fisher,
a druggist at Marlette, and while in this em-
ployment he received instructions in that bus-
iness, and learned pharmacy, so that in Janu-
ary, 1887, he was sufficiently advanced in that
profession to pass the rigid examination be-
fore the State Board of Pharmacists.
In this new profession the young man
found no difficulty in obtaining employment.
He was engaged as a pharmacist by Drs. Met-
calf and Butts of Crystall Falls, Michigan,
and assisted in the hospital operated by those
gentlemen, reading medicine in the meantime
and preparing himself for further advance-
ment.
In February, 1888, he went to Norway,
Michigan, where he worked until fall in a
drug store, then having saved sufficient money
to enable him to stand the siege, he went to
Detroit, and entered the Detroit College of
Medicine, one of the oldest institutions of its
kind in Michigan. Three years were spent
at the college and in 1892 he graduated as
an M. D. During vacations, while a stu-
dent at the college, he worked in a drug
store as a pharmacist for Dr. Frank B. Mc-
Cormick at Black River, Michigan, so that
when he received his diploma the young doc-
tor was only $200 in debt. The first year he
practiced his profession at Black River, and
in 1893 moved to Gladstone, where he is one
of the foremost physicians of that city. In
Gladstone he met and married Miss Ida
Mertz, daughter of Richard Mertz, ex-post-
master of that city and now city treasurer.
The marriage took place August 29, 1894.
Two children have been the result of this
union, Richard A. and Takla Louise.
Dr. Forsyth is the city physician and health
officer for the city of Gladstone, physician
and surgeon to the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Com-
pany, and also surgeon to the Minneapolis, St.
Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad, Soo line
branch Canadian Pacific.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
97

To
BENNETT, ALBERT DWIGHT.
New York state Michigan is indebted for
many young men who have grown up with
Michigan and taken an active part in the ad-
vancement of its commercial and educational
interests. Albert Dwight Bennett was born
in Warsaw, a little town in the Empire State,
March 11, 1858, being the son of Dr. Daniel
M. Bennett, who is now one of the oldest
medical practitioners in Port Huron.
Mr. Bennett was educated in Saginaw and
Port Huron public schools.
Fresh from school, at the age of 16 he was
given a trusted position as corresponding
clerk in the Port Huron Savings Bank. Here
the same energy and attention that he had
previously shown in all his other work
brought him rapid promotion, and after serv-
ing in the capacity of clerk for a short time
he was advanced to the position of book-
keeper.
He remained with the bank for a period of
sixteen years, retiring in 1890 at the age of
32 years to associate himself with Henry
Howard as secretary and manager of the
Howard Towing Association, a concern own-
ing and operating a large fleet of fine lake
tugs.
Mr. Howard died in 1894, and as Mr. Ben-
nett had by this time become thoroughly con-
versant with the affairs of the concern, and
also acquired a complete knowledge of the
other personal and business affairs of his late
employer, he was made trustee and manager
of the Henry Howard estate.
This brought under his personal super-
vision the large sawmill and lumber yards
in Port Huron, which Mr. Howard had oper-
ated prior to his death, together with many
valuable business blocks in that city and a
large quantity of real estate. The estate has
flourished under Mr. Bennett's management,
ALBERT DWIGHT BENNETT.
and at the present writing he is still acting
in the capacity of trustee and manager.
Mr. Bennett was one of the organizers of
the American Egg Case Co., of Port Huron,
established in 1895 for the purpose of manu-
facturing cases for the careful transportation
of eggs. This company was recently bought
out by firms outside of Port Huron, who have
now removed the business from that city.
Besides being a director in this company,
Mr. Bennett is also a director in the Com-
mercial Bank of Port Huron, the vice-presi-
dent of the Port Huron Gas Co., president
of the St. Clair County Abstract Co., a trus-
tee in the United Home Protectors' Associa-
tion of Port Huron, president of the Port
Huron Elevator Co., and a trustee in the
Baptist church of that city, of which he has
always been an active and influential mem-
ber.
He was married in 1885 to Miss Emily
Louise Howard, of Port Huron. They have
two children, Henry Howard Bennett, aged
ten years, and Helen Howard, aged seven
years.

98
MEN OF PROGRESS.

COLN.
MICH
CHARLES LINCOLN BOYNTON.
tended the Commercial College of Detroit,
where he received the benefit of a commercial
education, which has been most useful to him
ever since.
BOYNTON, COL. CHARLES LIN-
Charles Lincoln Boynton, of Port
Huron, Michigan, is the senior member of the
firm of Boynton & Thompson, vessel owners,
who operate a great number of towing tugs on
the Great Lakes and control one of the largest
wrecking fleets on those waters, consisting of
twelve tugs equipped with every modern
wrecking appliance.
His first employment was that of a drug
clerk, in which business he remained for five
years, leaving it at the age of 20, and shortly
afterward taking his present position.
He became interested in the tug business
through buying a one-quarter interest in the
tug George G. Brockway. The investment
was a good one, however, and as the business
increased new vessels were gradually added to
the fleet, until today the flag of the firm of
The Thompson Towing & Wrecking Associa-
tion flies from twenty-one vessels, towing and
wrecking tugs, steam and tow barges plying
on the Great Lakes and carrying lumber, coal
and other freight to and from all the lake
ports. The Thompson Towing & Wrecking
Association does all the towing through the
American and Canadian locks at Sault Ste.
Marie. In conjunction with the tug business,
Mr. Boynton is also engaged in the coal and
builders' supply trades, doing an extensive and
thriving business in both these lines.
Charles Lincoln Boynton is the son of
Major Nathan S. Boynton, who won his title
of major in the Union Army during the
Civil War. Nathan Boynton is the father
and founder of the Order of the Knights of
the Maccabees, and now holds the position in
that order of Supreme Record Keeper, K. O.
T. M. of the World. Upon the organization.
Upon the organization
of the Maccabees, Charles Lincoln Boynton
entered his father's office as an assistant, and
he has continued with the organization up to
date, being now chief clerk in the Supreme
Tent Office.
Charles Lincoln Boynton was born March
31, 1860, in Cincinnati, where his parents
resided until 1862. He was educated in the
public schools of Port Huron, and later at-
Mr. Boynton is a descendant of Sir Mat-
thew Boynton. His great-grandmother was
Frances Rendt, of Montreal, Canada. Her
father, Louis Rendt, was born near Bremen,
Germany, and when young enlisting in the
German army, afterwards enlisting in the
British army and participating in the battle of
Waterloo; he also fought against the Ameri-
cans, in the war of 1812.
Besides being an enthusiastic Maccabee,
Mr. Boynton is also a Mason, belongs to the
Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, the Knights of
Pythias, and the B. P. O. E. He served as
colonel of the Thirty-third Michigan Infan
try during the Spanish-American war, and
proved an efficient and popular officer.
Col. Boynton has been offered the nom-
ination for nearly every office in the Seventh
District, but he has always been firm in de-
clining such honors, preferring to be recog-
nized only as a substantial business man rather
than a politician.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
99

ROBINSON, ORRIN WILLIAMS. Mich-
igan's Lieutenant-Governor, Orrin Williams
Robinson, was born in Claremont, New
Hampshire, August 12, 1834. He was the
third eldest child in a family of nine children,
and at the age of ten years he was started to
work for his board and clothes on a farm
adjoining his home. When he was fifteen
years of age a little difficulty arose between
the boy's father and his employer which
resulted in young Robinson packing his be-
longings in a handkerchief and starting to do
battle with the world on his own account.
He found employment at farming until he
was seventeen and then went to work in a gun
factory and foundry, getting three months'
schooling each winter. When he reached the
age of nineteen he decided to come to Michi-
gan. His uncle was managing a copper mine.
in Ontonagon County, so borrowing fifty dol-
lars he started out to find him.
Reaching Ontonagon, at that time the larg-
est town on the Upper Peninsula, he secured
a job clearing up timber land, and remained
there until 1856. He had managed to save a
little money, which he proceeded to invest in a
yoke of oxen. Thus equipped, he obtained a
contract for "toting" supplies, which venture
resulted disastrously, so much so that, losing
his money he was compelled to kill and sell
his oxen. At length he managed to secure a
position as assistant engineer at the Norwich
mine, which he retained until February, 1856.
Becoming disgusted with that section, he
now determined to shift the base of his opera-
tions to Green Bay, Wisconsin. The trip to
that place was made with a dog team by way
of Marquette.
The cold was intense, the mercury creep-
ing down to twenty-two degrees below zero.
To add to their sufferings, one of their num-
ber, Captain McDonald, an elderly man, be-
came exhausted with the journey and rather
than abandon him they camped in the woods,
digging a hole in the snow for their fire, and
sitting around the blaze all night while the
great trees snapped and burst open around
them with the frost. Then the guides desert-
ORRIN WILLIAMS ROBINSON.
ed, and after much suffering the party at last
found its own way into Green Bay. There
was no work there so the young man started
south to Chicago, and thence to Kossuth
county, Iowa, where he remained six years.
In 1862 he returned to the copper country
and for eleven years was engaged as shipping
clerk for the Quincy mine. In 1873 he or-
ganized the Sturgeon River Lumber Company
and built mills at Hancock, which were
removed to Chassel in 1887 and greatly
enlarged.
This concern employs over two hundred
men and is one of the largest plants in this
state. Mr. Robinson is the president of the
company.
In 1865 he married Miss Cornelia L.,
daughter of Naham Lombard, of Weathers-
field, Vermont. They have two children, M.
Ethel, who graduated from Mary Institute,
St. Louis, Missouri, and Dean L., who gradu-
ated from Harvard University. Mr. Robin-
son was elected to the House of Representa-
tives from the Second District of Houghton
in 1895; Senator from the Thirty-second Dis-
trict in 1897, and Lieutenant-Governor of
Michigan in 1898. His term expires in 1901.

100
MEN OF PROGRESS.

ROBERT DAY SCOTT.
SCOTT, ROBERT DAY. As sturdy as
the thistle of his native land, Robert Day
Scott has made his way through the troubles
and vicissitudes of this life, winning the bat-
tle in the end through sheer pluck and endur-
ance. The R. D. Scott carriage factory in
Pontiac stands today like a monument
erected by Mr. Scott's own hands, and when
one considers from what a beginning Mr.
Scott has built this colossal business it seems
more than marvelous.
His father, Robert Scott, was the manager
of a large estate near Roxboroughshire, Scot-
land, and it was there, on June 25, 1826,
that Robert Day Scott was born. The fam-
ily moved to America when Mr. Scott was
but eight years of age, and settled on a farm
near Guelph, Wellington county, Canada, in
When he reached the age of 18 years
it was decided that he should learn a trade,
and he was apprenticed to a wagonmaker.
1834.
In 1849, being 23 years old, he decided
that working for others was not as remuner-
ative as working for himself might be, so he
started in business on his own account. He
prospered and business increased steadily,
until the hard times and business reverses of
the Canadian financial panic of 1857 wound
up
his concern. In 1865 Mr. Scott moved
with his family to the United States and took
up his residence in Pontiac, Michigan.
These are the dark pages in his life history,
although he now reviews them with a feeling
of pride. He found himself in a strange city
with an invalid wife, seven children and not
a dollar in his pocket. At this period his
trade stood him in good stead. He found
work at it and managed by hard work to keep
things moving for a year, when, having accu-
mulated a little money, he opened a shop of
his own.
This meant extra work. All day
he would work in the shop, and when night
came, instead of resting from his labors, he
was compelled to scour the country in search
of dry timber suitable for the manufacture
of
wagons.
Gradually his business commenced to
grow, yet for a time he confined himself to
supplying the local trade only. After a while
he began branching out for sales in the sur-
rounding country, and his business increased
year by year. In 1888 he built a small fac-
tory and started to manufacture road carts
and wagons for export. Today R. D.
Scott & Co. own and operate one of the largest
plants of its kind in Michigan, building annu-
ally 10,000 vehicles, which are sold through-
out the world. This immense plant is run on
the profit-sharing plan for the employees.
Mr. Scett was married to Elizabeth Ann
Day, daughter of Daniel Day, at Guelph,
Canada, on June 14th, 1849. Mrs. Scott
died in 1892, leaving five children. Maria
lives at home with her father and takes her
mother's place in his household. Mary is
the wife of Henry C. Ward, of Pontiac;
William is associated with the firm of R.
D. Scott & Company, at Pontiac; Phoebe
Palmer is the wife of Howard Stevens, the
builder and contractor, in that city, and Ellen
Jane is the wife of John E. King, of Jackson
county, Michigan. Mr. Scott is a staunch
Prohibitionist.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
101

The Isle of
QUIRK, DANIEL LACE.
Man has been made famous in recent years
by the stories of Hall Caine, and its topog-
raphy and people are better known to the
readers of today than they were to those of a
generation ago.
It was on this little island, under the pro-
tecting shadow of the flag of Great Britain,
that the subject of this sketch, Daniel Lace
Quirk, in the year 1818, on the 15th day
of June, first made his entry into the world.
His father, Hugh Quirk, was a vessel owner,
living in the little city of Peel, Isle of Man,
and his mother's father was an Episcopal
clergyman and her uncle was Deemster of the
island.
Four years after the birth of Daniel, the
family came to America and settled on a
farm in New York State, where, until he was
17 years of age, the young man lived,
and tilled the soil. Then he was apprenticed
to learn the trade of carpenter and joiner,
which trade he followed for many years.
His education was received at a district
school near Rochester, New York, and with
the aid of that education he has gradually
made his own way to the position he now oc-
cupies in the business and commercial world.
Mr. Quirk came to Michigan in 1838, set-
tling in Ann Arbor, where he worked at his
trade for nine years. In 1847 he purchased
the Belleville Mills, in Wayne County, which
he owned and operated for a period of six
years, after which he sold out and went to
Chicago, Illinois, for the purpose of engaging
in the commission business. There, under
the firm name of Dow, Quirk & Company, in
1861, he began the pork-packing business
which afterwards became known as the Chi-
cago Packing Company. He returned to
Michigan in 1863, this time to Ypsilanti,
where he now lives, and in 1864 he assisted
in organizing the First National Bank of that
city. Since its organization he has been the
president and vice-president. At the present
At the present
writing he holds the position of president.
He was one of the principal men who con-
structed the Wabash Railroad from Detroit,
DANIEL LACE QUIRK.
Michigan, to Butler, Indiana, and was one of
the projectors and builders of the now Lake
Shore Railroad from Ypsilanti to Hillsdale,
Michigan. He was also one of the promoters
of the Eel River Railroad, built in 1871, from
Auburn to Logansport, and of the electric
road from Ypsilanti to Ann Arbor. He was
instrumental in building the large woolen and
paper mills erected in 1865 at Ypsilanti, and
besides his present business as banker he is
interested in the Peninsular Paper Company
and a director in the Eel River Railroad.
Mr. Quirk has never lost his love for his
first occupation, and he still owns and oper-
ates several farms near Ypsilanti. From
1852 to 1855 he occupied the office of Aud-
itor for Wayne County.
In 1843, Mr. Quirk married Miss Nancy
Scott, of Lodi, who died in 1850, leaving one
daughter, Nancy, who is the wife of Charles
P. Ferrier, of Ypsilanti. In 1852, he mar-
ried Miss Priscilla Frain, daughter of Henry
Frain, and they have three children. Eliza-
beth is now Mrs. Ira P. Younglove, of Chi-
cago; Mrs. Jennie Quirk Pack lives at home.
Daniel L. Quirk, Jr., is cashier of the First
National Bank of Ypsilanti.

102
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. EDGAR WEEKS.
WEEKS, HON. EDGAR. A familiar
figure in Michigan politics and a hard worker
for the Republican party, Hon. Edgar
Weeks, of Mt. Clemens, Michigan, is one of
the prominent men of this State. As a law-
As a law-
yer he possesses great ability and in the
course of his long practice he has engaged in
many of the most important cases ever tried
in the courts of Macomb county.
He was born in Mt. Clemens in August,
1839, and he has lived there all his life. His
father, Aaron Weeks, was one of the pioneers
of Macomb county.
age
When about 15 years of
the young
man commenced learning the trade of a
printer, and for a time occupied the post of
"devil" in one of the printing offices in his
native town. Two years later he took charge
of a newspaper office in New Baltimore, re-
maining in that position for a brief time.
Shortly after this he came to Detroit, where
he was employed on the old Evening Tribune,
and also on the Detroit Free Press. About
the year 1858 he entered the office of the
county clerk of Macomb county as an assist-
ant, and at the same time commenced the
study of law. Soon afterwards he was taken
into the offices of Eldredge & Hubbard, at
Mt. Clemens, where he remained up to the
time of his admission to the bar in 1861.
Mr. Weeks took an active part in the poli-
tical campaign of 1860, and in June, 1861,
when the civil war broke out, he enlisted in
Company B of the Fifth Michigan Volun-
teer Infantry, which was raised in Mt. Clem-
Before the regiment was fully organ-
ized he was made first sergeant of that com-
pany, and as such went to the front about the
1st of September, 1861.
ens.
He had only been in the service ten
months when he was commissioned by Gov.
Blair as a first lieutenant and adjutant in the
Twenty-second Michigan Infantry. While
his regiment was in Kentucky during the
winter of 1862-63 he was again promoted,
this time to the rank of captain in Company
F of the same regiment.
Upon his return from the war in 1864, he
resumed his practice of law in Mt. Clemens,
and the same year established the Mt. Clem-
ens Monitor, which is still the leading Re-
publican organ of Macomb county. In the
fall of 1864 Mr. Weeks was elected to the
office of circuit court commissioner, but was
forced to resign that office by reason of the
law permitting the soldiers to vote in the
field being declared unconstitutional.
He has held many offices. In 1866 he
was made prosecuting attorney for Macomb
county. In 1875 he was appointed probate
judge of Macomb county by Gov. Bagley.
He was nominated for Congress in 1884 but
defeated. A delegate to the National Con-
vention at Chicago, which nominated Benja-
min Harrison for president, Mr. Weeks took
an active part in the effort made at that time
to nominate Gen. Alger, was elected to Con-
gress in the fall of 1897 and now represents
the Seventh District of Michigan in the
Fifty-sixth Congress of the United States.
His son, John A. Weeks, has served for
years as prosecuting attorney for Macomb
county.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
103

WILSON, M. D., WILLIAM DEAN.
William Dean Wilson was born in Ogdens-
burg, N. Y., June 27, 1856. His education,
acquired in many places, was commenced in
his native city, where the Wilson family first
settled. While he was but a boy his family
came to Michigan, settling near Romeo.
Young Wilson worked for his education.
His father died when he was too young to
remember much about it and the boy,
very early in life, found that he must
learn the actual meaning of that good
American word, "Hustle." He worked
on a farm during the summer months and in
the winter attended school, finally graduating
from Parson's business college at Saginaw.
At the age of 16 he found himself in the posi-
tion of teacher, and not a very enviable posi-
tion was it, for he was appointed to the Titta-
bawassee district, better known as the "Titta-
bawassee Boom," which was then considered
one of the toughest districts in Saginaw
county. Many other teachers had failed to
manage that school, but the hard work of his
early days gave him the necessary muscle and
had trained him for it, and he succeeded in
holding out for a year. Then, at the of
age
17, Mr. Wilson commenced the study of medi-
cine in the office of Dr. Greenshields, of
Rome, and the following year, borrowing
$700 from the doctor, he entered the Rush
Medical College, of Chicago, graduating in
1878, at the head of the class. Dr. Wilson, see-
ing a good opening for a practice in Mt. Clem-
ens, located there, and was successful from the
time he hung out his sign, so much so that in
the second year of his practice he returned
the loan that had enabled him to make his way
through college.
March 28, 1888, Dr. Wilson became a bene-
dict, marrying Miss Nellie Prindle, of Grand
Rapids, and his son Will John Wilson, aged
is now going to school in Mt.
nine years,
Clemens.
That Dr. Wilson was wise in his selection of
a field is shown by the position he at present
occupies, that of mayor of Mt. Clemens, to
which office he was the first Republican
elected. He was not a candidate for that office
WILLIAM DEAN WILSON, M. D.
and in fact did not know of his nomination,
as he never attended a political convention or
caucus. He was elected on the Republican
ticket by a large majority although the city is
strongly Democratic.
Dr. Wilson, besides attending to his exten-
sive practice, has many business interests. He
is vice-president of the Ullrich Savings Bank,
of Mt. Clemens, a thriving institution; a stock-
holder in the Detroit Crematory, of Detroit,
and also in the Macomb County Bank, at
Lenox, Michigan. He is a member of the
school board in Mt. Clemens, of the Mt. Clem-
ens Club, the Detroit and the Michigan Clubs,
both of Detroit; the Michigan Medical Asso-
ciation, the American Medical Association,
the Mt. Clemens Chamber of Commerce, and
several other social organizations. He owns
much desirable real estate in Mt. Clemens, De-
troit, Grand Rapids and Ionia, and is inter-
ested in a large tract of Mississippi pine land.
Dr. Wilson has been an active factor in push-
ing Mr. Clemens to the front, and the city is
indebted to his management and executive
ability for many of the improvements that
have made it one of the prettiest cities in the

state.
104
MEN OF PROGRESS.

CHARLES HENRY MARR.
MARR, CHARLES HENRY. In 1898,
Charles Henry Marr was made City Attorney
of Wyandotte, Michigan, where he is looked
upon as one of the brightest and most promis
ing young members of the bar of that city.
Born in the little town of Clinton, Michi-
gan, September 5, 1865, Mr. Marr found him-
self entering life very much handicapped.
His father, who was a station agent on the
L. S. & M. S. R. R., died when the boy was
but three months old, leaving him nothing
but an undecided lawsuit.
When the boy was old enough to go to work
he was given employment on a farm and dur-
ing the winter months, allowed to attend the
district school at Sand Lake, Lenawee County,
Michigan. He was not a very strong boy,
being extremely slender, and when fourteen
years of age it was found that farm work was
commencing to tell upon his frail constitu-
tion. He gave it up and secured a position
where he worked nights, and which gave him
an opportunity during the day to study. At
the
age
of sixteen he was sufficiently advanced
in his studies to secure a teacher's certificate,
and he commenced teaching in a district
school, saving a little money in the mean-
time which enabled him in the following year
to attend the Adrian High School, and later
Brown's Business College at Adrian. A
short trip to Chicago about this time intro-
duced him to the hardware business, and he
clerked in a store of this kind while in that
city. Returning at the expiration of six
months to Lenawee County he again resumed
his old employment of working on a farm
and teaching school. He also took a two
years' course at the High School at Adrian,
after which he was given the position of
superintendent of the Springville village
school.
It was not until 1892 that he commenced
the study of law, in the law offices of James
Pound. He boarded himself while engaged
in his studies and when his money was ex-
hausted returned once more to Lenawee
County and school teaching.
Mr. Marr studied Blackstone under very
peculiar conditions. Taking advantage of the
holiday afforded him by the arrival of Satur-
day each week, he would place his Blackstone
under his arm, swing a shotgun across his
shoulder and make his way to the heart of the
woods. Here selecting a likely place for
squirrels he would lay his gun on the log be-
side him, and opening his book commence to
read.
After accumulating sufficient money to
carry him through another siege he returned
to Pound's office and once more set about to
master the intricate profession of law. In
1896 he was admitted to the bar.
This was a very happy day for the young
attorney, and he was happier still when he
saw his sign, painted by a friend, swinging
over his office door in Wyandotte. He had a
client the first week, and has succeeded since
that time in establishing for himself a most
lucrative practice.
Mr. Marr is a member of the Catholic
Church, belongs to the Catholic Knights and
Ladies of America, also to the C. M. B. A.
and the I. O. O. F.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
105

AVERY, M. D., AARON B. Aaron B.
Avery, M. D., is a descendant of Christopher
Avery, the first of the name who emigrated
to this country in 1630, and whose only son,
Capt. James, founded the well known family
of "Groton Averys." His great-grandfather,
Nathan Avery, was a soldier in the revolution-
ary war and settled in 1817 at Palmyra, New
York, from whence his son, Benjamin, emi-
grated to Michigan with his family in 1838,
locating in Dansville, Ingham county. Na-
than Avery, Benjamin's oldest son, after his
marriage in 1847 to Matilda Rockwell,
daughter of Eli Rockwell, removed to Lyn-
don, Washtenaw county, and resided there
until his death in 1889, and here his third
child and oldest son, Aaron B. Avery, was
born, August 26, 1853. His boyhood was
spent on his father's farm, attending the
district school, until at the age of 16
years he entered the State Normal School
at Ypsilanti, remaining two years. In
1874 he attended the Chelsea High School,
from which he was graduated in 1875. For
five years he was a successful teacher in the
schools of Washtenaw and Livingston coun-
ties, following this occupation between inter-
vals of attending school and attending lectures
at the Homeopathic College of the University
of Michigan, where, in 1878, he received his
degree of M. D. Shortly after he entered the
practice of his profession in Farmington,
Oakland County, where he soon became
popular and was called upon to fill the
position of health officer and superintendent
of schools. October 22, 1879, Dr. Avery
married Miss Lillian Drake, daughter of
Francis Marion and Sarah Elizabeth Drake,
of Farmington. Two daughters have been
born to Dr. and Mrs. Avery, both of whom
are now attending high school.
After eight years of successful practice in
Farmington and vicinity, Dr. Avery removed
to Pontiac, where his reputation had pre-
ceeded him. Here he immediately entered
upon an extensive practice and speedily took
his place among the leading physicians.
A. B. AVERY, M. D.
He has been eleven years surgeon of the
P., O. & N. R R. and has served four years
as examiner on the United States pension
board. He has also held the office of first
vice-president of the State Homeopathic
Medical Society of this state, and chairman of
the Bureau of Materia Medica. He was pre-
sident of his graduating class at Ann Arbor
and has been president of the Alumni Asso-
ciation. In politics he is, and has always
been, a Republican.
Dr. Avery stands high in the Masonic fra-
ternity. He was raised in Farmington Lodge,
No. 151, F. & A. M., in June, 1879, and is
past-master of the same.
At Pontiac he iden-
tified himself with the fraternity and has the
honor of being past-master of Pontiac Lodge,
No. 21, F. & A. M.; past high priest of Oak-
land Chapter, No. 5, R. A. M., and past com-
mander of Pontiac Commandery, No. 2, K.
T. He is also a member of Moslem Temple,
Detroit, Michigan.
Dr. Avery is president of the South Lyon
Banking Co. and also of the Pontiac
Wheel Co., and has a financial interest in
other business enterprises of Pontiac.


106
MEN OF PROGRESS.
THOMAS WATSON.
WATSON, THOMAS. Vigorous, men-
tally and physically, Thomas Watson,
although fifty years of age, is still in what
may be called the prime of life, and holding
the trusted position of Great Record Keeper
of the Knights of the Maccabees.
Mr. Watson is a Scotchman, and a fine
type of that noble-hearted and generous race.
He was born October 24, 1849, in the little
town of Wishaw, Lanarkshire, Scotland, and
received his education in the common schools
of that place. He commenced life as a farm-
er's boy. Hard working and industrious, he
remained at this employment until he became
of age, and then he drifted into the general
store business. Later he tried journalism,
after which he entered the grain business. In
this he was most successful for a time, but
losing his money through sudden business re-
verses, he became disgusted with the keen
competition he found in the commercial
world of the old country and decided to come
to America. This was an ambition he had
been fostering for many years. He arrived
in New York in 1884, and after remaining in
that city for only a short period, he went to
Roscommon, Michigan, and entered the em-
ploy of M. Wilson, the well known lumber-
man of Muskegon. It was not long before
Mr. Watson's merits became known to his
employer and he quickly advanced him to
the position of superintendent and manager
of his business in Roscommon. In this posi-
tion he continued until October, 1894, when
he was appointed to his present office, Great
Record Keeper, K. O. T. M., of the World.
Mr. Watson became identified with the
Maccabees in 1890, and in 1891, at Jackson,
Michigan, he was, by general acclamation,
elected Great First Master of the Guards.
The following year, at Detroit, Michigan,
he was made Great Sergeant, and in 1893, at
the Grand Rapids convention, he was further
advanced to Great Lieutenant-Commander.
He was re-elected to this office at Lansing in
1894, but he resigned the position shortly
after, and was appointed by the Great Com-
mander to fill the vacancy in his present
office.
Mr. Watson married Miss Mary Goodwin,
the daughter of John Goodwin, of John
Goodwin & Co., iron founders and bridge
builders, of Motherwell, Scotland. They
have four children.
Besides being a member of the Knights of
the Maccabees, Mr. Watson is also associated
with many other fraternal societies, namely:
The F. and A. M., I. O. O. F., The Wood-
men of the World and the Knights of
Pythias.
No better man could be found to occupy
the position he holds in the order of the Mac-
cabees, for he is well fitted for it in every
way.
Every tent within the jurisdiction
of Michigan knows and recognizes his just
decisions in the matter of law, and hundreds
have gratefully acknowledged his fairness
and thoroughness in dealing with them. A
true friend, a sturdy Scotchman and a whole-
souled gentleman, "Tom" Watson is known
and loved throughout the entire order and
the State of Michigan.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
107

STEVENS, HERMAN W. The parents
of Herman W. Stevens came to Michigan
from the western part of New York state in
1841 and settled in the little village of Romeo,
where, two years later, he was born.
1847 the family moved to Port Huron.
In
Mr. Stevens' education commenced in the
common schools of that city, after which he
entered the University of Michigan, gradu-
ating from the literary department with the
degree of A. B., in 1866, and two years
later, in 1868, finishing his legal studies and
graduating from the law department.
Immediately after graduating he com-
menced the practice of law at Port Huron,
and with the exception of the time he illed
the position of circuit judge he has been con-
tinuously engaged in active practice in St.
Clair and adjoining counties, occupying to-
day a leading position in the legal profession.
He is a Republican and has been staunch
and firm in upholding the tenets of Repub-
licanism. He has been an active worker in
the politics of his county and district, and at
the state judicial convention of 1897 he re-
ceived the vote of St. Clair County for the
supreme judgeship nomination. Prior to
this he held the office of supervisor of the
first ward of Port Huron, in 1870, and from
1874 to 1878 was circuit court commissioner.
From 1881 until 1887 he filled the position
of circuit judge of St. Clair county.
After his term of service in the latter
capacity, Mr. Stevens was not a candidate for
renomination, and he did not hold office
again until in the fall of 1897 he was elected
mayor of Port Huron, which position he oc-
cupies today.
As mayor of Port Huron, he is giving that
city a conservative administration. He is
not a man given to show or to the display of
official frills, but he insists upon the charter
limitations governing expenditures being
strictly observed. In his inaugural address he
outlined this policy, adopting the unique
watchword, "Pay as we go," and expressing
himself as opposed to any increase of the
HERMAN W. STEVENS.
bonded indebtedness of the city. This plan
he has been faithfully endeavoring to carry
out during his term of office, as far as con-
sistent with the promotion of needed perma-
nent improvements.
Mayor Stevens loves his home, and when
not engaged in professional duties or attend-
ing to city affairs, he is to be found at home
with his family.
He married, in 1869 Miss Elizabeth
Bishop, of Flint, Mich. They have four
children, two girls and two boys. One
daughter, Miss Rose M. Stevens, lives at
home, the other is the wife of J. D. Menish,
of Port Huron. The two boys, Walter and
Le Roy, are following in their father's foot-
steps, in his old Alma Mater, the University
of Michigan.
Mr. Stevens is a director in the Port
Huron Engine and Thresher Co., and also in
the Grand Trunk Elevator Co., besides being
the president of the school board of Port
Huron. Mr. Stevens' father, better known,
perhaps, as Squire Stevens, was justice of the
peace in Port Huron for thirty-six consecu-
tive years up to the time of his death in 1883.


108
MEN OF PROGRESS.

NATHAN SMITH BOYNTON.
BOYNTON, MAJ. NATHAN SMITH.
The life of Nathan S. Boynton, Port Huron's
old and respected citizen, is more than inter-
esting, inasmuch that in the sixty-two years of
its course it has been brought in close contact
with the history of this country, and has taken
a part in the great system of its government.
Mr. Boynton was born in Port Huron,
Michigan, June 23, 1837. He was the son
of Granville F. Boynton, of Vermont, a car-
penter by trade, and one of Michigan's early
pioneers. Granville Boynton was a direct
descendant of Sir Mathew Boynton, who, in
the latter part of 1600, was knighted for in-
troducing the first sheep and goats into
America.
Nathan S. Boynton's early days were
passed on a farm, about three miles below
Marine City, Mich., on the St. Clair river.
He attended the district school and worked as
a farmer's boy until, at 16 years of age, he
went to Waukegan, Ill., and graduated from
the high school in that city.
In 1856-57 he was engaged in the mercan-
tile business in Port Huron, but succumbed
to the panic of the latter year, and at the age
of 20 he started south in search of employ-
ment. After visiting Cincinnati and New
Orleans he at last found himself in St. Louis
with a capital of 25 cents with which to make
a new business start. He found employ-
ment cutting cordwood at 50 cents a cord,
saved enough money to enable him to take a
large contract, and afterwards to start him-
self in business in Cincinnati, whither he now
went. In that city he met and married Miss
Annie Fielder, a German girl, who came to
America when about 10 years of age. The
marriage occurred June 20, 1859. Six chil-
dren blessed that union, five of whom are
living today.
An enthusiastic abolitionist, Mr. Boynton
during the agitation of that question,
wrote several articles for the abolitionist
press while in Cincinnati, and in 1862 proved
that he was willing to fight for his principles
by enlisting as a private in Company C,
Eighth Michigan Cavalry. He was appointed
lieutenant of Company L before the regi-
ment left the state and in 1863 was made
captain. In the winter of 1864-65 he re-
ceived a commission as major of his regiment.
After an almost continuous service, Maj.
Boynton retired from the army at the end
of the war, following various professions for
a time.
He has been active in politics and has
held the offices of a member of the Michi-
gan State Legislature in 1869, mayor of Port
Huron, 1874-75, and recently he served two
more terms as mayor of that city, from 1894
to 1898. Politically he has been for the
most time a Republican.
His greatest life's work was the founding
of the order of the Knights of the Maccabees.
When, in 1881, he commenced as secretary
of this order, there were only 700 names on
the roll of membership. The three branches
now number 400,000 members, 130,000 of
which are in this state. He is popular with
the membership throughout the country and
affectionately referred to as the "Father of
the Maccabees.'

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
109

BAIRD, M. D., ROBERT BRUCE.
Robert Bruce Baird, M. D., of Marine City,
in taking an active part in the educational
features of that city, has proven himself a
progressive man and a zealous one.
His poli-
tical life began in 1881, when he was elected
a member of the village council of Marine
City, and the following
year he was made
During his term as
president of the village.
president, the new city hall and the fine water
works system were built, despite the obstinate
and prolonged opposition of the rabid con-
servative element, and Dr. Baird was largely
instrumental in securing these much needed
improvements. Later, the schools being in a
demoralized and depleted condition, he was
induced to accept a nomination for and was
elected on the school board. He immedi-
ately began to work toward the betterment
of existing conditions. The progressive ele-
ment of the city had elected him to the office,
and working in behalf of that element, Dr.
Baird secured to the public schools of Marine
City a better standing than they had ever
before had. Under his management bonds
were issued and the new Third Ward School
was purchased, and the Marine City High
School was put on the University list.
Dr. Baird was elected mayor of Marine
City in 1889, and proved an excellent execu-
tive officer. He also served as supervisor 01
the township in 1882 and 1883, and as asses-
sor of the village in 1883. For many years
he has also been a health officer, in which
capacity he has acted with great judgment.
Dr. Baird was born in East China, Michi
gan, May 31, 1856, and was educated in the
district and public schools of Marine City and
St. Clair.
His early life was spent on a farm a short
distance from Marine City, where during the
planting, cultivating and harvesting seasons
the greater part of his time was occupied.
When the winter season arrived he attended
the district schools and later the public
schools of Marine City and St. Clair. He
has never lost his love for his first occupa-
tion, and still owns and manages two large
ROBERT BRUCE BAIRD, M. D.
farms near Marine City. He left the farm
in 1873 and for one year worked in various
capacities about a sawmill, returning to the
farm in 1875. In September of that year
he determined to start the study of the pro-
fession he follows today, so he went to De-
troit and entered the Detroit College of
Medicine, from which institution he gradu-
ated March 5, 1878. Returning to Marine
City, he hung up his sign as a physician and
started to practice.
April 12, 1882, Dr. Baird married Miss
Feodore H., daughter of Dr. George L. Cor-
nell, of St. Clair. His three children, Bruce
C., Eunice H. and Elizabeth Cornell, are now
attending those schools for which their
parent worked so hard and successfully.
Dr. Baird has an excellent practice in Ma-
rine City, and has won the respect and esteem
of his fellow townsmen by his efforts to make
that city's history one of progress.
progress. He is 9
member of the Masonic fraternity, the I. O.
O. F., K. O. T. M. and Ancient Order of
United Workmen, and he also belongs to the
Michigan State Medical Society.


110
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. AUGUSTUS CARPENTER BALDWIN.
BALDWIN, HON. AUGUSTUS CAR-
PENTER. Hon. Augustus Carpenter Bald-
win is the seventh lineal descendant of Henry
Baldwin, of Woburn, Massachusetts, who
came from Devonshire, England, prior to
1650. His father, Jonathan Baldwin, was a
native of Canterbury, Connecticut, and was
a successful merchant in Salina, New York,
where he died in 1842.
Augustus Carpenter Baldwin was born De-
cember 24, 1817, at Salina, New York.
Learning the printers' trade, he started in
life as a printer on the Buffalo Bulletin.
Later he became a teacher. He came
to Michigan in the autumn of 1837 and
settled in Oakland county, teaching for five
years in different school districts, reading law,
in the meantime, and fitting himself for the
profession in which he now holds so honored
a position. He commenced the technical
study of law in the office of Hon. John P.
Richardson, of Pontiac, in 1839, continuing
with O. D. Richardson, and on May 14, 1842,
was admitted to the bar. His first official ser-
vice was as school inspector for the Township
of Bloomfield, Oakland County, in 1840. In
the year 1844 he was elected to the State
Legislature, and was re-elected in 1846. Dur-
ing the latter year he was appointed Brigadier-
General of the State Militia, in command of
the Fifth Brigade, which position he held
until 1862. In the years 1853 and 1854 Mr.
Baldwin occupied the position of prose-
cuting attorney for Oakland County, and in
1862 he was elected to the Thirty-eighth Con-
gress of the United States, from the then
Fifth Congressional District, defeating the
Republican candidate, R. E. Trowbridge. He
was unanimously renominated in 1864, and
received a majority of the votes cast in the dis-
trict. The Legislature had passed an act au-
thorizing the soldiers to vote in the field, out-
side the State. This law the Michigan Su-
preme Court had declared unconstitutional
and in the contest the soldier vote, thus given,
was allowed to Mr. Trowbridge, and Congress
gave the seat to him.
Mr. Baldwin was elected mayor of Pontiac
in 1874, and the following year was made
judge of
the Sixth Judicial Circuit, from
which position, after serving three years, he
resigned, and returned to his law practice.
Mr. Baldwin was very active in securing
the Eastern Michigan Asylum for the Insane
at Pontiac, and has taken a great interest in
the Pontiac schools, and the Michigan Mili-
tary Academy at Orchard Lake. The latter
contains Mr. Baldwin's fine library.
Hon. A. C. Baldwin has participated in
nearly every capital case tried in Oakland and
Lapeer counties. He is an active Democrat,
and has been a member of that party for sixty
years, having several times been a delegate to
national conventions. He is an honored frater
in the Masonic fraternity and a past eminent
commander of Pontiac Commandery, No. 2,
K. T. In 1842 Mr. Baldwin was married to
Isabella Churchill, who died in June, 1894.
Their daughter is now the wife of Dr. Chris-
tian, medical superintendent of the Asylum
for the Insane at Pontiac.
In 1895 he married Flora E., daughter of
Hon. Friend Belding.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
111
Scotland
SMITH, THOMAS RUSSELL.
has contributed many men to the state of
Michigan, and with the sturdiness of the
Scotch character these men have made their
way to the front ranks of the commercial
army and at the same time have been instru-
mental in building up the state, and furnish-
ing industries that employ many laborers.
Thomas Russell Smith was born in Glas-
gow, Scotland, April 14, 1858. From his
mother he inherits the royal blood of Mary
Queen of Scots, for his mother, whose maiden
name was Catherine McCallum, was a direct
descendant of that unfortunate queen.
When Mr. Smith was but 10 years of age,
his family left their native land and came to
America, locating in Cleveland, Ohio, where
the boy was sent to school and given a com-
mon school education. Upon leaving school
he commenced his life in the business world
as a clerk in the large dry goods establish-
ment of E. M. McGillan & Co., of Cleveland,
Ohio, where he remained for some time. De-
cember 25, 1879, his first marriage occurred
at Cleveland, when he wedded Miss Minnie
B. Smith, of that city. Before going on his
wedding tour, to oblige a fellow clerk, he put
his name on the back of a note for $450, and
when he returned he found that the clerk had
left town, and the note must be met by the in-
dorser. Thus he started his married life
that much in debt. Mr. Smith does not re-
gret the investment, for it has doubtless saved
him many dollars since then, as he made up
his mind at that time never to put his name
on another note, and he has stood by that plan
all through his business life.
A few years
after his marriage Mr. Smith moved to Chi-
cago, Illinois, where, in 1882, he was time-
keeper in the blast furnaces of the Union
Iron & Steel Company, of that city.
He remained in Chicago until three years
later, in 1885, when he removed to Lawton,
Michigan, and August 24 started in business
for himself.
His first marriage brought him one child,
Zadie Bell, who is living at the present time.
She is 19 years of age, and is her father's sec-
and is her father's sec-

THOMAS RUSSELL SMITH.
retary. Harry, aged 15, is his stepson and is
still attending school at Lawton.
Today Mr. Smith is interested in twenty-
seven copper claims. He runs a general store
at Lawton, a jewelry store at Mt. Pleasant, and
a general supply store at Grand Encampment,
Wyoming. He has two copper claims devel-
oped at that place, located in a section that
is exceedingly rich in that valuable min-
eral. He has held several political offices, was
member of the Cook County Republican Com-
mittee of Illinois in 1883 and 1884, and also
chairman of the Republican County Commit-
tee of Van Buren county for four years. He
has held many other county offices, and is now
state oil inspector. Mr. Smith goes into poli-
tics for recreation, and wants to be a leader or
nothing at all. His second marriage took
place at Lawton, May 15, 1895, to Mrs. Flor-
ence A. Ford, a widow, the daughter of Jesse
J. Smith, of Lawton.
He is a member of the Masonic fraternity,
the Oddfellows, Modern Woodmen of
America. He was master of the Blue Lodge,
F. & A. M., at Lawton, for four years, and
has filled almost every office in the chapter.

112
MEN OF PROGRESS.

SAMUEL W. SMITH.
SMITH, SAMUEL W. Samuel W.
Smith has had an interesting career, and in
its course he has done much to benefit the
people of Michigan, and win his way into the
trust and esteem of his fellow-citizens in Pon-
tiac, Michigan, where he now resides.
The
His father and mother, Nicholas B. and
Mary Phillips Smith, came to this State in
1841, and located in Oakland county. The
father purchased eighty acres of new land in
Brandon, which he cleared up and improved,
and when he had done so sold the property
at an advanced price and purchased one hun-
dred and twenty acres in Independence town-
ship, where, August 23, 1852, the subject of
this sketch was born.
Samuel W. Smith's early school days were
passed in the little village of Clarkson, Mich-
igan. He pursued his higher course of
studies in Detroit, and after obtaining a fair
amount of knowledge he entered the Law De-
partment of the State University, from which
he graduated with honors in 1878. He had
been admitted to the bar in 1877, and, after
graduating, he established himself to practice
in Pontiac, where for six months he worked
alone, with considerable success, and then
formed a partnership with Judge Levi Taft
and Hon. Aaron Perry. The latter retired
from the firm during the second year of the
partnership, but the connection between
Judge Taft and Mr. Smith continued without
intermission until the death of the former, in
1897.
In 1880 Mr. Smith was elected Prosecuting
Attorney for Oakland county, in which ca-
pacity he served until 1884, when he was
elected State Senator from the Fifteenth Sen-
atorial District on the Republican ticket, win-
ning the race by a majority of sixteen votes.
Mr. Smith took an active part in the dis-
cussion and passage of the law regulating the
sale of oleomargarine, which protected the
interests of the farmers and dairymen, and of
the bills for the coupling of freight cars,
which were introduced for the protection of
the men in the employ of the railroad com-
panies.
On the expiration of his senatorial term he
resumed his law practice, but in 1896 he re-
ceived the Republican nomination for Con-
gress from the Sixth District, to which posi-
tion he was elected. As a member of this
august body, Mr. Smith won and received
more attention and respect than is gen-
erally accorded to new members.
He was
especially active in looking after the in-
terests of the old soldiers, and he favored any
measures pertaining to the advancement of
the farming interests. His bill for the revi-
sion of the postal laws met with general ap-
proval. The following term he was re-
elected to Congress by an increased majority.
Mr. Smith is interested in the Pontiac &
Flint Electric Railroad. He is a member of
nearly all the secret orders.
November 17, 1880, he married Alida E.
DeLand, in
DeLand, in Waterford, Michigan. Mrs.
Smith's father, Edwin T. DeLand, was one
of the manufacturers of the celebrated De-
Land Soda.
Four sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Smith E. DeLand, Ferris N., Wendell and
Harlan S. Smith.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
113

MOORE, HON. GEORGE WILLIAM.
George William Moore, of Port Huron, is
a descendant of the Hon. William Moore,
who settled in New Hampshire in 1682, on
land granted the family by the King of Great
Britain. In 1775 George III. gave the fam-
ily another large grant of several counties in
New Brunswick.
George W. Moore was born in Fort Gra-
tiot township in St. Clair county, April 12,
1859, and at the age of 10 years he had
only spent 12 months in school. His parents
were farmers, near Port Huron, and later
they removed to Hersey, Mich., where young
Moore received the advantage of four terms
in the Winter school. At the age of 18
years
he found employment rolling and scaling logs
for A. V. Mann & Co., of Muskegon, at their
mill. Here he worked on the log deck, roll-
ing the wet, slippery logs onto the carriage for
$1.75 a day. When the foreman put him on
this work the men protested because of his
youth, arguing that it was not work for a boy,
but required the strongest man. Neverthe-
less the boy worked at this job all of two sum-
mers, scaling logs around in the different log-
ing camps during the winter, and earning in
the last winter as high as $80 a month.
same way.
In the summer of 1878, in company with
a partner named Cody, he commenced busi-
ness on his own account, taking a contract for
putting in logs for the same company. They
borrowed enough capital to start with and
employing about 40 men commenced opera-
tions. When they settled up in the spring
they had a fair outfit, but no money com-
ing. The next two winters resulted in the
In 1881 they transferred their
operations to Missaukee County and put in a
small steam road to get the logs out. They
started $110,000 in debt and did not realize
a dollar for three years. Although the pros-
pect was not at all promising, Mr. Moore in
1885 bought his partner out, and decided to
work alone. The following four years were
prosperous, and in 1889, selling out his inter-
est in the concern, and returning to St. Clair
township, Mr. Moore purchased the farm he
HON. GEORGE WILLIAM MOORE.
now owns, situated along the banks of the St.
Clair river.
In 1889, with his brother, F. T. Moore, he
organized their present bank at Capac, and in
1890 Mr. Moore organized the St. Clair
County Savings Bank of Port Huron, of
which he is now the cashier. In 1898 the
private bank of G. W. and F. T. Moore was
opened at Marine City.
Mr. Moore is one of the younger leaders of
the Republican party of St. Clair county and
chairman of the Republican county commit-
tee. He enjoys the confidence and support
of the young element in his county, and is
held in high regard by the more conserva-
tive and elder Republicans. He was super-
visor and chairman of the board in Massaukee
county from 1884 until 1888, and elected
State senator from the Eleventh District in
1898. He is a stockholder in the Riverside
Woodworking Company of Port Huron, and
also of the Lang Fish Company in the same
city, both of which are exceedingly prosper-
ous concerns.
Mr. Moore married Miss Harriet Radcliffe,
daughter of J. F. Radcliffe, at Hersey, Mich-
igan, in 1885. They have four children.
114
MEN OF PROGRESS.

BRIG.-GEN. FRED HEWINGS CASE
CASE, BRIG.-GEN. FRED HEWINGS.
Fred Hewings Case was born in the vil-
lage of Constantine, Michigan, October 30,
1857, where he lived until he was six
years of age, when, in 1864, his parents
moved to Three Rivers, Michigan. Here he
was sent to the public schools until he
reached the age of 15, when he began to look
about for an occupation in life. That of a
journalist appealed to him most, so he applied
for and secured a place in the printing office
of the Three Rivers Reporter, then the lead-
ing newspaper published in St. Joseph
county. His position was that of a "devil,"
and for his first ten weeks' work he received
in lieu of salary a book of travel, and after
that he was paid $3 a week. The following
year he found another position, setting type
in the office of the Grand Rapids Democrat,
Grand Rapids, Michigan. He remained in
Grand Rapids for about eight months, and
then went to Kalamazoo, where he secured
cases on the Kalamazoo Telegraph. Here he
remained and worked steadily for three years,
casting his first vote in that city.
In 1879 he went to Chicago, Illinois,
where he worked a year on the Chicago
Times, and afterwards on the Herald. While
in that city he became a Union man by join-
ing Typographical Union No. 3, and he is
still a member of that body.
Shortly after this he returned to Three
Rivers to connect himself with his father in
the publication of the News-Reporter. In
1888 he was appointed mail clerk and given
the run between Grand Rapids and Elkhart.
Later he was transferred to the main line
working between Cleveland, O., and Chicago.
After six years' service he resigned in 1895
and went back to the newspaper business, hav-
ing purchased the Three Rivers Tribune,
which he continued to publish until August
1, 1896.
ments.
His military record is a history of advance-
He first joined as a private in the
Kalamazoo Light Guard, known in service as
Company C, Second Regiment. He was
transferred to Company D, Three Rivers, in
1879, and elected Second Lieutenant of Co.
D, Second Regiment, in 1880, re-elected in
1881, resigned the following year. June 10,
1885, he was made Captain of Co. D, in the
same regiment, and August 22, 1892, was
promoted to Major. March 30, 1893, he was
elected Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second In-
fantry, and February 16, 1897, was appoint-
ed Inspector-General by Governor Pingree.
Today he holds the office of Adjutant-Gen-
eral, having been appointed July 11, 1898,
and reappointed January 12, 1899.
Gen. Case is the descendant of an old Revo-
lutionary family, his great grandfather served
all through the war of American Independ-
ence, and suffered with Washington's troops
at Valley Forge. Gen. Case has held a few
political offices having been Township Clerk
of Lockport, Michigan, for a term and Re-
corder of the Village of Three Rivers in 1881-
82. He married in Three Rivers, May 20,
1894, Carrie Roberts Tucker, daughter of
Cyrus Roberts of that city. Gen. Case is
affiliated with the F. and A. M., Lodge No.
57, Three Rivers, and Lodge No. 43, K. P.,
of the same place.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
115

Merchant,
BLAKESLEE, EDWIN A.
banker and farmer, these are three occupa-
tions that Edwin A. Blakeslee, of Galien,
Michigan, follows today, and he is indebted
for his present position largely to his own en-
ergetic efforts, and the "hustling" qualities
with which he seems endowed.
His father, George A. Blakeslee, was one
of the earlier settlers in Berrien County,
where he arrived in 1854. Edwin was born
in Galien, Michigan, July 18, 1865, and
received his early education in the village
school in that place.
Edwin A. Blakeslee started to earn money
for his education when he was but 16 years of
age. His brother, since deceased, was the
proprietor of a threshing machine outfit which
he had been most successful in operating
throughout the country. Young Edwin, see-
ing that there was plenty of room in the field
for another plant of this kind bought a sec-
ond-hand threshing machine engine and get-
ting a discarded separator which he had made
over, started out in business for himself. He
was handicapped at the beginning by a $1,200
indebtedness, but he cleared $800 the first year.
He hired a good gang of men, did his own
collecting and personally superintended the
Clad in old blue overalls and a
blue flannel shirt with an old straw hat on the
back of his head he filled all stations in the
threshing outfit, drawing water, acting as fire-
man and engineer, feeding on the separator
and filling any vacancy that occurred during
the progress of the work.
contracts.
From the hot days and nights of July un-
til the chilly ones of autumn he followed his
occupation in the wheat fields for nine.
seasons, attending school when threshing
stopped in the fall until vacation arrived. In
this way he earned enough to pay his way
through college.
At the age of seventeen he attended the
Advent College in Battle Creek, and in 1883
he was a student at the Michigan State Nor-
mal School, Ypsilanti. There he finished the
scientific course in 1887, and in the fall of
1887 entered the University of Michigan,
EDWIN A. BLAKESLEE.
taking special work in chemistry, history,
political economy preparatory to a course in
the law department, which he entered in
1890. By the death of his father he was
forced that same year to leave college and
take up the several business interests that had
thus been left to his care. It was harder work
than the young man had ever found in his
youth. There was a hardwood sawmill, a
general store, private banking interests, and
other enterprises which needed strict atten-
tion, and he has taken his father's place and
all these enterprises are in the best financial
condition.
He has always been an ardent Republican,
was Township Clerk three terms and Super-
visor for two years. He was elected to the
State Senate in 1896 and re-elected in 1898.
In '97 was chairman of committee on taxation
and member of finance and appropriation,
and in '99 was chairman of cities and villages,
roads and bridges, member of finance and ap-
propriation and state affairs.
He was married at Benton Harbor, Michi-
gan, May 18, 1898, to Miss Adaline, daugh-
ter of J. B. Graves of that place.

116
MEN OF PROGRESS.

JUDGE CHARLES DEAN LONG.
LONG, JUDGE CHARLES DEAN.
Charles Dean Long has lived in Michigan
nearly 60 years. He was born in Grand
Blanc, Genessee county, June 14, 1841, and
at the present time is a resident of Lansing,
Michigan.
and in teaching it he had a hobby. He com-
menced by setting rivers, mountains, and the
different data connected with them, such as
capitols of states, area, etc., into crude rhyme,
set to some familiar tune, and this method
proved most successful.
The breaking out of the war stopped his
idea of a university education. August, 1861,
he enlisted in Company A, Eighth Michigan
Infantry. At the battle of Wilmington
Island, in Georgia, April 16, 1862, he lost an
arm, and was also severely wounded. As soon
as he was able to travel he returned home and
commenced to study law in the office of Oscar
Adams, now Circuit Judge of the Cheboygan
district, and when, in 1864, he was elected
County Clerk, and while in that position, was
admitted to the bar.
From this time on his advance was rapid.
He was County Clerk of Genesee County
from 1865 to 1873; Prosecuting Attorney
from 1875 until 1881; a Supervisor of the
National Census for Michigan in 1880; Judge
Advocate and Major
Michigan Advocate and Major on the staff of Governor
Jerome from 1881 until 1883; member of
the State Military Board and Colonel on the
staff of Gov. Alger 1883 to 1885; commis-
sioner for Michigan to the Centennial celebra-
tion of the adoption of the Constitution of the
United States held in Philadelphia in 1887,
and Justice of the Supreme Court, January
1, 1883, re-elected in 1897. He has been
president of the Detroit College of Law since
its first organization. His law practice is con-
ducted in partnership with George R. Gold.
His parents were farmers, and came from
New England families. His father's family
were from Tewksbury, Massachusetts, and his
mother's family from Connecticut. His
grandfather's mother was a Chandler, and re-
lated to the Chandler family of New Hamp-
shire, the ancestors of the late Zachariah
Chandler. Until he was thirteen years of age,
Charles D. Long worked at farming, and
when he started out from a district school to
get an advanced education he went to Flint,
Michigan, where he did chores for his board,
and took care of the school building for his
tuition for three years. His mother made his
clothes for him, and in four years' time he
graduated from the High School in Flint,
fitted to enter the university. In order to get
the money to attend college he took to teach-
ing school in Flint township, and other places.
He was very much interested in geography,
Judge Long married Alma A. Franklin in
December, 1863. His three children live in
Detroit. Jessie is the wife of John M. Bar-
ton, with Wright, Kay & Co., Detroit, Burt
E. is a member of the Metropolitan police
force of Detroit, and May is the wife of Ed-
ward Schremser, the well-known musical di-
rector of that city.
The G. A. R. numbers Judge Long in its
ranks, of which he was Department Comman-
der for one term ending in 1885. He is a
member of the K. O. T. M., the K. P. and
A. O. U. W.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
117

MONTGOMERY, HON. ROBERT
MORRIS. Hon. Robert Morris Montgom-
ery, justice of the Supreme Court, is a native
of this state, and has spent the greatest por-
tion of his 50 years in Michigan. He was
born in Eaton Rapids township May 12, 1849.
The family originally came from Ireland,
Robert Montgomery, the grandfather of the
present Robert, having come from the north-
ern part of that country in 1806, settling first
in New York state, and coming to Michigan
in 1836, when he located in Ingham county.
He was a farmer.
The parents of Judge Montgomery form-
erly lived in Eaton Rapids township, and it
was here that the boy received the first prin-
ciples of his education. He attended the lit-
tle district schools during the winter terms,
until the age of 12 years, when the family re-
moved to Eaton Rapids, and thus enabled him
to attend the schools of that village.
At the age of 15, prior to his school teach-
ing experience, he enlisted in the Seventh
Cavalry, which was being organized, in Au-
gust, 1864. He was sent to the encampment
of the regiment at Jackson, Michigan, but
three months later was discharged for disabili-
ties caused by a prolonged fever.
Until he was 20 years of age he taught
school and worked at farming, except one year
when he taught a summer school at Benton
Harbor and Millburg, Michigan.
During all these years he had been reading
law, and had decided to make that his profes-
sion. This idea originated with his mother
when Robert was only 12 years of age.
He became engaged in a controversy with an
elder brother, during the time of the cele-
brated Lincoln-Douglass debate. The two
brothers argued for some time, until finally
the younger proved his argument by quoting
an article in the Constitution, whereupon the
mother decided that Robert should be the
lawyer of the family.
While visiting friends at Hart, Oceana
county, Michigan, he learned that F. J. Rus-
sell, of that place, wanted a student in his
office. He secured the place, and worked for
HON. ROBERT MORRIS MONTGOMERY.
his board for over a year, reading law and
preparing himself to enter that profession,
and on July 25, 1870, he was admitted to
the bar at Grand Haven, Michigan. His
first law office was opened at Pentwater,
Michigan.
In 1872 he was elected prose-
cuting attorney of that county on the Repub-
lican ticket. He was re-elected in 1874, and
continued his practice at Pentwater until
three years later, when he was appointed
Assistant United States Attorney for the
Western District. He removed to Grand
Rapids. In 1881 he was elected judge of the
Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, and was re-
elected to that office in 1887. After a few
months he resigned and formed a partnership
with McGeorge Bundy, under the name of
Montgomery & Bundy. He was nominated
by the Republicans for the supreme bench in
1891, and elected by 5,000 majority. He
took his seat January 1, 1892.
In 1873 he married Miss Theo C. Wads-
worth, of Pentwater, Michigan, and they have
two children, Morris W., who is a student
reading law at Lansing, and Stanley D. is
attending the University of Michigan.
118
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. FRANKLIN MOORE.
MOORE, HON. FRANKLIN. One of
the leading citizens of St. Clair, Mich., a man
who has lived all his life in that city and
township, Franklin Moore, occupies a high
social status among his fellow-citizens and is
recognized by them as a public-spirited busi-
ness man, ready to aid any measure for the
benefit of the city.
age
He was born in the township of St. Clair,
September 6, 1845. Up to the time he was
14 years
of he attended the public school
in his district, with the exception of about
two years, when he went to private schools
in the city of St. Clair. After that he at-
tended the Williston Seminary, at Easthamp-
ton, Mass., going from there to Yale College,
from which institution he graduated in 1868.
Returning to Michigan he became actively
engaged in the lumber business at Saginaw,
until 1875. In that year he bought a farm
in his native township of St. Clair, which he
operated for ten years. While still engaged
in farming he purchased the St. Clair Repub-
lican and owned and edited that paper
for a
period of seventeen years. During this time
he was twice appointed postmaster at St.
Clair; first under the administration of Presi-
dent Garfield, serving in all about nine years.
While editor of the Republican, Mr. Moore
with three other citizens joined in organizing
the Diamond Crystal Salt Company, of which
he was selected secretary and treasurer, and
he still holds that position in this large in-
dustry.
He was elected a member of the board of
education of the St. Clair city schools in
1877, and remained such until 1883. In
1894 he was again elected to this office and
he is still a member of the board at the
present writing. In 1896 he was elected
supervisor of the first ward. He was elected
on the Republican ticket in 1899 as a repre-
sentative to the State Legislature.
In politics, Mr. Moore has always been a
Republican, but has maintained the right of
being perfectly independent in following his
convictions. On the subject of taxation he
has always believed that there should be no
favored classes, but that everybody should
bear their full burden of taxation.
June 11, 1873, Mr. Moore married Miss
Emily Parmelee, daughter of William S.
Mrs. Moore died
Parmelee, at Toledo, Ohio.
June 20, 1898, leaving four children: Laura,
aged 24, who fills her mother's place in the
home; Franklin Moore, Jr., aged 22, book-
keeper; Margaret, aged 20, a student in Oli-
vet College, and Emily C., aged 15, attending
school in Chicago.
Mr. Moore attends the Congregational
Church, of which he is a member, and be
longs to but one fraternal order, The Knights
of the Maccabees.
Personally he is a quiet man, disliking con-
troversy, and avoiding as far as possible dis-
puting the opinions of others. This has been
noticed in his editorials, but when some desir-
able object beneficial to his city or state is to
be obtained he is a man of remarkably strong
purpose. His manner of life is quiet and un-
obtrusive. In society or church work he
does not make any effort to push himself, yet
holds a leading position in both.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
119

MOORE, HON. JUDGE JOSEPH B.
Joseph B. Moore traces his ancestry back to
Wales. The family came from that country
at a very early date and settled in New Jer-
sey. They took an active part in the mak-
ing of the history of the United States, Mr.
Moore's grandfather, Joseph B. Moore, be-
ing a soldier in the last war between this
country and Great Britain.
The parents of Joseph B. Moore, the sub-
ject of the present sketch, located in Macomb
county, Michigan, in 1833, and later moved
into the southwestern part of Lapeer county,
where the father engaged in the manufacture
of household furniture and spinning-wheels.
Joseph B. Moore was born at Commerce,
Oakland county, Michigan, November 3,
1845. He attended the district schools and
assisted his father in his shop, and when the
father bought a small sawmill the boy was
given a man's work to do about the plant, and
without compensation.
At the age of 18 he attended the fall term
at Hillsdale College and securing a teacher's
certificate, commenced teaching school at Mos-
cow Plains. The usual difficulties that faced
teachers at that time were met with by Mr.
Moore, but although one of his arms had been
broken shortly before he took the class, the
teacher, by his firmness and tact, won over the
ring-leader of the troublesome faction. The
school was so successful it was continued be-
yond the original term. He was solicited to
take charge of the school at "Rough and
Ready Corners," in Wayne county, where he
had a repetition of the experience at Moscow.
When but 22 years old he was made principal
of the village school at Walled Lake, Oakland
county.
He read law while working in the saw-
mill with his father, and also at intervals
during his teaching days. He saved
up enough money to spend a year in the
law department of the University of Michigan
in 1868-69. On leaving the University in the
latter year he was made deputy county clerk
of Lapeer county. He was admitted to the bar
the following year, and his first case, which
HON. JUDGE JOSEPH B. MOORE.
was before the Circuit Court, gave him a repu-
tation and a standing in the county. The case
was a peculiar one. A dozen or more leading
farmers had been swindled by a hay fork
agent, and their supposed receipts for pay-
ments turned up in the shape of promissory
notes. Young Moore was the only attorney
who did not have any of these notes placed
in his hands for collection, and the farmers
making a pool engaged him. He made his
maiden speech to a jury in the Circuit Court,
and the result was a disagreement of the jury,
and the case was never again tried. This
brought many clients to the young attorney
and he soon possessed a large practice.
Mr. Moore held the office of prosecuting
attorney for Lapeer county from 1873 until
1877. In 1878 he was elected state senator.
In 1880 he declined a renomination. In
1888 he was elected circuit judge of the
Sixth Judicial Circuit, where he remained
until 1896, when he was elected to the Su-
preme Bench of Michigan, a position which
he fills at the present writing. He married,
December 3, 1872, Miss Ella L., daughter of
Jasper Bentley.
120
MEN OF PROGRESS.

ELLIOT OLIVER GROSVENOR.
GROSVENOR, ELLIOT OLIVER, was of circuit court commissioner of Monroe
born at Monroe, Michigan, October 26, 1863.
He lived there and attended the public
schools until 1878, when he entered the
when he entered the
Michigan Military Academy from which he
graduated with the rank of senior captain, in
1881. He attended the University of Michi-
gan for four years and graduated from the
literary department, classical course, in June,
1885. He then took up the study of law and
was admitted to the bar in 1886, but has
never practiced that profession, devoting his
attention mainly to agriculture and particu-
larly to dairy interests, in which he has been
actively engaged since 1890.
In politics Mr. Grosvenor is a thorough
Republican, and served as chairman of the
Monroe County Republican committee from
1896 to 1900. In 1894-96 he held the office
County.
Governor Hazen S. Pingree appointed Mr.
Grosvenor Dairy and Food Comissioner Jan-
uary 26, 1897, and reappointed him for an-
other term in February, 1899.
In 1886, Mr. Grosvenor married Miss
Mary Hamilton, daughter of David P. Ham-
ilton, of White Pigeon, Michigan. They
have three children: Ira R., Ebenezer O.,
and Mary, aged respectively thirteen, ten and
eight years.
Ira R. Grosvenor, Mr. Grosvenor's father,
was one of the best known lawyers of South-
ern Michigan, and died in 1899. His mother
was Miss Sarah A. Wood, daughter of Joseph
Wood, who was a Michigan pioneer and took
a prominent part in Michigan territorial af-
fairs.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
121

O'BRIEN, HON. MICHAEL. Hon.
Michael O'Brien is a Canadian by birth but
has lived in Michigan nearly all his life and
since 1869 has been a resident of Alpena,
Michigan. He was born on a farm near Belle-
ville, Ontario, September 18, 1852, and se-
cured a fair education in the parochial schools
of Windsor, and at the old Detroit Business
College. He learned the trade of shoemaker
at Windsor, and in 1868, at the age of 16
started out as a journeyman shoemaker, work-
ing first at Trenton, and then in Lexington,
Michigan. His father, Patrick O'Brien, for
years an attache of the Windsor postoffice,
died March 14, 1869, leaving the mother with
six children without any other means of sup-
port than that furnished by the eldest boy,
Michael. In July, 1869, Michael found work
in Alpena, Michigan, with John W. Creigh-
ton, and in 1872 brought his mother and the
children to that city and supported the family
with his earnings. In 1874 he started in the
shoe business on his own account and was on
the road to success when fire destroyed his
store and stock in 1876. He was forced to go
back to his bench and commence all over
again.
In 1880 he was elected county clerk on the
Democratic ticket, and returned to this office
four times on the same ticket. While county
clerk he took up the study of law and was
admitted to the bar in 1887.
In 1889 he purchased the law and abstract
business of the late J. B. Newton, and entered
into partnership with W. T. Sleator in the
same month. In 1890 he was elected mayor
of the city of Alpena and his administration
was one of the best that city ever had. Dur-
ing his term the beautiful Central High School
of Alpena was built and paid for, at a cost of
$40,000, and many other valuable improve-
ments were made. He was re-elected Mayor
in the spring of 1900.
Mr. O'Brien is a stockholder and a director
in the Alpena Building & Loan Association,
a director in the Alpena County Savings
Bank, secretary and director of the Alpena
Land Improvement Company, and a director
HON. MICHAEL O'BRIEN.
of the Alpena Business Men's Association. He
has been prominently identified with many
progressive associations, namely, the Alpena
branch of the National Loan & Investment
Company, of which he was secretary; presi-
dent of the Citizens' Association and Law and
Order League.
Beside attending to his present business of
real estate and loans, and his profession as
attorney-at-law, Mr. O'Brien finds time to de-
vote to his political party. He has been the
Democratic chairman of the judicial com-
mittee of the Twenty-sixth District, and also
a member of the Democratic congressional
committee of the Tenth District. Fraternally
he associates with the Catholic Mutual Bene-
fit Association, Ancient Order of Hibernians,
Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, U. L.
G., and C. T. A. S.
During his career in this state, for over a
quarter of a century, Mr. O'Brien has seen
Alpena grow from a small village to a mod-
ern city. He is a member of the Catholic
Church.
He married Mary A., daughter of Mark
Coppinger, at Bay City, Michigan, November
28, 1882.
122
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HENRY EUGENE CHASE.
CHASE, HENRY EUGENE. Henry E.
Chase, a direct descendant of the Aquilla
Chase family of New England, was born in
Calhoun county, Michigan, on the 25th day
of August, 1863.
The basis of his future success was laid in
the public schools of this state. He gradu-
ated from the high school at Lawrence, Mich-
igan, and for a short time taught school in
Van Buren county.
Mr. Chase early formed the intention of
taking up
the law as a profession, and in 1886
went into the office of Hon. Fred A. May-
nard, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, where,
after studying for two years, he was admitted.
Soon after his admission to the bar he formed
a partnership with Mr. Maynard, very pleas-
ant and profitable business relations resulting
therefrom, which continued until after Mr.
Maynard assumed the office of attorney-gen-
eral of Michigan.
customs at Grand Rapids, which position he
filled for four years.
In 1894 he was temporarily appointed to
the office of deputy oil inspector at Grand
Rapids, which he subsequently resigned.
January 1, 1895, Mr. Maynard appointed
Mr. Chase assistant attorney-general, which
position he held until the year 1897, when
the Legislature created the office of deputy
attorney-general. Mr. Chase was then ap-
pointed deputy attorney-general and held the
office until December 31, 1898, when Mr.
Maynard's term of office as attorney-general

expired.
January 1, 1899, he was re-appointed by
Hon. Horace M. Oren as deputy attorney-
general, which office he still holds.
During his tenure of office as deputy attor-
ney-general, many important state cases have
been under his supervision, the same receiv-
In 1889 he was made deputy surveyor of ing careful and thorough attention.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
123

DAVIS, HON. GEORGE BURLING-
HAM. Hon. Geo. Burlingham Davis has
and is still contributing his share toward the
progress of Michigan, being actively identified.
with some of the leading organizations of the
state. He was born in Detroit, June 23,
1858, and educated in the public schools. His
father, the late Dr. J. E. Davis, died in 1872,
of a disease contracted while serving as sur-
geon in the 27th Michigan Infantry. His
grandfather was Judge Calvin Davis, of Ma-
comb county, Mich., and was a member of the
Legislature in 1845, just fifty years before Mr.
Davis represented the same county in the same
body. At the age of 16 Mr. Davis became
shipping clerk in the wholesale oil house of M.
V. Bentley, at Grand Rapids. Previous to this
he had earned his first dollar by driving piles
under a bridge that had been raised by spring
freshet. He remained as shipping clerk for
one year, then joined his brother in the real
estate and insurance business at Oxford, Mich-
igan. A year later he became city salesman
for Perrin & Bentley, wholesale oil dealers,
in Detroit. For two years he was city sales-
man and traveling man for this firm, leaving
them to travel for the music firm of R. D.
Bullock, Detroit. While in this business Mr.
Davis traded a second-hand piano for some oak
timber in Macomb county, which deal even-
tually resulted in taking him into the manu-
facture of hardwood lumber. He went into
this business when only 22 years old, in com-
pany with Henry Oellrich, of Detroit, Davis
furnishing the muscle and Oellrich the cash.
In four weeks the young firm found itself
$600 out. Business picked up, however, until
in two years Davis was able to buy out his
partner. More bad luck came along shortly
after this, for during the logging season an
epidemic started among his horses, quickly kill
ing thirteen. He managed to pull through the
season, though, and eventually establish him-
self on a firm footing. He has an excellent
business in hardwood lumber now, at Utica,
Mich. For fifteen years he has made a spe-
cialty of piles, bridge, car and ship timber.
His best and oldest patrons are the Michigan
HON. GEORGE BURLINGHAM DAVIS.
Central Railroad Company, the Detroit Ship-
building Co. and the Michigan-Peninsular
Car Co. In 1890 he organized the Utica
Hoop & Lumber Co., at Utica, Michigan.
The scarcity of timber and the business depres-
sion of '94 and '95 caused the closing of this
plant.
He also organized the Detroit Sand &
Gravel Co., and bought one of the largest sand
and gravel pits in the state, being arranged to
load 40 cars a day. Mr. Davis is now its sole
owner.
In 1898 he organized the Detroit,
Utica & Romeo Railway Co., with a capital-
ization of $300,000, which is now building
a street railway from Detroit to Romeo. Mr.
Davis is president of the company and has an
office in Detroit. He is also interested in
hardwood lumber at Utica and other Michigan
points. Mr. Davis is a Republican. He was
elected representative from the Second Dis-
trict of Macomb county in 1895-96, re-elected
1897-98, and elected state senator from the
Twelfth District in 1899-00. He married
Miss Marion St. John, daughter of S. P. St.
John, and has one child, Lucile, aged seven
years.



124
MEN OF PROGRESS.
JUDGE CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN GRANT.
BU-
GRANT, JUDGE CLAUDIUS
CHANAN. Judge Claudius Buchanan Grant
was born in Lebanon, Maine, October 25,
1835. His parents were small farmers strug-
gling for a livelihood on a stone-covered
farm. As soon as old enough to work, his
time was occupied from spring until fall in
the usual farm work, picking stones, hoeing,
haying, harvesting, etc. During the winters
he attended the district school, and in his
fifteenth year went to Lebanon Academy
Academy
during spring and fall, where he commenced
preparing for college. At the age of 17 he
taught a district school at $15 per month.
After finishing that school he was offered an-
other the same winter in an adjoining town-
ship, the pupils of which had thrown the
former teacher out of the window. Young
Grant accepted. During the second week of
school, arrangements were made to serve him
as they had the former teacher. A fight oc-
curred, in which young Grant whipped the
bully of the school, and was thereafter the
admiration of the scholars as well as the peo-
ple of the district. Mr. Grant completed his
preparation for college at Lebanon Academy
in the summer of 1855, and in October of
that year entered the University of Michigan.
After paying his tuition at this college he had
just $60 left. Together with three others, he
rented an attic over a shoe store, and
went to housekeeping. During his freshman
year he sawed wood for one Mr. Clark, who
kept a bakery, and for each hour's work re-
ceived a loaf of bread. He also worked for
Prof. Winchel, setting out trees, which are
still standing on the old Winchel place, north
of the Campus. He graduated from the
University in 1859, and for the next
three years was principal of the Ann Ar-
bor High School. In 1861 he organized
a military company and was elected captain.
The company was assigned to the 20th Mich-
igan Infantry. November 21, 1863, he was
promoted to major; December 26, 1864, to
lieutenant colonel, and on the same day was
made colonel of the regiment. After Lee's
surrender, Colonel Grant resigned from the
Army, and returning to the University of
Michigan commenced the study of law. He
was admitted to the bar in June, 1866, and
began his practice in partnership with Ex-
Governor Alpheus Felch. In 1870 he was
elected a member of the Legislature, and
again in 1872. He was also elected regent
of the University of Michigan in 1871, serv-
ing as such eight years.
In 1873 he removed to Houghton, Mich-
igan, where in 1876 he was elected prosecut-
ing attorney. When the 35th Judicial Circuit
was organized, in 1882, Mr. Grant was made
circuit judge, and he was re-elected to this
office in 1887. He became a resident of Mar-
quette in 1886. Judge Grant has always
taken a prominent part in the Republican pol-
itics of this state. In February, 1898, he was
nominated for Justice of the Supreme Court
and elected by a large majority.
June 13, 1863, Judge Grant married Miss
Caroline E., daughter of the late Governor
Alpheus Felch. They have four daughters,
three of whom are married. His daughter,
Helen Grant Sparrow, has died since above
sketch was written.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
125

CAMPBELL, HON. MILO DE WITT.
It is a noteworthy fact that nearly all the men
of progress in this state have started as school
teachers and by that means have earned
enough to further their own education. Milo
DeWitt Campbell is not an exception. His
parents were poor, living upon their small
farm near Quincy, Michigan. Here he was
born October 25, 1851. In a limited way,
his parents did all they could toward his edu-
cation. All of his time not spent in the dis-
trict school he worked out, on farms about the
neighborhood and wherever he could find
work. He was industrious, and the first book
he ever bought was from money he earned
cleaning out the stoned-up wells in the neigh-
borhood, when he was 10 years old. When
about 14 years of age, he attended school at
Coldwater, working before and after school,
Saturdays and during vacations to support
himself, and boarding some of the time with
an aunt. At 15 he obtained a certificate to
teach, but could not find employment because
of his youth. At 17 he began teaching in
district schools, and later at the village school
in Gerard. He graduated from the high
school at Coldwater, preparatory to the Uni-
versity, and later at the State Normal School
at Ypsilanti.
In 1873 he was nominated county superin-
tendent of schools, although only just having
passed the age of twenty-one. He was not a
candidate for the place and was dumbfounded
when he heard his name presented and con-
firmed at the republican county convention,
with several opposing candidates. The oppos-
ing parties put up no candidate against him,
and Mr. Campbell received all the votes.
He resigned before the expiration of his
term, and became a solicitor for a life in-
surance company at a better salary. He
He
afterwards entered the Normal School and
immediately, upon finishing his course there,
was employed by the same company at an in-
creased salary. After a few months, how-
ever, he began to study law with Loverige &
Barlow, Coldwater. He was admitted to
practice in January, 1877. After his admis-
HON. MILO DE WITT CAMPBELL.
sion to the bar he located at Quincy. The
first year he made $350, supporting himself
and wife from the same and saving fifty dol-
lars, which he put out at interest. Business
soon began to knock at his door and increased
rapidly until 1886, when he moved to Cold-
water, the county seat. He still continues
the senior member of the firm of Campbell
& Johnson, of that city, and has always had
a large and lucrative practice.
In 1873 and 1874 he was commissioner of
schools of Branch county. In 1885 and 1887
he was a member of the State Legislature. In
the latter year he became private secretary to
Gov. Luce and held the position until 1891.
He has been president of the state board of
inspectors, having in charge all the penal and
reformatory institutions of the state; a mem-
ber of the railroad and street crossing board;
insurance commissioner, and is now the presi-
dent of the board of state tax commissioners.
His home has always been in Branch county.
October 18th, 1876, Mr. Campbell married
Marion, the daughter of Clark C. Sears, of
Quincy,
Quincy, Michigan, for whom he had formed
an attachment in childhood.

126
MEN OF PROGRESS.
ARTHUR ORRIN BEMENT.
One of
BEMENT, ARTHUR ORRIN.
the largest plants in the State of Michigan
is that of E. Bement's Sons, at Lansing,
Michigan, which in 1871 only employed a
force of three men, and to-day engages an
army of employees and turns out yearly over
a million dollars' worth of stoves and agricul-
tural implements.
Arthur Orrin Bement, the president of the
E. Bement's Sons, manufacturers of heating
and cooking stoves, agricultural implements,
ctc., was born at Fostoria, Ohio, May 22,
1847. The boy was given the advantages of
a good education in that city, and at the age
of 14 he commenced to learn the trade of a
moulder, earning $3 a week making plow
points. At the end of five years he left this
trade to take the position of cashier in the
store of ex-Governor Charles Foster, of Fos-
toria. When 18 years of age he became a
teacher in the Norris district school, near Fos-
toria, at a salary of $30 per month, and after
the usual fight with the larger scholars neces-
sary to establish his superiority over them,
he managed to hold his position through the
term.
He gave up teaching to help his father in
the machine shop, as the factory at that time
commenced the manufacture of plows, and
he remained at this work until the spring of
1869, when, in company with his brother, he
came to Michigan to work in the moulding
shop of Nicholas & Shepherd, of Battle
Creek. After three months the brothers re-
turned to Fostoria, and during the balance of
the year worked in Maumee City and Toledo,
Ohio. In September, 1869, father and son
came to Michigan in search of a location in
which to establish a plant. They first stopped
at Grand Rapids, but the establishment for
sale there being too large for their capital
they went to St. Johns and Owosso, and
finally located in Lansing. Here they rented
a small foundry and started to manufacture
plows and farm kettles. That same summer
they purchased their present site. The father
had about $4,000 in money, horses, wagons
and past due notes, while A. O. Bement pos-
sessed $500 in cash. With this small capital
they started their now famous plant. Young
Bement looked after the business interests
and traveled around the state finding a mar-
ket for the output of the foundry. In 1878
the business increased to such an extent that
they were forced to increase their plant, and
at the same time they commenced to manu-
facture stoves. Since that time the plant has
had a yearly growth, and over 550 men find
employment in it during the year.
Arthur Orrin Bement was elected mayor of
Lansing in 1893 and re-elected the following
term. He was a member of the Lansing
water works board in 1886-88. Mr. Bement
married Miss Alice Jennison, daughter of
Wm. F. Jennison, at Eagle, Michigan, Octo-
ber 9, 1873. His first wife died in 1884 and
in 1887 he married Miss Vina Lou Mosher,
of Lansing, Michigan. His eldest son, Ed-
ward Jennison Bement, is the travelling rep-
resentative of the firm, and his two daughters,
Dorothy and Rosalind, are living at home in
Lansing. Mr. Bement has taken all the Ma-
sonic degrees, including Knight Templar.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
127

SAYRE, HON. IRA TERRY. In all his
political life Hon. Ira Terry Sayre has never
been defeated for any office. He was only
23 years of age when he first entered the po-
litical field, as the township clerk of Flush-
ing township, Michigan, a position he held
for seven years.
He was also treasurer of
the school district for a period of six years.
In 1890 he was elected president of the vil-
lage of Flushing, and at the expiration of his
term he declined re-election. From 1888
until 1892 he was justice of the peace in that
village. In November, 1898, he was elected
to the State Senate on the Republican ticket
by a majority of 2,572, and in his own town-
ship, which polled 574 votes, he received a
majority of 400.
Ira T. Sayre was born in Hector township,
New York State, March 6, 1858.
His par-
ents moved to Michigan in 1864 and until
he was eight years of age the boy's education
was confined to the district schools, and the
high school at Flushing until he reached the
age of 20. The balance of his time was
spent in helping his father on their farm,
grubbing, splitting rails, burning timber and
getting the farm into shape for tillage. He
graduated from the Flushing high school and
entered the Michigan Agricultural College.
Here he managed to secure five hours' work
per day, and by working Saturdays he made
enough money to pay his way while in col-
lege. During the vacation period he taught
the district schools. He entered the law class
of the University of Michigan in 1880, and re-
mained until the next year, but did not grad-
uate. He went to. Lansing and took an ex-
amination before the Supreme Court, where
he was admitted to the bar June 12, 1881.
He commenced practice in Flushing, where
he still resides. A chair, a few law books, a
small table and a debt of $350 was the outfit
with which he started his practice. He was
hopeful and more so when on the first day
that his sign was tacked up over the door he
had a client. At the end of the month, when
he footed up his books, he discovered that he
had taken in as his month's work just $12.04.
HON. IRA TERRY SAYRE.
Out of this he had to pay $3 a week board,
$5 a month office rent, besides postage and
other incidentals. The following month busi-
ness picked up to the extent of $4.70 above
the previous one. He became despondent,
and at one time he concluded that if receipts
and expenses continued at the same ratio he
would go back to teaching school. The third
month he tried a case in court and business
became very good after that.
He married Miss Julia E., daughter of
Franklin A. Niles, of Flushing, Michigan,
August 5, 1884, and three children have been
the issue of that marriage: Helen Lorraine,
aged eight years; Sidney Estelle and Frank
Niles, twins, aged two years.
Mr. Sayre is a stockholder in the Union
Trust & Savings Bank at Flint, Michigan,
and the First State & Savings Bank, at Flush-
ing, Michigan. He is a member of the various
Masonic bodies, including the Commandery,
Consistory and Shrine, and many other fra-
ternal societies. For the last six years he has
been one of the finance auditors of the Great
Camp of the Knights of the Maccabees for
Michigan.

128
MEN OF PROGRESS.

EDGAR SHAW WAGAR.
WAGAR, EDGAR SHAW. Edgar Shaw
Wagar earned his own education, and with-
out any aid save that of his own determina-
tion to succeed, backed by a fearlessness of
hard work, forced his way to the front rank
in the business world.
His parents located on a farm about three
miles from Constantine, Michigan, in 1843,
and it was here, on August 30, 1850, that he
was born. When large enough to work he
found plenty awaiting him on the little farm,
and he divided his time between that occu-
pation and attending the schools of the dis-
trict until he was 17 years old. That sum-
mer he was employed as a shoveller with a
construction train during the building of
what is now the Chicago & West Michigan
Railroad, between Grand Rapids and Sparta.
He earned the first money he ever had in his
life loading sand on cars at $1.25 a day and
boarded himself out of this stipend, saving
enough to pay for his tuition in the Constan-
tine high school until the following June,
when he left school and worked with a
threshing machine outfit around the county,
returning to school when the threshing sea-
son closed. This was his hardest school year.
He had very little money, and was compelled
to live very close during the term. He did
his own cooking in a little back bedroom,
eating his dinners very often in a frozen
state. Saturdays he earned some money
chopping four foot wood at 65 cents per cord.
The following summer he secured a posi-
tion as clerk in a grocery store at Cedar
Springs, Michigan, at $5 per week. He re-
mained in that business for eight years, and
in the summer of 1878 decided to start in the
hardware business, with which he had some
experience, on his own account. At that
time Edmore was just coming into ex-
istence as a prospective lumbering vil-
lage, and he selected that place as the one in
which to commence business. The town of
Edmore was plotted in a dense pine forest and
the main street was simply indicated by a
marking of trees. He built a small store, and
his first stock of goods did not make a good-
sized load for a wheelbarrow. While in
Cedar Springs he had met and married Miss
Mary L. Pfeifler, of that place, and she fol-
lowed him on his pioneer venture to Ed-
He met her at McBride, the termi-
nus of the new railroad, and together they
walked through the darkness and rain a dis-
tance of four miles to their new home. The
first two years the young couple spent in Ed-
more were made up of struggles and priva-
tions, with pressing indebtedness, but he
worked so hard that the neighbors used to say
"Ed Wagar has set down only once in four
years." The business was a success.
more.

In
In 1887 he sold his hardware business and
commenced his lumbering operations.
1893-95 Mr. Wagar was a representative for
the First district of Montcalm county, and
State senator from the Eighteenth district,
1897-99. In 1897 Mr. Wagar found himself
in condition to close up all his lumber deals
and enter into his present business as private
banker under the name of E. S. Wagar's
Bank, at Edmore, Michigan, in which busi-
ness he still continues and has been eminently
successful.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
129

HILL, JOSHUA. A good education has
been the basis of success in the life of Joshua
Hill, and to his parents and his own personal
energy he is largely indebted for the position
he has taken among the men of progress in
this state, and the success which has greeted
his efforts in life. He was born in Newton,
New Jersey, October 18, 1847, and educated
in Newton Collegiate Institute and the
Chester Institute in Chester, New Jersey.
Like many of the other successful men of
this state, Mr. Hill in his early life was a
school teacher, being only 17 years of age at
that period of his career.
He has been interested in banks since 1865
and is at present still engaged in the banking
and real estate business. He assisted in the
organization of several successful banks,
namely, the Commercial Bank, also Wilson
County Bank, at Fredonia, and the Oakland
County Savings Bank, of Pontiac, Michigan.
Mr. Hill went to Pontiac in 1891, his health
being somewhat impaired at the time, and
bought the fine home he now occupies in that
city, with the intention of retiring from ac-
tive business life. He has not entirely retired
as yet, for he is now the president of the Oak-
land County Savings Bank and of the Pontiac
Investment & Promotive Company.
To Mr. Hill Michigan is indebted for one
of the most unique preserves in the State,
Forest Lake Park, where many varieties of
those wild animals that were rapidly becom-
ing extinct before the march of civilization,
may be found.
He purchased the magnifi-
cent tract of three hundred acres enclosing
that beautiful sheet of water, Forest Lake, in
1892, and it is stocked with wild game of
every description. A large herd of Wyom-
ing elk roam undisturbed over the park, and
a small herd of buffalo has been added to the
preserve in the past few years. Several
varieties of duck inhabit the lake, and the
woods are stocked with a number of English
ring neck as well as Mongolian pheasants.
Nothing has been done, in improving the
park, that tends to rob it of its wild and pic-
JOSHUA HILL.
turesque character. Mr. Hill is vice-presi-
dent of the Michigan Game Protective Asso-
ciation, and has been instrumental in protect-
ing the wild game of Michigan from rabid
inroads of the pot hunter. He is also a mem-
ber of the Huron Mountain Club, which
owns thirty square miles in game and fish
preserves and trout and fish hatcheries on the
Upper Peninsula near Marquette.
He is a member of the executive commit-
tee of the National Bankers' Association of
the United States. Having been an extensive
traveller in this country and abroad, he was
appointed general agent of the American Ex-
change in Europe, and for Messrs. Thos.
Cook Sons, world's tourists.
In 1882 Mr. Hill married Miss Helen Pre-
witt, of Lexington, Kentucky, in that city,
and six children, three boys and three girls,
have been the issue of that union. In the
literary
literary world, he is known as a forcible
writer, having contributed many articles to
the press. His best known work is "Thought
and Thrift," which was published in 1889.
It is a strongly written book in which the
writer has shown his own strength of char-
acter and thought.

130
MEN OF PROGRESS.

WILLIAM W. POTTER.
POTTER, WILLIAM W. William W.
Potter was born at Maple Grove township,
Barry county, Michigan, August 1, 1869.
His father, Lucien B. Potter, was a farmer.
He worked on the farm of his father until
he was 21. When he was 20 years of age he
attended the public school at Nashville,
Michigan, starting in the ninth grade, but
at the end of seven weeks he was stricken
with typhoid fever and compelled to return
home. He resumed his studies at the same
school the following year, and when spring ar-
rived he worked on the farm until the follow-
ing autumn. Then he received a third grade
teacher's certificate, and taught school during
the winter of 1890 in Assyria township, at
$22 per month. He returned to the family
He returned to the family
farm in the summer, and in the fall attended
the Nashville high school for eleven weeks;
then taught the same district again. That
spring he was given a teacher's certificate of
the first grade, and in April was tendered
the position of principal of the city schools.
at Harrison, Michigan. He remained at the
Nashville school until June, and then gradu-
ated. He was graduated on Friday, and the
following Monday entered the Summer Nor-
mal School at Ypsilanti, where he remained
until his school opened at Harrison, in Sep-
tember, 1891. He taught there until vaca-
tion, earning $550 a year. He was reap-
pointed the following term at Harrison, at
an increased salary. He followed this course
the next year, and his salary was increased
to $850 a year. During all this time
he had been studying law in the office of
Hon. George J. Cummins, at Harrison, and
June 26, 1894, in Judge Dodds' court, he
was admitted to the bar. During that sum-
mer he again worked on the farm, and the
following term entered the University of
Michigan senior law class, and was graduated
in June, 1895.
He opened his law office in Hastings,
Michigan, in August, 1895. He. formed a
partnership with J. Edmund Barrell in No-
vember, 1895, under the name of Barrell &
Potter, which continued until August, 1896,
when he became associated with Hon. Philip
T. Colgrove; the partnership continues up to
date.
In November, 1898, William W. Potter
was elected on the Republican ticket to the
State senatorship by a majority of 596.
He married, at Harrison, Michigan, Mar-
guerite,
guerite, daughter of Charles J. Richardson,
and they have two daughters, Louise, aged
five
years, and Dorinne, aged nine months.
Mr. Potter is a Royal Arch and Chapter
Mason, and a member of the K. of P.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
131

OSBORN, CHASE SALMON. Chase S.
Osborn, Railroad Commissioner of the State
of Michigan, was born in Huntington county,
Indiana, January 22, 1860. The senior
Osborn, George A., was one of the earlier
pioneers of Indiana and a leading abo-
litionist during the agitation of that question.
Mr. Osborn's grandfather, Captain Isaac Os-
born, who navigated the Ohio River between
the Ohio ports and New Orleans for many
years, was one of the pioneers of the Ohio
Valley, and his great-grandfather, John Os-
born, was a doctor and chaplain in the Con-
tinental Army during 1776 and 1780.
Chase S. Osborn started his education in a
little red school house, and from 10 to 14
years of age attended the public schools of
Lafayette, Indiana. He took three years at
Purdue University, of that city. His first
business venture was picking up old bones,
rags and iron, which he sold to junk dealers.
During his vacation, while attending the pub-
lic schools, he had learned to set type, so he
found a job in a newspaper office, setting type
and turning the press on Saturday night, at
$2 per week. He also peddled papers, and
at one time had a monopoly of the sale of
Chicago papers in Lafayette.
At 16 he went to Chicago iilled with the
idea that in that city he would make his for-
tune. After hunting about for a time, he
found work as a bell boy in a hotel, and so
earned enough money to return home. Upon
leaving the University he again went to Chi-
cago and succeeded in finding a position as
reporter on the Chicago Tribune, but he went
home shortly afterwards to see his sister mar-
ried and lost his place. He hung around
in Chicago for about four weeks, and finally
went to Milwaukee looking for another posi-
tion. Here his money was exhausted, and at
last he was compelled to go to work as a roust-
about in the lumber yards of Durr & Rugee,
unloading and piling lumber. He didn't
like the job, but as it was a case of pile
lumber, beg or starve, he piled lumber. Later
he secured a place with the Evening Signal,
of Milwaukee, and then with the Milwaukee
CHASE SALMON OSBORN.
Chronicle. For the next year he did general
assignment work on the Evening Wisconsin,
and for the following two years was city
editor of the Sentinel. Purchasing a paper
in Florence, Wisconsin, he started in on his
own account, publishing this paper for four
years and selling out in the spring of 1887.
In the fall of that year he bought the Sault
Ste. Marie News, of which he is still the owner
and manager.
He was State Game and Fish Warden from
February 1, 1895, until January 1, 1899, and
was appointed Railroad Commissioner Janu-
ary 1, 1899.
He married Miss Lillian G. Jones, daugh-
ter of Edward Jones, at Milwaukee, Wiscon-
sin, May 7, 1881. Mr. Osborn is a Mason,
having taken 32 degrees, and is a Knight
Templar. He is a member of the Knights of
Pythias, the B. P. O. E., and I. O. O. F. He
also belongs to the Fellowcraft Club, of De-
troit, and the Detroit Club.
Mr. Osborn is one of the leading and influ-
ential citizens of Sault Ste. Marie. He held
the position of postmaster there from 1890
until 1894.


132
MEN OF PROGRESS.
GEORGE L. MALTZ.
MALTZ, GEORGE L. Brooklyn, New
York, is the birth place of George L. Maltz,
who was born in that recent addenda to New
York City, September 30, 1842. In 1845
the family moved to Michigan, taking up
their residence in the city of Detroit, where
until he was 16 years of age young Maltz
attended the public schools.
His first employment was that of ticket
agent in the office of the Grand Trunk Rail-
road. When 18 years of age he enlisted in
Company I of the Fourth Michigan Infan-
try, and was made a corporal in that company
when it was mustered into service. Septem-
ber 1, 1861, he was promoted to the rank of
sergeant, and a few months later was again
promoted to first sergeant.
His next step was to the rank of sergeant-
major in March, 1862, and he was com-
missioned second lieutenant of Company E,
December 13, 1862. The official records
show that he was the commanding officer of
his company during nearly all the year of
1863, and was acting adjutant of the regi-
ment during a portion of that year and 1864.
On March 21, 1864, he was commissioned
first lieutenant of Co. E, Fourth Michigan
Infantry, and he was mustered out with that
rank, June 28, 1864.
Lieutenant Maltz served through the war
with the Fourth Michigan Infantry, being in
the Army of the Potomac, and distinguishing
himself several times during the campaign.
His regiment saw considerable service and
hard fighting and took part in some of the
fiercest and most stubbornly
stubbornly contested
engagements in the Civil War. On be-
ing mustered out of service, Mr. Maltz was
appointed cashier in the Internal Revenue
Office at Detroit, a position which he filled
most ably for several years. In 1872 he re-
moved to Alpena, Michigan, where he
opened a private bank under the firm name
of George L. Maltz & Co. In 1883 he or-
ganized and was made president of the
Alpena National Bank, which place he occu-
pied until 1896. From 1876 until 1880 Mr.
Maltz was Regent of the University of Michi-
gan. He was made State Treasurer of
Michigan in 1886 and remained such until
1890. He returned to Detroit from Alpena
in 1892, and that same year he was a mem-
ber of the Republican National Committee
at the Minneapolis Convention.
In 1898 Governor Pingree appointed him
State Bank Commissioner, in which position
he is acting today.
Mr. Maltz was the chairman of the com-
mittee that located and dedicated the monu-
ment placed by the state of Michigan in the
battlefield of Gettysburg, in commemoration
of the Fourth Michigan Infantry.
monument was erected in 1898.
While in Alpena he was thrice elected
mayor of that city.

The
He married Elvira E., daughter of Joseph
P. Whiting, of Detroit, at the close of the
war in 1866, and is the parent of three daugh-
ters. Cora is the wife of the late Hon. Albert
Pack, of Detroit; Mable is the wife of J. G.
Farwell, of the same city, and Grace lives
with her parents. Mr. Maltz has taken all the
degree in Masonry, is a K. T., and a Shriner
of Moslem Temple, Detroit. He belongs to
the Loyal Legion and Detroit Post, G. A. R.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
133

SMITH.
STEARNS, HON. JUSTUS
Justus Smith Stearns comes from old Ver-
mont stock, his forefathers having been
farmers and woolen manufacturers in the
Green Mountain State for many generations.
His father, Heman S. Stearns, was a farmer
in Chautauqua county, New York, and
owned and operated a small water-power
sawmill. Justus Stearns attended the dis-
trict schools near his home, getting three
months' education in summer and three in
winter, and when he was old enough to work
he was given a job in his father's mill on
Saturdays, wheeling sawdust and piling slabs.
The father's work increased and as he needed
some one to help him in his mill, young
Stearns abandoned all his ideas of getting a
city school education and left school to join
his father. For six years he worked in the
saw mill, tallied lumber, piled and loaded it,
until, as his father remarked, he had the busi-
ness thoroughly "pounded into him."
In 1861 the father determined to move to
Erie, Pennsylvania, where, together with his
son, he established a retail lumber yard, which
turned out to be a most profitable under-
taking.
He re-
During the oil excitement of 1860-63 the
elder Stearns invested considerable money in
oil lands, where he sank a great many wells
and eventually a great deal of money. Those
were days when fortunes were made and lost
rapidly, and in 1864 the father failed and the
son, when affairs were settled, found himself
in almost the same predicament.
moved to Michigan in 1875 and found work
in the office and general store which was con-
nected with the lumbering plant then oper-
ated by Mrs. E. B. Ward, where by working
with his customary zeal he was soon advanced
to a position paying him $75 per month and
expenses. He remained with the company
four years, and in 1881 determined to branch
out in the lumbering business on his own
account. He controlled at that time a tract
of land containing six hundred acres, lying
east of Ludington, and having saved $3,000
he built a small saw mill capable of cutting
HON. JUSTUS SMITH STEARNS.
thirty-five thousand feet of lumber per day
and employing about thirty men. The place
where the first mill was put up is now known
as Stearns.
In 1891 Mr. Stearns built a large mill on
the Flambeau Reservation in Wisconsin, and
in 1892 erected another one on the Odanah
Reservation near Ashland, in the same state.
Mr. Stearns has recently acquired the ex-
tensive mills and plant known as the E. B.
Ward property, at Ludington, Michigan.
With these several plants he is now manufac-
turing 150,000,000 feet of lumber per year,
making him by far the largest manufacturer
in the state.
Mr. Stearns was an elector from Michigan
in 1891, when Gen. Harrison received the
Presidential nomination, and in 1898 he was
elected Secretary of State in Michigan, in
which capacity he is acting at the present
writing. His wife was formerly Miss Pauline
Lyon, daughter of Robert Lyon, of Con-
neaut, Ohio, where they were married in
1871.
Their only son, Robert Stearns, is
connected with his father in business, and is
a well-known designer of title pages for lead-
ing publications in the United States.


134
MEN OF PROGRESS.

JOSEPH LEVI COX.
COX, JOSEPH LEVI. Joseph Levi
Cox, commissioner of labor, state of Michi-
gan, was born at Oxford, Illinois, March 24,
1858, and was educated in the free schools
of Indiana. His grandfather, Joseph Cox,
was one of the earliest pioneers of Indiana,
settling near where Richmond is located to-
day, when there was not a white settler within
30 miles of him.
In
While attending school, young Cox also
turned his attention toward helping swell the
family exchequer by selling papers on the
streets when his little arms were scarcely
long enough to encompass the bundle.
the fall of 1878-9 he first came near to the
machine that in after years he was to do so
much toward perfecting. He secured a posi-
tion as printer's devil on the White County
Banner, at Reynolds Station, Indiana, and
worked at that until his family moved to La-
fayette, Indiana. At the age of 15, while
still a schoolboy in the Lafayette schools, he
founded the "Monthly Bee," which was favor-
ably received. In 1873 he launched the
"Weekly Bee," and as this venture also met
with success he was encouraged to, three years
later, issue the "Bee" as a one-cent daily
paper. He got on the opposite side of the suc-
cessful county political party, and gave up
journalism to devote his attention to perfect-
ing a web printing press.
Shortly after this, June 3, 1877, he mar-
ried Miss Katherine Sherwood. The same
year he built the first wood printing press-a
machine for printing on wood, tin or glass.
In 1878 he invented two flat-bed web printing
presses, duplex in action, for job work. He
took out his first American patent in 1879.
In that year, also, he was made city editor of
the "Daily Journal," in Lafayette, Indiana,
a position he held until 1882. In 1883 he
founded the "Daily Call," but during all this
time he had not relinquished his ideas on
printing presses. In 1883 he placed his in-
ventions with a company-The Duplex Print-
ing Press Company, of Battle Creek, Michi-
gan, capitalized at $300,000. This company
built the first successful double web printing
press in 1885. During his connection with
the company Mr. Cox took out many foreign
and American patents.
Mr. Cox was elected mayor of Battle Creek
on the Republican ticket in 1892-3, and it was
under his administration that the water works
supply was perpetuated. Later he opened an
office as patent solicitor and mechanical ex-
pert in patent causes, and found himself very
much in demand. One day a sign was found
on his office door, which read, "Closed until
Pingree is elected," and from that time on
Mr. Cox devoted his whole time to aiding
the election of H. S. Pingree. After this was
accomplished he served for some time as chief
clerk in the railroad commissioner's office, and
in May, 1897, he was appointed commissioner
of labor, to which position he was reappointed
for second term in 1899. He has five chil-
dren, his son Earl being a clerk at Lansing, his
daughter Stella the wife of S. Evart Holmes,
of St. Louis, and his other three children, Jay,
Mabel and Genevieve, living with their
parents at Battle Creek, and attending school
in that city.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
135

HON. FRANK ARTHUR HOOKER.
HOOKER, HON. FRANK ARTHUR.
In the history of the United States the name
of Hooker will be found to have played an
important part. It was the Reverend Thomas
Hooker who, in 1736, led his little colony
into and settled the town of Hartford, Con-
necticut, and it was this same Hooker who
was the first colonist to formulate a constitu-
tion for government by the people. Hooker
was obliged to go to the Netherlands before
coming to American to escape the fury of
Archbishop Laud on account of Hooker
account of Hooker
preaching non-conformist sentiments while in
England.
To the Reverend Thomas Hooker, the sub-
ject of this sketch, Judge Frank Arthur
Hooker, traces his ancestry. Judge Hooker
was born June 16, 1844, at Hartford, Con-
necticut, in which city his father was at one
time a prosperous contractor, but meeting
with business reverses he was forced to leave
the home of his ancestors and remove to De-
fiance, Ohio. Here young Hooker attended
the district schools, and his education
furthered by an elder sister, who had been
educated in Hartford.
It was the boy's origi-
It was the boy's origi-
nal intention to embark in the mercantile
business, and with this end in view he at-
tended a local business college, where he
learned bookkeeping and penmanship. When
15 years of age he also began to learn the
trade of mason under his father, and in the
winter time he taught school. He worked
steadily at this trade during the summer
months until he entered the University of
Michigan.
He continued teaching school and working
as a mason until the autumn of 1863. One
day he consulted with his father as to the
advisability of studying law, and the elder
Hooker, rather proud of the boy's ambition,
told him to go ahead. For over 200 years
the Hookers, with the exception of Judge
Hooker's father, had been professional men,
and as the young man had been reading law
during his school teaching days he decided to
follow in the footsteps of the Hookers who
had gone before him, and adopt the law as his
profession. He entered the University of
Michigan in 1863, taking the law course, and
graduated in 1865.
His first venture in his new profession was
made in Bryan, Ohio, where, with a partner,
he established a law practice which was a
success the first year. At the end of the year
Mr. Hooker decided to return to Michigan, so
the partnership was dissolved, and leaving
Bryan, Mr. Hooker went to Charlotte.
In 1867 he was made county superinten-
dent of schools for Eaton county, and in the
years 1872-6 he held the position of prosecut-
ing attorney in the same county. He was
made circuit judge of the fifth judicial circuit
in 1878, and elected to supreme justice in
1892. He occupies the supreme bench at the
present writing.
He belongs to the Masonic fraternity.
In 1868 Judge Hooker married Emma E.
Carter, daughter of William Carter, of Defi-
ance, at that city. Both his sons are follow-
ing professional careers, Harry Eugene
Hooker, the eldest, being an attorney-at-law
in Lansing, Michigan, and Charles Eggleston
Hooker a physician in Grand Rapids.

136
MEN OF PROGRESS.

J. EDGAR ST. JOHN.
ST. JOHN, J. EDGAR. As superinten
dent of the Michigan School for Boys at Lan-
sing, Michigan, J. Edgar St. John is doing his
share towards the future of the state of Michi-
gan by helping to make of the boys under his
charge the kind of men needed in the prog-
ress of every country. He has held this posi-
tion six years, managing its affairs with gen-
tleness and skill and winning praise from all
who have watched his work since he has been
superintendent of the institution.
J. Edgar St. John was born at Somerset,
Hillsdale county, Michigan, May 30, 1848.
His father was a brick and stone mason, who
came to Michigan in 1836, locating at Brook-
lyn, Jackson county, where he followed that
profession. Young St. John was not given
much chance to go to school, for he was taken
away at 14 years of age, and put to work to
learn the moulding and machinist trades. For
over a year he was employed at this trade in
the foundry of George H. Felt, of Brooklyn,
during which time he earned $6 a month.
His work was extremely arduous. He
brushed and cleaned castings for twelve
months, and at the end of that time was given
a little respite from his hard labor and sent to
visit relatives in Connecticut. Here he was
taken down with brain fever, and hovered for
a long time between life and death, being
unable to work for nearly a year. As soon
as he could get about he secured a position at
$5 a week in a provision house and grocery.
At 17
years of age he earned $50 per month,
including his board.
At the
Returning to Michigan a few years later,
he entered the employ of D. L. Crossman at
Dansville, Michigan, and later on entered into
partnership with D. L. Crossman.
expiration of three years of this partnership
he bought out the interests of Mr. Crossman,
and taking another partner again started in
Lusiness. The new firm went into debt to
the extent of $4,500, and in scarcely a year
Mr. St. John found that in order to save him-
self he was compelled to buy out his partner.
Alone he managed and conducted the busi-
indebtedness, but he was forced to sell out the
ness for another year, clearing off some of the
business, owing to ill-health. He had on his
books over $4,500, of which he managed to
collect all except some $90, and in less than a
year he had paid off all his creditors.
In 1873 he accepted a position as overseer
in the cigar shop at the Industrial School, but
after six months had to vacate on account of
bronchitis caused by inhaling tobacco dust.
During the following year he was assistant
farmer; then followed a promotion to over-
seer of the chair shop, a position which he
held until again promoted to bookkeeper and
superintendent's clerk, where he remained
eleven years.
During this time Mrs. St.
John was teacher in cottage No. 2, where they
were located. Mr. St. John then left the in-
stitution, moving on his farm near the Agri-
cultural College, after having filled nearly
every subordinate position at the Industrial
School.
August 1st, 1893, Mr. St. John was ap-
pointed to the office of superintendent and his
wife matron, positions which they have occu-
pied since, looking carefully after the 650
boys in the school.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
137
BACON, M. D., HON. AUGUSTUS
EGBERT. It required a strong constitution
to pass through the many ills that bestrewed
the path of Augustus Egbert Bacon, and an
equally strong amount of reserve will power.
Dr. Bacon is a direct descendent of the
John Bacon family of Massachusetts, his
grandfather, John Bacon, lived in Vermont,
and his father, Royal Bacon, in Macomb
County, this state. A. E. Bacon was born
May 7, 1841, at Euclid, Ohio. His father
moved to Ray Center, Macomb County, in
1850 and rented a woolen mill, and afterwards
built a sawmill. Young Bacon worked for
his board and clothing in the mills, and when
his father purchased a farm he was given em-
ployment clearing it up, cutting down timber,
making rails and stave bolts. He worked at
this from his 14th to his 18th year, receiving
no money except that which he earned himself
from the sale of black salt made from the
ashes. He attended district school during the
winter months, and his mother, an educated
woman, did much toward educating her chil-
dren. When 19 years of age young Bacon
had saved enough money working as a farm
hand to take a term at the Disco Academy,
where he secured a two-year teacher's certifi-
cate. He taught school after this at Swan
Creek, St. Clair County, and the following
summer worked in the store of John McElroy,
in that place. He and his employer had words
about feeding a horse, and leaving the job the
young man walked to New Baltimore, where
he found work binding oats. Here he came
in contact with a recruiting officer, one George
Robison, and enlisted in Company F, 22nd
Michigan Infantry, under Captain Alfred
Ashley. The regiment was ordered to the
front on the 1st of September and on the 5th
participated in the battle of "Cabbage Hill."
At Nashville the young soldier was taken
with mumps and later brain fever, but recov-
ered. Next came smallpox, and when he re-
covered sufficiently to carry a musket again he
was sent to rejoin his regiment, arriving just
in time to engage in the battle of Chicka-
mauga, where his regiment was almost annihil-
HON. AUGUSTUS EGBERT BACON, M. D.
ated, there being only 100 to answer roll call
after the battle. He served through the At-
lanta campaign and was mustered out in Nash-
ville in 1865. Returning to Michigan, he
attended the high school at Utica until 1866,
when he taught school and earned enough
money to pay his way through the University
of Michigan. He had read medicine with
Dr. E. N. Harris, of Disco, and took up the
study in the University. He studied during
1866-67, practiced a year and in 1868 at-
tended the University of Philadelphia, from
which he graduated in 1869. Going back to
Disco, Michigan, he bought out Dr. Harris
and practiced there for 12 years, removing
during the month of January, 1883, to Sault
Ste. Marie, where he now resides.
elected Mayor of Sault Ste. Marie on the Re-
publican ticket in 1897, and was alderman
during the years of 1884-85.
He was
Dr. Bacon married Josephine, daughter of
William Moe, of Disco, Michigan, March 17,
1868. Dr. Bacon became a Mason in 1865
and is one of the oldest in Sault Ste. Marie.
He is also a member of the K. P., Eastern
Star, G. A. R., and the I. O. O. F.

138
MEN OF PROGRESS.
CHARLES EDWARD BREWSTER.
BREWSTER, CHARLES EDWARD.
Chief Deputy Game Warden of Michigan
Charles Edward Brewster was born in Fre-
mont, Shiawasee county, Michigan, January
4, 1858. His parents both died when he was
but four years old, and he was taken into the
family of an uncle and adopted by him.
When he was 12 years of age he ran away
from home, and found a position as a cash
boy with Newcomb, Endicott & Company,
of Detroit, Michigan, where he remained for
seven weeks, earning and living upon $2 a
week, until his uncle located him and took
him back home. He was sent to the district
school near his home, and later to the public
schools at Byron, Michigan, from which he
graduated in 1874, at the age of 16.
Through the influence of the then Con-
gressman Begole, he was then appointed ship's
writer in the United States navy and assigned
to the United States cruiser Tuscarora, which
was detached to pursue deep-sea soundings in
the Pacific ocean. For three years he en-
gaged in this service, during which period
he visited almost every port between Sitka,
Alaska, and Hobart Town, Tasmania. At
the end of this time he was appointed cap-
tain's clerk and assigned to the cruiser Pen-
sacola, under Captain John Irwin. The Pen-
sacola was the flag ship of the Asiatic squad-
ron, then having headquarters at San Fran-
cisco, Cal. While on this vessel he visited
China, Japan, the Sandwich Islands, and the
ports of western South America.
He re
signed in 1884, and returned home to Byron,
Michigan. The following year he removed
to a small station, named after himself, in
Grand Traverse county, and began the manu-
facture of hardwood lumber. The business
did not seem to prosper, and he had very little
liking for it, and two fires caused him to give
it up in 1889, with much experience and less
capital. That fall he was appointed United
States deputy marshal in the western district
and assigned to the postoffice depredation
work. He had an interesting experience
while arresting a counterfeiter in a lumber
camp about eight miles from Yuma, Lake
county, and was shot by his man, but while
lying wounded on the ground he managed to
shoot in return and secured the counterfeiter.
This occurred on Thanksgiving day, and he
had to drive with his prisoner about eight
miles to the settlement. In the four years pre-
vious to the inauguration of the present game
warden system only 56 convictions were made
for violation of the laws, and under the first
four years this was increased to 560 convic-
tions. Under the administration of Chase S.
Osborn, there were 1,960 convictions secured.
Mr. Brewster has been connected with this
department since its inauguration.
He has held the following political offices:
Postmaster at Lake Brewster, 1887-94; jus-
tice of peace, 1888-92; chief deputy United
States marshal under James R. Clark, 1890-
94; deputy game warden under William Al-
den Smith, 1887; made chief deputy game
warden under Charles S. Hampton, re-ap-
pointed in 1897 by Chase S. Osborn, and re-
appointed in 1899 by Grant M. Morse. He
is a Chapter Mason, and an Elk.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
139
FROST, HON. GEORGE EDWARD.
The present prosecuting attorney of Cheboy-
gan, Michigan, George Edward Frost, has
been prominently identified with the Repub-
lican party in this State, and is an attorney
well versed in his profession, a successful
prosecutor and a man of sharp insight, judg-
ment and discretion. He has held his pres-
ent office for three successful terms, during
which he has won many cases for the people
and established an excellent record.
His father, Alonzo P. Frost, came to Pon-
tiac from near Syracuse, in New York state,
and settled in that city in 1836. His grand-
father, Josiah, was an old resident in New
York state, the family originally coming from
Massachusetts, where the Frosts lived for gen-
erations, taking part in the making of the
early history of the American colonies and
serving with the revolutionary army.
21
George Edward Frost was born at Pontiac,
Michigan, March 24, 1851. His education
was received in the district schools near home,
the public schools of Pontiac. During his
vacations he worked on the farm, and when
years old, in 1872, received a second grade
teacher's certificate. He taught in various
schools about the county that year, and for the
three following years he divided his time be-
tween teaching the young idea during the
winter months and studying law in the office
of Judge A. C. Baldwin, at Pontiac, during
vacation periods. He studied at night when
teaching school, and worked hard to equip
himself for the profession in which he now
holds such a prominent place. In 1874 he
read law in the office of the Hon. Alfred
Russel, of Detroit, and was admitted to the
bar of the Wayne County Circuit Court, Sep-
tember, 1875.
That fall he went into partnership with S.
Slessinger, taking an office in the Seitz Block,
Detroit. In 1877 he went into business
alone, removing to Cheboygan in the spring
of 1879 and establishing himself in practice
in that city. He had $15 capital on which
to do this, and some law books. The young
attorney did not flourish in his profession for
IION. GEORGE EDWARD FROST.
the first month, and his receipts amounted to
just $4 at the end of the month, mostly for
conveyancing. The fourth month business be-
gan to pick up, and after that the returns were
larger and his practice increased monthly.
He was the first Republican to be elected
to the office of president of the village, and
was re-elected twice, serving in 1883-84-85.
Mr. Frost was United States commissioner
from 1881, until 1901. He was an alternate.
and attended the National Republican Con-
vention at Minneapolis, and has been promi-
nently mentioned for Congress from his dis-
trict. Mr. Frost was first married in Septem-
ber, 1881, to Mollie L. Bailey, daughter of
Dr. Jno. R. Bailey, of Mackinaw Island. She
died in November, 1882. Mr. Frost's second
wife was Mrs. Emina C. Freeman, daughter of
John Waterman, the pioneer lumberman of
Cheboygan, in that city, April, 1885. He has
three children, George Edward Frost, Jr.,
aged 13; Stanley Howard, aged 11, and Rus-
sel Waterman, aged 4.
He is a Mason, and belongs to the Knights
of Pythias.

140
MEN OF PROGRESS.
JABEZ BUNTING CASWELL.
CASWELL, JABEZ BUNTING. The
Caswell family, of which Jabez Bunting Cas
well is a member, lived for many generations
in the Mohawk valley of New York state, and
it was in Herkimer county of that state that
on December 10, 1858, the subject of this
sketch was born. At the age of 4 his family
At the age of 4 his family
moved to Rome, New York. He attended
the Rome academy until he reached the age
of 17, and then found employment in a shoe
store. When he became of age he started
west for the Dakotas with the intention of
going into business, but stopped on the way to
visit a brother in Indianapolis. He went
from there to St. Louis, Mo. The Iron
Mountain Express was being organized then
and the young man was tendered a position
with that company.
He was bill clerk for
one year, and then was made a messenger,
running between St. Louis and Texarkana,
afterwards on the Texas Pacific railroad from
Texarkana to Abileen. These were days
when train robbers flourished, and when to be
an express messenger meant taking one's life
in one's hands. Mr. Caswell was lucky, how-
ever, and did not meet with train robbers.
The Iron Mountain Company was finally
merged into the Pacific Express Company,
and in 1882 Mr. Caswell came to Michigan,
visiting a friend in Bay City. The friend
was in the restaurant business, so all that win-
ter Mr. Caswell took the management of this
establishment. The next season, as he had
always been a lover of the great American
game, he organized the Bay City base ball
The next season he helped organize
the Northwestern League, which at one time
was a promising organization. He broke his
arm in a game that season and was forced to
quit the sport.
team.
He then drifted into politics and held many
minor city offices in Bay City. He was
constable for several years, after which he
was made sidewalk inspector by a republican
common council, and a democratic mayor
vetoed the appointment. He continued, how-
ever, as sidewalk inspector and the council
voted him his salary, which the mayor
promptly vetoed, but the Supreme Court sus-
tained the council's action. He was after-
wards appointed assistant street commissioner
by the common council and held that position
for three years.
Mr. Caswell is one of the
first Pingree men in Bay county, and was
made salt inspector January 26, 1897. He
still occupies this position, having been re-ap-
pointed by Gov. Pingree January 26, 1899.
February 28, 1895, he married. Clara
Worth at Bay City, and Warren, aged two
years, is their child.
Mr. Caswell as a member of the B. P. O.
E., the K. P. and the Modern Woodmen of
America. He is popular with his party, and
he may justly feel a pride in his official rec-
ord. He has always had an independent
spirit, even when a boy, having on two occa-
sions left home to learn a trade, first that of a
printer, but was sent back to school by his
parents. On another occasion he started to
learn the business of an auctioneer, but not
liking it, he returned home. "Of all the
difficult positions I have held the hardest was
that of reporting the first exposition in Detroit
for The Detroit News," Mr. Caswell said.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
141
CLARK.
PELTON, HON. DAVID
The Pelton family owes its existence in this
country to John Pelton, who, born in Essex,
England, in 1616 came to America and set-
tled in Boston, Mass., in 1630. He removed
to Dorchester 35 years later and became by
grant a joint owner in the Dorchester patent,
receiving 30,000 acres of land. He was one
of the 47 owners of the "Great Lots."
David Clark Pelton, the subject of this
sketch, was born in La Grange, Ohio, April
16, 1837, where he worked on his father's
farm and attended school. Later, when 18
years of age, he worked on a farm in Char-
lotte, Mich. After a short time in the latter
place he started to walk to Ionia, Mich., and
from there traveled down the river on an old
scow to Grand Haven. Walking through the
pine woods of Oceana County he slept one
night in a house at the mouth of Stoney
Creek, and was awakened during the night by
an offer of employment loading shingle bolts
on a schooner at a shilling per hour. Although
he was weary with a 35-mile walk he dressed,
and worked a stretch of 30 hours.
October 29, 1858, he married Ellen, the
daughter of Hezekiah Williams, at Benona,
Michigan. Working steadily and investing
every $40 he could save into as many acres of
pine, he soon began to accumulate a little
property. In 1861 he removed to Racine,
Wisconsin, where he started manufacturing
shingles, and prospered. He invested a por-
tion of his capital in the purchase of part of
a lake vessel, and in 1865 was considered
well off financially. Purchasing a larger in-
terest in the vessel and mortgaging his busi-
ness to do so proved an unprofitable invest-
ment, for the boat was lost and with it every-
thing he had, as it was not insured. Re-
turning to Pentwater, Michigan, he worked
in a shingle mill until he lost his index finger
and was given the position of foreman of
the out-door work. He saved enough in 1873
to purchase a towing tug, and was doing a
good towing business on the lakes when the
tug blew up and left him almost as poor as
when he first started. Going back to the
HON. DAVID CLARK PELTON.
woods again he worked as foreman for
Charles Mears from 1874 until 1880, then
went into lumbering operations, purchasing
a half interest in the A. R. Beck Company
retail yards at Chicago. In 1885-88 he
oper-
ated in Lake county, Michigan, and later
bought the Mattoon and Robinson sawmill at
Cheboygan, which he still owns and operates,
manufacturing about twenty-five million feet
per annum.
Mr. Pelton is a Republican. He was
elected mayor of Cheboygan in 1899, having
been an alderman in 1893-94. He was super-
visor of Mason County when the county seat
was located at Lincoln, Mich. Mr. Pelton's
one child, Juliette, is the wife of William
Reid, of Pelton & Reid, Cheboygan.
Mr. Pelton is a director and stockholder in
the First National bank of his city; president
of the Cheboygan Towing Company, also
treasurer of the Great Northern Protective
Association of Cheboygan, and an extensive
owner of pine lands in Wisconsin and Minne-
He is also a large stockholder in the
Ashland & Cripple Creek Gold Mining Co.,
and one of its directors.
sota.

142
MEN OF PROGRESS.
GRANT MARION MORSE.
Grant
MORSE, GRANT MARION.
Marion Morse was born in Portland town-
ship, Ionia county, November 18, 1854. His
father, Darius J. Morse, was one of the earlier
settlers in lonia county, locating in Portland
township in 1853, where he owned and oper-
ated a farin. The grandfather, Thomas J.
Morse, caine from Ontario county, New York
state, and Leonard Morse, the great-grand-
father, was a Vermonter.
Grant Marion Morse commenced his edu-
cation in the district school adjacent to his
father's farm, where he managed to sandwich
in sufficient time between his farm work to
obtain a fair amount of knowledge. He
earned his first money at the rate of 25 cents
a day, riding a colt while cultivating corn.
When he reached his seventeenth year he was
sufficiently advanced in education to enter the
Michigan Agricultural College, where he
studied from 1872 until 1874. When 18
years of age he obtained a third-grade teach-
er's certificate, and securing a position in the
school in his own district, he started to teach
the young idea. This experiment was made
more difficult by the efforts of several of his
scholars who had been his schoolmates prior
to his becoming a teacher. They made life
miserable for their pedagogue, and endeav-
ored to make his new vocation fail, but he
soon won them over and finished what was
unanimously conceded one of the most suc-
cessful terms ever taught in the district. The
money earned by teaching, and in farm work,
was used to pay young Morse's way through
college. He left school and in May, 1875,
joined his father in the purchase of a general
store and elevator at Collins, Ionia county.
He was given a half interest in this enter-
prise and in 1878 he had secured enough
money to enable him to complete the payment
for the business, and that same year he re-
turned to farming.
In 1880 he again embarked in the mer-
cantile business, and together with a partner
purchased a grocery and crockery store at
Portland, Michigan. This business venture
proved most successful and after two years he
bought out his partner and continued alone.
In 1888 he sold out, and entered the insur-
ance business. Later he added the real estate
and loan business, which he still continues.
Mr. Morse is a Republican. In 1876-77 he
was made superintendent of schools. In 1896
he was the Republican nominee for judge of
the Probate Court, but was defeated with his
ticket in the silver tide that swept the county
that year.
He is a member of the Republican
State Central Committee, and was a delegate
to the Republican National Convention in
1896. During 1888-90 he was treasurer of
Portland Village, member of the Council in
1890-92, and justice of the peace 1890-1900,
and has always been as active in the promotion
of the many industrial enterprises which have
made Portland an enviable reputation, as in
the counsels of his party. He was appointed
state game and fish warden by Governor Pin-
gree, March 16, 1899. Mr. Morse married
Sarah E. Perry, daughter of Joseph Perry, at
Lodi, Michigan, July 9, 1879. His son, Leon
G. Morse, aged 17, is at school. Mr. Morse
is a Knight Templar, Mason, K. of P., and
member of A. O. U. W.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
143
GRAHAM, HON. ROBERT D. Robert
D. Graham was born November 11, 1855,
at Union, Ontario. When he was only a year
old his parents moved to Minnesota, where
they settled upon the extreme frontier and en-
gaged in farming. During the uprising of
the Sioux Indians, when the news of it
reached the Graham household, they left their
little home to the mercy of the Indians, the
family taking refuge in the settlement. Homes
were looted and burned as the Sioux swept
through the country on their destroying raid,
but, strange to say, although they looted the
Graham house, they left it standing, the only
one for miles around.
In 1866 the family bought a small farm
near Grand Rapids, Michigan. Here the boy
received his first schooling during the winter
months, as in Minnesota there were not, at
that time, any school houses. The father em-
barked in the market gardening business, and
young Graham took the truck to market. This
necessitated getting up at three in the morn-
ing, and driving to town with the vegetables.
During the winter he was sent to the public
school at Grand Rapids, and in 1872 and
1873, in his vacation periods, he clerked in
an ice cream and confectionery store at Big
Rapids. The next two years he took up the
plumbing trade, but as his father had bought
more land and increased his output he re-
turned when 20 years old to the farm and
assisted him. In winter he read law with
E. A. Maher, of Grand Rapids, and on April
17, 1879, came before the Supreme Court
and passed his examination.
His father, having become financially crip-
pled through some bad investments. Mr.
Graham returned to the farm and his old work
at market gardening. Together with his
father, he purchased an adjoining farm, going
into debt at 10 per cent. interest for $4,500,
which, by hustling, they paid in three years'
time, when more lands were purchased and the
Grahams became large growers of fruit.
HON. ROBERT D. GRAHAM.
tor of the Fifth National Bank of Grand
Rapids, and made a Knight Templar, so he
was huckster in the morning, bank director
at noon, farmer in the afternoon and society
man at night to some Masonic party.
He is vice-president and a member of the
Executive Board of the State Horticulture
Society, a member of the executive board of
the State Agricultural Society, and a mem-
ber of several fruit growers' associations. Be-
sides being a director in the National Bank
he is also a director of the West Side Building
and Loan Association of Grand Rapids, a
director of the Citizens' Telephone Company
of Grand Rapids, and identified with several
of the important local industries. In 1899
he was elected president of the Fifth National
Bank.
He was elected supervisor of Kent County
in 1885, being the first Republican elected
in that township in over 32 years. In 1895-
'96 he was representative from the Third
District of Kent County, re-elected in 1897-
'98, and elected State Senator from the Seven-
teenth District in 1898-99.
Mr. Graham became a bendict about this
time and then resumed his place on the mar- He married Anna, daughter of Wendall
ket wagon.
Gross, at Rockford, Michigan, in 1880, and
Shortly afterwards he was elected a direc- they have one child, Josephine, aged 13.

144
MEN OF PROGRESS.
ARTHUR PERKINS LOOMIS.
LOOMIS, ARTHUR PERKINS. Arthur
Perkins Loomis was born in Berlin township,
Michigan, September 12, 1859. He attended
the district schools of the township until he
was 15 years old, then he became a scholar
at the Ionia public schools, living at home
on his father's farm and walking back and
forth several miles to school. He is still, and
has always been, identified with the farming
interest of this state, owning a farm near Ionia
at the present day.
In politics he is a Republican, adopting
that party when he became of age, and re-
maining faithful to its interests ever since.
For many years he was a member of the
county committee. He has served as direc-
tor, treasurer and secretary of the Ionia Fair
Association, and as president of the Ionia
County Farmer's Institute Society. During
the years of 1893-94-95-96, Mr. Loomis was
private secretary to Gov. John T. Rich, in
which capacity he gained an extended ac-
quaintance throughout the state, making
many friends.
After the retirement of John
T. Rich, Mr. Loomis returned to his farm,
and on May 1, 1897, he was tendered the posi-
tion of deputy state land commissioner under
William A. French, which he accepted and
holds at the present time.
A peculiar coincidence in the appointment
of Mr. Loomis to be private secretary to the
governor of Michigan was brought out in the
fact that the same day of his appointment, a
younger brother, T. M. Loomis, who had
located in the Northwest, was appointed Pri-
vate Secretary to Governor Charles H. Shel-
don, of South Dakota.
Socially, as well as in political circles, even
among the parties of the opposing political
creed, Arthur P. Loomis is well liked and
possesses a large following and many friends.
He has that happy faculty of making friends.
and keeping them, which marks the success-
ful man.
He is a member of the Grange
of Michigan, Modern Woodmen and Knights
of the Maccabees.
Mr. Loomis married Miss Carrie M. Ses-
sions, the daughter of ex-Lieutenant-Governor
Alonzo Sessions. The marriage took place at
Ionia, Michigan, Nov. 16, 1894. They have
one child, a daughter, Mary Frances Loomis,
aged four years. Mr. Loomis has a comforta-
ble and handsome residence in Berlin town-
ship, Ionia county, Michigan.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
145
CAMPBELL, HON. ANDREW. An-
drew Campbell, as his name implies, is a
Scotchman by birth, although now an Ameri-
can citizen, and is largely identified with the
progress of Michigan. He owns and operates
a large farm near Ypsilanti, Michigan, and as
a farmer he is following in the steps of his
father and his father's people before him. He
was born in Laurenston, parish of Dalrymple,
Ayrshire, Scotland, May 29, 1832, and is
68 years of age at the present writing. His
father, Robert Campbell, when Andrew was
about 11 years of age, was forced by the high
rents existing in the old country, to try his
fortunes in the new, and March 1, 1843, he
located in Augusta township, Washtenaw
county, Michigan.
The work incidental to opening up the
farm kept Andrew away from school,
except about four months, when he
managed to attend the district school and
get a glimpse of education. He helped
his father and his brother in clearing up the
farms, and attended the Normal School at
Ypsilanti, graduating in the fall of 1859. The
two winters intervening he taught a district
school at Livonia, Wayne county. Judge Dur-
fee, of Detroit, was one of his scholars. In
1861 he purchased a farm in Pittsfield town-
ship, near the University of Michigan, and for
a number of winters attended courses on his-
tory, political economy, international law, his-
tory of philosophy and ethics. To do this he
went into debt $8,200, and started operations
with only a few tools and a little stock. It re-
quired nearly 20 years to pay for his farm, and
in that time he paid out nearly $8,000 as in-
terest.
Mr. Campbell has always been a staunch
Republican, and has held many minor
township offices. In 1876 he was put up
by his party as a candidate for the Senate,
but was defeated. Ten years later he was
re-nominated for the same office, but was
beaten in the race by James Gorman. In
1896 the Republicans again placed Andrew
Campbell's name before the voters of that
HON. ANDREW CAMPBELL.
district, and he was elected to the Sen-
ate of 1897-98 against his own cousin, J.
E. McDougal, who was the opposing candi-
date. Mr. Campbell was a delegate to the
National Farmer's Congress at Chicago,
Parkersburg, West Virginia, Nashville, At-
lanta and Boston. He is one of the first advo-
cates for the good roads system, and a delegate
from this state to all national conventions. He
is also one of the original founders of the
Grange in this state, and has been a member
since 1873.
Mr. Campbell married Miss Catherine
Fisher, daughter of Daniel Fisher, and named
after General Lawton's mother, at Superior,
Michigan, October 26, 1859. He has five chil-
dren. Robert Campbell, his eldest son, is a
lawyer, practicing at Jackson, Michigan,
junior member of the firm of Parkinson &
Campbell: Anna married Rev. A. J. Covell,
of Lynn, Massachusetts; Daniel F. is an attor-
ney at Fort Worth, Kansas; Catherine, a
teacher in the public schools at South Bend,
Indiana, and James A., a student at the U.
of M.

146
MEN OF PROGRESS.
HON. FRANK SHEPHERD.
SHEPHERD, HON. FRANK. Frank
Shepherd is another in the long list of men
who have paid their own way through school
and fought through difficulties to a place in
the front ranks of the leading professional
men of this State. He was born in Dover
township, Lenawee county, Michigan, Janu-
ary 28, 1853. His father, James H. Shep-
herd, was a farmer living near Adrian, and his
grandfather was the Rev. Paul Shepherd, a
pioneer of this state and afterwards of Kansas.
His mother was a member of the McMath
family of New York and Michigan. The
young man attended the district schools of
Dover township and later the school of a
neighboring village, working as a farm hand
during the summer months to pay for his win-
ter's tuition and board. There were four boys
in the Shepherd family, and one day Frank
informed his family that there were enough
to work the 60-acre farm without him, and
that he did not intend to spend his days there,
so he secured a teacher's certificate and turned
teacher. He taught school all during the fol-
lowing fall and winter, and spent his vacation
on the farm. He then became a student at
the State Normal in Ypsilanti, taught again
during vacation and carrying out the same
plan, attended Adrian and Oberlin Colleges.
His parents were not in a position to assist him,
so he taught school to pay his way through col-
lege. After five years of this life he found em-
ployment as a clerk at Adrian, and .then en-
tered the law office of the firm of Stay & Un-
derwood, of that city, as a student, and re-
mained with them until he was admitted to the
bar in 1878. The following year he removed
to Cheboygan, Michigan, where he spent his
first year and his savings in an effort to build
up a law practice. For some years prior to
Jan. 1, 1900, he was the senior member of
the firm of Shepherd & Rielly, of Cheboygan,
and is now circuit judge of the twenty-ninth
judicial circuit.
In politics, Mr. Shepherd is a Republican.
He was prosecuting attorney of Cheboygan
county 1880-1884, appointed judge of Probate
Court in 1886 and elected to same office in
1888, and was a member of the Board of Con-
trol of Upper Peninsula Prison in 1890-91,
and elected to the Legislature as representative
from the Cheboygan district in 1897-98 by a
vote of 4,021 to 3,409 for James F. Maloney,
Democratic-People's Union Silver candidate.
During this term of office he acted as chairman
on the committee on roads and bridges and
served on the judiciary committee. Mr. Shep-
herd was re-elected to the house in 1898 and
was chairman of the judiciary committee. In
the spring of 1899, while still in attendance at
the session of the Legislature, he was nomi-
nated by the Republican convention and
elected circuit judge of the thirty-third judi-
cial circuit by over 650 majority. He took
his seat January 1, 1900.
In February, 1879, Judge Shepherd mar-
ried Miss Susan, daughter of James A. McMil-
lan, at Deerfield, Michigan. They have three
children: James F., Mary Ethel, and George
Ralph, and have lost one--Katharine-by
death.
Judge Shepherd is a Chapter Mason, be-
longs to the Knights of Pythias, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen
and Knights of the Maccabees.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
147
OREN, HON. HORACE MANN. At-
torney-General Horace Mann Oren, of the
state of Michigan, was born on a farm in
Clinton county, near Oakland, Ohio, Febru-
ary 3, 1859. His father, Charles Oren, was
a school teacher at the opening of the civil
war. In 1863 he enlisted a company of col-
ored troops in southern Ohio, and he was
mustered in as their captain in the Fifth U.
S. Colored Troops. Capt. Oren was killed
in the siege of Petersburg in July, 1864.
His death threw the entire support of the
little family that was left upon his mother.
She taught school in southern Ohio and in
1868 moved to Indianapolis, Ind., where she
took a position in the Indianapolis High
School. In 1873 she was elected state libra-
rian of Indiana, being the first woman to oc-
cupy that position. Young Oren attended
the public schools, and assisted his mother in
various ways.
He carried papers, was assist-
ant in the State Library and the Indianapolis
public library. He graduated from the In-
dianapolis High School in 1877 and in the
same year entered the Literary Department
of the University of Michigan, where he
graduated in 1881. Upon his graduation
from the Literary he entered the Law Depart-
ment, where he studied until he graduated in
1883.
Before he finished his law course, however,
he had been offered a position on the "Soo
News," at Sault Ste. Marie, which he ac-
cepted, returning to the University to gradu-
ate and going back again to the newspaper
business.
For a term of years he divided his attention
between his journalistic work and his profes-
sion as an attorney, giving up the former in
1885 to attend to his growing law practice.
In November, 1898, he was elected to his
present office, attorney-general of Michigan,
and he assumed his place January 1, 1899.
Mr. Oren has always been prominently
identified with the Republican party, and has
held several other offices prior to taking the
place he now holds. He has been village
HON. HORACE MANN OREN.
clerk, justice of the peace, circuit court com-
missioner, city and prosecuting attorney.
Mr. Oren was married in Grindstone City,
Huron county,
Huron county, Michigan, January 1, 1890,
to Miss Margaret J. Wallace. They have
two children, Robert Oren, aged nine, and
Chase Osborn, aged three years.
Mr. Oren's ancestry has an interesting his-
tory. His great-great-grandfather, Joseph
Oren, was a Quaker and lived in York county,
Pennsylvania. During the Revolutionary
war it is reported that his house was burned
by the Tories and his family of ten children
were turned out in the snow and had to live
through the winter in the barn. His great-
grandfather, John Oren, emigrated to eastern
Tennessee in the latter part of the last cen-
tury and his grandfather, Elihu Oren, was
born there in 1809. In 1810 the family
moved to Clinton county, Ohio.
On his mother's side, his grandfather was
Abraham Allen, a Scotch-Irish Quaker. He
was a noted Abolitionist in his day and one of
the most persistent men of his time in operat-
ing the "Underground Railroad" system
through that part of Ohio.

148
MEN OF PROGRESS.
MICHAEL JARDAN MAGEE.
MAGEE, MICHAEL JARDAN. The
"Soo Democrat" is the only Democratic paper
published in Chippewa county and is one of
the leading weeklies of the Upper Peninsula.
The proprietor and manager, Michael Jardan
Magee, has been active in furthering the in-
terests of the Democratic party in his section
of the State ever since he came to Michigan.
M. J. Magee was born in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, in October, 1862. His father,
James F. Magee, was a well-known manufac-
turing chemist in that city, and his grand-
father, Michael Magee, was a manufacturer
and wholesale dealer in saddlery and leather
goods, doing business in Philadelphia and
New Orleans. The family are of Scotch-
Irish ancestry and are of the Protestant faith.
Mr. Magee attended the "Friends" school
in his native city until he was 16 years of
age, and then entered the Polytechnic
College of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia,
graduating in 1881 as a mining and civil en-
gineer. The summer following his gradua-
tion he went west in order to find a field in
which to practice his profession, and located
in a mining town named Hancock, in Col-
orado. Here for the next three years he fol-
lowed the business of a prospector's assayist,
surveyor and mining engineering. He devoted
most of his time to surveying and developing
the many mining properties that came into
prominence during the silver excitement, buy-
ing and selling mining properties and locating
several important mines. He maintained
his assay office at Hancock and prospered
during the boom. Returning to Philadel-
phia in 1884 he entered the manufacturing
business under the firm name of the Cam-
den Thread Company, of which he was the
proprietor and
and manager. The company
manufactured finished threads and spool cot-
ton and was eminently prosperous; in 1888 a
desirable offer was made for the plant and Mr.
Magee sold out. A visit to Sault Ste. Marie
in this year resulted in Mr. Magee engaging
in the real estate and insurance business in
that city, purchasing several large blocks of
property both in that city and the Canadian.
Soo.
In 1891 he first became interested in the
"Soo Democrat" and purchasing the interest
of D. W. Brownell he undertook what has
proved the successful management of the
paper in partnership with John E. Burchard,
whom he afterwards bought out and thus be-
came the sole proprietor. The Democrat is
the official organ of the Democratic party in
that county and has a circulation of over
2,500. Mr. Magee has been a delegate to the
state conventions on many occasions, and in
1896 was a delegate to the National conven-
tion at Chicago, opposing the adoption of the
free silver platform.
In 1891 he married Miss Mary Emma
Miskey, at Media, Pennsylvania, and they
have two children, both girls, Elizabeth and
Cynthia, aged respectively seven and five
years.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
149
BIRD, ARTHUR C. In promoting the
farming industry in this state, Arthur C.
Bird has been actively engaged for many
years. He has made a life study of his work,
and through his agency much eastern capital
has been invested in Michigan farming lands,
and the wealth of the state has been increased
in consequence.
His people before him were engaged in
agricultural pursuits, his grandfather, Gard-
ner C. Bird, coming to this state from Nor-
wich, Connecticut, many years ago, and being
one of the first settlers in Oakland county.
A. C. Bird was born in Highland, Michi-
gan, May 22, 1864. Two miles from his
home was the little district school, where his
education was commenced, and thither, when
old enough to attend school up to the time he
was 15 years of age, he walked every day.
Working at odd jobs now and then, he saved
enough money to enter the Agricultural Col-
lege of this state in his fifteenth year. He
took a four years' course, graduating at the
age of 19. During his vacations he worked
in his grandfather's bank at Fenton, Michi-
gan, thus securing a practical business educa-
tion. It was his intention to enter the bank-
ing business upon leaving college, but his
grandfather died shortly before the close of
the term and the bank was closed by the estate.
He then engaged in farming on his own ac-
count, buying 110 acres, which he afterwards
increased to 280 acres. His knowledge of the
work, together with his practical business train-
ing brought him much success as a farmer.
In 1893 his Alma Mater granted him the
special degree of Master of Agriculture on ac-
count of his marked success in his chosen voca-
tion. This was the first degree of its kind
granted by the college to an alumnus.
For the past ten years he has been the
Michigan agent for several eastern capital-
ists, advising them and placing their money
in farming properties throughout southern
Michigan.
Mr. Bird is one of the founders of the
Farmers' Club of Michigan, an association
that has been beneficial to the industry in
ARTHUR CRANSON BIRD,
bringing its members in close contact with
each other for the exchange of ideas
that tend to advance the science of farm-
ing. He conceived the plan, and was instru-
mental in organizing the State Association of
Farmers' Clubs. There are about three hun-
dred and fifty such clubs in Michigan at the
present time, and the membership amounts to
30,000. While a student at the Agricultural
College, Mr. Bird was the editor of the col-
lege paper, and for several years he has edited
the Farmer's Club department of the Michi-
gan Farmer.
Mr. Bird is one of the directors and is also
the largest stockholder in the West Michigan
Nurseries, a very large and flourishing enter-
prise located at Benton Harbor, Michigan.
He is also secretary of the Michigan Agricul-
tural College. From 1897 to 1899 he was a
member of the State Board of Agriculture.
Mr. Bird is an honored frater in the Masonic
fraternity. He was married at Highland,
Michigan to Miss Josephine S. St. John,
daughter of William St. John, of that place,
on August 16th, 1889. They have two chil-
dren.

150
MEN OF PROGRESS.
HON. JOHN HOLBROOK.
HOLBROOK, HON. JOHN. Hon John
Holbrook, chief deputy, Bureau of Labor and
Industrial Statistics, at Lansing, Michigan,
first came into political prominence during
the gubernatorial campaign of 1890, when in
that year at the State Convention, held in
Detroit, he nominated Hon. James M. Turner
for the Republican nominee for governor.
Mr. Holbrook was born in New York state,
at North Chili, October 1, 1848. His father
moved to Michigan the same year, locating on
a farm near Delhi township, Ingham county.
Here the boy attended the district schools at
Delhi, until he was 17 years old, when he
was sent to a school managed by M. V. Rork,
at Lansing. Working on the farm during
vacations, and earning a few dollars in that
way, he managed to keep up his school days
until when 18 years of age he himself became
a teacher of the young idea, teaching in the
various schools throughout the district until
he was 25. His uncle, D. C. Holbrook, an
attorney in Detroit, offered him a position in
his office at one time, but as young Holbrook
was earning $16 a month as a farm-hand he
thought it better to refuse. October 23,
1873, he married Mrs. Lydia M. Skinner,
daughter of William Reeves, at Lansing,
Michigan, and purchased a farm in Lansing
township, where he intended to settle down
in the quietude of a farmer's life. He oper-
ated the farm with moderate success until
1889, when the active political life in which
he had become involved necessitated his re-
moval to Lansing.
While living in Delhi township he was
elected township treasurer, being the first Re-
publican elected to that office in the township
for 20 years.
In 1875 he was elected town-
ship clerk, and the same year made super-
visor, in which position he acted until 1879.
Mr. Holbrook was the Republican candidate
for register of deeds of Ingham county in
1882, when the county had 1,200 Democratic
majority, and was defeated. In 1886 he was
elected state senator from what was then the
Fourteenth Senatorial District, and he served
during the session of 1887-88. Re-elected to
this office, he served the two sessions follow-
ing, in 1889-90.
Governor Luce in 1890 appointed Mr. Hol-
brook chief deputy oil inspector for the years
of 1890-91, and in March, 1897, he was ap-
pointed deputy labor commissioner under
Joseph L. Cox, and re-appointed in 1899.
Mr. Holbrook is, at the present writing, a
member of the Republican State Central
Committee.
During the years of 1883-84-85 Mr. Hol-
brook was lecturer of the State Grange, and
in 1886-87 was the overseer of the Grange.
His tireless activity in the cause of his party,
and his capacity for organization, has been
the means of pushing him well toward the
front ranks of the Republican party and
making him one of the leading Republicans
in this state. He is one of the organizers of
the Zach Chandler Club of Ingham county,
and a member of that well known body, the
Michigan Club, of Detroit, Michigan.
Mr. Holbrook is a Mason and has taken the
Scottish Rite degrees up to and including the
32d, and is also a member of the Knights of
the Maccabees and of the Eastern Star.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
151
PIERCE, HON. CHARLES SUMNER.
Hon. Charles Sumner Pierce is a direct de-
scendant of Captain William Pierce, who
lived in the early part of the sixteenth cen-
tury, 1590. He was a sea captain, com-
manding the "Betsey and Ellen," which
brought over from England Roger Williams
and his wife Mary, Nov. 29, 1831, and later
Governor Winthrop and his wife. He also
brought the first cattle to America from Eng-
land. Captain Michael Pierce, of Scituate,
Massachusetts, the son of Captain William
Pierce, took a prominent part in the history
of the early New England colonies. He was
born in 1615, and was killed Sunday, March
26, 1676. His death occurred during one of
the many Indian wars, when, together with
50 settlers, the valiant captain was sur-
rounded by the Indians. History states that
they placed themselves back to back and
fought until every man was killed.
Charles Sumner Pierce was born on a farm
at Redford, Wayne county, Michigan, June
12, 1858. He worked at farming and at-
tended the district schools until he was 20
years of age. He earned his first money at
14, picking up potatoes at two cents a bushel,
and when his earnings reached $30 he in-
vested that amount in a pair of steers, which
he sold the following spring for twice as
much as he paid for them. He added $10
more to this and bought a colt, selling that a
year later for $140. At 20 years of age he
was thus able to attend the State Normal
School, paying his own expenses, and taking
a course in German and Latin. He was class
orator when he graduated, in 1882. Shortly
after leaving school he was tendered the posi-
tion of principal in the Au Sable public school,
which he accepted and held for two years.
While in this position he purchased and pub-
lished the newspaper "Saturday Night," of
which he is still proprietor. In 1885 he en-
tered the Law Department of the University
of Michigan, graduating with the class of
1887.
After graduating he returned to Oscoda
and opened a law office. In 1891 he was
HON. CHARLES SUMNER PIERCE.
made county commissioner of schools, re-
maining so until 1893. In 1893 he was
nominated for state senator on the Republi-
can ticket. The district in 1891 had gone
overwhelmingly Democratic, but Mr. Pierce
was elected by 640 majority. During the
session of 1895 he was senate clerk of the
committee on apportionment. He was chosen
secretary of the State Senate in 1897. He
was made postmaster of Oscoda in 1898, but
resigned about a year later, having been re-
elected secretary of the Senate of 1899. He
has been for several years, and still is, a mem-
ber and secretary of the board of education of
Oscoda, and was attorney of Oscoda village for
several years, and has held other local offices.
Mr. Pierce married in 1889, at Detroit,
Michigan, Frances Barnard, daughter of Mrs.
Mortimer L. Smith. He has three children.
He is a member of the Knights of Pythias,
of the National Union, and the Loyal Guard.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Pierce has won
the respect and confidence of the members of
his party and his constituents. His home is
in Oscoda, Michigan, where, when not attend-
ing to his duties in the Senate, he spends most
of his time.

152
MEN OF PROGRESS.
GEORGE WASHINGTON STONE.
STONE, GEORGE WASHINGTON.
Pathos and romance have taken a large part
in the career of George W. Stone, now the
receiver of the Central Michigan Savings
Bank at Lansing, Michigan, and a capitalist
of that city. His father was Captain Will-
iam Timmons, of Newbern, N. C., engaged
in the West India trade. His mother was of
Irish descent and Catholic parentage. George
George
was born in Newbern, N. C., August 27,
1849. His mother and father differed over
their religious beliefs, and eventually separ-
ated, the mother taking the children and
going to New York. Here she met with re-
Here she met with re-
verses, and the boy was found on the streets
by the Children's Aid Society, and together
with his brother Joe was sent west with 31
other waifs. The two brothers were adopted
by Simon A. Stone, a farmer in Albion, Mich-
igan, but when George reached his thirteenth
year he ran away to enlist as a drummer boy
in Company D, First Michigan Sharpshoot-
ers. The little lad became a great favorite in
the company, and the officers taking an in-
terest in the youthful soldier, bought books
and aided him in learning to read and write.
A romantic incident connected with his life
in the army was the receiving of a needle-
case, sent by the patriotic women of Penn-
sylvania, in which he found a note from a
girl who later turned out to be his lost sister.
Returning to Albion at the close of his ser-
vice, he went to school there, and later at-
tended Albion College for two years. After
this he engaged in business in partnership
with C. D. Comstock, and built up a success-
ful trade in dry goods and groceries. In
1870 he decided to remove to Petersburg, Vir-
ginia. Here he manufactured lumber, staves
and heading, but met with business reverses
and lost everything. He then started for the
Dakotas, but only managed to get as far as
Buffalo, New York, when he found himself
without a dollar.
Here he started in business with no other
capital than his nerve. He bought with this
a canal boat, horses and paint, painted the
boat himself, and soon secured a contract for
carrying lumber. In 60 days he had paid
for his outfit. That fall he lost all his horses,
and so he sold out and moved to Lapeer,
Michigan, where he engaged in the grocery
business and ran a store until 1883. A stroke
of paralysis came along about this time, and
he sold out again, and took a clerkship in
the auditor-general's office at Lansing, Mich-
igan. In 1885 he went to Dakota and
founded the town of Hoskins, now the county
seat of Mackintosh county. Here he engaged
in business, prospered and returned with some
capital to Harrison, Michigan, where he be-
gan the manufacture of lumber in partner-
ship with Wilson & Son, under the name of
Wilson, Stone & Wilson. He sold out in 1894.
Mr. Stone was city clerk of Lapeer in 1880,
clerk of the United States District Court, Da-
kota Territory, 1884-5; county clerk of Clare
county, Michigan, 1888-90, and auditor-gen-
eral, state of Michigan, 1890-92. He mar-
ried Miss Kittie A., daughter of Osman Rice,
of Albion, in that city, in 1869. Their son,
Fred G. Stone, is chief clerk in the United
States pension office at Detroit.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
153
CONNINE, HON. MAIN J. Starting in
life as a poor boy, working on his father's
farm, and attending school only when the sea-
sons between planting, growing and harvest-
ing would permit his absence from agricul-
tural labors, Main J. Connine worked himself
up from his lowly position until now he is
circuit judge of the Twenty-third Judicial
Circuit.
He was born at Pokagon, Michigan, July 7,
1853. His father was a farmer in humble
circumstances, and until he was 19 years of
age the boy assisted in the work of the farm,
going to school in the winter. His nineteenth
year, however, was the year of his emancipa-
tion from farm life. He obtained a third-
grade teacher's certificate and earned his first
money, $35 per month, teaching school in
Grand Traverse county. With his savings
he was enabled the following summer to at-
tend the Dowagiac High School, where he
remained until the next winter, and then re-
sumed school teaching for two seasons. In
1874 he became a student at the Valparaiso
Normal School at Valparaiso, Indiana, and
during his vacation he turned book agent or
worked on the farm, in order to obtain the
money necessary to live and complete his
course of studies. His lack of means and
shabby clothes frequently made him feel like
giving up the struggle, but through privation
and self-denial he kept on. His father and
grandfather signed a note for him that assisted
the boy to complete his last term, taking the
degree of B. S. He was a clever penman,
and his fancy pen work brought him in a little
money, so that when he left school he was
only $24 in debt. That fall he was made
principal of the schools in Mt. Vernon, Indi-
ana, at a salary of $800 a year, which gave
him enough to enter the Law Department of
the University of Michigan the following
year. He remained at the University for one
year and the next was offered the principal-
ship of the public schools at Douglass, Michi-
gan, which he accepted, and held two years.
He held a similar position the year after at
Champion, in the Upper Peninsula.
HON. MAIN J. CONNINE.
During this period and for five years,
nights, Saturdays and vacations, he was dili-
gently studying law. When vacation periods
gave him the opportunity, he entered the law
office of the now Judge Padgham, of Allegan,
where he studied until he was admitted to the
bar at Traverse City by Circuit Judge Rams-
dall.
His first individual office was opened up at
Grayling, Michigan. He was extremely for-
tunate in securing several good clients and
winning some hard-fought cases in the first
year of his practice, and his success was almost
immediate. He confined himself largely to
civil practice, remaining in Grayling until
1888 and then removing to Oscoda.
He was commissioner of the Circuit Court
of Crawford county, 1884-85; prosecuting at-
torney for Crawford county, 1885-87; prose-
cuting attorney, Iosco county, 1890, 1892-
93-94, and elected circuit judge of the
Twenty-third District on the Republican
ticket, with no opposing candidates.
Judge Connine married Miss Ella Bur-
roughs at Crawfordsville, Indiana, in 1877.
They have two children. Judge Connine is
a Mason and Knight Templar and a member
of the K. O. T. M.

154
MEN OF PROGRESS.
ARTHUR MARTIN GEROW, M. D.
GEROW, M. D., ARTHUR MARTIN.
Dr. Arthur Martin Gerow, of Cheboygan,
Michigan, owner of several large business
blocks in that city, where he also practices
his profession of physician and surgeon, was
born in Belleville, Ontario, March 7, 1845.
He attended the village school during the
winter terms and worked in a sawmill during
the summer until he was 17 years of age,
when he obtained a Second certificate, and
after teaching one year went to the Toronto
Normal School, graduating therefrom in De-
cember, 1863. He earned $250 the first
year in this profession, and $300 the second,
reading medicine during vacations in the of-
fices of Drs. Parker and Bradley, of Sterling.
Then, having earned money enough to pay his
tuition, he entered the Royal College of Phy-
sicians and Surgeons at Kingston, Ont., where
he remained one year.
He then entered the
Buffalo Medical College in Buffalo, New
York, from which he graduated February,
1868. He hung out his sign in Galena, Illi-
nois, for three months and then sought more
promising fields. That fall he went to Che-
boygan with $40 in his pocket, his medicine
case and diploma as a basis to commence a new
practice. There he found a population of
about 200 healthy people who did not seem to
require the services of a young graduate and
his finances soon became exhausted, forcing
him to seek employment or leave town. He
was offered a position in a store, where he
made up his mind to stay until he could earn
enough money to take him to Kansas City. He
earned about $60 a month in the store and
soon began to add to his income with a little
practice. In 1869 he had accumulated
enough money to open a small drug store and
from that time on he commenced to make
money and build up a good practice, so that
in 1883 he was able to sell out the store and
devote his entire time to the practice of his
profession.
Dr. Gerow purchased considerable property
in the village during his successful years, put-
ting a great deal of his spare capital into busi-
embarrassed financially and at one time con-
ness lots, and in 1873 he became very much
templated selling out. He managed to hold
on, however, until the dull times passed over,
and the property has increased in value until
today it is some of the most valuable in Che-
including the Gerow block, and owns nearly
boygan. He has built several business blocks,
a whole block of stores and business houses,
from which he receives a good income. Of
late years he has taken up the fruit culture
and now owns the largest orchard in the state,
having 200 acres of apple trees, and still
planting.
Dr. Gerow has always been identified with
the Republican party and is one of the push-
ing business men of Cheboygan. He is one
He was
of the directors of the Business Men's Asso-
ciation of that city and president of the Great
Northern Accident Insurance Co.
elected president of the village of Cheboygan
in 1885, and was president and member of
the school board for 24 years. He married in
1874, at Cheboygan, Mary, daughter of John
McDonald. Dr. Gerow is a Chapter Mason.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
155
GARDENER, COLONEL CORNELIUS.
May 2, 1898, at the breaking out of the Span-
ish-American war, Governor Pingree recom-
mended to the then Secretary of War, Russell
A. Alger, of Michigan, Captain Cornelius
Gardener of the Nineteenth United States In-
fantry, stationed at Fort Wayne, for appoint-
ment as colonel of the Thirty-first Michigan
Volunteers, which was the first regiment to
leave Michigan for service in the war.
Colonel Gardener is the son of Rev. Wy-
nand Gardener, a clergyman who left the
Netherlands on account of religious persecu-
tion and brought his small congregation to
Michigan, settling in Kalamazoo in 1852.
Col. Gardener was born September 4, 1849,
and when the boy was six years of age his
father died, and he was sent to live with his
guardian at Ottawa county, Michigan.
He
*
U.S.
COL. CORNELIUS GARDENER.
Navajoes in 1879, and received his commis-
sion the same year as first lieutenant. He
served on the Rio Grande river for nine years,
engaging at times in scouting duty against
Mexican raiders, cattle thieves and border
ruffians. In 1891 he received his commission
as captain of the Nineteenth United States In-
fantry, and the same year was appointed by
the War Department inspector of the Michi-
gan National Guard encampments for 1891-
92. In 1897 he was appointed to the same
position on permanent duty.
was sent to the different schools in the neigh-
borhood, and later to the Academy at Holland
and Hope College. At the close of his sopho-
more year in the latter he was given a position
in the postoffice at Grand Rapids. In 1869,
on recommendation of Senator Thomas W.
Ferry, he was admitted as a cadet at the Mili-
tary Academy of West Point, from which he
graduated in 1873. Entering the United
States army, he took part in suppressing the
various Indian uprisings in the far west, serv-
ing on the plains of the Indian Territory,
Kansas, New Mexico and Texas, from 1874
until 1890. He was with Gen. Miles during
his campaign against the Cheyenne and Ara-
pahoe Indians, and in 1874-75 was adjutant
of the column, under Col. Lewis, operating
against the hostiles at Republican river, in
Kansas, during which Col. Lewis met his
death. He was adjutant and quartermaster
in Col. Buell's column against the Utes and
As colonel of the Thirty-first Michigan
Volunteer Infantry he served with his regi-
ment at Chickamauga Park, Knoxville, Sa-
vannah and in Cuba, until the regiment was
mustered out, May 17, 1899, at Savannah,
Georgia. He was extremely popular with his
men. During the war he commanded for sev-
eral months the First Brigade, Second Divis-
ion, First Corps, and the First Brigade, First
Division, First Corps.

156
MEN OF PROGRESS.
WILLIAM MARTIN BEEKMAN.
BEEKMAN, WILLIAM MARTIN. One
of the Republican leaders in Eaton county,
Michigan, William Martin Beekman, now the
postmaster at Charlotte, has done much for
his party in that section of the state and is
recognized as one of the progressive and influ-
ential citizens.
His ancestors, as the name implies, were of
the old Dutch colonial stock that settled in
New Amsterdam, when what is now the
Greater New York was only a cluster of
quaint Dutch houses on the extreme point of
Manhattan Island, looking out over New
York bay. Mr. Beekman traces his ancestry
back to one Harman Lutgers, who was on the
staff of General George Washington, and
campaigned with him during the early part of
the revolutionary war. He is also a direct de-
scendant of William Bedlow, first president
of New York in 1755, and formerly owner of
Bedlow's Island. The name of Beekman has
spread all over New York state, and in that
section where Washington Irving has located.
most of his quaint sketches and stories, the
Beekman family is very much in evidence.
William Martin Beekman was born in Chester
township, Eaton county, Michigan, January
2, 1843.
When he reached the proper age he was
sent to the district school, where he attended
until he was 10 years old, and then was
obliged to spend the summer and autumn
months working on the farm, and allowed to
attend school again in the winter. In the
spring of 1861 he began to learn the car-
pentering trade, and was progressing at it
when Lincoln's call for 100,000 men swept
over the country. Young Beekman dropped
his plane, before he had even had a fair ac-
quaintance with it, and enlisted August 11,
1861, in Company B, Second Michigan Cav-
alry. The regiment rendezvoused at Camp
Anderson, Grand Rapids, and in November
was ordered to St. Louis, Missouri. Later it
was brigaded with the Second Iowa Cavalry.
Mr. Beekman again re-enlisted in the same
company and regiment, and later was made
orderly sergeant. In June, 1865, he was
commissioned second lieutenant, but not mus-
tered. To the company in which Mr. Beek-
man fought belongs the honor of firing the
last shot in the civil war, east of the Missis-
sippi river, in an engagement that occurred
twelve days after General Lee had handed his
sword to General Grant at Appomatox.
Mr. Beekman was mustered out August 17,
1865, and immediately returned to his home
in Eaton county. He had saved about $600
during his term of service, which, together
with some live stock he owned, was enough
to purchase a small farm near his father's,
and take up farming
up farming as a vocation.
In the fall of 1886 he was elected register
of deeds, and moved to Charlotte, where he
now resides.
In March, 1866, he married Christinia,
daughter of Davis Pugh, of Eaton county.
Mrs. Beekman died a few years ago, leaving
two children. Martin Henry died in 1889,
age 14 years. The daughter is Mrs. Mark-
ham, of Charlotte.
Mr. Beekman is a Mason, a member of
Charlotte Commandery, No. 37; K. P., No.
53, and also a member of C. S. Williams
Post, No. 40, G. A. R.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
157
HILL, GEORGE RICHARDS. George
Richards Hill was born at Auburn, Maine,
November 28, 1867. His father was General
Jonathan Hill of Stetson, Maine, who was
colonel of the Eleventh Maine Infantry and
breveted major-general. His mother was
Lucy Richards, daughter of a prominent min-
ister of the Methodist church. George Hill
attended the village schools until he was 13
years of age, when he was sent to the River
View Military Academy, in New York State,
where he was prepared for West Point.
His training school experience, however, de-
cided the young man against the West Point
Academy, so after leaving River View he
was put to work in a tannery of which his
father was part owner. Young Hill was gen-
eral utility man about the plant, and took the
place of any absentees. When winter arrived
he was given one of the poorest and most balky
teams owned by the concern and put to work
drawing bark. Cold lunches and the obstinate
team sickened him of the job, and he made up
his mind to start out for himself. His father
made him a liberal offer then, but young Hill
had decided to go south, and he left New
York city on Thanksgiving day in 1886 on a
trading steamer bound for St. Augustine,
Fla., paying his own way. Three friends
went with him and upon arrival at their desti-
nation found work readily on the Ponce de
Leon hotel, then in course of construction, but
young Hill was unfortunate in wearing good
clothes, and although he told would-be em-
ployers that he could do "anything," they
sized up
his clothes and told him they wanted
mechanics. The young man hustled around,
living on one meal a day, until he struck a
job on a railroad as brakesman on the down
trip, and the baggagemaster on the return, re-
ceiving $2€ a month, and had to board him-
self. He labored 16 hours a day loading
oranges, pushing freight and baggage. The
oranges were packed in barrels and loaded on
flat cars, and one of the duties of the brakes-
man was to put out the fires caused by the
sparks from the wood-burning locomotives,
which ignited the burlap over the fruit. The
GEORGE RICHARDS HILL.
following fall he was tendered the position of
clerk in the St. George Hotel at St. Augus-
tine.
He remained there until spring, when
he took the position of bookkeeper in the tan-
nery at Forest Port, N. Y., then owned by
his father and Thos. E. Proctor, of Boston,
Mass., the founder and first president of the
United States Leather Co. He closed out this
business on account of the scarcity of bark
(hemlock) and took the management of the
tannery at Athens, also owned by Proctor &
Hill. When the tanneries were absorbed by
the U. S. Leather Co., he was retained as
superintendent, until he resigned in 1896 to
end of the Munising Leather Co.
accept the management of the manufacturing
In 1893 Mr. Hill helped to organize the
Farmers' National Bank of Athens, Pennsyl-
vania, and was one of the directors of that
institution until he moved west; but is still
one of the stockholders. He formed a part-
nership in 1899 with R. J. Clark, and pur-
chased the hemlock timber on 184,000 acres
of land in Alger county, Michigan, where the
company is now manufacturing the product.
In 1891 Mr. Hill married Mabel Louise,
daughter of Edward Livingstone Snow, of
Boonville, N. Y., and to them were born four
children Donald, Dorothy, John and
George, Jr., of whom the latter two only sur-
vive.

158
MEN OF PROGRESS.
JOHN D. LANGELL.
Langell first came in contact with that trade
and received his only mechanical education
and experience. Commencing when a very
young man, he learned all the different
branches of the trade, and became skilled in
handling the various tools of the shipbuild-
er's outfit. John was still in his teens when
his father finding difficulty in securing a suit-
able superintendent for an important depart-
ment in his works, called the boy from school
and installed him in the position. He was
instructed in the department by his father,
and taking hold with a will, soon acquired a
familiarity with the business.
He remained with his father until January
7, 1899, when the Detroit company, search-
ing for a man to take entire charge of their
Orleans street docks and shipbuilding works,
offered him three months' trial in the position.
He accepted and at the end of the three trial
months, he was informed that the company
was satisfied with his work and wished him to
retain the position.
At the present writing Mr. Langell is un-
married. He is a member of Palmer Lodge,
the various chairs in that lodge.
LANGELL, JOHN D. John D. Langell,
the present superintendent of the Dry Dock
and Shipbuilding Departments of the Detroit
Shipbuilding Company's plant, at the foot of
Orleans street, Detroit, Michigan, was born in Knights of Pythias, and has been through
St. Clair, St. Clair county, Michigan, June 27,
1865. His educational opportunities were
limited to an incomplete course at the St.
Clair city schools, supplemented later on by
a course at the Spencerian Commercial Col-
lege, at Cleveland, Ohio, at which latter place
he received a business education that has
served him excellently in making his way in
the business world.
His father, Hon. Simon Langell, is a ship-
builder, and for many years, since 1863, has
maintained a shipbuilding plant at St. Clair,
doing a limited business in that line, but
noted for the excellency of the work turned
out by the plant. His mother, whose maiden
name was Helen M. Decoe, was formerly a
teacher in the schools of St. Clair county,
where she met and married, in 1859, the
father of the subject of this sketch. Mrs.
Langell died in 1893.
In his father's shipbuilding yard young
He
Mr. Langell has many friends, and the fac-
ulty of keeping them. As a practical ship-
builder, Mr. Langell, through his early train-
ing in that profession, is considered one of the
most practical and skillful on the lakes. He
has a thorough knowledge of every depart
ment, and if need be can take hold of any
branch of the work of constructions. He is
well liked by the men under him and possesses
their confidence as well as their esteem.
is a young man to occupy so important a posi-
tion, being only 35 years
of age at the present
writing, yet he has a keen business percep-
tion, which, coupled with his brief term at
the Commercial College, has given him exec-
utive ability of considerable scope and power.
Mr. Langell has never had time to devote to
politics, for he has been a busy man all his
life. He lives in Detroit, and occasionally
finds time to visit his father in the old home
at St. Clair.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
159
HAMBITZER, JOSEPH F. Joseph F.
Hambitzer, of Houghton, Michigan, is a self-
made and self-educated man.
He was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin,
December 13, 1857. He is of German par-
entage, his father, William Hambitzer, being
a physician who came to this country from
Colon, Germany, in 1852. Young Ham-
bitzer was sent to the village school at British
Hollow, Grant County, Wisconsin, where he
remained until he was 14 years of age, and
left to go to work as an errand boy in a dry
goods store at Platteville, Wisconsin. He
worked in this capacity for two years, and
then left Wisconsin and went to Hancock in
search of employment, but after looking
around for some time he finally had to go to
work as a trammer in the Concord mine, now
a part of the Arcadian Copper Company's
property. He practiced running a drill, and in
six months had mastered the tool sufficiently
well to become a miner, and as such he
worked until 1878. He took up the study
of arithmetic, grammar and history, and in
the fall attended a teacher's examination,
passed and was given a third grade certificate.
For a year he taught school in Franklin Town-
ship at $65 per month, and the following three
years he was clerk in the Hancock postoffice
under Thomas N. Lee. The next five years
he acted as deputy postmaster under M. L.
Cardell. During the following two years he
read with Chandler, Grant & Gray, and in
the fall of 1886 was elected county treasurer
of Houghton County, and re-elected without
opposition in 1888. In the fall of 1892 Mr.
Hambitzer was nominated for State Treasurer
of Michigan on the Republican ticket in op-
position to the Republican State Central Com-
mittee. In the spring of 1894 Mr. Hambitzer
was asked to resign the office of state treasurer
altogether, in company with the other mem-
bers of the state board of canvassers, secretary
of state and state land commissioner, because
they had not discovered that the tabulation of
votes made in the secretary of state's office had
been padded and forged.
JOSEPH F. HAMBITZER.
the case in the Supreme Court, which tribunal
held that the governor was sole judge of what
constituted negligence for which he could re-
move state officials, and so in March, 1894,
Mr. Hambitzer resigned the state treasurer-
ship. Returning to Houghton, Michigan, he
remained there for a short period and then
left to enter the law firm of Ball & Ball at
Marquette, and March 6, 1895, he was ad-
mitted to the bar by Judge John W. Stone
and commenced his practice at Houghton,
Michigan, where today he is one of the lead-
ing attorneys of the Upper Peninsula.
Mr. Hambitzer was appointed Deputy Oil
Inspector July 1, 1897, and reappointed to
this office July 5, 1899. In 1882 he married
Miss Emma Nichols, daughter of Stephen
Nichols, a carpenter boss at Quincy, Michi-
gan. The marriage took place at Hancock.
Two children have been the result of that
union, Blanche and Mabel, both of whom are
in Chicago attending the Chicago Conserva-
tory of Music.
Mr. Hambitzer is a Mason, and belongs to
the Knights of Pythias, Benevolent Protec-
tive Order of Elks and the Knights of the
Mr. Hambitzer refused to resign and fought Maccabees.

160
MEN OF PROGRESS.
JOHN IRA BELLAIRE.
BELLAIRE, JOHN IRA. The history
of John Ira Bellaire's early life is one of
struggles and privations. The boy scrambled
along through life unassisted, working hard
for every little advance he made, and going
without many of those things which makes
the existence of the average boy worth living.
It has been all hard work and very little play
with him, yet in the twenty-nine years of his
struggles he has made a comfortable niche
for himself, and is still ambitious to rise
higher. He was born in Michigan, near
White Pigeon, November 27, 1871. His
father, John Vincent Bellaire, was a small
farmer near that place with a large family
of children to support, and only a little farm
to furnish the means to do so. All the chil-
dren helped in the work about the farm, and
young John did his share until he was
eighteen years of age, attending the district
schools when he could get the time to do so,
and never receiving any money from his
father to help him along in his studies. What
money he got he made himself, the first being
from the sale of some potatoes he raised in a
hollow on his father's farm. He wanted an
education, and sought every loophole that
presented itself in order to obtain one. When
in his eighteenth year he found employment
doing chores and odd jobs for John G.
Schurtz, a banker at White Pigeon, for his
board and lodging. Saturdays when his work
was done, he earned extra money by splitting
wood for the villagers, to pay for his tuition,
books and clothing. Supporting himself in
this manner he managed to attend the village
school. The following spring he worked in
the machine shop of the Cyclone Fanning
Mill Co., at White Pigeon, saving his earn-
ings so that he was able to attend school the
following winter, securing a position as clerk
in H. M. Ellis's grocery store, before and
after school and on Saturdays to pay for his
board and clothing.
The father was unable to assist him, owing
to the large family that demanded all his
time and money, so young John had to learn.
to go it alone, and he has never regretted
that experience for it prepared him better
for life than any other means would have
done. He worked steadily in the grocery
business during the following summer, gradu-
ating from school in June, 1891. Continu-
ing the store as clerk and bookkeeper at a
substantial salary until the summer of '92,
when he secured a third grade teacher's cer-
tificate and that fall taught school in Dis-
trict No. 4, near South Boardman, Kalkaska
County, Michigan.
Mr. Bellaire, in the spring of 1893, saw
an advertisement in The News, and in an-
swer to it went to Seney, Michigan, where he
secured a position at $35 a month as clerk
with the firm of Morse & Schneider. He
was gradually advanced by his employers,
and in 1895, when the firm established a
branch at Grand Marais, was made general
manager of the Seney store, which position
he occupied until September 26, 1899, when
he succeeded to the entire business of the firm
at Seney, Michigan.
In his political convictions he is a Repub-
lican and was appointed postmaster at Seney
in 1897. He has also been township treas-
I., daughter of Capt. L. R. Boynton, of St.
urer at Seney. Mr. Bellaire married Sarah
Ignace, in 1896, and returned at once to
Seney, where he settled down to happy do-
mestic life, in a comfortable home.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
161
HEBARD, CHARLES. Students at the
University of Michigan who receive the
healthful benefits of the beautifully equipped
Women's Gymnasium attached to that col-
lege, must feel a certain amount of gratitude
to Charles Hebard, of Pequaming, Michigan,
who was instrumental in raising the funds to
erect the building and who raised $10,000,
one-half of which he gave from his own per-
sonal purse.
Charles Hebard was born at Lebanon, Con-
necticut, January 9, 1831. His father,
Larned Hebard, was a direct descendant of
Robert Hebard, the original founder of the
Hebard family in the United States, and an
early settler in the New England colonies.
His mother was Miss Strong, of the old Con-
necticut family, and a direct descendant of
Gov. Bradford, of that state.
CHARLES HEBARD.
there during the years of 1872, '73 and '74,
and organizing the firm of Hebard, Hawley
& Co. The firm built and operated a large
lumber manufacturing plant at Cleveland,
Ohio, but had Detroit for their main office.
In 1874 Mr. Hebard disposed of his interests
in the concern and returned to Pennsylvania,
The plant was destroyed by fire in 1877 and
Mr. Hebard returned to Michigan and com-
menced lumbering operations in Baraga
county, and the following year he built his
immense mill at Paquaming, which he has
since operated. He was regent of the Univer-
sity of Michigan from 1888 until 1894.
Charles Hebard had the benefit of an ex-
cellent school education, and at 19 years of
age graduated from the Academy at West-
field, Massachusetts. After
After leaving school
he clerked for a year and kept books for the
Lackawanna Coal Company at Scranton,
Pennsylvania, and his next employment was
with W. E. Dodge, of New York city.
He went to them in the capacity of clerk in
1853 and after being two years in the employ
of this firm he was made superintendent and
given charge of its immense lumbering in-
terests, comprising over 45,000 acres of tim-
ber land. He started in at $500 a year, and
his salary was gradually advanced until it
reached $1,500 a year. He remained with
the firm as superintendent and manager of
their large lumbering plant for 11 years, and
resigned to go into partnership with A. G. P.
Dodge, a son of his employer. The new firm
opened a lumber manufacturing plant at
Williamsport, Pa., under the firm name of
Dodge & Co. They were eminently suc-
cessful in the new enterprise, and the part-
nership continued until 1872, when Mr.
Hebard withdrew from the company. After
leaving the firm, Mr. Hebard came to
Michigan and located at Detroit, residing that city.
Mr. Hebard married Miss Mary C. Case,
daughter of Samuel Case, at Tobyhamna,
Pennsylvania, in 1858. They have four
children, Julia E., Charles S., junior member
of the firm of Charles Hebard & Sons, Mary
E. and Daniel Larned Hebard, the latter of
the firm of H. M. Tyler & Co., North Tona-
wanda, New York.
Mr. Hebard still resides in Pequaming and
his residence there is one of the prettiest in

162
MEN OF PROGRESS.
FRED. HURLBURT BEGOLE.
BEGOLE, FRED. HURLBURT. Cop
per has made Michigan famous, and the de-
velopment of the rich mining properties in
this state is due to the energy and hard work
of Michigan men who have devoted their
time and capital to the locating and working
of the rich bodies of ore that have enriched
the Upper Peninsula.
Fred Hurlburt Begole is an owner and
dealer in copper properties, and also in tim-
ber and mining lands in this state. His in-
terests are centered in some of the largest
enterprises of this kind in Michigan, and at
present he is a director in the Victoria Cop-
per Mining Company, the Mass. Consolidated
Copper Mining Company and the Ontonagon
National Bank, at Rockland, Michigan. With
ex-Lieut.-Gov. Dunstan he promoted and put
on the market the Victoria Mining Company
at Ontonagon county, selling $700,000 worth
of stock in fifteen days.
Fred. Hurlburt Begole was born in
Flint, Michigan, October 22, 1866. His
father, Philo M. Begole, was a descendant of
Capt. Thomas Bowles, who served during the
revolutionary war, and his mother a descen-
dant of Dr. Ulysses Hurlburt, a surgeon
during the war of 1812, and from the Starr
family of Connecticut. Josiah W. Begole,
his uncle, is the ex-governor of Michigan.
Fred. Begole was educated in the district
schools and at 14 years of age was in the
Flint High School. His education was paid
for by himself, as he taught school in order
to earn the money for this purpose. He
earned $24 a month teaching at Rogerville,
Genesee county, and later worked three
months in the drug store of Alvin Holt, at
Detroit, Michigan.
He went to the Upper Peninsula in 1885 as
principal of the schools at Baraga, Michigan,
and taught there three years. During the
last year he edited and published the Baraga
County News. In 1888 he went to the lum-
ber woods at a salary of $26 a month for
Thomas Nestor, and later he became an oper-
ator himself, putting five million feet of logs
into the Ontonagon river. He was saving,
and when 21 years of age he had $1,500 in
the bank. He bought and sold logs and tim-
ber and operated a small saw mill at Mar-
quette, doing a successful business. In 1891
he entered into a partnership with Hon. Peter
White and embarked in the insurance business
under the firm name of White & Begole and
continued with Mr. White until August,
1896. During all this time he did not neg-
lect his lumbering interests, and he also be-
came interested in the buying and selling of
mineral properties, making a feature of open-
ing and developing old mining properties in
Ontonagon county.
In 1890 Mr. Begole married Miss Gertrude
C., daughter of Milan S. Elmore, at Flint,
Michigan. Four children have been the re-
sult of the union. Donald M., Charles E.,
Fred. H., Jr., and Elizabeth G. The eldest,
Donald M., is eight years of age.
Mr. Begole owns a fine home at Marquette,
where he now resides and is highly respected
as an energetic and successful and represen-
tative business man.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
163
JOCHIM, JOHN WALFRID. Success
has greeted the efforts of John Walfrid
Jochim since he first came to America from
his native country, Sweden, and from an
humble miner he has advanced himself until
at the present day his name appears at the
head of one of the largest hardware firms on
the Upper Peninsula, the John W. Jochim
Hardware Company.
J. W. Jochim was born in Matala, Sweden,
October 12, 1845. He comes of an excellent
family there, his grandfather having for years
been a member of the Swedish Congress. His
parents were well to do, and the boy's educa-
tion was commenced in the public schools of
Matala, which after advancing through the
various grades he left in order to attend the
Linkoping College. He put in eight and
a half years' work and study at college,
studying zealously and taking courses in
the various scientific branches preparatory
to following a military career. In 1866 his
father met with financial reverses and young
Jochim was compelled to enter the business
world.
He found work as clerk in a mercantile
firm at Stockholm, and remained with the
firm from 1866 until 1868. In 1869 he came
to the United States. Upon his arrival he
started westward, and arrived in Ishpeming,
Michigan, August 16, 1869, with three 25-
cent pieces in his pockets. He found work
the very next day at the Washington mine,
at $2.50 a day.
He worked in the mines all that winter,
and in the spring of 1870 he gave up mining
to take a clerkship in the hardware store of
Colwell & Co., where he worked for one
year. In 1871 he engaged with J. B. Maas
& Co., and assumed charge of their branch
store at Negaunee, Michigan, where he con-
tinued until 1872. He then returned to Ish-
peming to enter the employ of the firm of
Norberry & Warn, of that place, taking the
entire management of their establishment
and remaining with the house until 1873,
when Neeley & Eddy bought out the firm in
August.
JOHN WALFRID JOCHIM.
He had saved a little money, and had long
entertained the idea of entering the hardware
business for himself. In order to do this now
he was compelled to borrow money enough to
start him in his new enterprise, and the rates
of interest at that time were very high. He
borrowed $1,600 at 12 per cent. in order to
complete his stock of hardware, business was
brisk and his class of goods very much in
demand, so he was successful from the outset,
and the business has increased yearly, so that
Mr. Jochim today is reckoned as one of the
most successful business men in Ishpeming.
He is the president of and a stockholder in
the Marquette Hardware Company, Limited,
of Marquette, Mich.
Mr. Jochim married in 1873 Miss Gustafva
Wetterlund, at Ishpeming. He has one child,
Howard W. Mr. Jochim is a Republican.
In 1888 he was alderman of the city of Ish-
peming, and a member of the School Board
from 1878 until 1881. He was elected Sec-
retary of State in 1891 with Governor Rich,
and resigned in June, 1892.
He owns a
beautiful residence in Ishpeming, where he
is a respected and valued citizen.

164
MEN OF PROGRESS.
GEORGE A. TRUEMAN, M. D.
TRUEMAN, M. D., GEORGE A. George
A. Trueman is a young and successful physi-
cian and surgeon, living and practicing his
profession in Munising, Michigan. He was
born November 28, 1870, near Orangeville,
Ontario, where his father was a railroad con-
tractor and hotel keeper.
Young Trueman
went to school when he was 9 years of age,
but when he reached the age of 11 his father
failed in business, and went on a farm, where
the boy was taken and put to work. During
the winter he worked in the woods in the
Muskoka district, and when he was 17 the
family moved to Michigan, locating on a
farm which they purchased near Sand Beach.
Here young Trueman secured a job pack
ing bran, in the mill of Jenks Bros., of Sand
Beach, earning $1.25 per day at this em-
ployment. The next summer his mother
died, and his father was taken ill and con-
fined to his bed, so in company with his
brother, young Trueman worked the little
farm. The following summer he went to
Newberry, Michigan, and piled cordwood for
the Newberry Furnace Company, and in the
winter again went into the woods to work
near Dollarville.
He commenced the study of medicine this
same year, reading in the office of Dr. Nichol-
son, of Newberry. He read until March,
when he entered the employ of the Chocolay
Furnace Co., at Chocolay, Michigan. He
managed to save $125 out of the little money
he had earned, and with this he went to Chi-
cago, Illinois, and entered the Rush Medical
College of that city. The limited amount of
capital with which the boy started upon this
venture was the cause of much suffering and
he endured considerable hardships in his
student days at the college. He had, after
paying his railroad fare to Chicago, and his
tuition fees, just $12 left, and this was soon
exhausted. On Thanksgiving day, 1891, he
walked the street all day, with only five cents
in his pocket, which hunger forced him to in-
vest in a Thanksgiving dinner. It was a dis-
mal day for him, away from home in a strange
city, with tempting arrays of mince pies,
gayly decorated turkeys, and other evidences
of cheer glaring at him from the restaurant
windows, and the odor of cooking assailing
him at every corner, but it was a part of his
education and he had to take it.
The
By dint of hard work of all kinds, together
with a little assistance rendered him by a
younger brother, he managed to earn enough
to buy food, which he cooked himself.
next spring he became a book agent, and in the
latter part of March landed in Howe, Ne-
braska, with a prospectus and 23 cents. He
traded books for his board and canvassed six
months, earning $600, and going back to col-
lege well fixed financially. He followed the
same course next season and made $1,200, and
graduating May 23, 1894, opened an office at
Newberry, Mich. Two years later he removed
to Munising, where he now lives.
Dr. Trueman married Miss Inez Lindsley
Hunter, daughter of John L. Hunter, and Mrs.
Susan L. Hunter, at Greenville, Michigan, in
1895.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
165
BREITUNG, EDWARD NICHOLAS.
Edward Nicholas Breitung has the larger por-
tion of his business interests in the Upper Pen-
insula, where he is fee owner of many large
iron mining properties, and a dealer and owner
of considerable of an area of mining and rich
mineral lands in that section. He was born
in Negaunee, November 1, 1871, and al-
though now only 29 years of age he carries a
weight of business cares upon his shoulders.
He is is a director of the Negaunee Iron Com-
pany, of that place, also of the Artic Iron
Company, the Wolverine Copper & Silver
Company, the U. P. Brewing & Malting Com-
pany of Marquette, the Marquette County
Savings Bank, Duluth Brewing & Malting
Company, Duluth, Minn., the Breitung Iron
Company, the Breitung Mining Guarantee
Company, Limited, Breitung Bond Company,
Limited, Negotiation Company, Limited, and
the Beaver Iron Company, all of Marquette,
Michigan.
Mr. Breitung married in 1890 Miss Char-
lotte Graveraette, daughter of Samuel Kauf-
man, at Marquette, Michigan, and has one
child, Juliet Marie Breitung, aged five.
The history of the elder Beitung is, how-
ever, more interesting than that of the son, as
Edward Breitung, Sr., was the man to
whom all the credit is given for opening up
the great iron industry that has made the
Upper Peninsula of Michigan what it is today.
This pioneer miner and promoter was born in
the city of Schalkan, Germany, November
10, 1831, where he was educated in a thor-
ough manner and sent to the College of Mines
at Meiningen, from which he graduated. He
came to America in 1849, and located at
Richland, Kalamazoo county,
county, Michigan,
where, in order to learn the English language,
he attended the district school. For two years
he clerked in a grocery store at Kalamazoo,
and the following four years worked in De-
troit as a bookkeeper. He went to Marquette
in 1855, and engaged in the mercantile busi-
ness. In 1859 he sold out his mercantile busi-
ness and removed to Negaunee, where he asso-
ciated himself with Israel B. Case and for sev-
EDWARD NICHOLAS BREITUNG.
eral years operated the Pioneer Furnaces on
contract. In 1864 he commenced to open and
develop iron properties and purchase mineral
lands. He opened the Washington property,
and in 1871 began to open mines in the
Negaunee range. The mining men of that
district thought it a foolish venture and refused
to support Breitung in his operations. He re-
mained firm in his belief in the mining value
of the territory and that fall he surprised them
with the famous Republic mine, the largest
and most profitable in the whole Upper Pen-
insula. In 1873 he began explorations of the
Menominee range where he located several
fine properties. In 1882-83 he first became
interested in the Vermillion range in Min-
nesota.
Edward Breitung, Sr., was a member of the
state legislature from 1873 to 1887. He was
state senator 1877-78 and member of Congress
1883-85. From 1880-83 he was mayor of
Negaunee, and his useful life came to an end
March
March 3, 1887. Edward Nicholas Breitung
is following in his father's footsteps, and has
many years before him to devote to furthering
the enterprises left in his charge.

166
MEN OF PROGRESS.
GEORGE WILLIAM FREEMAN.
FREEMAN, GEORGE WILLIAM.
George William Freeman is the youngest man
having charge of any penal institution in the
United States. He is the warden of the State
House of Correction and branch prison at
Marquette, and has held that position since
1897, at which time he was only 30 years of
age.
He was born in Marquette May 19, 1866,
where his father was engaged in business, and
attended the public schools of his native city
until 1882, when he went to the high school
but left before the time for graduating. He
then went into the employ of his father, who
was operating a livery and sales stable in
Marquette, and remained with him until
1885.
He then entered Bryant's Business College
at Chicago, Illinois, and took a business course
and bookkeeping. He remained in Chicago
for two years and then returned to Marquette
in 1887 and entered the private banking estab-
lishment of Knapp & Joslyn at Marquette.
He was engaged as bookkeeper for the firm at
a salary of $50 a month, and the second month
in their employ the firm raised his salary $25
more. Mr. Freeman remained with this firm
until they failed in 1888, and he was then ten-
dered the position of deputy collector of cus-
toms under C. H. Call, which he accepted, and
in that capacity he worked for one year until
he was offered a position keeping books for J.
M. Wilkinson, the banker. Mr. Freeman held
his new position until 1893, and then became
clerk of the prison under Warden John R.
Van Evera.
On February 19, 1897, the young man was
called into the room where the board of con-
trol of the prison was in session and tendered
the position of warden, which John R. Van
Evera had just resigned to take the manage-
ment of the Lake Superior district trade for
Picklands, Mather & Co., of Cleveland, Ohio.
It was more than a surprise not only to Mr.
Freeman but to every one else, for Mr.
Van Evera's resignation had never been
thought of.
Freeman could not realize that this import-
ant position was being tendered to him, had
thought himself too young to accept it, but
after he realized that the board of control was
in earnest, and really wanted him to accept, he
did SO, and he has since proven a most efficient
official.
The Marquette prison is one of the best
Freeman has taken charge of the institution
conducted in the United States, and since Mr.
he has made many improvements, favoring
every new scheme that will tend toward mak-
ing the prison equal to the needs of the present
day.
Mr. Freeman is of Irish and English de-
scent. In his social connections he is ex-
tremely popular, and belongs to the National
Prison Association of the United States, the
Wardens' Association, the National Union,
Knights of Pythias, and B. P. O. E., in Mar-
quette. He married Miss Millie Grace, daugh-
ter of Alfred Thurbley, in 1894, and has one
child, Louis Thurbley Freeman.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
167
Col.
LOUD, COL. GEORGE ALVIN.
George Alvin Loud was one of the few spec-
tators who witnessed the battle of Manila
Bay, when Admiral Dewey struck the first de-
cisive blow in the war with Spain. He was a
guest on board the United States dispatch
boat McCulloch at the time, but serving as
paymaster, and during the Manila expedition
and battle had charge of the after magazine.
He watched the battle from the time the first
shot was fired until the last Spanish ship sank
beneath the waters of the bay.
George Alvin Loud was born in Hunts-
burg, Ohio, January 18, 1852. His father,
Henry M. Loud, was for many years an ex-
tensive operator in lumber.
George A. Loud attended school at Boston,
Detroit and Ann Arbor. When he reached
his seventeenth year his father had become
involved in large lumbering operations in Os-
coda, Michigan, and he sent to college for the
boy and asked him to come to Oscoda for a
short time until the lumbering affairs were
less active; sc, expecting to return to the Uni-
versity and complete his education, he gave
up college for the time and went to the assist-
ance of his father. He started work tallying
in the sawmill, and in a year's time was given
charge of the sawmill. The following winter
The following winter
he had charge of all the winter work, and at
the age of 26 had assumed charge of the out-
side work of the lumbering interests of the
H. M. Loud Lumber Company.
The elder Loud at one period of his career
met with sudden business reverses which sent
him temporarily to the wall. He promised
that as soon as he could recover his losses
every obligation should be paid dollar for
dollar. Both father and sons worked with
renewed energy, and before long the firm was
on its feet again, when, true to his promise,
the elder Loud paid every dollar of his in-
debtedness, and business interests now con-
ducted by him are in a most prosperous con-
dition. George Alvin Loud is the general
manager of the Munising branch of H. M.
Loud's Sons Company of Oscoda, and also
vice-president of the company. He is also
COL. GEORGE ALVIN LOUD.
superintendent and general manager of the A.
S. & N. E. railroad, and is associated in busi-
ness with his father and brothers, H. N., E.
F. and W. F.
In 1898 he was appointed on the staff of
Governor Hazen S. Pingree, with the rank of
colonel, and during the recent war was sent
by the governor as representative of the state
to Montauk Point, to watch the interests of
the Michigan troops. His work was so satis-
factory that the governor insisted on Mr.
Loud going south with the hospital train. Mr.
Loud married Miss Elizabeth Glennie, daugh-
ter of John W. Glennie, a well-known lum-
berman, and at one time a partner of Gen.
Russell A. Alger. He has four children:
Emma, wife of James Flohr, of Canton,
Ohio; Alice, wife of Rufus Hatch, of
Detroit, and Dorothy and Esther, who live
at home. Mr. Loud is a Mason, a member
of Moslem Temple, Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine, Detroit, and also of the Fellowcraft
Club of Detroit, the Sons of the American
Revolution and the Benevolent Protective
Order of Elks. He holds the Dewey medal
for participation in the battle of Manila and
another from the Sons of the Revolution for
active service in the Spanish war.

168
MEN OF PROGRESS.
HON. JOHN MUNRO LONGYEAR.
His
LONGYEAR, HON. JOHN MUNRO.
Fifty years ago the great resources of Michi-
gan were still in a poorly developed state, and
the mining and timber lands were waiting for
the young generation to grow up and awaken
their dormant wealth. Just at this period, on
April 15, 1850, John Munro Longyear came
into the world at Lansing, Michigan.
father, John W. Longyear, was judge of the
United States District Court at Detroit,
Michigan. His grandfather, Peter Longyear,
came to this state from Ulster county, New
York, and Jacob Longyear, the original of
the family in America, came to this country
about 1700 and settled in Shandaken, Ulster
county, New York. On his mother's side,
John Munro Longyear traces his ancestry
back to Josiah Munroe, who was a Connecti-
cut soldier during the revolution and took
part in the expedition to Canada in 1777, and
after the Declaration of Independence moved
to Pawlet, Vermont.
After a year in that college he was sent to
Georgetown College, at Washington, where
he remained until he was 15 years of age, and
then returned to Lansing, where he became a
clerk in the postoffice at $20 per month.
With
The following five years he was an invalid,
and until 1872 he worked in a drug store,
woodworking factory and scaled lumber in the
Saginaw valley. In company with the late
James Turner, he went to Cheboygan county
in the fall of 1872, and as Turner had a con-
tract to examine certain state lands Longyear
did his first work as a "land looker."
one man as a companion, he traveled about
and "looked" timber lands around Mullet
lake. The outdoor work greatly benefited his
health and he determined to make this line of
labor his vocation. In 1873 he "looked"
land in the Upper Peninsula, but the panic of
that year cut off the work, and in 1875 he was
without a cent, and "land poor." Although
he did not have enough money at one time to
buy himself a pair of boots, he held on to his
property, which afterwards turned out to be
rich in minerals. In January, 1878, Mr.
Longyear was appointed agent of the Lake
Superior Ship Canal Railroad & Iron Com-
pany, which became later the Keweenaw As-
sociation. Mr. Longyear owns some of the
best iron properties in the Upper Peninsula.
Mr. Longyear married Miss Mary Beecher,
daughter of Samuel P. Beecher, of Battle
Creek, Michigan, in 1879. They have six
children, namely, Abby, Howard, Helen,
Judith, Jack M. and Robert.
Besides being the agent for the Keweenaw
Association, Limited, Mr. Longyear is a direc-
tor of the First National Bank, Marquette;
part owner of the Norrie Mine at Ironwood,
the Ashland Mine and Aurora.
In 1890-91 he was mayor of Marquette, and
appointed a member of the board of control of
the Michigan College of Mines, at Houghton,
in 1893. Mr. Longyear published the first
map of the Gogebic Iron Range in the winter


John M. Longyear, when he reached the
proper age, was sent to the village schools at
Lansing, and at the age of 13 he entered the
preparatory department of Olivet College. of 1881.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
169
SUNDSTROM, CHARLES FERDI-
NAND. A successful merchant and re-
spected citizen of Michigamme, Michigan, is
a Scandinavian by birth. His father was one
of the first Scandinavians who settled in
Houghton county in 1868, where the family
remained for two years, then going to Mar-
quette county and settling at Humboldt,
where they remained for four years, where
young Sundstrom's education commenced.
Later the family removed to Michigamme,
where Mr. Sundstrom now resides and con-
ducts a general mercantile business. His edu-
cation was continued in the common schools
at Michigamme, and at the age of 14 he went
to work for Dousman & Watkins, general
merchants, but being anxious to study phar-
macy, he took a position with Dr. J. Van-
dromter at a salary of $5 per month, intend-
ing to learn the profession of a pharmacist.
He studied pharmacy for eighteen months,
and at the end of that time received $35 per
month. The indoor work behind the prescrip-
tion counter did not agree with him, as he
was too ambitious to be so closely confined,
and the advice of his friends he gave up
the study of pharmacy and entered the em-
ploy of John Hickey, who operated an exten-
sive mercantile establishment at Michi-
gamme. At the age of 17 he became asso-
ciated with the firm of Hinchman & John-
ston, for whom he worked for seven years,
and it was with this firm that he really fin-
ished his business education. With less than
$200 capital he started in business for him-
self, and in less than six months his business
grew so rapidly that he found it would take
more capital to carry it on, and it was at this
point that he found it absolutely necessary to
look for assistance, which he soon found in
the person of E. R. Hall, who is now vice-
president of the Lincoln National Bank, of
Chicago. The business prospered until the
winter of 1891-92, when the failure of several
large contractors, who were building the Iron
Range & Huron Bay Railroad, caused a set-
back not only to Mr. Sundstrom, but to the
other business in the village. The work on
upon
CHARLES FERDINAND SUNDSTORM.
the new road was abandoned and the contracts
were broken, so that by the closing of the
iron mines and the failure of the railroad,
Sundstrom lost over $4,000, which was then
much more than his assets. However, he
pulled through and paid dollar for dollar. In
March, 1894, he was appointed deputy collec-
tor of internal revenue and given charge of
the whole Upper Peninsula. He resigned
this position July 1, 1899.
July 1, 1899. His record as
deputy stands the third best in the United
States, having collected about $300,000 a
year in taxes and fines for the government.
Mr. Sundstrom made investigations and
reports from the Upper Peninsula for the col-
lection of the income tax in 1895 and also
made the census and report for the registra-
tion of the Chinese. He married, August 15,
1888, Miss Maggie Goodro, of Michigamme.
Mr. Sundstrom is a stockholder in the Penin-
sula Bank at Ishpeming and operates a gen-
eral store at Michigamme. He belongs to the
M. W. A. and B. P. O. E., and in politics is
an uncompromising Democrat. He has been
a member of the Board of Education for
years
and about the only interest he takes in local
affairs is for the advancement of the schools.

170
MEN OF PROGRESS.
JUDGE JOHN WESLEY STONE.
STONE, JUDGE JOHN WESLEY.
John Wesley Stone was born in Wadsworth,
Ohio, July 18, 1838, and educated first in
the district schools near his home and later
in the Select School at Spencer, Ohio. When
he was but 16 years of age he commenced
teaching school, earning only $17 a month,
boarding at the nearby farm houses. He fol-
lowed the profession of school teacher in win-
ters until he became 21 years old. In the
spring of 1856 he left his home and went to
Grand Rapids, Michigan, arriving in that
city with 50 cents in his pocket, but he was
fortunate in securing work at once on a farm,
and in the fall a school at Big Spring, Ottawa
county, at $25 a month.
He longed to bring his people to Michigan,
and worked hard saving his money until in
five months he had enough on hand to enable
him to accomplish this purpose. The family
arrived and located on a piece of land in the
forest near Dorr, Mich. A great deal of hard
work was necessary to put the new land into
a condition for farming, and young Stone
turned in with his parents to clear up the
farm. When ready cash was needed he re-
turned to school teaching during the winter
months. He commenced the study of law in
1859, reading in the office of Silas Stafford, at
Martin, Mich., and he was admitted to the
bar before Judge Littlejohn, at Allegan, in
1862. Two years prior to his admission to the
bar he had been elected the county clerk of
Allegan county, and in 1862 he was re-elected
to that office. Through this position he was
enabled to earn enough to pay the remainder
of cash due on the farm, and establish his
parents in a comfortable home. In 1864 he
was elected prosecuting attorney of Allegan
county, and he remained such until 1870. In
1873 he was elected circuit judge of the twen-
tieth judicial circuit. He resigned in the fall
of 1874 and removed to Grand Rapids, where
he entered the firm of Norris & Blair, attor-
neys-at-law. The following year Mr. Norris
retired from the firm, which then became
Blair, Stone & Kingsley.
In 1876 Judge Stone received the nomina-
tion for Congress, and was elected. In 1878
he was re-elected. After serving his last term
in Congress, Judge Stone returned to Grand
Rapids and formed a partnership with two
attorneys of that city, under the firm name
of Taggart, Stone & Earle.
During the Arthur administration, Judge
Stone was appointed United States attorney
for western Michigan, and was engaged much
of the time in the Upper Peninsula. In
1887 he moved to Houghton, Michigan,
where he practiced law until he was elected
circuit judge of the Twenty-fifth circuit, in
In 1891 he moved to Marquette.
In 1861 Judge Stone married Delia M.
Grover, daughter of A. P. Grover, at Alle-
gan, Michigan. He has four children, Car-
rie M., wife of Fred. M. Champlin, of Grand
Rapids; two daughters, at home, and a son,
John G. Stone, attorney, associated with
Judge John W. Champlin, in Grand Rapids.
1890.
Judge Stone is the son of Rev. Chauncey
Stone. His grandfather, Benj. Stone, was a
Vermonter. His mother was a descendant of
the Bird family, which came from England
and settled in Vermont.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
171
NORTH, GEORGE SMITH. George
Smith North is one of the progressive busi-
ness men of the city of Hancock, Michigan,
and has always been a staunch member of the
Republican party.
The North family came to this state from
Connecticut. Mr. North's grandmother, on
his father's side, was Sarah Dowd, of the old
Connecticut family of that name. His father,
Seth D. North, went into the copper country
in 1854 and located at Rockland, Ontonagon
County, where he was warehouse clerk for the
firm of Willard & Day of that place, one of
the pioneer firms of the copper country. The
elder North remained with this firm for a
number of years, and then after working for
a time as supply clerk for a Minnesota mine,
in 1867 he determined to commence on his
own account. He then opened a mercantile
establishment at the Quincy mine, near the
town of Hancock, Michigan. The business
prospered and later enlarged its scope by be-
coming associated with stores at Lake Linden
and Calumet.
George Smith North, the subject of the
present sketch, was born September 5, 1852,
at Cromwell, Connecticut. When the fam-
ily moved to this state the boy was sent to the
public schools of Rockland until he reached
his 14th year, and then he attended the
Homer Academy at Homer, New York State.
After finishing in this academy he took a
year's course at the Milwaukee Business Col-
lege at Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
At the conclusion of this course he returned
to Michigan and took an humble position in
He
his father's store at the Quincy mine.
started to learn the business by commencing
at the bottom, with a salary of $20 a month,
and as he succeeded in acquiring a comprehen-
sive knowledge of one department he was
transferred to the next, and then to the office,
until he had become thoroughly familiar with
every branch of the business. It was fortun-
ate that he acquired this education in the com-
mercial line, for in 1893 the elder North died,
GEORGE SMITH NORTH.
leaving the entire establishment to the man-
agement of his young son.
For a great many years G. S. North was in-
terested in the Pemberthy Injector Company
of Detroit, Michigan, but he sold out his one-
quarter interest in 1897. Besides being owner
and manager of the S. D. North Mercantile
Company at the Quincy mine, Mr. North has
interests in several other large and important
industries. He is one of the directors in the
Sturgeon River Lumber Company at Chassel,
Michigan; has a part interest in the Avery
House and Hotel Egnew at Mount Clemens,
Michigan, and is a director in the First Na-
tional Bank at Hancock, Michigan.
In 1872 Mr. North married Miss Emma
C. Briggs at Norwalk, Ohio, and three chil-
dren have been the result of that union, two
girls and one boy. Fannie is living at home
with her parents in Hancock, Helen B. is a
student at the Chicago Musical College and
George Kent North is attending school.
Mr. North is a Mason and a Knight Tem-
plar.

172
MEN OF PROGRESS.
EDGAR KIDWELL.
KIDWELL, EDGAR. The Kidwell fam-
ily is a very old one in this country. The origi-
nal founder of it in America came to Mary-
land with Lord Baltimore, and settled in that,
state.
Edgar Kidwell, the subject of this sketch,
was born in Kensington, Maryland, July 15,
1865. His father, John H. Kidwell, was a
well-known contractor and builder in the city
of Washington, D. C.
When a boy, Edgar Kidwell evinced a
strong disposition to take up mechanical work.
He received the benefit of the splendid public
schools of Washington, and after school hours
and during vacations devoted himself to build-
ing machinery and mechanical appliances of
all kinds.
He completed the course at the grammar
school in Washington, and then took the clas-
sical course at the Georgetown University of
Georgetown, West Washington, D. C., gradu-
ating from there in 1886.
The following year he went into the con-
tracting and building business at Washington,
and met with considerable success.
In the fall of 1887 he entered the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania to take a course in
mechanical and electrical engineering, and in
1889 he graduated as an M. E. The follow-
ing year he devoted to instructing those
branches at the University of Pennsylvania,
and in 1891 was tendered and accepted the
position of instructor in the Michigan College
of Mines at Houghton, Michigan.
Here he remained for eight years, and in
the fall of 1897 he tendered his resignation
to take effect May 31, 1898, and accepted the
position of superintendent of the Arcadian
Copper Company.
The place where this company's interests
were centered and where Mr. Kidwell first
took charge was in a dense woods with a few
old log shanties in the clearing, and one old
and rickety shaft house. He entered his new
duties June 1, 1898, and immediately started
to develop and improve the property. In one
year under his direction six shafts were sunk,
and three modern steel shaft houses erected
and equipped with the best machinery. A
large stamp mill was erected, and other
many
improvements made. The little clearing in
the woods has grown rapidly and has assumed
the proportions of a small town, and at the
end of the first year after Mr. Kidwell took
charge, a force of nearly 1,500 men were em-
ployed on the property.
Edgar Kidwell, in 1893, married Miss
Mary O'Neill, of Washington, D. C. He
has three children, the eldest of whom, Har-
old, is five years
of age. The other two are
Paul, aged three years, and Ruth, aged one
and one-half years.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
173
VIVIAN, SR., JOHNSON.
Those men
who early in the history of the mining indus-
try in this State, went to work in the iron and
copper mines of the Upper Peninsula; com-
mencing with pick and shovel, or pushing the
tram-car that conveyed the ore out of the
mine, have, with few exceptions, by sticking
to this business, taken their places, among the
capitalists of Michigan. In working their
own passage to the front, they have materially
assisted in building up the State; forming the
neuclus for little villages that have since
grown into large and prosperous cities.
Johnson Vivian, Sr., has been identified
with mining all his life, and is today one of
the wealthy citizens of Houghton, Michigan.
His first work was in a copper mine, and he is
still interested in several paying properties in
Michigan. By birth Mr. Vivian is an Eng-
lishman. He was born in Camborne, Eng-
land, May 29, 1829, and is a direct descen-
dant of Sir Vyell Vivian, 1295 A. D. Mr.
Vivian's father and his grandfather were mine
superintendents in Cornwall, England.
Young Vivian attended the common school
about seven years, and when he reached his
fourteenth year he was put to work trundling
a wheelbarrow at a stamp mill, making about
$2.50 a month. Two years of this work
him the necessary brawn and muscle required
by a miner, and at 16 he went underground to
work and later became a miner in the copper
mines.
gave
He remained in England, following this
employment, until he was 24 years of age,
and then came to the United States and Mich-
igan. He went to work first at Eagle Harbor,
June 19, 1853, as a miner in the Copper Falls
mine, and in July, 1854, he was made cap-
tain. He remained with this company until
1856, and left to become captain in the Clark
mine, where he worked until February 1,
1857. From February, 1857, to October,
1859, he operated a part of the Copper Falls
mine on a tribute lease. He was made chief
captain of the Phoenix mine, and in October,
1863, superintendent, a position he held until
1867.
JOHNSON VIVIAN. SR.
He left the Phoenix mine in that year and
was appointed superintendent agent of the
Hancock mine, but he remained only one year
and then resigned to accept a like position.
with the Schoolcraft mine. This was a new
property, and Mr. Vivian installed the plant.
for the company, and opened up the mine.
It did not pay, and work on the property was
abandoned in July, 1874.
Mr. Vivian was then made agent of the
Franklin and Perrabie mines and in 1880 the
Huron, Concord and Mesnards mines were
placed under his management. From 1888
until 1896 he was the superintendent of the
Centennial copper mines, and he retired from
active work in the latter year. He still retains
considerable interest in mining properties and
is a large holder of valuable mining stock. He
is also identified with the J. Vivian Mer-
cantile Company, of Laurium, Michigan, and
a director in the Superior Savings Bank, at
Houghton, and the State Savings Bank, at
Laurium.
Mr. Vivian married, in 1853, Miss Eliza-
beth Simmons, at Camborne, England. They
have five boys and two girls.

174
MEN OF PROGRESS.
HON. JOHN MULVEY.
MULVEY, HON. JOHN. John Mulvey
was born on a farm in Carrickonshannon, Ire-
land, February 20, 1835, and received a com-
mon school education in the schools near his
native home. He left Ireland in 1852 and
came to the United States to seek his fortunes
in the new world, with 25 cents capital to
start with. He went to Westchester county
in New York state shortly after his arrival. in
America, where he found work on a farm at
$11 a month and board. The Harlem River
The Harlem River
Railroad was being constructed about that
time, and young Mulvey secured a job driving
a team during the building of the road at 75
cents per day. The following summer he
worked in a brick yard, and in the fall went
to Dayton, Ohio, where he worked as a farm
laborer. May 25, 1855, he came to Michi-
gan and settled himself in the Upper Penin-
sula, working at first on the new docks then
being constructed at Marquette, and after-
wards as a coaler in the Marquette furnaces.
He visited Detroit in the fall of 1856 and de-
posited his savings, amounting to $545, in the
Lyle Bank, and during the ensuing winter
worked in a sawmill near Ionia, Michigan. He
continued to add to his bank account and was
making preparations to go to California, but
just as he was ready to start the Lyle Bank
suspended payment and his savings went up
with the bank.
He managed to scrape enough money to-
gether, however, to pay his way to Marquette,
to which city he returned in 1857. He found
work in the Pioneer Furnaces at Negaunee,
and afterwards for a number of years worked
as a miner in the iron and copper mines of the
district. Mr. Mulvey then became a contrac-
tor and built a small meat market, and in-
vested his savings in real estate in Negaunee,
which was then a town of about eleven log
houses. His success enabled him to retire from
active business life fully twenty years ago, but
he is still the owner of large quantities of valu-
able real estate and business property in Ne-
gaunee.
Mr. Mulvey has held various offices of pub-
lic trust from 1864 to the present time, in-
cluding township clerk, president of the vil-
lage of Negaunee three times in succession,
member of the common council, city assessor,
school trustee, supervisor, and in 1886 he was
elected mayor of the city of Negaunee with-
out opposition. In politics he was a Demo-
crat prior to 1884, and as such was elected
to the house of the Michigan Legislature of
1881-82. Since 1884, however, he has in-
dorsed the Republican principles, casting his
first Republican vote for James G. Blaine.
He was returned by the Republicans as a
member of the Legislature of 1887-88, and
again elected in 1895 to the same office by a
vote of 1,842 to 737 for Henry W. Hoch,
Democrat; 480 for Robert Blemhuber, Peo-
ple's Party, and 177 for Trowbridge Johns,
Prohibition.
Mr. Mulvey was the president of the State
organization of the Ancient Order of Hiber-
nians in 1880, and he organized several divi-
sions of that body in the state, including the
city of Detroit. In 1864 he married Miss
Marguerite Donaldson, at Marquette, Michi-
gan, and Mrs. Mulvey died February 9, 1893.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
175
DEE, JAMES R. Enterprising and on
the alert to take any of the opportunities for-
tune may offer, James R. Dee, of Houghton,
Michigan, has been active in building up
his resident city, and aiding in the great
enterprises of the present day which modern
thought and methods have perfected. He
is at present the general manager of the
Electric Light & Power Company of Hough-
ton, a concern with a capital stock of $250,000
and also general manager of the Michigan
Bell Telephone Company in the same place.
He is manager of the Western Union Tele-
graph Company in the copper district, and so
in touch with all that electricity has done for
the world since Edison first discovered the
ways and means of best utilizing its forces.
Mr. Dee is of Irish parentage. His father
was a miner and came to this country about
1850, working for many years in the copper
mines of Keweenaw county. James Rogers
Dee was born near Eagle River, this state,
November 11, 1855, where he attended the
district schools until he was 12 years of age.
He then went to Houghton and became a
messenger boy in the service of the Western
Union Telegraph Company at $10 a month,
and when not on duty at the telegraph office
he worked as bell boy in the Continental
Hotel of that city for his board. His work-
ing hours were not as set down by the labor
unions to-day, eight hours a day, but just
twice that number and sometimes more were
put in by the young man. The telephone at
that time had not been brought to perfection,
and messages were all called for on foot. Dur-
ing his spare moments the youngster took
every opportunity he could to learn the work-
ings of the Morse system, and the operators in
the office assisted him in becoming acquainted
with the telegraph instrument. In six months
he had mastered telegraphy and was given a
position at $40 a month as operator at Eagle
Harbor.
Six months later he was transferred
to Houghton, Michigan, and a year later was
given the management of the Western Union
offices in the copper country. He still con-
tinues in that capacity. In 1872 he intro-
JAMES R. DEE.
duced and established the first telephone ex-
change in the Upper Peninsula, and for six
years he devoted his efforts in introducing the
telephone system under the Michigan Bell
Company. In 1885 Mr. Dee organized the
Peninsular Electric Light & Power Com-
pany, with a capital of $250,000. This was
the first plant installed in the copper country.
It is a large concern, and furnishes light and
power to many municipalities and corpora-
tions in Houghton county.
In 1899 Mr. Dee saw the necessity of
good hotels to accommodate the many vis-
itors who were coming into the country.
He therefore organized the Douglass Hotel
Company with a capital stock of $120,-
000, and a new hotel is now being built in
Houghton, which will prove a very valu-
able addition to the town. Mr. Dee owns
many large business blocks in Houghton, and
is one of the promoters of the Meadow Copper
and other mining companies. He has been
councilman in the village of Houghton, and
is one of the organizers and is the present
chairman of the Oneyaming Yacht Club of
Houghton.

176
MEN OF PROGRESS.
CHARLES DAVID HANCHETTE.
HANCHETTE, CHARLES DAVID.
Charles David Hanchette, of the law firm of
Dunstan & Hanchette, Hancock, Michigan, is
the son of Hiram Solon Hanchette, who for
many years was a successful attorney at Wood-
stock, Illinois. He organized the Sixteenth
Illinois Cavalry at the breaking out of the
Civil War, and served with his regiment as
captain until nearly the close of the war, when
the troop was captured by the Confederates.
The private soldiers were paroled, but Captain
Hanchette was shot.
Charles D. Hanchette was born December
13, 1859, at Woodstock, Illinois. Here he
lived until he was six years of age, when in
1865 the news came of the death of his
father. The family then moved to Chicago,
Illinois, where the boy was sent to school, and
when he was old enough worked in order to
help his mother in the support of the family.
He attended the old Central High School, and
carried a route for the Chicago Tribune for
four years, earning $3 a week, which he con-
tributed toward the family purse. His first
work, prior to becoming a newsboy was in a
law office in Chicago, where he earned $2.50
per week.
When he was 17 years old he graduated
from the Chicago High School, and after a
short period secured a position in the bank
of Preston, Kean & Company, of Chicago,
where he acted as a messenger boy at a sal-
ary of $4 a week. He followed this business
for about a year, and then became connected
with the W. W. Kimball Piano Company of
Chicago, and was made cashier in the retail
department of the company. He remained in
this position for two years, and was then made
salesman for the firm, and traveled in the in-
terest of the house on the road.
He was assigned to the Upper Peninsula of
Michigan as his territory, and was successful
as a salesman.
He had long felt a desire to study the pro-
fession of law, and in 1884 he had saved.
enough money to enable him to take up the
first rudiments of that calling. He entered
the law office of ex-Lieutenant-Governor
Thomas B. Dunstan as a student, and studied
diligently for two years, at the end of which
time, in 1886, he was admitted to the bar by
Circuit Judge Williams.
He practiced his profession with varying
success in Hancock, Michigan, for three years,
and in 1889, Mr. Dunstan took the young
attorney into partnership with him, and the
names of Dunstan & Hanchette were coupled
over the office of the firm.
From 1887 until 1891 Mr. Hanchette was
the prosecuting attorney of
attorney of Keweenaw
County and established for himself a splen-
did record while in that office.
In 1889 he organized the Northern Michi-
gan Building & Loan Association of Hough-
ton County, which has since developed into
the largest local association in the state.
He has been secretary and general manager
of the association since its organization. He
was president of the Michigan League B. and
L. Association, 1897-98. Mr. Hanchette mar-
ried Miss Nellie J. Harris, daughter of S. B.
Harris, superintendent of the Quincy mine,
at Hancock, in 1886. They have three chil-
dren: Mary Estelle, born in 1887; Eleanor A.,
in 1891, and Dorthea L., in 1896.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
177
LINNEY,
NEWNHAM,
RICHARD
With but few early advantages, Judge Newn-
ham, at the age of 50, has filled positions of
trust, which, in their number and variety, fall
to the lot of but few men at his time of life.
Born in London, England, September 20,
1850, the first seventeen years of his life were
passed in Britain. He did not see the inside
of a school house until he was eight years old,
after which he attended one of the Presby-
terian schools in Scotland for four years. His
father came to America in 1863, the son fol-
lowing four years later, the father being in
the U. S. Naval service, where he served one
year. Following this service, the family
located at Saugatuck, Michigan, where the
father opened a shoe shop, in a small way.
Here the son attended the local schools three
winters, working at whatever presented itself
during the summers. In 1871 he secured a
teacher's certificate, and taught school during
the winter months, saving money enough to
pay his expenses while attending the Normal
School at Ypsilanti during the summer.
the summer of 1875 his father suggested that
he take up law for his profession, making ar-
rangements with Judge Padgham, of Alle-
gan, for him to study law in his office. The
judge gave him his board and also the use of
his law books and such instruction as he might
give in consideration of his doing office work,
and after one year's study he was examined
and admitted to practice before the bar in Al-
legan. In January, 1877, he opened an
office in Saugatuck and for three years had a
good practice there. In 1880 he moved to
Allegan and practiced his profession there
until 1894, when he removed to Grand Rap-
ids, which city has since been his home.
In
Judge Newnham's official record is a flat-
tering one, and almost suggests the thought
that the fates order the destinies of men and
ordain them for certain lines of life. He was
for one year township superintendent of
schools at Saugatuck, held a position in the
office of the doorkeeper of the House of Rep-
resentatives at Washington two years, 1888-9,
was eight years a justice of the peace in Alle-
RICHARD LINNEY NEWNHAM
A
gan, and two years prosecuting attorney of
Allegan county (1891-2), was assistant United
States district attorney for the Western Dis-
trict of Michigan four years (1894-8), and in
1899 was elected judge of the Superior Court
of Grand Rapids for the term of six years.
case of some interest arose in Judge Newn-
ham's court in 1899, involving the responsi-
bility of public officials.
bility of public officials. In the People vs.
Warren, Judge Newnham held that public
officials are guilty of a felony in the misappro-
priation of funds placed in their charge,
whether intentional or otherwise, if above the
amount of $50. This ruling was affirmed by
the Supreme Court.
Miss Annie M. Higinbotham, daughter of
Peter Higinbotham, one of the first settlers
September 20, 1878. They have four child-
in Allegan county, became Mrs. Newnham
ren, a son, Stephen L., being clerk in the
United States District Attorney's office at
Grand Rapids, and three daughters attending
the public schools. Judge Newnham is a
Democrat in politics and was a member of the
State Central Committee, 1892-4, and while
at Allegan acted as chairman and secretary
of the county committee. He is a member of
the Michigan Bar Association, and his society
connections are the Odd Fellows, Maccabees,
Elks, Court of Honor and Knights of Pythias.

178
MEN OF PROGRESS.
NATHANIEL H. STEWART.
STEWART, NATHANIEL H. While
Mr. Stewart is thoroughly American in his
convictions and his impulses, and is demo-
cratic, not only in the broad sense of the term,
but in its partisan sense as well, it is not amiss
to say that he traces his lineage from a col-
lateral branch of the Stewart dynasty of Scot-
land, and later of England. Charles Nelson
Stewart, grandfather of N. H., came to Amer-
ica in 1780. His father, also named as above,
was early designed for the Presbyterian min-
istry, but adopted manufacturing (wagons
and machinery) as his calling, operating large
works at Johnstown, N. Y., where N. H. was
born July 20th, 1847. Passing over earlier
experiences, he found himself in May, 1868,
at Kalamazoo, Michigan, on his own resources,
with seven dollars in his pocket. Willing to
turn his hand to anything honorable, he found
means of meeting his expenses, and entered a
law office, for a time sleeping on the floor of
one of the rooms rather than become under
obligations to anyone. And herein is illus-
trated one of his leading traits to incur
neither debts or other obligations. In March,
1869, he accepted a situation at the village of
Plainwell, taking charge of an elevator and
produce house, at a salary of $75 per month,
remaining there one year. His moderate sav-
ings enabled him to resume his law studies,
and in the Fall of 1870, the firm which he was
with (Edwards & Sherwood) made him an
offer, as an assistant, of $325 a year for three
years. This being accepted he was admitted
to the bar in March, 1872. Judge Sherwood
was the active trial lawyer of the firm, and
never went into a case without Mr. Stewart's
assistance. The firm were attorneys for the
Michigan Central Railroad, and his services
were so highly appreciated, that when he left
the firm he was retained right along as one
of the attorneys of the company. He is also
attorney for the Chicago & Grand Trunk Rail-
road. His practice in the line of corporations
and patents is large and lucrative. On the
dissension of the firm of Edwards & Sherwood,
Mr. Stewart became a partner with Mr.
Edwards, which continued until November,
1896, when Mr. Edwards retired from the
firm and Mr. Stewart continued alone.
A democrat in politics, and through and
under Mr. Stewart's management, George L.
Yaple was elected to Congress over J. C. Bur-
rowes in 1882, and he managed the state cam-
paign in the spring of 1883, when the demo-
cratic state ticket was for the first time suc-
cessful. He has been efficient as committee-
man and delegate to conventions, and was the
democratic candidate for Congress from his
district in 1894.
He takes an earnest interest in the develop-
ment of the beet sugar manufacture, having
been instrumental in establishing the Kalama-
zoo plant, and represented Kalamazoo county
at the Omaha National Sugar Manufacturers'
Convention in December last. He has large
property interests at Fort Worth, Texas, is
president of the Lake Mountain Gold Mining
Company near Sitka, Alaska, and has other
commercial interests, and has acquired a
moderately munificient worldly estate.
a member of the order of Elks.
He is
Mr. Stewart's character may be generally
described by the term sterling. He is posi-
tive in his convictions, inflexible in principle,
energetic in action, forceful and assertive,
sometimes almost to harshness, but yet in his
personal feelings, most gentle and tender,
which is especially exemplified in his family
relations, all traits that have distinguished the
historic Stewarts.
He was joined in marriage at Kalamazoo,
December 14th, 1875, to Emily Frances
Gates, daughter of Chauncey Gates, of Kala-
mazoo. They have two sons, Donald Argyle
and Gordon L., born respectively in 1882 and

1885.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
179
WRIGHT, CASS THOMPSON. Cass
Thompson Wright, a prominent citizen of
Greenville, Mich., was born in Wrightstown,
Wis., June 30, 1846. His grandfather, Hoel
S. Wright, located and founded Wrights-
town, and his father, Lucien B., was a well-
known lumberman in Greenville.
Young Wright divided his early days be-
tween working on the farm and attending
district school, and he took one term in the
graded school of Olmstead, Ohio. His parents
removed to Greenville in 1866, where the boy
had another winter term in school. His
father and his uncle engaged in the lumber
business in Greenville under the firm name of
Wright Bros., and the boy soon learned every
department of the business, going into the
woods in winter, helping in the spring drive
on the river, and working in the mill in sum-
mer in every capacity. He took his father's
place in the firm when the former died in
1868, and continued the business. There be-
ing no railroads in the early days of their lum-
bering operations, the sawed lumber had to
be rafted down the river to Grand Haven and
sent from there by boat to Chicago. The first
three years the firm of Wright Bros. had a
hard struggle for existence, the receipts from
lumber sales being barely sufficient to pay run-
ning expenses.
In 1875 the F. W. Wright Company pur-
chased the interests of the implement firm of
Moons, Watson & Co., which for years had
been manufacturing plows and stone rollers.
They made a success of the new venture and
in 1890 built a new brick factory and in-
creased their line of goods. Today the firm
manufactures plows, wood-sawing machinery,
cultivators, potato-planters, feed-cookers and
kettles, giving employment to about one hun-
dred men.
The business has shown a yearly
increase, the output is large and the business
still growing.
In 1881 Mr. Wright put in the first roller
mill ever set up in that section of the country,
in that section of the country,
and this, together with his other mill, pro-
duces the largest portion of the flour and food
products consumed in that part of the State.
CASS THOMPSON WRIGHT.
Mr. Wright has many important interests in
Greenville. He is the owner and operator of
the Greenville Electric Light & Power Com-
pany, furnishing the light for the city and
power for some of the manufacturing plants
there. He was formerly one of the directors
of the Ranney Refrigerator Company, of
Greenville, and is today one of the directors
of the State Bank in that city.
In politics he is a "Silver Republican." He
has served his city two years in the office of
mayor, and was an alderman for three years.
In the spring of 1899 he was elected treasurer
of the school board, and he still holds that
position.
In 1868 Mr. Wright married Miss Helen
Fuller, of Greenville. They have seven chil-
dren. Lucien is a bookkeeper for the Green-
ville Implement Co.; Ethel, wife of William
Patterson, a farmer, living near Kalamazoo;
Jesse, travelling salesman for the Greenville
Implement Company; Fay, in the milling
department; and Earl, Hugh and Vivian at-
tend school in Greenville.
Mr. Wright is a member of the Michigan
Millers' Association, and not affiliated with
any fraternal or secret body.

180
MEN OF PROGRESS.
EDGAR HUGH HOTCHKISS.
HOTCHKISS, EDGAR HUGH. Edgar
Hugh Hotchkiss is the son of Ephraim C.
Hotchkiss, who came to Michigan in 1837
from Medina, N. Y., and the grandson of
Loren L. Hotchkiss, founder of the town of
Medina, Mich. The latter combined the oc-
cupations of farmer, miller and Baptist min-
ister, and was the first representative to the
Michigan Legislature, when this State was
admitted to the Union. The original family
came from Connecticut. Edgar H. Hotch-
kiss was born at Hudson, Mich., September
25, 1861. When he was about 18 months
old, the family moved to Rochester, N. Y.,
and later to Buffalo. Here young Hotchkiss
attended public school and was graduated
from the Buffalo High School. At the out-
break of the civil war his father had abandoned
a prosperous business to enlist, at Hudson,
Mich., in the Union army. Unsuccessful in
re-establishing himself after returning from
the service, he finally went back to his old
trade, that of carpenter, and when he was 13
years old this trade was taught the boy during
his vacations. Upon graduating from the
ment.
high school, Mr. Hotchkiss secured a position
in the treasurer's office of the Western New
York & Pennsylvania Railroad, at $30 a
month. A year later the auditor's office was
created and he was transferred to that depart-
ment. He remained with the railroad seven
years and was earning $1,000 a year when he
quit. In 1888 he accepted the position of
bookkeeper with the St. Ignace Manufactur-
ing Co. at St. Ignace, Mich., where he now
resides. The company had not a regular
bookkeeper and Mr. Hotchkiss' first work was
to untangle the accounts and make a state-
At the end of three months he re-
ported that the concern was losing money
every day, and an investigation by the stock-
holders verified this statement. The plant
was closed down. The largest stockholders
complimented Mr. Hotchkiss on his work, but
remarked that he had figured himself out of a
position. As there was no way of figuring
himself back again, he applied for and was
given his old position with the railroad com-
pany, and returned to Buffalo, where he re-
mained until 1890, when he was tendered the
position of cashier of the First National Bank
of St. Ignace. He accepted and still occupies
that office. He is also a director in the bank.
Mr. Hotchkiss is interested in other lines,
being secretary and treasurer of the Macki-
naw Lumber Co., and also engaged in the in-
surance business, under the name of the E.
H. Hotchkiss Insurance Agency. For two
years he was alderman of St. Ignace.
Agnes, daughter of James E. Thomson, of
Buffalo, N. Y., became Mrs. Edgar Hotchkiss
on September 10, 1884. Three children
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hotchkiss-
Jean B., attending Waterman Hall, a school
at Sycamore, Ill.; Herbert H. J., at school in
St. Ignace, and Rutheven, whom they have
lost. Mr. Hotchkiss is a Mason of high stand-
ing, a member of Ivanhoe Commandery,
Knights Templar, of Petoskey, and a Shriner,
of Ahmed Temple, Marquette.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
181
PENBERTHY, FRANK. Frank Pen-
berthy was born in Grass Valley, California,
April 3, 1858. His father came to America
from Cornwall, England, and in 1849, when
the world was set agog by the discovery of
the large gold fields of California, traveled
across the plains in one of the canvas-covered
wagons, or "prairie schooners," and located
in that country. He made the trip twice, and
in 1851, Mr. Penberthy's mother took the
same dangerous trip in order to join her hus-
band.
The father died and the family then re-
moved to Dodgeville, Wisconsin, where the
boy attended the public schools of that city
until he was 17 years of age. He then went
to work as a printer's "devil" on the Chronicle
of Dodgeville, at a salary of $2.50 a week, at
least this is the salary that was promised him,
but he had to accept it in the form of circus
tickets and stovewood. This remuneration
not being sufficient he quit the job and came
to this state, where his brother was employed
on the Menominee Herald, at Menominee,
and owned a news stand. Frank attended to
the stand, and set type in the Herald compos-
ing room for a year, working for his board
and clothes, and then secured a position as
clerk in the grocery store owned by John J.
McGillis at Mariette, Wisconsin. His next
employment was in the sawmill operated by
Ludington, Wells & Van Schaick at Menom-
inee, Michigan, first working on the edging
machine and then at the picket-saw, at $12
a month. The mill closed down the following
fall, and young Penberthy was offered a place
in the store run by the same company. He re-
mained with the company for four years and
then in company with William Peters he
started in the retail grocery business on his
own account in Menominee, under the firm
name of F. Penberthy & Company. The bus-
iness was commenced on a limited capital and
in a small way but it was properly handled,
and met with success almost from the start.
Two years later, Mr. Penberthy had made
enough money to enable him to buy out his
partner and become the sole owner of the
FRANK PENBERTHY.
flourishing business. In 1891 he widened his
scope of trade by entering into another part-
nership under the firm name of Somerville,
Penberthy & Cook, and doing a wholesale gro-
cery trade. Later this company was re-organ-
ized as Penberthy, Cook & Company, with
W. O. Carpenter of Menominee as the com-
pany.
This concern now does one of the largest
trades of any on the Upper Peninsular. Their
goods go into Wisconsin and also all over the
Peninsula. The first year's sales amounted to
$300,000 and the trade has grown with won-
derful rapidity so that in 1899 they exceeded
a million of dollars.
Mr. Penberthy is identified with the
younger element of the Republican party.
He was elected a member of the School Board
at Menominee in 1899, and will serve as such
until 1902. He was one of the founders and
is a stockholder of the Northern Chautauqua
of Wisconsin. The grounds are near Marien-
ette, Wisconsin, and large meetings of the
society are held there during the summer
months. Mr. Penberthy is also treasurer and
director of the Menominee Loan and Build-
ing Association. He is a Mason.
In 1883 he married Miss Mollie Farrier at
Menominee, and he has four children:
Pearlita, Paul, Arthur and Francisco.

182
MEN OF PROGRESS.
PETER RUPPE.
RUPPE, PETER. For a man who com-
menced his life in this country as a peddler,
Peter Ruppe, of Calumet, deserves great
credit for the way in which he has made his
way to the comfortable position he occupies
in the financial world of Michigan today. He
was born in Austria, December 6, 1843, and
his schooling did not commence until he was
eight years of
His school life was
age.
blended with work about the farm, for at 5
o'clock in the morning the boy had to drive
the sheep and cattle out to their grazing land
on the hills and remain with them until 8
o'clock, when, after a hasty breakfast, he was
hurried off to school. When he became 12
years of
he attended a German school for
age
two years and from that time on worked as a
farm hand until he was 17. His father had
emigrated to America some years before, and
the boy now took a steerage passage for this
country, and joined his father in St. Paul,
Minnesota. For two years after his arrival
in this country he drove a horse and wagon
from door to door peddling, and in 1864 he
started with his team for Hancock, where his
father had a store. Arriving in Michigan,
he joined his father and worked for him about
six months, leaving to become a trammer in
the Quincy mine at $60 a month. The fol-
lowing six months he worked in the rock house
of the Delaware mine in Keweenaw county,
burning rock and packing the native copper
in barrels for shipment. During this time he
saved about $300, and with this he started to
Chicago to make his fortune. He was handi-
capped with a limited knowledge of the Eng-
lish language, and he found that his services
were not in demand in the big western metrop-
olis. For months he sought work until his
savings were exhausted, and then he secured a
place in a Canal street dry goods house and
started at $25 a month. This was very unsatis-
factory when he thought that if he could only
get back to Michigan, he could make $60 a
month at his old job in the mines. He worked
for this firm for three years, and then returned
to Michigan, and joined his father again at
Hancock. In 1868 he went to St. Paul to
work for a wholesale tobacco firm, and while
there he attended the branch business college
of Byrant & Stratton, where he learned book-
keeping, geography, English, writing and
spelling and secured a fair idea of the meth-
ods of conducting business on the American
plan. He returned to Hancock the next year
and May 18, 1869, started the branch store at
Calumet. He has been a member of the school
board since 1891 and president of the board
for three terms. In politics he is a liberal
Democrat. He was the first president of the
village of Calumet and was re-elected three
He has been township treasurer for
two terms. He is vice-president of the Mer-
chants' & Miners' Bank of Calumet, and a
director in the Lake Superior Cold Storage
Co. of Houghton.
terms.
Mr. Ruppe married Miss Minnie Mertz at
Calumet, Michigan, in 1874, and has six
children. Minnie is at home, Peter E. is book-
keeper for his father, George graduated from
Michigan University as an attorney, Albert
is in the store of Peter Ruppe & Sons, and
Crescence and Agnes are at school. Mr.
Ruppe is a Catholic and a member of the
German Aid Society.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
183
FULLER, OTIS. Otis Fuller, of Ionia,
Michigan, was born on a farm near Elba,
Genesee County, New York State, July 14,
1853. His ancestors were Puritans, both on
his mother's and his father's side of the house,
both families being of New Hampshire stock.
Until he was 12 years of age Otis Fuller at-
tended the district school near his home, and
when his father brought the family to Michi-
gan, and located at Mason, Ingham County,
the boy was taught the practical work of the
farm, and his education was completed in the
Fuller Academy, established by his sisters in
the family residence.
At the age of 19 he became a teacher in the
district schools, and at 21 was elected town-
ship superintendent of schools and secretary
of the county association of superintendents.
At 17 he engaged in the occupation of graft-
ing trees and raising bees, in connection with
farm work, this being really his first business
venture, and he followed these occupations
with financial success until he reached his
twenty-third year, when he became a news-
paper man.
Attention had first been attracted to his
ability in this direction by several trenchant
articles which he had contributed to the Lan-
sing Republican, while he
while he was teaching
school.
His bright style interested a number of
party leaders, including Stephen D. Bingham
and W. S. George, and waiting on him at his
home they prevailed upon him to purchase a
half interest and take the management of the
Ingham County News, published at Mason.
He consented and at once entered the cam-
paign. Ingham County at that time was a
political hot-bed, and the young writer's style
of handling political and general news sub-
jects pleased the readers of the paper and
made it a flourishing concern.
In 1877 he purchased his partner's interests
and continued alone for three years, when he
OTIS FULLER.
sold out to buy the Clinton Republican at St.
Johns, Mich. In 1889 he sold the paper to
C. C. Vaughan for twice as much as he paid
for it.
In 1889 Mr. Fuller was appointed Deputy
Internal Revenue Collector, and served as
such until 1894, nearly a year after he had for-
warded his resignation to the department. In
May, 1894, he was appointed to his present
position, warden of the State Reformatory at
Ionia, by Gov. John T. Rich and the Board of
Control. Mr. Fuller took hold of the institu-
tion with the same zeal and business sagacity
that had made his other business enterprises
so successful, and the institution is now re-
garded as a model of its kind.
Mr. Fuller has always been a stalwart repub-
lican and a counselor in the party. He is sec-
retary of the National Wardens' Association,
and was for years a member of the Michigan
Press Association and of the National News-
paper Publishers' Association. He was a mem-
ber of the republican state central committee
for two years; of the sixth district congres-
sional committee for six years. He is a Mason
and a Knights Templar, belonging to St. Johns
Commandery, No. 24.
184
MEN OF PROGRESS.

H. R. WAGER.
WAGER, H. R. H. R. Wager, of Ionia,
Michigan, was born in Summit county, Ohio,
June 4, 1835. His father was Jacob
Wager, and his mother Betsey, both from
the Mohawk Valley, in New York state.
From six to twelve years of age he at-
tended the district school during the winter
months, and started to work in his twelfth
year as a farm hand, and later in a woolen
factory until he was 18, earning at no time
more than $4 per month and board. He
then became a spinner in the factory at a
salary of $26 per month, out of which he
paid his own board.
He was taken very ill while in southern
Ohio, among strangers, and had very little
medical aid or nursing. His parents being
notified that he was not likely to recover,
drove 100 miles during one night and a day
with a team, and a two-horse carriage taking
him home to Portage county. He recovered
slowly and afterwards was given two terms
in Hiram College. James S. Garfield was
his class mate in some studies and teacher in
others.
When he was 21 years old he came to
Michigan and worked in a factory as a spin-
ner in Battle Creek for one year, then went
to Jackson to learn the clothing business.
He started in this business at a salary of $6
per month and by the end of the first year
he was receiving $40 a month. He was
raised to a Master Mason in Jackson, and
also took the Chapter degree in the lodge in
that city.
His employer in the clothing business
failed during the panic of 1857, and for six
months Mr. Wager clerked in the old Amer-
ican Hotel in Jackson.
He then went to Lyons, Michigan, where
he studied medicine for two years, and even-
tually got his first start in life.
He pur-
chased a stock of merchandise invoicing at
$3,700, giving his notes for six, eighteen and
twenty-four months, without security, hav-
ing no money or property of any description.
He paid the notes as they matured and estab-
lished an excellent credit. Mr. Wager
married Miss Ophelia E. Libhart in 1859,
and seven children were born to them, three
of whom are living. One, Fred L. Wager,
is in the lumber business at Mobile, Ala-
bama; Ernest E. Wager is now running a
line of steamers from Mobile to Cuba and
Central America, and the only daughter,
Nellie, married R. Lee Page and is living in
Ionia, Michigan. Mr. Wager attributes his
success in life largely to his wife and noble
mother.
In 1860 Mr. Wager sold out his business
in Lyons and went to Muir, Michigan, where,
with $3,000 net, he started business with a
general merchandise stock. In 1870 he em-
barked in lumbering with a net capital of
$18,000 and is still engaged in that business.
He became a K. T. at Ionia, in 1880, and
joined the Shrine at Grand Rapids in 1894.
He has been president of the Wager Lumber
Co. about 30 years, and president of the
Stanton Lumber Co. about 12 years, with
Julius Houseman, of Grand Rapids, and L.
B. Townsend, of Ionia, as the company. He
has bought and sold large groups of timber
lands in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Washington, Alabama and Mississippi, and
still holds large and valuable tracts in Ala-
bama and Washington. At 65 years old he
feels he is just in his prime and still remains
in active business, being president of Ionia
County Savings Bank, Lake Odessa Savings
Bank, Tonia Electric Co., Michigan Clothing
Co. and Wager Lumber Co.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
185
PERRY, GEORGE RUSSELL. The sub-
ject of this sketch is one of the hustlers who
have made Grand Rapids and Western Mich-
igan famous throughout the land. Born Jan-
uary 30th, 1849, at Bridgeport, Conn., he
came to Michigan in 1852, his parents locat-
ing in Detroit, where young George attended
school and secured his start in life. His father
was originally from Dunberry, Conn., where
he was engaged in the hatter's trade, and his
mother, Hannah Dobbs, was born at Dobbs
Ferry, New York. The Perrys were origi-
nally from Ireland, whence they emigrated
to England, and then to America, in a very
early day.
At the age of fourteen Mr. Perry left the
public schools and attended Patterson's pri-
vate school at Detroit for two years. At six-
teen he entered the employ of H. Simeneau &
Co., druggists at Detroit, whom he paid $75
for the privilege of learning the business, the
first year. He remained with the firm three
years, working his way up to a $20 a month
position. He then worked his way across the
country to Grand Rapids, where he secured
employment in a drug store, remaining until
1872, when, at the time of the great Chicago
fire, he went to that city and opened a store
for T.-J. Bluteast. In 1874 he returned to
Grand Rapids and married Jennie Blake,
daughter of Alexander Blake, one of the earli-
est settlers of Kent county, who for many
years was engaged in extensive lumber opera-
tions. Five children have been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Perry, only one of whom is living,
Jeanette, aged seventeen, who is attending
Vassar College.
After his marriage, Mr. Perry again went
to Chicago, where he remained until the
spring of 1875, when he returned to Grand
Rapids as bookkeeper for L. H. Randall &
Co., wholesale grocers. Six years later the
firm was reorganized under the name of Free-
man, Hawkins & Co., Mr. Perry being one of
the firm, with Mr. Randall as special partner.
This partnership continued until 1890, having
in the meantime merged into the firm of Haw-
kins & Perry. In that year Mr. Perry sold
GEORGE RUSSELL PERRY.
his interest and opened a brokerage office for
grocery staples, which business is now a very
large one.
Mr. Perry is a Democrat and has always
taken an active part in the campaigns of that
party. He was very prominently identified
with the Tilden campaign, being a member
of the county committee. He was city treas-
urer of Grand Rapids from 1886 to 1890, and
in 1898 was elected Mayor by a majority of
738, and re-elected in 1900 by 1,804 majority.
He is a firm believer in a liberal form of city
government, and his campaigns have been
waged along this line, with a success that has
given him fame of more than local character.
He was one of the prime movers in the organi-
zation of the Michigan Municipal League,
which was conceived for the purpose of better-
ing municipal conditions which existed
throughout the state. He is now the president
of that organization. He is a free giver
among local enterprises and has promoted
many interests for the city's good. He was at
one time vice-president of the Grand Rapids
Street Railway Company, and is recognized.
as a pushing and popular representative of the
second city in the state.
186
MEN OF PROGRESS.

WILLIAM MILAN EDWARDS, M. D.
EDWARDS, WILLIAM MILAN, M. D.
Dr. Edwards is the present medical superin-
tendent of the Michigan Asylum for the In-
sane at Kalamazoo. Born on his father's
farm near Peru, in the State of Indiana, he
attended the district school, after arriving at
school age, until his sixteenth year.
A year
was then passed at Smithson College, at Lo-
gansport, Ind. While there he took examina-
tion for a teacher's certificate and for the next
two years was a pedagogue in his home school
district, working as a farm hand during vaca-
tions. Having saved some money, he entered
the Literary Department of the University of
Indiana, at Bloomington, where he remained
two years, when the low state of his resources
necessitated a return to the work of teaching,
at which he was employed for a time in Union
county, Indiana. Having resolved to adopt
the medical profession in May, 1880, he en-
tered the office of Ward & Brenton, physi-
cians at Peru, where he passed a year in the
In October, 1881, he
study of medicine.
entered the Department of Medicine and
Surgery in the University of Michigan, gradu-
ating with the class of 1884. In April of that
year he was tendered and accepted the posi-
tion of acting assistant physician at the Michi-
gan Asylum for the Insane, entering upon his
duties on May 1. In August of the same year
he was made assistant physician, which posi-
tion he held until June 1, 1891, when he was
appointed to the place which he now holds.
He has developed the "Colony" system of car-
ing for the chronic insane, entirely reorgan-
ized the power, heating and lighting plant of
the asylum and made many other improve-
ments. It was upon his recommendation that
a detached hospital for acute cases was built
in 1897, being the first in this State, and one
of the first in the United States, a plan which
is now recognized among institutions of this
kind the country through as being most prac-
tical.
Dr. Edwards is a non-resident lecturer at-
tached to the Medical Department of the Uni-
versity at Ann Arbor, and was instrumental in
affiliating the Pathological Department at the
University with the asylums of the State, and
a physician is now assigned at the several asy-
lums for the benefit of this department. He
is a member of the American Medico-Physo-
cological Association of the Michigan State
Medical Society, and of the Kalamazoo Acad-
emy of Medicine.
For one who is as yet a young man, whose
life has been spent, up to the present, in the
acquisition of knowledge and in the study and
practice of a profession, there is but a limited
field for the biographer. If the purpose were
to indulge in praise or eulogy, the simple rec-
ord here given is the highest eulogy. True,
it does not stand alone. There are many
similar instances worthy of honorable men-
tion and imitation.
On the paternal side, Dr. Edwards is of
New York stock. His grandfather, Uzil,
came to Cincinnati from New Jersey in 1804,
where his father, Asher B., and his mother,
a Louisville, Kentucky, lady, whose maiden
name was Elizabeth Brenton, were married.
His great-grandfather, Moses Edwards, was a
Baptist minister in New York City. Dr.
Edwards was married at Union City, Mich.,
in 1897, to Miss Emma Ardelle Merritt,
daughter of George S. Merritt. They have
one son, Wm. M., Jr.
The doctor is a mem-
ber of the Masonic Fraternity, including
Peninsular Commandery, No. 8, K. T., and
also a member of Phi Kappa Psi, of the Uni-
versity.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
187
HINMAN, EDWARD
CHAUNCEY.
The name of Hinman has been prominently
associated with the business and social life of
Battle Creek for half a century, through John
F., and Harriet (Hayt) Hinman, father and
mother of Edward C. The latter was born at
Battle Creek, March 1, 1852. He graduated
from the Battle Creek High School in 1869
and from the literary department of the Uni-
versity of Michigan in 1874. After gradu-
ating at the University, he accepted the posi-
tion of sub-overseer in the United States En-
gineering Department, on the Fox and Wis-
consin rivers improvement operations. He re-
mained in the employ of the United States gov-
ernment six years, becoming an assistant en-
gineer. Returning to Michigan in 1880, he
became associated with C. A. Ward & Co., of
Port Huron, in the grain trade. The firm
operated grain elevators at Port Huron and
along the line of the Chicago & Grand Trunk
Railway. In 1882 he withdrew from the
Port Huron concern and purchased the
J. M. Ward Flouring Mill, under the firm
name of Hinman & Ward, at Battle Creek.
In 1888 Mr. Hinman disposed of his in-
terest to Mr. Frank W. Ward, and during the
next three years gave his attention to various
private enterprises.
enterprises. In 1891 he became in-
In 1891 he became in-
terested in the Battle Creek Steam Pump
Co. (now the American Steam Pump Co.),
and was made its secretary. When Mr. Hin-
man became interested in it, it employed 40
workmen, with an output for the year of $70,-
000. The plant, under Mr. Hinman's man-
agement, has forged ahead, and is today one
of the most successful manufacturers of steam
pumps in the world. It employs 150 skilled
mechanics and had an output in 1899 of
nearly $500,000. Its pumps are sold in nearly
every country in the world, and it has branch
offices in all the large cities of the world. The
company was $50,000 in debt in 1893, and
besides rebuilding its plant, was out of debt
in 1897. It is one of the few concerns in
Michigan that never had a strike or a claim
from any of its employes that was not amica-
bly adjusted.
The Battle Creek Hinmans are direct de-
scendants from Sergt. Edward Hinman, who
came to Stratford, Conn., from England, in
C
2
EDWARD CHAUNCEY HINMAN.
1650. He had formerly held the responsible
trust of sergeant-at-arms of the body guard
of Charles I. After coming to America he
served in the Indian wars under Capt. John
Underhill, becoming a commissioned officer.
He also served under Gen. Stuveysant, and
commanded a Dutch company in the wars be-
tween the then Dutch colony of New York
(or New Amsterdam) and the Indian tribes.
On the mother's side, the Hinmans are de-
scended from Maj. Wm. Southworth and
Gen. John Tillotson, both officers in the Revo-
lutionary war. Mr. E. C. Hinman had three
great-great-grandfathers and one great-grand-
father in that struggle.
Edward C. Hinman is one of the leading
spirits of his city in a business way, and the
most successful manufacturer who claims Bat-
tle Creek as a birthplace. He is one of the
Republican leaders in Battle Creek and has
served two terms as alderman. He is a Mas-
ter and Royal Arch Mason and Knights Tem-
plar, is a member of Saladin Temple at Grand
Rapids, a member of the United Workmen
and of the Sons of the American Revolution.
He was a member of the Board of Visitors at
the U. S. Naval Academy in 1898. He has
been twice married, first to Carrie L. Risdon,
who died in 1887, and in 1890 to Isadore M.
Risdon, both daughters of the late Lewis C.
Risdon, of Ann Arbor. He has two daugh-
ters, Gertrude R. and Belle R.
188
MEN OF PROGRESS.

ALFRED JOHN GODSMARK.
Alfred
GODSMARK, ALFRED JOHN.
John Godsmark is of English parentage. His
father, born near Horsham, Eng., came
to this country in 1838 and shortly after
was married to Miss Sarah Jaques, who came
over the same year from Stourton, near Ships-
ton-on-Stour, her birthplace and where her
girlhood days were spent. The couple located
at Bedford, Calhoun county, where Mr. Gods-
mark was born, July 1852, he being the second
son.
John Godsmark, Sr., died in 1895; the
mother still resides in Bedford.
Mr. Godsmark's early life alternated be-
tween home duties and the local schools, until
he was sixteen years old, after which his edu-
cation was supplemented by attendance at the
Battle Creek schools, and at Olivet College.
His first business experience was as clerk in the
store of Charles Austin, at Bedford. He ac-
companied Mr. Austin to Battle Creek, upon
his removal there in 1872, and was clerk in the
drygoods store of Austin & Hoffmaster for
three years. He then formed a co-partnership
with Clark Frasier in operating an omnibus
line, which continued for three years. In
1878 they closed out the business, when Mr.
Godsmark bought out a shoe stock in Battle
Creek, which he operated successfully for a
year, when he sold out and went to Leadville,
Colo., reaching there previous to and remain-
ing during the first excitement at that point.
From Leadville he went to Denver and thence
to North Park, using six-horse teams in con-
veying a stock of groceries and supplies 100
miles, over the "continental divide." He
helped to found Lulu, Colo., built and ran the
first store, built and operated the first hotel,
and was the first as well as the last mayor of
the burg. He remained there four years, when
the town was practically wiped out of exist-
ence by the Middle Park riot, in which all the
county officials were killed, together with some
private citizens. From Lulu he went to Rus-
tic, Colo., and entered the employ of A. S.
Stewart, a railroad contractor and stage pro-
prietor, serving in a confidential relation for a
year. In 1884 he returned to Battle Creek,
where he formed a co-partnership with his old
friend and former employer, Hon. Charles
Austin, in the fruit commission business,
which gradually developed into the wholesale
grocery trade. The business soon reached a
point where a third partner was taken in, in
the person of William H. Durand, the firm
then being Austin, Godsmark & Durand, from
which, in 1894, the style of the firm was
changed to Godsmark, Durand & Co. The
house has gradually grown in patronage until
it has become one of the most prominent and
successful wholesale grocery concerns in south-
western Michigan.
Mr. Godsmark is not a politician, never
having had time nor inclination for politics.
However, he is a stanch Republican, having
stood firm for his party for nearly thirty years.
Was married in the spring of 1888 to Zoa
Jeanette Stevens of Battle Creek. A daughter
ten years of age is the only child.
He is one of eight parties holding ten claims
in what is called the Radcliffe Consolidated
Gold Mining Company of Inu, California,
near Ballenat, in that state, being one of the
finest gold producing claims on the Pacific

coast.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
189
BIBLE, JOHN FRANKLIN. John
Franklin Bible, of Ionia, is a southerner by
birth. His father was G. A. R. Bible, a
planter, miller and general store owner at
Sulphur Springs, Ga., since the civil war.
His mother was Mary Elizabeth Stephans,
a relative of Alexander H. Stephans, vice-
president of the confederate states.
John F. Bible was born June 30th, 1865,
at the home of his grand-parents in Marion
county, Tennessee, near Jasper.
The original family of Bibles came from
Holland in 1730, settling in the Shenan-
doah valley. This family had seven sons-
six of whom had sixteen children each-the
other, eleven. These seven sons were all in
the revolutionary war. The youngest of the
seven sons, Capt. John Bible, great-grand-
father of John F., married a Miss Ryan, of
the famous Irish family, and he was the one
that had the eleven children.
Young Bible attended the common
schools in Dade county, Ga., and later the
North Alabama College at White Sulphur
Springs. During vacation he worked either
at his father's grist mill, general repair shop,
or on the plantation. At the age of nineteen,
through the help of some of his friends, the
young man built and opened the East Point
Academy, and acted as principal for three
years.
This academy was successfully oper-
ated, and students were prepared for a col-
lege course within its walls.
Mr. Bible was always of a mechanical turn
of mind, and having had some experience in
wagon building and repairing at his father's
shops, he entered the employ of the White
Hickory Wagon Company, at East Point,
where, after working through the different
departments, he was made assistant manager,
and was entrusted with the buying of all
wood stock.
In 1889 he accepted the position of assist-
ant manager with the Owensboro Wagon Co.,
at Owensboro, Ky., and in addition to having
the general supervision of the shops, he spent
more or less time on the road, soon very
largely increasing the output of this com-
pany. His duties often took him to Michi-
gan, and he became acquainted with some of
those interested in the Ionia Wagon Com-
pany, and was tendered a position as general
superintendent of that company, accepting on
July 7th, 1893. In 1896 he was elected sec-
retary and general manager. He is today
one of the largest stockholders in the com-
JOHN FRANKLIN BIBLE.
pany. They employ about 160 men, and
have an annual business of about $350,000.
Mr. Bible is a democrat. Shortly after he
was twenty-one years of age he was elected
an alderman of East Point, Ga., was shortly
afterwards made president of the council, and
performed the duties of mayor for nearly a
year.
Mr. Bible married Mary, daughter of Col.
John H. Bell, of Hopkinsville, Ky., Decem-
ber 6th, 1892. They have two children-
Susan and Mary Bell.
He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity,
Ionia Commandery No. 26, Knights Templar.
He is a past chancellor of the Knights of Py-
thias, past exalted ruler of the B. P. O. E.,
member of the Maccabees, Royal Arcanum
and Modern Woodmen. He was honored by
being chosen the five hundredth member of
the Ionia Maccabees; and was initiated on an
occasion which was made of State importance
of this order.
of this order. He is also a member of the
National Wagonmakers' Association, and it
was through his efforts that the Michigan
Wagon and Carriage Makers' Association was
organized, he being its first secretary.
Bible is President of the Ionia Town and
Business Men's Club, also of the Albert Will-
iams' Ionia County Democratic Club.
Mr.
Although Mr. Bible has lived in Ionia
but seven years, he has made a large circle of
friends, and is highly respected by all who
know him.
190
MEN OF PROGRESS.

WILLIAM JAMES STUART.
STUART, WILLIAM JAMES. The sub-
ject of this sketch came of vigorous stock, his
father, Alexander, and mother, Martha
(Noble) Stuart, came to Michigan from Ire-
land in 1843, settling on a farm in the town-
ship of Yankee Springs, Barry county. Alex-
ander Stuart was one of a family of four
brothers and three sisters (many members of
the family spell the name Stewart). Wm. J.
was born on the Barry county farm, Novem-
ber 1, 1844, where the first fifteen years of his
life were passed. Two years at school in
Hastings, and a like period at the Kalamazoo
College and High School, laid the foundation.
for a higher education. Entering the Uni-
versity in March, 1864, he pursued the classi-
cal course until the middle of his junior year,
and in the fall of 1866 he was appointed
superintendnnt of the Hastings schools, which
position he filled for one year, when return-
ing to the University, he graduated in the
class of 1868. For two years following he
filled his former position of superintendent of
the Hastings schools. He entered the law de-
partment of the University in 1870, gradu-
ating therefrom in the spring of 1872. He
was then temporarily connected with the firm
of Balch & Balch, at Kalamazoo, the firm
soon taking on the style of Balch, Stuart &
Balch. In November, 1872, the co-partner-
ship was terminated, Mr. Stuart removing to
Grand Rapids. January 1, 1873, he entered
the office of E. A. Burlingame, as assistant
prosecuting attorney of Kent county, and sub-
sequently became a law partner, the firm of
Burlingame & Stuart continuing until April,
1876. A partnership with Edwin E. Sweet
followed, continuing as Stuart & Sweet until
April, 1888. Mr. Stuart then formed busi-
ness relations with L. E. Knappen and C. H.
Van Arman, with offices at both Grand Rap-
ids and Hastings. The Hastings office was
closed after the death of Mr. Van Arman in
1890, the Grand Rapids firm of Stuart &
Knappen continuing until April, 1893. From
this time until 1897 Mr. Stuart practiced law
alone, when Sylvester W. Barker became the
junior in the firm of Stuart & Barker, under
which style the business has since been con-
ducted.
In 1880 Mr. Stuart was appointed city at-
torney of Grand Rapids, serving two terms,
and during 1883-85 was a member of the
Board of Education, and was ex-officio a mem-
ber of the board during his two terms as
mayor, to which office he was elected in 1892
and re-elected in 1893. In May, 1888, he
was appointed prosecuting attorney of Kent
county to fill a vacancy, and in the Fall of the
same year was elected to and filled the posi-
tion during the ensuing term. In politics,
Mr. Stuart is a staunch Republican.
In 1877 he received the degree of "M. A."
from the State University, and for 1894-5 he
was president of its Society of Alumni.
Mr. Stuart is a director in the State Bank
of Michigan, at Grand Rapids, in the Grand
Rapids Board of Trade, is a director in and
treasurer of the Citizens' Telephone Co. and
the J. C. Herkner Jewelry Co., both of Grand
Rapids.
Rapids. He is a member of St. Mark's Epis-
copal Church, of Grand Rapids, of which he
has been a vestryman for many years, and is
connected with the Masonic Fraternity and
Knights of Pythias. His wife was formerly
Miss Calista Hadley, of Hastings, to whom he
was married in April, 1874. They have no
children, but a niece, Miss Edith Stuart, has
lived with them since childhood, taking the
place of a daughter.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
191
CURTIS, MILES S. The State of Ohio,
which has given four presidents to the coun-
try and was the native State of a fifth one, is
also the native state of the subject of the pres-
ent sketch. Mr. Curtis was born in Ashta-
bula county, Ohio, April 1, 1852. His early
life was spent upon a farm and his rudimen-
tary education obtained in a district school.
At the age of 14 he entered a select school,
and from this was graduated to the Austin-
burg Institute, where he remained for four
years.
The last year in the institution he
held the position of instructor in penmanship,
and one year as instructor in penmanship and
teacher in the High School at Jefferson, the
county seat of Ashtabula county. At the
age of 21 he came to Michigan and began the
study of law in the office of W. J. Baxter, of
Jonesville, but he was obliged to give this up
and return to farming, his father requiring
his assistance. This brought him in the vicin-
ity of Battle Creek, and there he has since
lived, dividing his time between a farm on the
outskirts of the city and business interests in
the city. Mr. Curtis was first elected super-
visor of his township in 1891, and has repre-
sented his district in the State Legislature,
having been elected to the House of Repre-
sentatives in 1894, serving during the session
of 1895. He was mayor of Battle Creek in
1898.
While the official positions with which he
has been honored sufficiently attest the esti-
mation in which he is held by the business
and social circles of his home, Mr. Curtis is
perhaps more widely known through his con-
nection with the Knights of Pythias, of which
order he has been a member since 1879. He
has attended every session of the Grand Lodge
since 1880, and has passed the chairs, from
the position of Outer Guard to Grand Chan-
cellor. He has for several years held the posi-
tion of Grand Keeper of Records and Seals,
and has also held the position of Supreme
Representative to the Supreme Lodge. In a
fraternal publication, it is said of him that he
"Has wielded a remarkable influence in the
affairs of the order in Michigan, and to his
MILES S. CURTIS.
credit be it said that influence has ever been
on the side of true advancement and in the
interest of higher standards and truer ideals.
Were we to analyze his character and disposi-
tion, we believe one of the strongest qualities
to be observed would be that intense earnest-
ness which has characterized so much of his
life work. He does whatever he has to do
with his whole heart and is never content with
partial results. His well-balanced mind and
excellent judgment make him an excellent
guide. While possessed of the courage of his
convictions, he has the happy faculty of differ-
ing with one and yet not antagonizing his op-
ponent. He is a fast friend and one to whom
our brothers may link themselves with hoops
of steel,' and be sure that betrayal is no part
of his nature. Above all, Miles S. Curtis is
a gentleman, not by artificial veneer and affec-
tation, which form no part of a true man's
equipment, but because the Almighty turned
him out from the crucible of creation a gen-
tleman by nature." He is a member of the
Masonic Fraternity, of the Royal Arcanum
and of the Elks.
Mary Nye, of Battle Creek, became Mrs.
Curtis in 1879. They have two sons, Lorell,
a clerk in The Merchants' National Bank of
Battle Creek, and Claude, now in the senior
class of the Battle Creek schools.
192
MEN OF PROGRESS.

JUDGE MATTHEW BUSH.
BUSH, JUDGE MATTHEW. Matthew
Bush, Judge of Probate, Shiawasse county,
and a resident of Corunna, Michigan, was
born near Stone Ridge, New York State, De-
cember 6, 1853. The family is one that came
from the Hudson valley, New York, and un-
doubtedly of Dutch origin. At the time
Matthew Bush was born his parents were liv-
ing on a farm near Stone Ridge, and when he
reached the correct age he was sent to the
neighboring district school, where his educa-
tion commenced and continued until he was
15 years of age. Two winter terms at the
graded school in the village followed this and
the boy then went to Port Ewen, N. Y.,
where he worked for his board with Dr. Jo-
siah Hasbrouck and attended the high school
of Port Ewen. He stood a teacher's examin-
ation while attending this latter school and
received a certificate qualifying him to teach.
Armed with this, he commenced his career as
a school teacher, teaching for 18 months in
district schools at an average salary of $30 a
month and board. Giving up teaching, Mr.
Bush then secured a position in the stationery
store of Winter Bros., at Rondout, N. Y.,
now Kingston, starting in by taking charge of
the newspaper department at $5 a week. Here
he learned telegraphy and it brought him a
new position in the office of Frank J. Hecker,
then superintendent of the Wallkill Valley
Railroad, and now one of the general officers
of the Michigan-Peninsular Car Co. of De-
troit. Some months later Mr. Hecker gave
young Bush the position of operator at Sha-
wangunk, N. Y. While there and in the fall
of 1872, an attack of measles laid him up for
eight months; the disease settled in one of his
knees and he was forced to move about on
crutches. While in this condition he entered
the law offices of Lounsbery & DeWitt, of
Kingston, and after three years' study he was
admitted to the bar in September, 1876, at
Saratoga, N. Y. He practiced for two years
at Kingston and then came to Michigan, locat-
ing first at Stanton, in 1878, and removing to
Vernon, Shiawassee county, where he prac-
ticed his profession until January, 1889, when
he became Judge of Probate, and removed to
Corunna.
Judge Bush is a Republican and has always
been a firm and consistent member of that
party. He was village attorney at Vernon
for many years and for two terms president
of the village.
His
He is an elder in the First Presbyterian
Church of Corunna and also a member of the
school board and board of public works of that
His first
city. He has been twice married.
wife, Miss Flora McKercher, of Vernon,
whom he married in 1882, died in 1885.
second wife, whom he married in 1887 at Ver-
non, was a Miss Annie E. Verney. He has
seven children: Walter M., James V., Russel
Alger, Lowell M., Helen E., Oliver N. and
Wendell H. Bush.
Judge Bush is associated with the Masonic
fraternity and is past eminent commander of
Corunna Commandery, No. 21, K. T. He
is also a member of the Knights of the Macca-
bees, a member of the Michigan Club of De-
troit, and president of the State Association
of Probate Judges. He is a man of deter-
mination and strong character, extremely
popular in his county and well known
throughout the State.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
193
Edward Ryan, of
RYAN, EDWARD.
Hancock, is one of the most successful and
enterprising business men in Houghton
county, going there without a cent and a lim-
ited education, yet studying, planning and
working until he built up a large mercantile
business. He was the founder of the First
National Bank of Calumet, and one of the
founders of the Peninsular Electric Light &
Power Company, of Houghton.
His life's history is an interesting one.
Born in Ireland, April 22, 1840, he came to
this country in 1844 with his parents, who
located at Wiota, Wisconsin. Here the boy
was sent to school and secured a little educa-
tion, but as soon as he was old enough to help
support the family he went to work, but at-
tended the district school in the winter.
In 1854 the family moved to Houghton,
Michigan, where young Ryan found work in
the general store of Sheldon & Company. His
duties consisted of driving a team and hauling
goods from the wharf to the store, and thence
to the mining camps around the neighborhood.
He was bright, active and cheerful, and a hard
worker. He soon became a general favorite,
and was taken into the store as clerk.
still in the employ of Sheldon & Company, in
1860, he was nominated and elected sheriff of
Houghton county. He was elected on the
Democratic ticket and was one of the most
popular young men in the copper district.
After declining the re-nomination in 1862 he
started out in business for himself in a small
While
store at Hancock. He had about $1,000 capi-
tal with which to stock up his place, but he
worked like a beaver, early and late, stuck to
his business, and made it prosper, so much so
that in 1868 he branched out and started an-
other store at Calumet.
In 1880 he organized the Lake Superior
Native Copper Works, smelting and rolling
sheet copper, and the same year he organized
the Hancock Copper Mining Company, with
a capital of $100,000, which he raised in the
For many years he operated the Han-
east.
EDWARD RYAN.
made the mine a losing venture.
cock mine, until the low price of the metal
Edward Ryan was one of the first men to
promote the iron mining interests on the Go-
gebic, and together with Captain Nathan
Moore he located and operated several valu-
able iron properties. The Ryan Iron Belt
and the Atlantic Iron Mines were developed
under Mr. Ryan.
In 1860 Mr. Ryan married Alice, daughter
of Thomas Cuddihy, at Hancock. They have
nine children, four boys and five girls. Mary
is the wife of John J. Rigney, of Chicago;
Alice is attending Notre Dame de St. Mary's
Academy, with her sisters Catherine and
Agnes; William is at St. Mary's Academy at
Notre Dame, Indiana, and John and Gertrude
attend school in Hancock. Thomas J. and
Edward, Jr., are associated with their father.
Mr. Ryan is a Catholic, a member of St.
Patrick's Benevolent Society and the A. O.
H. He is president of the First National
Bank at Calumet, president of the Hancock
Copper Mining Company, of Hancock, and
vice-president of the Peninsular Electric Light
& Power Company, of Houghton, Michigan.

194
MEN OF PROGRESS.
JOHN H. FEDEWA.
FEDEWA, JOHN H. John H. Fedewa,
of St. Johns, attorney-at-law, was born in the
township of Dallas, Clinton county, Michi-
gan, May 8, 1849. His parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Morris Fedewa, were natives of Ger-
many, born near the River Rhine. After
their marriage they emigrated to America in
1842, sailing from Havre to New York, a
voyage of fifty-three days. They went direct
from New York to the township of Dallas,
near the present village of Westphalia, where
the subject of this sketch was born. The par-
ents of Mr. Fedewa were among the first set-
tlers, and endured many of the hardships of
pioneer life. When eleven years old, Mr.
Fedewa moved with his parents to the town-
ship of Westphalia. He acquired his educa-
tion in district schools, in the German school
at Westphalia, and a two years' course in the
St. Johns high school. After leaving school
at St. Johns he worked at the carpenter's
trade for a time, and taught school one win-
ter, after which he entered the Law Depart-
ment of the University of Michigan, and re-
ceived his diploma in March, 1872. Since
Since
graduating at the University he has practiced
his chosen profession. In 1874, at the age
of 25 years, he was elected prosecuting-attor-
ney for Clinton county, which office he has
held for eight years.
Mr. Fedewa is well known in county and
state conventions, having attended nearly
every state convention of his party since his
admission to the bar in 1872, and in 1892
was a delegate to the Democratic National
Convention at Chicago. He has been a mem-
ber of the Democratic State Central Commit-
tee for many years and chairman of the Dem-
ocratic County Committee of his county for
a number of terms. Previous to 1896, there
had been fusion of the Democratic and Green-
back ranks in the old Sixth Congressional
District, but in the fall of that year the two
parties could not agree upon a candidate, and
each put up a nominee. Mr. Fedewa, among
other members of the Democratic convention,
sought to make peace between the two fac-
tions, believing that the Greenbackers were
entitled to the nominee, as it was their turn,
but the larger number of the convention did
not agree to this and would not submit to it.
The nominees of both conventions resigned,
and a joint convention was afterwards held
with a view of adjusting the difficulties and
again join forces. Mr. Fedewa was the choice
of the Democrats as their candidate for Con-
gress, and the Greenbackers, appreciating his
honorable treatment of them, consented to
his nomination, and promised to support him,
but at the time of the election the past lack of
harmony broke up the agreement and the
two parties failed to elect their candidate.
On November 27, 1876, Mr. Fedewa was
united in marriage to Lizzie, eldest daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. M. Petsch.
Five children have gathered about their
hearthstone, of whom Mayme M., John M.
and Anne E. are still with their parents, the
eldest two, Paula M. and Arthur P., died, the
latter the 14th, and the former the 15th of
February, 1883, leaving their bereaved par-
ents in sore affliction.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
195
HALL, HON. DE VERE.
The family
from which Hon. De Vere Hall, of Bay City,
Michigan, has descended was one of those
that settled in this state very early in its his-
tory, coming here from Black River County,
New York, in the '40s and locating in Mon-
roe County. De Vere Hall was born in
Bedford, Monroe County, August 22, 1854.
His father died when Mr. Hall was but two
years of age, and deprived of paternal aid and
advice, the boy virtually made his own way
in the world. His education commenced in
the little district school near his home and
continued until the family moved to Holly,
Oakland County, where in his tenth year he
had the advantages offered by a graded
school. With the little assistance given him
by his mother and by his own efforts he man-
aged to secure a fair education, working even
when a small boy as a farm hand and con-
tributing the eight dollars a month earned.
in this manner toward the support of the lit-
tle family. When seventeen years old he was
given a third grade teacher's certificate and
from this time forward he followed the voca-
tion of teacher during the winters and re-
turned to farming in the summer months.
He was successful as a teacher and taught
schools in Genesee, Clinton, Oakland and
Huron counties, and later was principal of
the village schools at Goodrich, Gaines,
Byron and Caseville, Michigan. While in
the latter place he was appointed a member
of the county board of school examiners, and
was elected secretary of that body. Here
also he commenced the study of the profes-
sion he now follows, taking up the study of
law, and reading in the office of Hon. D. P.
Markey, ex-speaker of the House of Repre-
sentatives. Mr. Hall was admitted to the bar
before Judge Nixon at Bad Axe, Michigan,
in 1882. In the spring of the following
year, he formed a partnership with Mr.
Markey and the firm of Markey and Hall
commenced practice at West Branch, Michi-
gan. This partnership continued successfully
until September 1, 1891, when Mr. Markey,
HON. DE VERE HALL.
having become associated with the Great
Camp, K. O. T. M., withdrew from the firm.
Mr. Hall was prosecuting attorney for
Ogemaw County from 1885 until 1890, and
on being elected to the State Legislature he
resigned. He served as a member of the
House during the sessions of 1891-92. In
1894 he was appointed alderman in the Ninth
Ward at Bay City, serving the balance of the
term and being elected to the same office in
1895. He resigned Feb. 2, 1896. At
At pres-
ent Mr. Hall is great lieutenant commander
of the Michigan Camp, K. O. T. M. He is
also a Mason, Templar, a member of the I.
O. O. F., Modern Woodmen of the World,
Knights and Ladies of Honor. Mr. Hall
became associated with Mr. James E. Brock-
way in the law business in September, 1889,
and the firm of Hall and Brockway is one of
the most prosperous in Bay City.
Mr. Hall was leading counsel for Bay
County in the great state case of Michigan
vs. County of Bay, and also for the Joseph
P. Comstock estate in the famous case involv-
ing over a million dollars, Joseph B. Com-
stock estate against Comstock Bros., of Al-
pena. Mr. Hall married Miss Augusta O.
Brown, of Alpena. He has six children.
196
MEN OF PROGRESS.

CORVIS MINER BARRE.
BARRE, CORVIS MINER. Corvis
Miner Barre, of Hillsdale, Mich., is of Ger-
man descent, both on his mother's and his
father's side of the house. His grandfather
came from Germany to this country many
years ago, and his father located in Western
Reserve, Ohio, in 1837. It was in Ripley
It was in Ripley
township, Huron county, of that state, that
C. M. Barre was born November 29, 1848.
At the proper age he was sent to the dis-
trict school, where he remained until he was
15 years old, when he received a teacher's
certificate, and armed with this made his first
start in the world, teaching a district school
at Carson, O., at $40 per month. During his
school days he had worked at house painting,
earning enough to support himself while at-
tending school.
On May 2, 1864, Mr. Barre enlisted in
Company C, 166th Ohio Infantry, and was
mustered into the U. S. service as a private
soldier. His parents were greatly alarmed
and followed him to Washington in an effort
to persuade him to leave the service, but the
young man was firm, and although his parents
had secured a permit from Washington, the
captain of his regiment said that young Barre
could stay if he wanted to. He was a tall boy
for his age, and easily passed for 18 or 20.
The 166th was assigned to relieve the troops
in the forts around Washington and did not
see any active service. Young Barre re-
mained with his regiment until the close of
the war, and then returned to Carson, O. He
resumed his old occupation of teaching school
during the winter months and in summer kept
his funds in shape by house painting. He
found time to attend the Normal School at
Milan, O., for three terms, and in 1870 he
came to Michigan and engaged in a general
produce business at Reading for eight years,
meeting with great success. In 1878 he was
elected county clerk of Hillsdale county and
served as such for six years. While in this
office in 1882 he was tendered and accepted
the position as cashier in the Second National
Bank of Hillsdale, and remained with the
bank until it closed and surrendered its char-
ter.
During his term as county clerk he com-
menced the reading of law, and in 1885, be-
fore Judge Andrew Howell, he was admitted
to the bar. When the bank closed Mr. Barre
became financial agent and confidential secre-
tary to Hon. Charles T. Mitchell, of Hills-
dale, and remained in that capacity until
1892. In the summer of 1892 he was ap-
pointed consul-general to Chili by President
Harrison as successor to Col. McCreery, of
Flint, and after serving as such for thirteen
months was removed by President Cleveland
in 1893. On his return to Hillsdale he be-
came associated with Col. E. J. March in the
law business and later was associated with F.
A. Lyon until Mr. Lyon was elected state
senator. The firm then became Sampson &
Barre.
Mr. Barre owns several farms adjoining
Hillsdale and is an extensive breeder of sheep.
He married in 1882 Miss Kate E., daughter
of Hon. Charles T. Mitchell. She died in
1885. In 1892 Mr. Barre married his pres-
ent wife, who was Mrs. Carrie A. Woltman,
daughter of W. B. Boutwell, of Hillsdale.
Mr. Barre still continues in a lucrative
practice of law in Hillsdale.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
197
ORR, DR. G. W.
people are under the
Nearly three thousand
charge of Dr. G. W.
Orr, Lake Linden, Michigan, and this state is
indebted to his efforts for the beautiful Lake
Superior General Hospital, which he built in
1895, at Lake Linden and where he now acts
as resident physician and surgeon,
with a
large and experienced corps of physicians and
nurses.
Dr. Orr's father's father came from the
North of Ireland in 1770 and located in Wyo-
ming Valley, Pennsylvania, where his father
was born. His mother was a descendant of
Wm. Sweetland, who arrived from England
to this country and resided in Salem, New
London county, Connecticut, in 1703. Luke
Sweetland, his mother's grandfather, was,
during the Massacre of Wyoming, captured
by the Indians and was prisoner with them
for fourteen months.
G. W. Orr was born February 18, 1847,
at Walled Lake, Michigan, where he attended
the district school in company with Joseph B.
Moore, now judge of the Supreme bench.
Working on the farm summers and attending
school winters until 15 years of age, when
he was sent to Wyoming Seminary, at Kings-
ton, Pennsylvania, where he remained until
the spring of 1864. He then returned to this
state and attended a select school at Com-
merce, Oakland county, working during the
summer months on the farm. In the fall of
1870 he entered the University of Michigan
and graduated in Medicine in 1877. He then
opened an office in Pontiac, where he prac-
ticed for two years, holding the office of city
physician for that city during that time.
the summer of 1879 he received the appoint-
ment of physician and surgeon for the Cen-
In
GEORGE WILLIAM ORR, M. D.
tral Mining Co., Lake Superior. He remained
with that company until June, 1885. He
then moved to Lake Linden and established
an independent practice. In 1889 he received
the appointment of physician and surgeon for
the Tamarack and Osceola Mills. In 1895
he built the Lake Superior General Hospital
and established the Lake Superior Training
School for Nurses.
Dr. Orr married, in 1876, Miss Sarah Park,
daughter of John H. Park, Pontiac, Michi-
They have two children, Hazel, 17,
and Ruth, 8.
gan.
Dr. Orr is supervisor of Schoolcraft town-
ship and has been for the past eight years.
He is a Mason, a K. T. and a member of the
Mystic Shrine, Moslem Temple, Detroit.
His father, Charles M. Orr, was an early
settler of Michigan, arriving at Walled Lake,
Oakland county, about 1835.
198
MEN OF PROGRESS.

WALTER HULME SAWYER, M. D.
SAWYER, M. D., WALTER HULME.
Walter Hulme Sawyer, M. D., a practicing
physician and surgeon of Hillsdale, Michigan,
of Hillsdale, Michigan,
is a native of Bellvue, Ohio, near which place
he was born August 10, 1861. George Saw-
yer, his father, was a prosperous farmer near
Bellvue and in 1872 brought his family to
Michigan and located on a farm at Eaton
Rapids, this state. The elder Sawyer invested
all his savings in Toledo, Ohio, real estate,
and the panic of 1873 causing a depreciation
in values, he was unable to discharge his loans
and was closed out without a cent.
Young Sawyer attended the public schools
of Eaton Rapids from 11 to 15 years of age,
when the father bought a small farm at Grass
Lake, Michigan. Here the boy worked as a
farm hand, attended the public schools, and
His
graduated from the high school in 1881. He
entered the University of Michigan's medical
department in the fall of 1881, graduating
from there as an M. D. in June, 1884. He
worked during vacations at farming.
father, being as ambitious to see his boy attain
a good position as the boy was to obtain one,
gave him all the money he could spare toward
assisting him through the University, and the
young man succeeded in obtaining a loan of
$1,000 from a relative in order to complete
his course.
He met with success almost from the start
of his practice. The year following his grad-
uation he was house physician at the hospital
at Ann Arbor, and after saving a little money
he determined to start in for himself. In
July, 1885, he went to Hillsdale, where he
now resides, and started his practice in that
city.
Dr. Sawyer married Miss Harriet B.
Mitchell, daughter of Hon. Charles T.
Mitchell, of Hillsdale, June 16, 1888. He
has one child, Thomas Mitchell Sawyer. Dr.
Sawyer is a member of the Republican State
Central Committee, of the Hillsdale School
Board, and a trustee of Hillsdale College.
He belongs to the American Medical As-
sociation, the Michigan State Medical Asso-
ciation, Tri-State Medical Society, and is cor-
responding member of the Detroit Academy
of Medicine. In the business world he is a
director in the Omega Portland Cement Co.,
Jonesville, Michigan; in the Oak Grove Sani-
tarium, Flint, Michigan, and in the Buchanan
Screen Works, Hillsdale, of which latter com-
pany he was formerly president.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
199
PRINCE, HON. WILLIAM IRA. Wil-
liam Ira Prince, of Bessemer, Michigan,
cashier of the First National Bank of that
city, is only 33 years of age, yet he is con-
sidered one of the most prominent and lead-
ing Republicans of Gogebic County. He
has held many offices in the gift of that party,
and has established for himself an excellent
record for political and commercial integrity.
He was born in Camden, Ohio, October 11,
1867. His father, George C. Prince, was
engaged in the real estate, loan and insur-
ance business in that vicinity and his mother
was formerly Miss Lucy A. Hill, of the Hill
family from Connecticut.
Young Prince commenced his education
when 7 years of age in the district schools
near Camden, and when he reached his 16th
year the family removed to Oberlin, Ohio,
where the boy took a two years' preparatory
course at Oberlin College. He paid for his
schooling by working as a farm hand for $12
a month during vacations, and so made
enough money to enable him to enter the
Oberlin Business College, where he took a
two years' course.
After leaving college he was given a posi-
tion in the postoffice at Oberlin as clerk and
as such he remained until July, 1889. He
resigned in that year to accept a position in
which he saw chances of future advance-
ment, that of collector and clerk in the Citi-
zens' National Bank of Oberlin. His salary
to commence with was only $200 a year.
Here he remained until 1890, and in Febru-
ary of that year he resigned his position to
accept that of bookkeeper with the First Na-
tional Bank of Escanaba, Michigan. On the
first of January, 1892, Mr. Prince was ten-
dered the position of cashier of the First Na-
tional Bank of Bessemer, and for several
years enjoyed the distinction of being the
HON. WILLIAM IRA PRINCE.
youngest cashier and manager of any national
bank in the United States.
He has taken interest in other enterprises,
and is one of the directors of the Gogebic
Powder Company, which manufactures nearly
all the high explosives and dynamite used by
the mines in the Gogebic range. He is also
a director of the Brotherton Iron Mining Co.
In his career in the politics of his county,
Mr. Prince has enjoyed the confidence of his
neighbors, and has held the best offices that
could be given to a young man. He was
elected mayor of the city of Bessemer on the
Republican ticket in 1897, re-elected in 1898
and 1899. In 1893 he was made City
Treasurer, and at present he is a member of
the county board of school examiners, and
chairman of the Republican representative
committee of Gogebic District. He was also
chairman of the Republican county commit-
tee in 1894-95. Mr. Price married, October
7, 1897, Miss Mary A. Baldwin, daughter of
Milton R. Baldwin, at Waupaca, Wisconsin,
and George Baldwin Prince has been the re-
sult of that union.
200
MEN OF PROGRESS.

FRANCIS DEVEREUX CLARKE.
CLARKE, FRANCIS DEVEREUX.
Francis Devereux Clarke has devoted all his
life to the instruction of those unfortunates
whom nature has deprived of two of the most
valued senses, speech and hearing. Francis
Clarke was born in Raleigh, North Carolina,
January 31, 1848. When a boy he attended
the primary schools of that city and when
nine years of age was sent to the Gravis
School at Bellemont, North Carolina, where
he prepared for Davidson College, which he
entered shortly after. At the age of four-
teen he enlisted as a midshipman in the Con-
federate navy and was assigned to the Fred-
ericksburg. He participated in the City
Point engagement in 1864, where he was
wounded, and the wound kept him in the hos-
pital until the close of the war.
The following four years he was connected
with his brother in the grocery business, and
later in the lumbering interests. When nine-
teen years of age young Clarke was tendered
the position of supercargo on a vessel plying
between New York and Hong Kong, and
bidding his parents and friends farewell he
left for New York, expecting to be in the
Indian trade for many years. When he
reached New York he found a change had
been made in the command of the steamship
he was assigned to, and he was forced to seek
another position. He was proud and sensi-
tive and did not inform his parents or friends
of his ill-luck and for two weeks he lived on
one meal a day, and his capital was reduced
to fifteen cents when he secured a position.
He had been visiting an employee, a friend of
his, at the New York School for the Deaf
and while riding back to the station he was
tendered a position as teacher. He accepted
and went to work immediately, determined
to make a success of that profession. By
committing to memory at night the lessons
he was to teach the next day and attending
strictly to his work he made a success the first
week. He continued with the New York
school seventeen years, and during the in-
terim entered the Literary Department of
Columbia College, from which he graduated
in 1873. He then took a course in civil en-
gineering at the University of the State of
New York and graduated as a C. E. in 1875.
In 1885 he was tendered and accepted the
position of superintendent of the Arkansas
Deaf Mute Institute at Little Rock, and he
resigned December 15, 1892, to accept the
superintendency of the Michigan School for
the Deaf at Flint, where he still remains.
Mr. Clarke married Miss Celia Laura Ran-
son, a niece of ex-Governor Epaphroditus
Ransom at Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1872.
Mr. Clarke's father was William John
Clarke, a well-known attorney of Raleigh,
and came from the old Clarke family of Vir-
ginia. His mother was Mary Bayard Dever-
eux, descended from the old Southern family
of that name. Mr. Clarke is a member of the
National Teachers' Association of the United
States and also of the National Association
Teachers of the Deaf. The institution over
which Mr. Clarke is superintendent is a flour-
ishing one, and publishes the Michigan
Mirror, a weekly devoted to the interests of
the deaf and dumb, having a circulation of
1,200.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
201
THOMPSON, JAMES ROBERT. Su-
perintendent James Robert Thompson, of the
Newport Mining Company, Ironwood, Mich-
igan, is the son of James Thompson, who was
a farmer of Racine county, Wisconsin, and
Miranda R. Fairbanks, of the Massachusetts
family of that name. The Thompson family
came originally from Scotland.
James R. Thompson was born at Burling-
ton, Wisconsin, June 19, 1865, just two
months after the death of his father, who was
a soldier during the Civil War and died in a
hospital at New Orleans, Louisiana, April 15,
1865. When the boy was 12 years of age
the mother moved to Racine, Wisconsin,
where he attended the public schools of that
city, and later the Racine High School, from
which he graduated in 1882. During his
studies in the High School the boy worked
on his holidays, and also in the summer time,
turning the money in toward paying his ex-
penses through school. In the fall of 1882
he entered the University of Wisconsin at
Madison, taking up the studies of civil en-
gineering and later of mining and metallurgy.
For a year he was compelled to absent him-
self from college on account of a lack of
funds, but he returned to college and gradu-
ated in the class of 1887. His college ex-
penses were partly earned one year by taking
the State census, and another year by turn-
ing book agent and selling a publication in
the farming district around Madison. He
also earned money during the school year by
doing draughting for the U. S. Geological
Survey. At the end of the winter term, 1887,
he left college and accepted a position as min-
ing engineer and chemist at the Jackson Iron
Mines, under Capt. Samuel Mitchell, at Ne-
gaunee.
year.
He received a salary of $1,000 a
The college faculty, however, granted
him the degree of Bachelor of Metallurgical
Engineering at the regular commencement ex-
ercises in June, 1887, and gave him an addi-
tional degree of B. S. in June, 1888, in recog-
nition of extra work done during his college
course.
After one year at the Jackson mine he left
JAMES ROBERT THOMPSON.
to accept a similar position with the Iron Cliff
Company at Negaunee, Michigan, and he re-
mained with this latter company until 1890,
when it was absorbed by the Cleveland Cliffs
year he ac-
Company, and in October of that
cepted the position of mining engineer with
the Lake Superior Mining Company, at Ish-
peming. He stayed with this company for
five years, successfully filling the position he
had taken, and in 1895 he resigned to accept
the superintendency of the Newport Mining
Company's plant at Ironwood, Michigan.
In 1888 the University of Wisconsin
granted to Mr. Thompson the degree of M. S.
for his investigations and report on the struc-
tural relations of the ore deposits of Marquette
county, Michigan.
Mr. Thompson is the general manager of
the Dunn Iron Mining Company, which
operates the Palms Iron Mine at Bessemer,
Michigan, and the Dunn Iron Mines at
Crystall Falls, Michigan.
He married, in 1893, Miss Helen H. Pearl,
daughter of Eleazor Pearl, a contractor at
Farmington, New Hampshire. He is a mem-
ber of the F. & A. M.

202
MEN OF PROGRESS.
STEPHEN BETTS WHITING.
The
WHITING, STEPHEN BETTS.
present general manager of the immense
plant and operations of the Calumet & Hecla
Mining Company at Calumet is Stephen Betts
Whiting, a descendant of Hon. Wm. Whit-
ing, one of the founders of the colony of Hart-
ford, Connecticut, in 1636. Mr. Whiting
was born at Reading Ridge, Connecticut, Jan-
uary 22, 1834. There he attended the dis-
trict school from the time he was old enough
to do so until he reached the age of eight, and
then he was sent to the public school at New
Haven, Connecticut, and prepared to enter
Yale College. Financial troubles in the fam-
ily forced him to resign all ideas of the higher
education to be obtained at college, and put
him in a position where he had to earn his
own living. He always fancied the mechani-
cal trade, and when only 14 years old built
a little working model of a steam engine,
which is still one of his most valued posses-
sions and runs as smoothly today as it did 52
years ago. He was apprenticed to serve six
years learning the trade of a machinist, com-
mencing at $25 a year and his board, but after
two and a half years the firm dissolved and
young Whiting started out as a journeyman.
machinist. He worked in different shops
in New Haven for about two years, and then
returning to the place where he had learned
his trade, in company with a fellow workman,
opened the old shop and started in business
for himself.
Three years later Mr. Whiting went to
Urbana, Ohio, and took charge of Gwynnes,
Ellis & Co.'s shops, building engines and saw-
mill machinery, and the next five years he
was superintendent of the new plant of
Steigelman & Miller, at Alton, Illinois. He
then accepted the position as superintendent
of Kaighus Point Iron Works, near Philadel-
phia, Pennsylvania, and was superintendent
afterwards when the plant passed into the
hands of a receiver.
In 1863 Mr. Whiting joined with C. Wil-
cox and bought the Kaighus Point Iron
Works, operating the plant successfully until
1866, when Mr. Wilcox died and Mr. Whiting
sold out. This firm built the monitor Koka
for the United States government, and the big
Chestnut street bridge in Philadelphia. After
a short trip to the mountains for the benefit
of his health, he returned to harness again as
superintendent of the Colliery Iron Works at
Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and later resigned
to accept the position of mechanical engineer
for the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron
Company, with headquarters at Pottsville. He
was promoted to chief engineer and later be-
came general manager. In 1888 he resigned
to accept his present position.
In 1858 he married Miss Kate Burr
Draper, daughter of Albert Draper, a manu-
facturing jeweler of Attleboro, Massachusetts.
He has five children, namely, Charles W.,
Walter S., Albert D., Howard E. and S.
Edgar. Charles is a mechanical engineer,
Walter is a mining engineer, Albert a physi-
cian and surgeon, Howard the superintendent.
of parks at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and S.
Edgar an instructor in the electrical depart-
ment of Harvard College.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
203
HUMPHREY, CHAS. MARK. Much
eastern capital has been brought into Michi-
gan, and many enterprises furthered by its
means through the efforts of some of the
younger men of this state, and Charles Mark
Humphrey, of Ironwood, Michigan, was the
main factor in building the electric railroad
that now is known as the Holland & Lake
Michigan Railroad Company.
Charles M. Humphrey was born at Elyria,
Ohio, July 17, 1865. Two years after this
event his family moved to Allegan, Allegan
County, Michigan, where from the time he
was old enough to go to school up to 1881 he
attended the public school of that city. His
father, James B. Humphrey, was an attor-
ney-at-law, and in 1881 he moved his family
to Lansing, Michigan, where the son at-
tended the public schools until the fall of
1883, when he entered the Michigan Agri-
cultural College at Lansing, which he left
the following year to commence his law
studies at the University of Michigan.
He graduated from the law department in
1886, and then entered the law firm of Padg-
ham & Padgham at Allegan, where he re-
mained until 1887 when he accepted the
position as deputy clerk of the Supreme
Court under Charles Hopkins. In 1889 the
young attorney returned to Allegan and en-
tered into partnership with Judge Phillip
Padgham under the firm name of Padgham
& Humphrey, and he continued the practice
of law until January 1, 1891, when he was
made attorney and counselor for the Norrie
Mine, a position he still holds, and which re-
sulted in his removal to Ironwood, Michigan,
where he now resides. In 1897 Mr. Hum-
phrey became interested in consolidating the
two street railway systems at Hurley, Wiscon-
sin, and Ironwood, Michigan, and consulted
with some of his friends in Lower Michigan
regarding the building of an electric road from
Holland, Michigan, to Lake Michigan, where
the summer hotels are located at Macatawa
Park. Young Humphrey brought his scheme
before the city council of Holland and induced
it to grant a franchise for the proposed road.
CHARLES MARK HUMPHREY.
It was not until he secured this franchise
that he realized the magnitude of the under-
taking on the part of a young man without
capital. Nevertheless he secured the right of
way for his road and then went to Philadel-
phia, where he consulted with the capitalists
of that city and soon induced them to back
the enterprise. Work on the road was com-
menced at once, and on July 4, 1898, seven
iniles of electric road from Holland to Lake
Michigan were opened, and also a branch of
ten miles to Saugatuck, which opened the
best fruit country of western Allegan county.
The company intends to extend the line fur-
ther south into the fruit country. Mr. Hum-
phrey was made president of the company
when it organized. Mr. Humphrey en-
joys a good law practice as a member of the
firm of Humphrey & Cooper, Ironwood and
Bessemer, Michigan. He is secretary and
treasurer of the Northwestern Mining Com-
pany of Clear Creek District, Colorado, and
a director in the Bessemer Ore Company,
operating the Mikado mine at Wakefield,
Michigan. He was city attorney of Iron-
wood, 1893-96-97, and is a member of the
Peninsular Club of Grand Rapids, and the
Chicago Athletic Association.

204
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. ERWIN EVELETH.
The
EVELETH, HON. ERWIN. Erwin Eve-
leth, a capitalist of Corunna, Michigan, where
he is also engaged in the business of estimat-
ing lumber and land-looking, is a native of
New York state, having been born November
6, 1842, in Darien, Genesee county. His
father, Charles Eveleth, is of Welsh descent,
coming from a family which located in Ver-
mont in the early history of that state.
elder Eveleth moved to Alexander, New
York, and shortly afterwards, in 1849, to
Grand Blanc, Michigan. When the family
came to this state, the subject of this sketch
was seven years of age. He was sent to the
district schools near his new home until he
reached his fifteenth year, after which he at-
tended the public schools at Flushing, Michi-
gan, and received the benefit of two winter
terms at the public school in Saginaw. While
studying at Flushing, young Eveleth worked
on the farm during the summer months, but
at Saginaw he clerked in a store in order to
see himself through school. Upon leaving
school he secured employment in the ware-
house of Gooding & Hawkins, at a salary of
$50 a month, out of which he managed to
save enough money to pay his way through
the Business College at Detroit during the
winter of 1861 and 1862. He returned to
his old position with the Saginaw firm, but
the following fall he became associated with
John D. Jones, a land-looker, and learned
this vocation. For the next three years he
worked in the woods adjacent to the Saginaw
river.
In the year 1865 Mr. Eveleth became asso-
ciated with the firm of Robinson & Flynn, of
Detroit, Michigan, and looked after their
large interests in the state, estimating timber
and timber lands, a vocation he has followed
since that time, and at which he has gained a
reputation for his great skill and reliability.
Mr. Eveleth has looked lands in almost every
pine-bearing county in the state of Michigan.
His reputation as a land-looker has extended
outside of this state, and he has covered the
territory from Rainy Lake to the Gulf of
Mexico and all through Ontario and the
Northwest. Much of his time in the past few
years has been given as an expert estimator of
timber lands, and his services as such are
greatly in demand in all parts of the United
States and Canada.
Mr. Eveleth moved to Corunna in 1871.
In politics he is a Republican. He was elected
on the Republican ticket to the office of
mayor of Corunna in 1895-1896 and has been
a member of the school board for the past
ten years, during eight of which he was presi-
dent of that body. He has been on the coun-
cil of Corunna for the past four years..
Mr. Eveleth married, in 1866, Miss Jennie,
daughter of John Black, of Sanilac, Michi-
gan. He has nine children. He is a mem-
ber of Corunna Lodge, F. & A. M.; Corunna
Chapter, R. A. M.; Corunna Chapter, R. S.
M.; Corunna Commandery, K. T., No. 21,

and the K. O. T. M.
In 1882 Mr. Eveleth located a tract of
land on Masaba range, the iron district of
Minnesota, and discovered the famous Adams
Iron Mine, now operated by the Rockefeller
interests, and a good producer. The village
of Eveleth, St. Louis county, Minnesota, is
named in honor of Mr. Eveleth.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
205
among
SOPER, HON. JULIUS MASON. Hon.
Julius Mason Soper, representative from the
First District of Eaton county, was born on a
farm in Onandaga county, New York state,
February 24, 1858. Both of his parents were
natives of New York state, his father having
been born in Shenango county and his mother
in Onandaga. His parents came to Michigan
in 1865 and located on a farm near Delta, and
as a boy Julius M. Soper helped his father in
the work of clearing up the farm from the
forest land, removing the stumps, ploughing
those that could not be removed in time
for planting, digging ditches and all sorts of
labor that the clearing up of new farm land
requires. He attended school when he could
find time to spare from these duties until he
was 20 years of age, acquiring his education
in the common schools of this state, and devot-
ing his evenings to study in order to prepare
himself for a good position in life. He was a
quiet boy and of a naturally studious disposi-
tion. He had planned to advance his educa-
tion by a course at a business college, but as
he had two sisters of whom his father was very
fond he worked in order that they might ob-
tain education enough to enable them to
teach school. Both sisters afterwards became
teachers and eventually married, one being
now Mrs. C. S. Branch and living in Minne-
apolis, Minnesota, and the other being Mrs.
Charles Slocum, of Delta.
He postponed his business college course
from day to day, and finally gave up the hope
of ever obtaining it."
He has been a steady, hard working man all
his life, and is still engaged in farming in
Delta township, Eaton county, on the very
farm that he helped his father to clear up
when he was a boy.
His farm is noted for its fine herd of
blooded stock, and he supplies milk to the
Lansing Condensed Milk factory from his own
dairy. (This dairy is a model of sanitary
equipment, being provided with all modern
appliances for the proper care of the lacteal
fluid.)
HON. JULIUS MASON SOPER.
Delta and belongs to the Lodge of Grand
He is an attendant of
Ledge, F. and A. M.
the Methodist Episcopal church at Delta.
Farming has always been his sole occupa-
tion and although an active Republican he had
never been a candidate for any office until.
nominated by his party to the legislature of
1899-1900. He was elected by a vote of
2,179 to 1,738 for Herbert Babcock, Demo-
cratic-Union Silver candidate, a majority of
441. He made a clean record during the ses-
sion of 1899, winning the respect of both sides
of the house. He has been successful in his
efforts to establish the first rural free mail
route out of the city of Lansing.
Mr. Soper married Miss Mary Hamilton, a
daughter of A. J. Hamilton, at Delta, Michi-
gan, November 21, 1883.
He has been a member of the school board
of Delta township for seventeen years and a
census officer for the township in 1894. Dur-
ing his term on the school board he has been
instrumental in advancing the methods of
education to an up-to-date system. He is a
man of quiet ways and possesses many friends.
Mr. Soper is a member of the Grange of throughout his county.

206
MEN OF PROGRESS.

WARREN J. WILLITS.
WILLITS, WARREN J. Warren J.
Warren J.
Willits, of Three Rivers, Michigan, was born
in Hillsdale County, this State, August 19,
1853. The Willits family was one of the
very early settlers in Hillsdale County, com-
ing there in 1835 from New York, and Baron
B. Willits, uncle of the subject of this sketch,
was a member of the Michigan Legislature in
the early days of the State, and also of the ter-
ritorial convention. The family is of good old
Quaker stock, the grandfather, Jonathan Wil-
lits, being a New Jersey Quaker. Warren J.
Willits attended, when a boy, the district
school near his home, and the first work that
brought him any remuneration was employ-
ment at four dollars per month in a flour and
feed store. Later he went to work in the post-
office at an increased salary of eight dollars a
month and boarded with his parents. He
studied bookkeeping and gradually became
skilled as such, securing a position with the
Michigan Pump Company in that capacity
and remaining with the company for four
years, during which time he was advanced
until he received a moderately good salary.
In 1876 he formed a partnership with his
father, under the firm name of J. Willits &
Son, for the manufacture and sale of wooden
pumps, and later on his father sold out and
Mr. R. H. Webb, his father-in-law, came into
the company, and the concern was known as
Webb & Willits.
They had in their employ a gentleman by
the name of George S. Sheffield, who invented.
what is now known as the railroad velocipede,
and in 1879 the firm of Geo. S. Sheffield Co.
was organized with Geo. S. Sheffield and Mr.
Willits as co-partners for the purpose of manu-
facturing this light car. This three-wheel
car was the only article manufactured by the
firm for a few years, but ultimately the com-
pany branched out into the manufacture of
the ordinary four-wheeled hand cars and other
railroad lines, and later on, in the year 1884,
the Sheffield Car Company was organized,
with Mr. Willits as president, and cars for
mining and plantation purposes were added to
the lines till now they have a large factory
employing upwards of two hundred men, and
ship their products to all parts of the world,
representing an investment of over two hun-
dred thousand dollars.
Mr. Willits has held several political offices.
He was township clerk of the Township of
Lockport in 1877-78; member several terms
of the school board; the city council and city
water board and state senator during the ses-
sion of 1887-88.
He married Miss Addie E. Webb, daughter
of Richard H. Webb, of Three Rivers, Michi-
gan, in that city, in 1876, and has two chil-
dren, Webb J. Willits, his son, aged 17, who
is now at school, and Eleanor, Mr. Willits'
only daughter is the wife of Percy E. Wagar,
M. D., of Three Rivers.
Mr. Willits is the president of the Three
Rivers Light & Power Company, of Three
Rivers; president of the First State Savings
Bank; the Cemetery Association; vice-presi-
dent of the Michigan Wood Pulp Company,
of Niles, Michigan, and is largely interested in
the Three Rivers Improvement Company.
Mr. Willits is looked upon in Three Rivers
as a busy, progressive man who has devoted
much time to the improvement of the city.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
207
FIFIELD, HENRY OTIS. Henry Otis
Fifield, owner and publisher of the Herald at
Menominee, Michigan, a tri-weekly and
weekly publication with a large circulation
throughout the county, is the son of Samuel
S. Fifield, a former merchant of Corinna,
Maine. His mother was formerly Miss Na-
omi Pease. Henry Otis Fifield was born at
Corinna, Maine, August 7, 1841, and when
he was two years of age the family moved
to Bangor, in the same state, and remained
there until 1853, giving the boy an opportu-
nity of spending a few years in the public
schools of that city. In 1853 the elder Fifield
concluded that he would move to Kansas, and
started to do so, when the insurrection of
John Brown and his sturdy sons created
such an unsettled feeling in that state, that
the Kansas idea was given up and the family
went instead to the town of Prescott, Wiscon-
sin. Here young Fifield attended school until
1858, when he commenced to work as printer's
"devil" in the office of the Prescott Transcript
at a salary of $50 a year and board.
HENRY OTIS FIFIELD.
sign writing and house painting, but in 1869
Press at Bayfield, Wisconsin, and in the
together with his brother started the Weekly
spring of 1872 moved the plant to Ashland,
Wisconsin. This was the first paper ever
out his interest in 1874. Mr. Fifield then
worked on several papers in Stillwater, Min-
neapolis, Osceola Mills and elsewhere, and
during the session of 1877-78 of the Wiscon-
sin Legislature, was proofreader and clerk in
the Legislature. In March, 1879, Mr. Fi-
field came to Michigan and commenced work
on the Menominee Herald, and during the
year 1880 he purchased that publication.
In the spring of 1861, young Fifield en-
listed as a private in Co. C, First Minnesota printed in that place, and H. O. Fifield sold
Infantry, which was assigned to the First
Brigade, Second Division, Second Corps, and
latterly was under command of Gen. Han-
cock. The regiment participated in the first
battle of Bull Run and served through Balls
Bluff, Winchester, Yorktown, Fair Oaks, the
"Seven Days' Retreat," Antietam, Gettys-
burg, Bristow Station and the battle of Mine
Run. The regiment was almost annihilated
at Gettysburg, there being only one hundred
and twenty-five men left after the battle was
The regiment was mustered out in
1864, on the 5th of May.
over.
Young Fifield then returned home and
after being employed at typesetting for a
while on the St. Paul Press, joined his
brother in the newspaper business at Osceola
Mills, Wisconsin. The paper was called the
Polk County Press.
The following year he turned his efforts to
Mr. Fifield married Miss Emma Loraine
Walker at Osceola Mills, Wisconsin, Septem-
ber 21, 1866. He is a Republican and his
paper is the official organ of Menominee
county. He has been a delegate to many
Republican conventions in this state since
1889.
He is a Mason, Knights Templar, and
a Shriner. Besides this, he belongs to the Na-
tional Union, the Grand Army of the Repub-
lic, the Ancient Order of United Workmen,
and the Knights of Tented Maccabees.

208
MEN OF PROGRESS.
HON. RUSSEL R. PEALER.
PEALER, HON. RUSSEL R. Russel R.
Pealer was born January 1, 1842, in Green-
wood, Columbia county, Pennsylvania, and
was brought up in that county on his father's
farm. He was educated in the district and
Normal schools of his native state and taught
school to defray the expenses of his education.
He early determined upon the law as his pro-
fession, but first studied surveying and prac-
ticed that, to pay in part the expenses of his
vate.
law course.
Mr. Pealer was a volunteer in
the Civil War, enlisted September 9, 1862,
in the Sixteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, when
he was scarcely 20 years of age, as a boy pri-
He was soon advanced from the ranks
and made a non-commissioned officer and later
promoted sergeant-major of his regiment, "for
meritorious conduct." He was commissioned
second lieutenant and then first lieutenant of
his company and was recommended for cap-
tain just as the war closed. He was severely
wounded in the battle of Hatcher's Run, Vir-
ginia. He was engaged in some of the fiercest
battles of the war, participating in the famous
battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the
Wilderness, Cold Harbor and at Petersburg,
and was in thirty-five engagements in all.
Mr. Pealer is prominently identified with
the Grand Army of the Republic, and has
been commander of the Ed. M. Prutzman
Post, No. 72; judge-advocate of the depart-
ment, and served on different committees,
among others he was on the Legislative Com-
mittee, which secured the appropriation for
the Woman's Annex to the Soldiers' Home.
He assisted in the passage of the Soldiers' Re-
lief Bill. He is now the Department Com-
mander, G. A. R., of this state. His services
were promptly tendered to the governor on
the breaking out of the war with Spain, when
he offered to assist in raising a cavalry regi-
ment.
He was admitted to the bar in 1867 and
located in Three Rivers, Michigan, the same
year, where he has since resided.
Mr. Pealer was twice Circuit Court com-
missioner of St. Joseph county; prosecuting
attorney three and one-half years; Circuit
judge from 1882 until 1888, and a member of
the Michigan State Legislature, 1888-1889.
He has been thrice supported by more than
200 delegates for the Republican nomination
for the Supreme bench, and was one of the
commissioners appointed by Governor Rich on
the compilation of the Statutes of 1897. He
is president of the First National Bank of
Three Rivers, and has served on the school
and other local boards and is an energetic
business man and has a lucrative law practice.
He is a member of the F. & A. M., a
Knights Templar, and belongs to the M. E.
church and has served as a lay delegate in its
annual and general conferences.
His wife was Sue F. Santee, daughter of
Rev. William Santee, Bradford county, Penn-
sylvania. They were married April 15, 1874.
The Pealers were farmers of German
descent, on his mother's side; his great-grand-
father (Caleb Hopkins) was an Episcopal
clergyman and a lieutenant in the Revolu-
tionary War.
He has two daughters, both of whom are
happily married. Anna G. is the wife of
George F. Knappen; Mary A. is the wife of
Jay Beryfogle.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
209
HECK, HON. GEORGE R. Hon. Geo.
R. Heck, as his name will indicate, is of Ger-
man descent. He was born in St. Johns,
Clinton County, Michigan, March 18, 1864,
and his early life was spent on a farm at that
place. His father, William Heck, came to
Michigan from New York and became a
prominent farmer in Clinton County.
mother's father, Hon. R. S. Van Scoy was one
of Michigan's pioneers and was at one time
the largest wheat raiser in this state. He was
elected to the legislature three times.
His
George Heck, as a boy, worked about the
farm owned by his father, walking three and
a half miles daily to attend the Union school
at Maple Rapids, after he had been through
the district school near his home, and help-
ing his mother about the house in churning
and other chores. He was fond of reading,
his mind turning toward biographical works
and history, and he obtained his books from
the library in Maple Rapids, often walking
there barefoot in order to obtain reading mat-
ter. He attended the high school at St. Johns
two years and then supplemented this educa-
tion by a course at the Northern Indiana
Normal school at Valpariaso, Indiana. In
the spring of 1891 he graduated from this
institution's law department with the degree
of bachelor of laws, and on May 5 of the
same year he was admitted to practice in the
Circuit Court of the United State at Indiana-
polis, Ind.
The money used to pay for his law educa-
tion was earned by himself, as his father did
not favor his study of that profession. The
boy dug ditches and worked as a farm laborer,
with the harvesting machine outfits during
vacations, earning as much as $50, in the
summer. His mother encouraged him in his
ambitious attempts to become a lawyer and
man of probity, and her death in the spring of
1898 was the saddest blow that Mr. Heck
ever received. To her he gives the credit for
all he has achieved in life.
After graduating and being admitted to
the bar he returned to his home at Maple
Rapids and spent some time in looking after
HON. GEORGE R. HECK.
his farm, which consists of 430 acres of splen-
did land, and which he still superintends.
The farm is a part of his deceased grand-
father's estate, and is well stocked with fine
breeds of cattle. In 1899 he was elected a
member of the Legislature on the Republican
ticket from Ingham County, and his term
does not expire until 1900. He enjoys an
extensive practice in Lansing, Michigan, and
is ranked as one of the leading members of
the Ingham County bar.
In his youth he evinced his ability as an
organizer by getting up a circus, of which he
was ringmaster and proprietor. He has lost
none of this faculty as was shown in the Re-
publican county convention held in Mason in
1896, when he was a candidate for the nom-
ination of prosecuting attorney, and although
there were several candidates for the same
office, who finally combined their strength, he
received 114 votes to 56 on the first ballot
and was the only candidate nominated on the
first ballot in that convention. Mr. Heck has
been a member and a zealous worker in the
Patrons of Husbandry since 1883. He is a
Royal Arch Mason and a member of the I. O.
O. F.

210
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. AUGUST JOHN WEIER.
WEIER, HON. AUGUST JOHN. Au-
gust John Weier was born October 21, 1871,
in Monroe, Monroe County, Michigan. His
father, Anthony Weier, and his mother,
whose maiden name was Barbara Shuman,
were both born in Germany, emigrating to
America in 1854 and settling in Monroe
County, where they were also married.
Joseph Weier, Anthony's brother, was
member of the Legislature of 1869.
a
August J. Weier acquired a practical edu-
cation in the public and parochial schools of
Monroe, and also at St. Francis' College of
that city. After leaving school he entered the
employ of his father, who was then engaged
in operating a large bakery, and also growing
grapes and manufacturing wine, and worked
as bookkeeper. In 1891, the elder Weier
organized the Weier Wine Company of Mon-
roe, and since the organization of this con-
cern, August J. Weier has acted as secretary
and treasurer for the company. The Weier
Wine Company has a paid up capital of
$30,000 and is composed of the father, his
two sons and a son-in-law.
When but a young man, August J. Weier
developed an aptitude for the study of social
problems and before he attained his majority
he was an interested auditor of political dis-
cussions and an extensive reader of political
economy. He did not select his party or
principles until he had thoroughly studied
all sides of the situation, and then, firm in
the belief that the principles of democracy
were the true foundations of national pros-
perity he identified himself with the demo-
cratic party and cast his first vote for its
nominee in 1892.
He has been true to Democratic principles
ever since, and an ardent supporter and
worker of that party. He is mentally sharp,
keen and direct, and an agreement with him.
requires quick wits and a good understand-
ing of the subject in discussion. Mr. Weier
was elected to the Legislature of 1897-98 by
195 majority, the nomination coming to him
unsought, and he was renominated by ac-
clamation for the term of 1899-1900, and
re-elected by a vote of 1,809 to 1,403 for J.
B. Sulier, the Republican candidate, and 22
for Nelson Davis, People's Party candidate.
In the House, Mr. Weier is recognized as a
powerful speaker, a keen debator and an able
leader. He was the special champion of the
celebrated income tax bill which was brought
up before the House in 1899, and he worked
like a beaver in favor of its passage. He was
also the author of the copper and iron taxation
bill. All reform measures brought up before
the House find a ready supporter in Represen-
tative Weier, who is a strong advocate in favor
of
any measure tending toward reform and
the betterment of conditions in this state.
Mr. Weier is as yet a bachelor. He be-
longs to the Knights of St. John in Monroe,
and is also a member of the Toledo Travel-
ing Men's Association, which has its head-
quarters at Toledo, Ohio. When not at Lan-
sing, Mr. Weier lives in the city of Monroe,
Michigan, where he is highly respected by
his fellow-citizens, who look for still higher
honors to be attained by the young Democrat
who has so prominently identified himself
with his State and party.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
211
CHADDOCK, HON. JOHN BENJA-
MIN. Prosecuting Attorney of Ionia county,
John Benjamin Chaddock, of Ionia, Michi-
gan, was born in Westphalia, this state, Octo-
ber 19, 1863. Four years later his family
noved to the village of Pewamo, Michigan,
where, when reaching the proper age, he
attended the village school until his sixteenth
year, when he was sent to Olivet College for
five years, where he took a preparatory and
college course. It was his parents' desire that
the boy should take up the study of medicine
and the boy himself had a leaning toward that
profession. While at Olivet College he had
competed for and won the Drury prize of ora-
tory, which probably was the cause of turn-
ing him aside from medicine to law. Upon
leaving college in 1886 he entered the law
office of Hon. Frank A. Dean, of Charlotte,
where he read law and did the work of the,
office for his board. In 1887 the death of
his father made him give up his law studies
for a while and returning home remained
with his mother until her death in 1888. In
the fall of this year he entered the Law De-
partment of the University of Michigan. The
following summer he read law in the office
of Montgomery & Bundy at Grand Rapids,
and returning to the University he graduated
from that college in June, 1890.
He was
elected orator of his class and made the vale-
dictory address. The summer and fall after
leaving college he plunged into the heat of a
political campaign and stumped the state for
the Republican State Central Committee,
where his gifts as an orator stood him in ex-
cellent stead, and he won considerable honor
for his brilliant and logical speeches. After
the election the young man went to Ionia and
entered the law office of Davis & Nichols, a
prominent firm of that city, remaining with
them until 1891, when he formed a partner-
ship with James Scully under the firm name
of Chaddock & Scully, which partnership re-
sulted most successfully and still continues at
the present writing.
HON. JOHN BENJ, CHADDOCK.
Chaddock was chairman of the Republican
County Committee. Ionia is generally looked
upon as a doubtful county, yet Mr. Chaddock
was nominated and elected on the Republican
ticket for prosecuting attorney in 1896, being
the only Republican elected on the ticket that
year, and receiving a plurality of 21 votes.
He was re-elected in 1898, receiving a plural-
ity of 713 votes.
ity of 713 votes. He was Circuit Commis-
sioner from 1892 to 1896, mayor of Ionia in
1894, elected on the Republican ticket by 66
majority, overcoming a natural Democratic
majority of 150.
He married Miss Isolene Vosper, daughter
of Attorney James Vosper, at Ionia, in 1895.
He has two children, Dorothy and John V.
Mr. Chaddock is a member of the F. and A.
M and the R. A. M.
Mr. Chaddock's father, William H. Chad-
dock, came to Michigan in 1849 and located
at Adrian. He entered the Medical Depart-
ment of the U. of M., while his wife operated
a boarding-house in order to pay expenses.
In 1867 he moved to Pewamo, Ionia county,
where he was for thirty years a successful
During the years of 1894 and 1895 Mr. practitioner.
212
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. JOHN VINCENT STARR.
For
STARR, HON. JOHN VINCENT.
the past three terms St. Joseph, Michigan, has
had for mayor of that city, Hon. John Vin-
cent Starr, and Mr. Starr has given to the city
an honest, upright and progressive executor-
ship, winning the praise of political factions,
and the firm support and friendship of all who
are in favor of good government and desirous
of seeing the city advance with the times.
John Vincent Starr was born in Greencastle,
Putnam county, Indiana, April 23, 1857.
His parents were farmers in the Hoosier state,
and as far back as he can trace his ancestry
they were all engaged in the same pursuit.
The boy attended the district school near his
home and later the schools of Ladoga, Dan-
ville and the Valparaiso Normal School at
Valparaiso, Indiana. His summer work was
on the farm, but he had longings to step out
of the trail that had become so hardened by
the feet of his generations of ancestors, and
made a success in life outside of farm work.
He was the first of his famliy to do this.
He had always been fond of tools, inheriting
this from his father who was a known ex-
pert in hewing house frames with an adze
from rough timbers, so he made up his
mind to follow the trade of a carpenter,
and with this end in view, he apprenticed
himself to a carpenter for three years, when
he was 16 years of age, and rapidly acquired
a proficiency with the divers tools used in car-
pentering and building work. Coming as he
did naturally by this trade, the boy soon ad-
vanced rapidly in the art, and became a pro-
ficient workman. He studied carefully, add-
ing by reading and practical experience to
his knowledge of the trade he had adopted and
soon became widely known as an expert
builder. He then added architecture to his
list of accomplishments, after reading and
practicing that art, and he has succeeded in
that so well that to-day he is known as one of
the finest architects and builders in his section
of the state.
Many of the larger buildings in the town of
Benton Harbor and St. Joseph were planned
and built by Mr. Starr.
Mr. Starr is the only man who can claim
the honor of having been mayor of St. Joseph
for three consecutive terms. He is enthusi-
astic in the growth and prosperity of his city,
and is looked upon as a business man of ster-
ling integrity, and exceptional business abili-
ties. He combines with these qualities a rare
fund of good humor, a handshake that is cor-
dial and welcome, and an unfailing memory
that is always holding in its scope the many
friends he has made on his way through life.
Mr. Starr is a Mason, a member of Occiden-
tal Lodge, No. 56, of St. Joseph; Calvin Brit-
ain Chapter, No. 72, Royal and Select Mas-
ters, No. 44, of St. Joseph, the Knights of
the Maccabees, the Modern Woodmen of the
World, Patrician, New Era, and a charter
member of the Commercial Club, of St. Jo-
seph.
On September 10, 1883, he married Miss
Cordelia Reeves, daughter of W. A. and
Martha A. Reeves, of Greencastle, Indiana,
the marriage taking place in that city. He
has two children, Louisa, his daughter, being
15
years of age, and Edgar L. Starr, his son,
13 years of age.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
213
CARLSON, CONRAD. Attorney Con-
rad Carlson, of Bessemer, Michigan, was born
in Falkenberg, Sweden, February 29, 1852.
His father was a contractor and builder and
his ancestors were farmers and soldiers.
a boy he attended the common schools of his
native place and afterward the College of
Halmstad until 1871.
As
He intended to make law his profession and
for one year he worked as clerk in the office of
the collector of crown taxes, receiving about
$100 a year, and then realizing that there
were few prospects of his ever becoming a
successful lawyer in his native land, until he
acquired prestige with gray hair, he decided
to try his fortunes in America. His father
advanced him enough money to pay his steer-
age passage, and to enable him to pay his
way to the western part of this country, and
on May 22, 1872, the young man found him-
self in Ishpeming, Michigan. He was well
educated in Latin, Greek, English and Ger-
man, but he found that he could not speak
English although he could translate it fairly
well.
There was very little difficulty in obtaining
employment in those busy times in that sec-
tion of Michigan, if a man really felt the
inclination to labor, and young Carlson found
work the day after his arrival in the open pit
of the Lake Superior Iron mine at $2.50 per
day, earning enough in a month to repay his
father the money advanced for his passage.
In the dull times of the panic of 1873 all
the unmarried men employed on the mine
were laid off, and young Carlson waited with
many others for word that they would be put
back to work. One day he acted as an in-
terpreter for some newly arrived Swedes in
the office of Dr. B. S. Bigelow and the doc-
tor offered him a position in the hospital,
where for the first time in six months Carl-
son indulged his appetite in a full meal. His
salary was $25 a month and shortly after-
ward when it was discovered that he was a
competent bookkeeper and penman, he was
made cashier of the general store of Myers
& Bigelow, and remained with the firm
CONRAD CARLSON.
until 1879, when he was elected city recorder
of Ishpeming, and served as such for six
years. He was also elected justice of the
peace in 1880, and in 1881 he started a
Swedish newspaper, which he afterwards
sold. In 1884 he opened a general insurance
office and while out seeking business he be-
came impressed with the prospects in store
for the little town of Bessemer, and selling
out his insurance business in 1886 he took up
his residence in that place. He went into
the mercantile business there under the firm
name of Markstrum & Carlson and in 1887
was elected county clerk of Gogebic County,
and selling out his interest in the general store
he served as county clerk for twelve years,
and during that time made the abstract books
of the county, which were purchased by
Gogebic County in 1899.
Gogebic County in 1899. Mr. Carlson was
admitted to the bar in 1893 by Judge Daball,
and since his retirement from the county
clerk's office he has practiced his profession in
Bessemer. He married in 1877 Miss Emma
Helen Lundahl at Ishpeming, and has two
children. Mr. Carlson is a Republican. He is
a member of Ironwood Commandery, K. T.
214
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. DAVID D. AITKEN.
AITKEN, HON. DAVID D. David D.
Aitken, a leading attorney of the city of Flint,
Michigan, was born September 5, 1854, in
Flint township, Michigan. His father's farm
was located about four and one-half miles
from Flint, and, as a boy, the first employ-
ment of the younger Aitken was on the farm,
where he grew up, learning to guide the plow
and swing the scythe, attending the district
school during the winters. He earned a little
money for himself now and then, assisting the
neighboring farmers when he could be spared
from work on his father's place, and finished
his school education in the Flint High School.
When 18 years of age he was unfortunate
enough to break his leg in five places, through
an accident while engaged in hauling wood
with a pair of colts on the farm. This kept
him confined for some time, and when he had
partially recovered he commenced the reading
of law in the office of Judge William Newton,
but soon left the office to accept a position of
bookkeeper with a firm engaged in the lumber
business in the state of New Jersey, where he
remained for some time, and later on travelled
on the road for the same firm.
In 1876 he commenced the study of law in
New York city, and returned to Flint in 1878,
where he was admitted to the bar by Judge
Turner, then Circuit Judge, and accepted a
position in the office of Long & Gold, then
leading practitioners of that city, and, in the
following year entered into co-partnership
with Ed. S. Lee, under the firm name of Lee
& Aitken, and which co-partnership existed
for several years until Judge Charles II. Wis-
was admitted, and the firm name was
changed to Wisner, Lee & Aitken, which
continued until Mr. Aitken was elected to
Congress on the Republican ticket in 1892.
He was extremely popular with his party,
and his record as a congressman was such that
he received by acclamation the renomination
for the following term, and was elected by an
increased majority. He made an enviable
record in his office but absolutely refused to
be a candidate for a third term, notwithstand-
ing the fact that he was practically tendered
the nomination by acclamation.
He was a candidate for the Republican
nomination for governor in 1896, but was de-
feated in the convention by Gov. Pingree.
After the expiration of his last term in Con-
gress, he again took up the practice of law,
making insurance law a specialty, in which
making insurance law a specialty, in which
profession he is still engaged.
Mr. Aitken has been clerk and attorney for
the city of Flint. He is a thirty-second de-
gree Mason, a Knights Templar and a Noble
of the Mystic Shrine. He is general counsel
of the Supreme Tent, K. O. T. M., and of the
Supreme Hive, L. O. T. M., and was for sev-
eral years on the executive council of the In-
dependent Order of Foresters.
Mr. Aitken is interested extensively in
farming, owning one farm of 600 acres, on
which he raises short-horn cattle. He is a
director of the Citizens' Commercial & Sav-
ings Bank, of the Flint Electric Light Com-
pany, and of the McCormick Harness Com-
pany, all of Flint. He is also one of three
persons who constitute the Flint Woolen
Mills Company, a co-partnership engaged in
the manufacture of woolens.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
215
WETER, HON. JAMES E. Hon. James
E. Weter, representative from the First Dis-
trict of Macomb county, Michigan, was born
at Palmyra, Lenawee county, in this state,
April 9, 1857. His parents were farmers,
his father and mother both coming to Michi-
gan from New York state in 1836 and locat-
ing on a farm in Lenawee county, where the
elder Weter is still living.
Young Weter's education was commenced
in the district school near his home, and sup-
plemented by a two-years' course at the
Adrian College, in Adrian, Michigan. He
was a mischievous but studious lad and his
parents had hard work to keep him at school.
They had determined, however, that he
should not be handicapped in his future life
by a meagre education and prevailed upon
him to remain at school as long as possible.
To this fact Mr. Weter is indebted for all the
success that he has met with. Upon leaving
school he rented a small farm and for seven
years followed that pastoral occupation, work-
ing hard and earnestly and saving his money
until, when he attained his twenty-eighth year,
he found himself with $3,500 on hand. With
this capital he started in the business that he
still operates at Richmond, Macomb county,
in partnership with another, under the firm
name of Weter, Fanning Company, banking
and wholesaling eggs. In order to do this he
was compelled to go heavily into debt, but the
venture proved a successful one, and the firm
is now one of the wealthiest in Michigan, hav-
ing the largest exclusive egg business in this
state.
It took three or four years' hard work to
make the enterprise an independent one, but,
in that time every dollar of indebtedness was
cleared off and the business built up on a
strong foundation. Five years ago Mr. Weter
became interested in the manufacture of hay
bale ties, and is vice-president of the Consoli-
dated Hay Bale Tie Company, of Richmond.
He is also president of the Macomb County
Savings Bank of Richmond, Michigan. This
bank was organized with a capital of
$25,000, September, 1898. It is now
one
HON. JAMES E. WETER.
of the sound
financial institutions
of Macomb county. Mr. Weter is also
interested in the Ullrich Savings Bank of Mt.
Clemens, and a stockholder in the Michigan
State Telephone Company.
Mr. Weter was president of the village of
Richmond for six years. He was elected to
the House of 1899-1900 by a vote of 1,858 to
1,651 for Warren S. Stone, Democratic-Peo-
ple's-Union-Silver candidate, and 48 for John
S. Harris, Prohibitionist. As president of the
village Board of Trustees in Richmond, Mr.
Weter was instrumental in putting in the fine
water plant and lighting plant which the in-
habitants of that village now enjoy, and in
adding many other improvements to the vil-
lage. He has travelled considerably in the
United States and has spent some time in
Texas and Florida. He has been a delegate to
many state conventions, and his nomination
for the Legislature came to him entirely unso-
licited.
Mr. Weter married Miss Emma A. Whit-
marsh, daughter of Charles Whitmarsh, at
Lenawee Junction, April 9, 1895. He has
three children. He belongs to the Masons,
Odd Fellows and Maccabees.

216
MEN OF PROGRESS.
HON. EDWARD NELSON DINGLEY.
a
DINGLEY, HON. EDWARD NELSON.
Hon. Edward Nelson Dingley, representative
to the house from the First District of Kala-
mazoo county, is naturally fitted to take his
place among the statesmen of this country.
His grandfather, Nelson Dingley, was
member of the State Senate in Maine, and
prominent in political and business circles
throughout that state, and Hon. Nelson Ding-
ley, Jr., the father of the subject of this
sketch, was governor of Maine for two terms,
a member of the State Legislature for three
terms, and a member of Congress from 1882
until 1899.
He
Edward Nelson Dingley was born in Lewis-
ton, Maine, August 21, 1862. He was edu-
cated in the public schools of that city and
graduated from the high school in 1879.
then spent one year at Bates College, Lewis-
ton, and entering the sophomore class of Yale
University, graduated in 1883 with the de-
gree of A. B. Spent two years in the law
department of the Columbian University at
Washington, D. C., and graduated with the
degree of LL. B. in 1885. He then went
to Lewiston, where he engaged in the news-
paper business and became one of the editors
of the Lewiston Journal. The following
year he went to Boston, Massachusetts, and
became the legislative reporter and poli-
tical man
on the Advertiser and Record,
leaving that city for Leavenworth, Kansas, to
take the position of editor on the Leaven-
worth Times. Since 1888 he has been edi-
tor and publisher of the Kalamazoo daily and
semi-weekly Telegraph.
In February, 1897, he was elected presi-
dent of the Michigan League of Republican
Clubs and was Michigan's candidate for presi-
dent of the National League of Republican
Clubs, in July, 1898, at the convention in
Omaha, Nebraska. He was candidate for the
Michigan House of Representatives in 1890
and 1892, and failed to be nominated both
times, but received a unanimous nomination
for that office in the Republican Legislative
Convention of his district, held in August,
1898. He was elected to the house of 1899-
1900 by a vote of 2,376 to 1,671 for Fred-
erick Cellem, Democratic-People's-Union-Sil-
ver candidate, and 73 votes for Garland B. St.
John, Prohibitionist. In June, 1898, he was
appointed clerk of the ways and means com-
mittee of the National House of Representa-
tives, resigning in December, 1899.
He married, December 22, 1888, Miss Mir-
iam Gardner Robinson, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. H. C. Robinson, of Boston, Massachu-
He has had three children, two of
whom are living. Irene is ten years of age,
and Nelson III. six years; Miriam died when
five months old.
setts.
Mr. Dingley has always been intensely in-
terested in politics and a contributor of
articles on social and political questions to
newspapers and magazines. He has made a
special study of taxation, sociology and state-
craft, and was prominent in the State Legisla-
ture of 1899 in the contests over tax bills.
His education, together with his descent from
a family of statesmen, has made him a lead-
ing authority on political questions. He
is a good talker and takes firm stands in all
his arguments, from which many have tried
without success to shake him.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
217
WAYNE, HON. DUNCAN A. Hon.
Duncan A. Wayne, of Bradford, Michigan,
comes from a family that claims as its ances-
tor that historical character of early Ameri-
can history, "Mad" Anthony Wayne.
Duncan Wayne was born in the county of
Norfolk, Ontario, January 7, 1858, and was
the youngest child of a family of six. When
he was but a year old the death of his father
left his mother alone in the world to look
after her six little ones, and she struggled
hard in order to support them, weaving and
selling homespun cloth. The very clothes
worn by the children were made by her. In
summer they appeared in linen from her own
loom and in winter warm woolen garments of
homespun from the same source served to
keep them warm and comfortable. A little
farm which had been left by the father and
upon which the family lived, had a small
stock of sheep, and the flax was grown upon
the farm from which the linen was made.
The farm had been worked and cleared up by
the father and elder children from a wild
state, and by its means the mother kept her
children about her.
When he was 12 years old young Wayne
became the main support of his mother, work-
ing on the farm in the summer-time, helping
gather in and plant the crops, and when win-
ter arrived going into the woods and working
in the lumber camps. He worked for Stephen
L. Wiggins, of East Saginaw, in the lumber
camp operated by him, and the first clothes he
ever purchased were earned by young Wayne
in this manner. Salaries were not high in
those days, and the boy only received $14 a
month while working for Wiggins; out of
this he sent the greater portion to his mother
and saved enough to buy his first suit of store
clothes.
In 1872 the family came to Michigan and
settled on a farm of 50 acres, near Bradford.
The purchase price of this little tract of land
was $560, and the first payment was $8, the
balance being on contract. This meant a
good deal of money, if the family ever hoped
to become free owners of their homestead, and
HON. DUNCAN A. WAYNE.
on Duncan Wayne the work of making all
the payments now evolved. The boy labored
industriously toward this end and eventually
had the satisfaction of clearing the place of
its indebtedness and handing the farm over to
his mother. His devotion for his maternal
parent kept him a bachelor for many years,
and he did not marry until 1892, when he
wedded Miss Maud C. Neff, of Bradford,
Michigan, in that city. He brought his wife
home with him, and in 1893 his mother
passed away in the little home that had been
purchased for her by her youngest son.
The original 50 acres of that little farm
has now been increased to 160 by Mr. Wayne,
and he still operates it. Mr. Wayne held the
office of supervisor at Mount Haley township,
Midland county, for 15 consecutive terms and
chairman of the board of supervisors four
terms up to 1898, when he was elected a mem-
ber of the present Legislature, and he was a
member of the school board in his district
many times. He was postmaster at Bradford
until he was sent to the Legislature, and the
postoffice being located on Mr. Wayne's farm,
his wife has succeeded him in that office. He
has two children, Lelia Madelaine and Per-
ley D.

218
MEN OF PROGRESS.

ADOLPHUS AGUSTUS ELLIS.
ELLIS, ADOLPHUS AUGUSTUS.
Adolphus Augustus Ellis, attorney at law, of
Ionia, Mich., is the son of Elmer E. Ellis,
one of the early settlers of Vermontville,
Eaton county, Mich., who came there from
Cayuga county, New York, in 1847.
Adolphus A. Ellis, the subject of this
sketch, was born on his father's farm in Ver-
montville, October 5, 1848, and after he ar-
rived at school age, and until his fifteenth
year, attended the district school in the win-
ters. He spent his summers laboring upon the
farm. When he was about ten years of age,
his father gave him three sheep, which, to-
gether with the increase, he sold, in the fall of
1864, preceding his sixteenth birthday, and
with this fund to buy his books and clothing,
he entered the public school of Charlotte,
boarding at the home of Attorney E. A. Foote
and doing chores for his board.
In the winter of 1864 he enlisted, intend-
ing to go into the Fifth Michigan Cavalry,
but was unable to pass the physical examina-
tion. He returned to school and finished the
school year; then he "went west," to Iowa,
where for three years he worked as a farm
hand in the summer and attended school in
the winters, near Newton, Ia. He returned
to Michigan in the fall of 1868 and engaged
in hardwood lumbering, and, with the money
earned, was able to enter Olivet College in
1869. He was able to get along until the
spring term of 1871, when, his funds being ex-
hausted, he made preparation to leave school.
Thomas A. Savage, the village blacksmith,
prevailed upon him to accept a loan of fifty
dollars necessary to complete the year's school-
ing. Young Ellis gave his note for the
amount, and as soon as school ended, by his
labor as a farm-hand and shearing sheep,
earned the money and paid the note. The
winter of 1871 and 1872 he taught school in
a country district a few miles west of Char-
lotte and "boarded round." In the spring
term of 1872 he taught in the Grand Ledge
schools, where he continued the following two
years, devoting his spare time to the study of
law during the school months, and in the vaca-
tion getting what practice he could in the law
office of Shaw & Pennington, attorneys at
Charlotte. He was admitted to the bar be-
fore Judge Lovell at Ionia, January 5, 1876.
He commenced practice in Muir, where he
remained until January 1, 1881, when he
removed to Ionia, where he has since resided
and practiced his profession.
Mr. Ellis married in 1874 Miss Mattie
Nichols, daughter of George W. Nichols, of
Oneida, Eaton county. They have two chil-
dren, Howard A., attending Olivet College,
and George N., attending high school.
Mr. Ellis was elected prosecuting attorney
of Ionia county in 1884 and re-elected in
1886; was elected attorney-general of the
state of Michigan in 1890 and re-elected in
1892. The citizens of Ionia elected him
mayor of Ionia five times, 1890-91-97-98 and
1899.
Mr. Ellis is a Royal Arch Mason, a Knight
of Pythias, and belongs to the K. O. T. M., I.
0. 0. F., A. O. U. W., R. A. and B. O. P. E.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
219
John E.
TYRRELL, HON. JOHN E.
Tyrrell is an Irishman by birth, having been
born in Dublin, Ireland, January 28, 1848.
He has had a history, that if written up in
detail, would furnish most interesting read-
ing, for he has served under two flags, one
that his own people endeavored to raise over
an independent country many years ago, and
the flag of an alien land, now his adopted
country, when the Southern States sought to
make two countries out of one. When a very
young child, Mr. Tyrrell came to this country
and located in New York state. His educa-
tion was completed there at St. John's College
in Fordham, which is one of the finest Cath-
olic institutions of its kind in New York state.
While attending this college in 1864, in
answer to the call of President Lincoln, young
Tyrrell put aside his books and took up the
musket in their stead, enlisting as a private in
the Fifty-sixth New York Infantry, and
serving six months in that regiment. The Fe-
nian cause shortly after this agitated Ireland
and the young man immediately offered
his services, and in January, 1867, he
left New York for Ireland, and reported to
General Halpin, then in command of the
Fenians.
Tyrrell was detailed on the staff of the
general, and he served through the great re-
bellion of that time, taking part in many
fierce struggles and participating in
in the
battle of Wicklow Mountains on March 7,
1867. This was one of the hardest fought bat-
tles of the rebellion. Four days later, on
March 11, Tyrrel was captured by the Eng-
lish as a suspect and held as a prisoner until
the following May, when, upon his release
May 23, 1867, he determined to return to
America, and taking the first opportunity of-
fered him, arrived in New York City, June
10, 1867. The active part he had taken in the
struggle for liberty made by his fellow
countrymen, together with the vast amount of
misery and suffering he had witnessed there
filled the young patriot's heart with a desire to
do something toward alleviating the existing
conditions and working toward the final free-
索
​HON. JOHN E. TYRRELL.
dom of his native land. He went to Canada
and there organized a division of Fenians.
The Canadian government soon set their se-
cret service to work and discovered the ex-
istence of the division and soon Mr. Tyrrell
became an object of interest for the govern-
ment detectives, so, as he did not desire an-
other experience in an English prison, he left
Canada behind him and returned to the
United States. He came to Michigan in
March, 1868, and has lived in this state ever
since, his present address being Jackson, Mich.
Mr. Tyrrell has never sought political office.
He is a Republican, and was chairman of the
Blaine-Logan Club in 1884 on the occasion of
Mr. Blaine's visit to this state during his cam-
paign tour. Mr. Tyrrell was elected represen-
tative to the Legislature from the City Dis-
trict of Jackson, for the session of 1889. He
has served in the National Guard since 1875,
was commissioned captain in 1884, major in
1888; lieutenant-colonel in 1889, colonel First
Infantry 1892, and brigadier-general com-
manding brigade in 1898. He married Miss
Katherine Wilsey, daughter of Solomon Wil-
sey, August 31, 1870, at Dexter, Michigan.
220
MEN OF PROGRESS.

JAMES HENRY SEAGER.
SEAGER, JAMES HENRY. Seager is
a name that belongs to Connecticut, where,
ever since the early days when that state
formed a part of the colonies in possession of
Great Britain, the family has lived and flour-
ished, always taking an active part in the his-
torical changes of the government, and serv-
ing in the colonial troops during the revo-
lution.
James Henry Seager was born in Roches-
ter, New York, on the 27th day of December,
1846. His father, Reverend Schuyler Sea-
ger, was a Methodist minister, who held
charges in many of the cities throughout west-
ern New York, and in later years was presi-
dent of the Genesee Wesleyan College at
Lima, New York.
Owing to his father's calling, which necessi-
tated his traveling from place to place, young
Seager was afforded opportunities to study in
various cities and towns throughout western
New York. His education concluded with a
year at the Michigan Agricultural College, in
1863-'64.
While attending the latter college he was
tendered a position as paymaster's clerk under
Colonel Hiram F. Hale, which he accepted,
serving in the department until some months
after the close of the war. He was then made
cashier of the Junction City, Kansas, bank,
and held this position until 1870. While in
Kansas Mr. Seager was also interested in levee
building, dredging and railroad construction.
In the year 1871 he closed out his business
interests in Kansas and returned to Michigan,
finally settling in Houghton, where he repre-
sented his brother-in-law, S. L. Smith, of the
firm of Smith & Harris, of that place. On
the dissolution of this firm he went into busi-
ness for himself, opening a general store at
the Franklin mine, near the town of Han-
cock, also conducting a branch at Ripley, on
Portage Lake, opposite Houghton. These
stores have been successfully operated ever
since.
Mr. Seager is a man of shrewd business
instinct, and takes a keen interest in the vari-
ous commercial affairs with which he has be-
come connected. He is the vice-president
of the National Bank of Houghton, Michi-
gan, and also of the Peninsular Electric
Light & Power Company of that city. He
is president of the Copper Range Railroad
and of the Portage Lake Foundry & Machine.
Company, the New Douglass Hotel Company
of Houghton, and the Mining Gazette Com-
pany.
For several terms he filled the office of
supervisor, but his business interests have of
late years increased to such an extent that he
has been prevented from accepting political
office.
He has done much toward developing many
of the mining industries of the Upper Penin-
sula, and was one of the promoters of the
Baltic Mining Company and the Copper
Range Mining Company, of Houghton, both
of which have turned out most profitably.
Mr. Seager lives in Houghton, Michigan,
where he is a representative capitalist and
merchant.
Mr. Seager married, at Fayette, Missouri,
in 1869, Miss Laura Shafroth.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
221
WHALEY, ROBERT JEROME. Robert
Jerome Whaley, president of the Citizens'
Commercial and Savings Bank of Flint,
Mich., and a capitalist and real estate owner
of that city, was born December 8, 1840, in
Castile, New York state. His family is of
English descent, the first Whaley that came
to America was one Edward Whaley, who
was one of the three regicide judges that or-
dered King Charles I. to the scaffold, during
that period when Cromwell was in power.
Edward Whaley, upon the accession of
Charles II., sought safety in the colonies, hid-
ing from the agents of Charles II. for years
in New Haven, Conn., where he is supposed
to be buried.
Robert, the grandfather of the subject of
this sketch, built the first saw mill ever
erected in Wyoming county, New York state,
in 1806. His son, and Robert J. Whaley's
father, Jeremiah Whaley, were engaged in
operating a small farm near Castile, N. Y.,
when Robert was born. His education was
obtained in the district school, and when he
was four years of age his father opened a
hotel in Pike, N. Y., where the boy attended
the more advanced school of the village.
In 1850 the Whaley family moved to St.
Croix county, Wis., and was one of the first
families to settle at Willow River, now
known as Hudson, Wis. He started a general
store and continued in that business for ten
years. Young Whaley helped his father in
the store until December 15, 1861, when he
went to Caledonia, New York, where his
grandmother owned a farm. The next four
years were spent in working his grandmother's
farm on shares, and this gave him a good
financial start. Upon the death of his grand-
parent he returned to Hudson and purchased
a farm of 320 acres and remained there two
years, and in October, 1867, came to Michi-
gan.
January 24, 1867, he married Miss Mary
McFarlan, in Flint, Mich., and returned to
ROBERT JEROME WHALEY.
Hudson with his wife, where he remained un-
til the following October. Then he went to
Flint, and has lived there ever since. He now
entered the lumber business, entering the mill
yard of his father-in-law, sorting and piling
and learning to scale lumber and logs, and
going into the wood in winter. He continued
in his lumbering operations until the death of
his wife's father, Alexander McFarlane, in
1881. He then closed out the interests and
devoted his time to looking after the estate
until 1894. Since that time Mr. Whaley has
looked after his farming interests.
Mr. Whaley is a director in the Flint Water
Works Company and the Flint City Gas
Company. He was a member of the Central
Board of Control of Michigan State Institu-
tions during the Winans administration,
1891-1892, and established the precedent of
returning to the state all funds saved during
the year. He is a member of Michigan Sov-
ereign Consistory of Detroit, Mason, Temp-
lar and Shriner, and has been great finance
keeper of the great camp of Michigan, K. O.
T. M., for the past eighteen years.
222
MEN OF PROGRESS.

GILMAN JONES MCCLINTOCK.
McCLINTOCK, GILMAN JONES.
Gilman Jones McClintock, at present engaged
in a prosperous real estate and insurance busi-
ness in Laingsburg, Mich., was
Mich., was born in
Arcadia, Wayne county, New York state,
September 27, 1832. His father, Freeman
McClintock, was a well-known physician in
Shiawassee county in its early days, and a
descendant of the old New England family
of McClintock. His mother was Lydia A.
Short.
Until he was fifteen years of age young
McClintock lived on a farm and attended
district school at Bainbridge, Ohio, in which
place the family resided. Later he attended
the Chester Seminary at Chester, Ohio, where
he first formed the acquaintance of James A.
Garfield, the martyred president of the
United States who was attending this college.
Young McClintock's father was desirous of
having his son follow the medical profession,
but the boy favored the mercantile business
or the life of a farmer, so in 1851 he married
Miss Wealthy A. Marshall at Bainbridge,
Ohio, and coming to Michigan, located on a
farm about one and one-half miles east of
Laingsburg.
When his father went to California in the
following year, the son looked after the col-
lection of his outstanding debts. He then
went to work in the general store of E. B.
Smith, and became postmaster under Presi-
dent Franklin Pierce.
Upon the return of his father from Cali-
fornia, in 1856, the father and son together
purchased the general store operated by E. B.
Smith and commenced business under the
firm name of F. McClintock & Son. This
partnership continued until 1860, when the
business was sold.
The younger McClintock continued as
postmaster until 1861, when he commenced
to organize a military company to take part
in the civil war. He was mustered in as first
lieutenant in Co. D, Fourteenth Michigan
Infantry, November 18, 1861, and partici-
pated in several skirmishes from Pittsburg
Landing to Corinth, and was then sent to the
hospital at Farmington, Miss., where he was
confined with typhoid fever for over two
months. Returning home in 1862, he re-
joined his father in the mercantile business.
In 1868 he started on his own account alone.
In the meantime he secured the appointment
of postmaster under Johnson. After run-
ning a general store for four years, he sold
out all his interests in 1872, and since that
time has been engaged in farming. He
took up insurance and real estate in 1879,
and returned to Laingsburg, where he has
since been identified with a successful real
estate and insurance business and was post-
master during both of Cleveland's administra-
tions.
Mr. McClintock's first wife died in 1879,
and he re-married in 1883, his second wife
being a Miss Clara D. Webb, of Holly, New
York. He has five children; Ellen M. is the
M., wife of Rev. Samuel Bird, Denton, Mich.;
wife of G. D. Millspaugh, of Albion; Helen
Minnie lives with her elder sister, Carrie, wife
of Watson Wesley, of Port Huron, Mich. :
and Frankie is a teacher in the kindergarten
at Port Huron.
Henry Demming Post, G. A. R., No. 192,
Mr. McClintock is past commander of
and a member of the Masonic fraternity. He
is a Democrat and occupied the position of
supervisor in his county for four terms.




HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
223
SALSBURY, LAUT K. Mr. Salsbury
will certainly rank as a representative Michi-
gan man, if push and a readiness to adapt him-
self to various pursuits, as a means to "get
there," will pass as credentials. Acting alter-
nately as teacher, book agent, live stock
dealer, farm hand and railway mail clerk, and
getting his education in detached sections, as
a limited financial means made possible, he
now occupies a leading position at the bar.
Living on his father's farm in Washtenaw
county, he attended the neighborhood school
until he was 14, after which he attended the
Lowell (Kent county) high school for two
years. At the age of 16 (1883) he received
a third grade teacher's certificate and took
charge of the Star district school in Bowne
township, Kent county. The former teacher
had been fired through the window by the
large male pupils. The district had over 60
pupils, and the director agreed to pay him $60
per month, in view, no doubt, of their large
number and unruly character. The second
week the boys tried to send him through the
window after the other teacher, but courage
and muscle, aided by a heavy hickory ruler,
gave him the victory. He was offered $75
per month for another year, but preferred to
take a school nearer his former home, which
he taught for a year. He entered Albion
College in the spring of 1884, graduating
from there in 1887, during the vacations act-
ing as book agent, farm hand and live stock
dealer. Upon leaving college he commenced
the study of law in the office of John M. Mat-
hewson, of Lowell, but his funds running
short, he received an appointment in the mail
service, through the influence of the late Con-
gressman M. H. Ford, of Grand Rapids. He
was removed from the position (April, 1888)
for "offensive partisanship" and was subse-
quently reinstated, but declined further ser-
vice. In the meantime he resumed the study
of law in the office of Turner & Carroll, of
Grand Rapids, remaining there some two
years. Nearly a year at the University Law
School, which was cut short by want of funds,
followed, when in March, 1890, he was ad-
mitted to practice upon examination before
the Supreme Court. The following July he
opened an office at Grand Rapids, his office
outfit consisting of a desk, carpet, two chairs
LAUT K. SALSBURY.
and four books, got on the strength of money
borrowed for the purpose. He had clients
the first week, and arose to prominence in the
profession through his connection with the
Egan murder trial. Since 1891 he has been
a member of the law firm of Maher & Sals-
bury, of Grand Rapids. He was appointed
city attorney of Grand Rapids in May, 1899.
Mr. Salsbury was born at Saline, Washte-
naw county, March 1, 1867. His father,
George L., was a farmer and a direct descen-
dant of the Salsburys, who came to America
in 1622, the present Lord Salisbury, of Eng-
land, representing the English branch of the
family. His mother, Corinthia Edwards, was
descended from the Vermont branch of the
Edwards family. Mr. Salsbury was married
November 10, 1890,
November 10, 1890, to Miss Gertrude
Shanks, daughter of Mark Shanks, of Clarks-
ville. They have one daughter, Helen, born
in 1896.
Politically Democratic, Mr. Salsbury has
twice represented his party as candidate for
prosecuting attorney of his county, and as
delegate to the National Convention in 1896.
In a business way, he is president and general
manager of the Collins Hook & Eye Co., of
Grand Rapids, employing some 75 people.
His society connections are Masonic, Elks,
Knights of Pythias, K. O. T. M., I. O. F. and
W. O. W.
224
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. JUDGE ROLLIN HARLOW PERSON.
PERSON, HON. JUDGE ROLLIN
HARLOW. Rollin Harlow Person was ap-
pointed circuit judge of the new Thirtieth
Judicial Circuit by Governor Winans, Febru-
ary, 1891, and in the following April was
elected for the three years' vacancy and in
1893, nominated by all four parties, re-
elected without opposition for the full term.
He was born in Livingston county, Michi-
gan, October 15, 1850. His father, Corne-
lius Harlow Person, was a farmer near
Howell, Michigan, and as he was injured by
the kick of a horse and unable to attend to the
farm work alone, the boy was able to attend
the district school but little after he was 10
years of age.
age. Young Person continued his
studies, as much as possible, under the direc-
tion of his father, reading and studying dur-
ing his few spare hours, and when he was 19
years of age he attended a teacher's class at
Howell and won a teacher's certificate. He
taught two winter terms after that, and then
returned to the public school, having saved
sufficient money to enable him to do so. In
in the spring of 1871 he was given a first grade
teacher's certificate, and that same year he
was made deputy register of deeds. During
the year of 1872 he read law in the office of
Dennis Shields, of Howell, and in the fall and
winter of 1872-73 attended the Law Depart-
ment of the University. Like most poor stu-
dents at this University, Mr. Person had to
work his way through in many ways. He
sawed wood in almost every back yard in Ann
Arbor, and mush and molasses furnished his
daily diet. He was admitted to the bar in
1873, and the same year, shortly after grad-
uating, married Miss Ida M. Madden, daugh-
ter of James G. Madden, at Manmouth,
Illinois. Taking the advice of Horace
Greeley, he started west, landing in Repub-
lican City, Nebraska, with his wife, and find-
ing himself a thousand miles from home with
less than $5 on hand.
Republican City at that period was the
center of the county seat war and the Indian
troubles, and there was plenty of excitement
going on most of the time. The county clerk,
who was also register of deeds, learning that
Person was conversant with the duties of that
office, and being desirous of a vacation, offered
Mr. Person his office and all the fees received
during his absence from town. This gave him.
five weeks' living, and in the meantime he
located in a piece of land near the city and
lived in a dugout. His wife was only 17 years
old at this time, while he was 23, and here in
their primitive home they passed through the
intense excitement of the Indian troubles and
the county seat war. Gradually Person built
up a good practice and was on a fair way to-
ward prosperity when the grasshopper
plague, so common to that section, cleared the
country of every living plant above ground.
His clients, mostly farmers, were unable to
pay their fees, so he was forced finally to
abandon his home and farm and return to
Howell.
He was recorder of the latter city, 1876-77,
and circuit court commissioner, 1876-78. Mr.
Person has four children: Harlow Stafford,
now in the Literary Department, University;
Harry J., with the National Biscuit Company,
at Sioux City, Iowa, and May and Armand,
at home. He is a Mason, having taken all
degrees to Knight Templar.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
225
PINGREE, HON. HAZEN S. No man in
the country has been more talked about during
the past few years than has Gov. Pingree.
Born in Denmark, Maine, August 30th, 1840,
the son of Jasper and Adeline (Bryant) Pin-
gree,
his early education did not extend beyond
his fourteenth year. His father was a farmer
and a descendent of Moses Pingree, who came
from England in 1640, and settled in Ipswich,
Mass. His great-grandfather was a soldier in
the War of the Revolution, his grandfather in
the War of 1812, and himself in the Civil
War, and he treasures as mementos, a musket
carried by each in the service. At the age of
fourteen he secured work in a cotton factory at
Saco, Me., and in 1860 he went to work in a
shoe factory at Hopkinton, Mass. He was thus
employed in 1862 when he enlisted in a regi-
ment of artillery and served until the close of
the war.
His service was with the Army of
the Potomac, in which he participated in a
dozen or more battles. He was, with a num-
ber of his comrades, taken prisoner by Mosby,
May 25th, 1864, and held for some five months
at different southern prisons. Soon after his
muster out in August, 1865, he came to De-
troit and worked for a time as an employee in a
shoe factory. In December, 1866, the shoe
manufacturing firm of Pingree & Smith was
formed with a capital of $1,360.00. They
purchased a small plant and with eight hands
employed they closed the first year's business
with an output of some $20,000. The con-
cern has become the most extensive of its kind
in the west, latterly employing over 700
hands, with an output of about one million dol-
lars annually.
It is in his political career, however, that
Gov. Pingree has become best known. In
1889 his political friends were at sea for a
candidate for mayor of Detroit, and upon their
earnest solicitation, he accepted the nomina-
tion. He was elected by a decisive vote and
re-elected for the three succeeding terms, at
his last election his majority exceeding the
entire vote received by his competitor. He
was a candidate for the Republican nomina-
tion for Governor in 1892 and again in 1894,
but the nomination came to him readily in
HON. HAZEN S. PINGREE.
all others, of 66,000, leading his colleagues
1896, when he was elected by a majority over
on the Republican ticket by an average of over
20,000, and in his home county (Wayne) by
about 4,000. He was re-elected in 1898.
Gov. Pingree's distinguishing traits as an
official, are his originality, his aggressiveness
and his tenacity, with a tendency towards state
socialism or the civil ownership or control of
public utilities. As Mayor of Detroit he gave
an impulse to public improvement, especially
in the way of paving, secured the establish-
ment of the public lighting plant, and com-
batted what he regarded as unjustifiable pre-
tensions on the part of the street railways.
These measures gave him prominence through-
out the state and led him to the governor's
chair, where the same traits have inspired his
action. A law for the local taxation of rail-
roads was made inoperative by the Supreme
Tax Commission is in operation and promises
Court decision. A law providing for a State
good results. But Gov. Pingree's official
career cannot be reviewed here, for obvious
reasons. Gov. Pingree occupies a fine mansion
on Woodward avenue, in Detroit. Mrs. Pin-
gree, to whom he was married in 1872, was
formerly Miss Frances A. Gilbert, of Mount
Clemens. They have had three children, two
daughters (the eldest deceased), and one son,
Hazen S.
226
MEN OF PROGRESS.

MARK NORRIS.
NORRIS, MARK. The name of Norris
was in the early days a familiar one in Eastern
Michigan, and during later years has become
equally so in the west. Mark Norris, grand-
father of the present, located at Ypsilanti in
1827 and was for many years prominent in
business, social and political life. The family
are in direct descent from Nicholas Norris,
who came to America from England in 1640.
A son of the elder Mark Norris, Lyman De-
catur Norris, father of the present Mark, was
for many years a prominent attorney in
Ypsilanti, and during his residence there was
elected to and served a term in the State Sen-
ate, and was also a member of the Constitu-
tional Convention of 1867. He left a lucra-
tive practice at Ypsilanti, removing to Grand
Rapids, then a small town, comparatively, but
with the expressed conviction on his part that
it was destined to become the second city of
Michigan, a prediction which he lived to see.
He acquired an extensive practice in western
Michigan and was at one time candidate on
the Democratic ticket for Judge of the Su-
preme Court. The wife of Mr. Norris and
mother of the present Mark, was Lucy A.
Whittlesey, a native of Connecticut, and
direct descendant of Rev. John Cotton.
The present Mark Norris is a member of
the law firm of Crane, Norris & Stevens, of
Grand Rapids, and was born at Ypsilanti July
28th, 1857. His education
His education was elaborate,
and it may be said finished, so far as it could
well be finished in the schools, embracing the
full course at the Ypsilanti Public Schools,
two years (1871-1873) at the Yonkers Mili-
tary Academy, at Yonkers, N. Y., a prepara-
tory college course at De Veaux College, Sus-
pension Bridge, N. Y., and a four years' liter-
ary course at the university, from which he
graduated in 1879, this being followed by a
two years' law course, from which he gradu-
ated in 1882, having previously, during his
leisure months, for several years read law in
the office of Norris & Uhl, of Grand Rapids.
He was admitted to practice upon examina-
tion before the Supreme Court, April 14th,
1882. He continued in the office of Norris
& Uhl as assistant and partner until the disso-
lution of the firm in 1887, when he became
a partner with his father under the firm name
of Norris & Norris. This connection con-
tinued until the death of the father in 1894,
when Mr. Norris continued the practice alone
for several years, until the formation of the
present firm of Crane, Norris & Stevens. Mr.
Norris has, during his professional career, made
a specialty of fire insurance law, and is called
as counsel in fire insurance cases throughout
the United States. He represented the pre-
vailing defendant party in a case of national
importance, the Chippewa Lumber Company
vs. the Phoenix Insurance Company, reported
in the 80th Michigan Reports, p. 116. He
was for four years a member of the State
Board of Law Examiners, to which he was
appointed by Gov. Rich in 1895. He has
business interests outside of his profession, in-
cluding a directorate in the Grand Rapids
Desk Company. In politics he ranks as a gold
Democrat. He is a Mason, a member of the
Alpha Delta Phi of the University of Michi-
gan, and of the Sons of the American Revo-
lution.
Miss Cornelia Abbott, daughter of Rev.
Larmon W. Abbott, of Ridgefield, Conn., be-
came Mrs. Norris in 1885. They have three
children, Margaret A., Abbott L. and Cor-
nella.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
227
MORSE, JUDGE ALLEN BENTON.
Allen Benton Morse, attorney-at-law, Ionia,
Michigan, is one of the oldest residents of
this state, having been born in Otisco town-
ship, Ionia county, January 7, 1839. He
was the third white child and first boy born
in that township. Mr. Morse is a direct de-
scendant of old Puritan stock, tracing his
ancestry back to Samuel Morse, who came
from England. His father, John L. Morse,
came to Michigan in 1830, from Courtlandt
county, New York, locating first in Oakland
county and afterwards removing to Ionia
county. The elder Morse was a member of
the Michigan State Legislature 1846-47, and
judge of Probate Court for Ionia county 11
years.
Allen B. Morse was educated at the dis-
trict school near his father's farm, and when
the gold excitement broke out, his father left
for California, leaving his farm and six chil-
dren, and all under the care of the mother.
Allen, being the oldest, it devolved upon him
to do all he could toward the maintenance
of the family. He taught school, worked
the farm and helped the neighbors, and did
everything that would serve to bring in some
money toward the family treasury. In the
fall of 1859 he was given his first good suit
of clothes and sent to the Agricultural Col-
lege at Lansing, where he remained two
years and paid for his board by working on
the farm at nine cents per hour. He then
taught school one winter and was a law stu-
dent at the breaking out of the Civil War,
when he enlisted, July 30, 1861, as a private
in Co. B, 16th Michigan Infantry.
meritorious conduct he was commissioned
first lieutenant in the 21st Michigan, be-
came adjutant of said regiment, and served
as assistant adjutant on the staff of Col.
Frank T. Sherman, commanding a bri-
gade in Sheridan's division. He lost his left
arm at Mission Ridge November 25, 1863,
and was mustered out of service September
16, 1864. Returning to Ionia he commenced
the reading of law in the office of W. B.
Wells of that city and was admitted to the bar
For
JUDGE ALLEN BENTON MORSE.
in Ionia by Judge Lewis S. Lovell, February
28, 1865. Mr. Wells then took him into
28, 1865.
partnership in March, 1865, and the partner-
ship continued until 1880, when the firm be-
came Morse, Wilson and Trowbridge, and
remained such until Judge Morse took his
seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of
Michigan in October, 1885.
In 1892 Judge Morse resigned his place
on the bench and became the Democratic
candidate for governor. He was defeated
by John T. Rich, but as a reward for his
party loyalty was appointed United States
consul at Glasgow, Scotland, by President
Cleveland.
After serving four years, Judge Morse re-
turned to Ionia and resumed his practice of
law.
He was first married in 1874, to Miss
Frances Marion Van Allen, who died in 1884.
In 1888 Miss Anna Babcock, of Ionia, became
Mrs. Morse. He has four children: Marion,
wife of E. M. Davis, of Ionia; Van Allen, in
Des Moines, Ia.; Lucy C. and Dan R., stu-
dents.
Judge Morse is a member of St. Vincent
Lodge, F. and A. M., of Glasgow, Scotland,
where he was raised while he was United
States consul in that city.
228
MEN OF PROGRESS.

GEORGE WILLIS BEMENT.
George
BEMENT, GEORGE WILLIS.
Willis Bement, secretary and treasurer of the
E. Bement's Sons establishment for the manu-
facture of plows, stoves and agricultural im-
plements, located at Lansing, Michigan, was
born at Fostoria, Ohio, November 9, 1850.
When old enough he was sent to the public
schools in his native city, and when 15 years
of age, took two terms at the Fostoria
Academy under William C. Turner, and later
took a special course in Greek and Latin
under a private teacher.
he
From his twelfth to his seventeenth year
spent his summer vacations working in his
father's foundry and learning the trade of a
moulder, an art in which he became very pro-
ficient, and which served him well in after
years. His earnings during this period of his
career amounted to about $3 a week.
The winter of his eighteenth year found
him engaged in the profession of school
teacher, having in charge about forty scholars
in a district school some six miles from Fos-
toria. The following spring he turned his
attention to the trade he had learned in his
father's foundry, and started out as a
moulder. He secured his first work in this
line with the firm of Loomis & Nyman, at
Tiffin, Ohio, in the manufacture of plows and
machinery.
As young Bement had given his father
all the money he had earned at school teach-
ing, in his new career he was obliged to
hustle for himself. After remaining about
three months in the employ of Loomis
& Nyman, went to Toledo, where shortly
afterwards his brother joined him. The
brothers, worked together for a while in
Toledo, and finally decided to come to Michi-
gan. They did so, and visited a number
of towns in this state, Monroe, Adrian, Te-
cumseh, Albion and Battle Creek. He found
work with the firm of Nichols, Shepherd &
Company, of the latter place, where being
considered a good moulder, he earned $13.50
a week, although only nineteen years of age.
Remaining with the firm until September, he
returned to Fostoria, and accepted the position
of cashier in the store of ex-Governor Charles
Foster. Mr. Bement stayed with Mr. Foster
until November, 1870, and that fall joined his
father and brother in the foundry they had
established in Lansing.
The history of the success of this firm has
been told in these pages. While the elder
brother and the father looked after the busi-
ness end of the concern, G. W. Bement dec-
orated the plow beams during the day, and at
night attended to the books and the general
office work. Mr. Bement, in 1893, was made
a member of and treasurer of the board of con-
trol of the Michigan School for Blind, in
which capacity he served six years, and in
January, 1899, was re-appointed by Governor
Pingree to serve six years longer. He is a
Republican in politics, and was a member of
the city council of Lansing in 1895-97 and
'99. He was also a member of the Lansing
Board of Education for nine years, and in
1896 was one of the presidential electors of
Michigan, from the Sixth Congressional Dis-
trict.
His marriage took place on June 13, 1872,
to Miss Rillie Finsthwait. They have two
children, Howard Bement and Frank H. Be-
ment. Mr. Bement is a Mason and Knights
Templar.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
229
CLARAGE, CHARLES. Mr. Clarage is
of English and New England descent, his
father, Thomas Clarage (Claridge) having
been born in England and his mother, Eliza-
beth M. Hooker, being a native of Vermont.
Charles Clarage was born in Kalamazoo, Mich-
igan, August 4th, 1860. Thomas Clarage was
junior member of the old firm of Bird & Clar-
age, founders and machinists at Kalamazoo.
He died in 1895. Charles attended the public
schools of Kalamazoo until his fourteenth
year, when his educational course was inter-
mitted by three years in business life, two
years as clerk in a news and stationery store,
and one year as clerk in the Kalamazoo post-
office. In 1877 he entered the Baptist College
at Kalamazoo, and was a student therein dur-
ing the two following years. His college
course was followed by a further service of
three years in the Kalamazoo postoffice and
railway mail service. In 1882 he became in-
terested in the Bird Windmill Co., of Kala-
mazoo, being secretary of the company and
afterwards represented its interests at Lincoln,
Nebraska, for one year. Returning to Kala-
mazoo in 1885, he purchased the half interest
of Mr. C. H. Bird in the firm of Bird & Clar-
age, and the business thereafter took on the
style of Thos. Clarage & Son. For two or
three years before his death, Thomas Clarage
practically retired from the active manage-
ment of the business, to which the son natur-
ally succeeded, and he has been the active
manager for the past seven years. The
foundations of a business so well laid by the
father have been improved upon and added to
by the son, who continues the business under
the former well known name and style. The
working force has been fully doubled during
the past five years and the capacity of the
plant increased in the same proportion, to
enable them to handle the rapidly increasing
business. The orders were formerly largely
from Kalamazoo and immediate vicinity, and
while these are steadily on the increase, Indi-
ana and Illinois are now supplying a large
amount of their business. Detroit also has
CHARLES CLARAGE.
come to the front with a rapidly increasing
demand and for some years past, large con-
tracts have been secured with some of Detroit's
best known business houses.
Mr. Clarage is one of Kalamazoo's young
hustlers, his concern being one of the few
which continued during the hard times period,
without being compelled to shut down or to
reduce the working force or cut down their
wages. He kept his men busy on full time
during the whole period of the industrial de-
pression.
Miss Ella M. Southworth, daughter of Ran-
dall W. Southworth, of Kalamazoo, became
Mrs. Clarage, October 15th, 1884. They have
one son, Harry Randall Clarage, eleven years
of
age. In his religious connections, Mr. Clar-
age is a Presbyterian. His society connections
are Masonic, including Kalamazoo Command-
ery, Knights Templar. He is also a member of
Michigan Sovereign Consistory of Detroit.
He is also an enthusiastic wheelman and
through his efforts and under his personal
direction was constructed thirteen miles of
cycle path, one of the best in the state, to Gull
Lake, which has been a source of much pleas-
ure to Kalamazoo wheelmen.
230
MEN OF PROGRESS.

CHARLES BRIGGS.
BRIGGS, CHARLES. Calumet's lead
ing merchant, Charles Briggs, proprietor of
the Hecla store in that city, and president of
the Merchants & Miners' Bank of Calumet,
since its organization in 1873, was born
November 12, 1837, in Cincinnatus, Cortland
county, New York state. His father, Dr.
Isaac Briggs, a physician, was born in Ply-
mouth, Massachusetts, his father's father and
grandfather were Congregational ministers in
Massachusetts. Mr. Briggs is a descendant of
the old Allerton family of Massachusetts.
Young Briggs attended the district schools
of Dryden, where his family moved when he
was a child, and when he became 8 years of
age he was sent to the Homer Academy at
Homer, New York, where he studied for four
years. His uncle was at that time operating
a general store at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin,
so when he reached his fourteenth year his
uncle sent for him and gave him a position as
clerk in the store. He remained in this posi-
tion for nine years, and at the end of that time.
he was offered and accepted a position as
cashier in the Lake Geneva Bank. After a
gan
year in this capacity he realized the opportuni-
ties offered in the Upper Peninsula of Michi-
for a young
and energetic man, so he came
to this state and secured a position as book-
keeper in the general store of S. D. North &
Co. He had been saving his money, and the
following year became a partner in the con-
cern under the firm name of North & Briggs
at Rockland, Ontonagon County. The new
firm met with success, and the next year
branched out and established a store at the
Quincy mine at Hancock, Michigan, and in
1868 started a store at Calumet, closing the
Rockland store. Two years after the Calumet
venture another store was established at Lake
Linden. In 1876 the company dissolved, Mr.
Briggs taking the store at Calumet and Mr.
North the one at the Quincy mine. The silent
partner, William Harris, took the Lake Lin-
den branch. Mr. Briggs then associated with
him H. K. Cole, under the firm name of
Briggs & Cole, and enlarged the Hecla store
at Calumet to accommodate the increasing
business. This partnership was dissolved in
1884, when Mr. Cole withdrew from the firm,
leaving Mr. Briggs sole proprietor.
He
Mr. Briggs has been a trustee of the school
district of Calumet township for nineteen
years. In 1891, he was made president of the
board, and as such he acted until 1895.
became secretary in 1895. District No. 1 is
without doubt the largest township school dis-
trict in the United States, having 6,798
scholars enrolled in 1898, and fourteen school
buildings, a general high school and a staff of
101 teachers.
Mr. Briggs married in 1865, Miss Sarah
E. Hanna, at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. His
only son, Charles Edwin Briggs, is a sur-
geon at the Lakeside Hospital, Cleveland,
Ohio. Mr. Briggs is president of the E. F.
Sutton Company, of Lake Linden, Michigan,
and in 1879-80 was a member of the Michigan
Legislature.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
231
CROZE, HON. JOSEPH. Houghton's
mayor, Hon. Joseph Croze, has an interest-
ing history, one that is replete with incidents
of hardships and trials, for in his early career
he found himself in an alien land, with
strangers surrounding him, whose language
he had to learn in order that he might find a
position above that of a day laborer. Joseph
Croze was born near St. Henri de Mascouche,
Province of Quebec, February 8, 1841. His
father was Pierre Laurent Croze, a farmer
near Montreal, Canada, and the original
founders of the family came from France, in
1762.
Joseph Croze attended the parish schools
near his home during the winter months when
there was no work that required his assistance
on the farm, and all summer long labored as
a farm hand. Up to the time he was 18 years
of age, he made about $18 a month at this
work, and then not wishing to follow in his
father's vocation he left home and came to
Michigan in search of employment.
He arrived at Eagle River, Michigan, May
24, 1859, with $2.00 in cash to pay his way
until he could find work. Even the clothes
he wore at that time were unpaid for.
He found employment as a surface man at
the Cliff copper mine, working for $24 a
month, and paying $8 for his board.
He found great difficulty in getting along
with his limited knowledge of the English
language, but after a while he managed to
pick up sufficient to enable him to converse
with his fellow-workmen. Six months later
he drove a mule team, hauling wood to the
mine. The next two years he worked as a
chopper, getting out wood for the Garden City
mine, now a part of the Phoenix Mining
Company's property. Every month out of
his meager wages he managed to save and
send home $10, which left him $16 for his
own expenses.
timekeeper for
surface boss.
A
year later he was made
the company and assistant
He left this position after ten
or twelve months to become clerk in
Wright's Hotel at Eagle River, where he
remained until June 1, 1869, and went to
Houghton, Michigan, where he accepted a
position as clerk in the general store of Smith
& Harris of that place, now the Graham Pope
store. He remained with this firm for eight
years, and his
and his wages were advanced
year. By dint of constant study and long
experience he soon became an excellent busi-
ness man, and saved his money with a view
of starting in business for himself should
opportunity offer.
every
In 1873 he invested his savings of $2,000
in an undivided half interest in a towing tug
and four scows, and after three years he had
made enough to enable him to buy out his
partner's share in the concern, and became
sole proprietor of the outfit. Business in-
creased rapidly, and in 1877 he resigned his
position in the employ of Smith & Harris, in
order to devote his entire time and attention
to the towing business. Since that time he
has built up the business, and now owns sev-
eral large tugs and drydocks and does a large
amount of ship repairing.
In 1897 he was appointed to fill the vacant
office of mayor of Houghton, and he was
elected again to this office in 1898. He is
director of the School Board of District No. 2,
East Houghton, and has been identified with
that body for over eight years. He was alder-
man during the years 1896-97. He married in
1869, Miss Johanna Sullivan at Eagle River,
and has nine children. Mr. Croze is a stock-
holder in the Peninsular Electric Light &
Power Company of Houghton County, and an
extensive holder of real estate.
232
MEN OF PROGRESS.

ELBRIDGE GERRY BROWN.
BROWN, ELBRIDGE GERRY. El-
bridge Gerry Brown, supply clerk for the
Calumet & Hecla Mine, and a resident of
Calumet, Michigan, is the son of Manly
Brown, who was born in Corinth, Orange
county, Vermont, served in the war of 1812,
after which he settled near Batavia, Genesee
county, New York, married Betsey Moulton,
who was born in Minden, Massachusetts, and
whose father, Royal Moulton, settled in the
town of Eatavia, New York, in 1808.
Elbridge G. Brown was born May 14,
1840, at Cheektowaga, New York, where hist
father operated a small farm, and his educa-
tion was commenced in the district school near
his home, where he was privileged to attend
during the winter terms. The boy earned his
first money as a switch tender on the Buffalo
& Coshocton Valley Railroad, the same road-
bed now owned by the West Shore Railroad
Co., working for four months at 50 cents per
diem, when only 12 years of age. He then
attended two terms at the Genesee Seminary,
situated at Alexander, Genesee county, New
York, after which he became a teacher in a
district school two miles from his home, at a
salary of $18 a month. In August, 1862,
young
Brown enlisted in the 50th New York
regiment, which had been assigned to the en-
gineer's corps, and as such he served through
the war, being clerk of his company when he
was discharged in 1865 at the close of the war.
After leaving the army he took up the
study of telegraphy, and after perfecting
himself in that science failed to secure a
position. In 1867 he found work handling
freight for the Merchants' Union Express
Company at Cleveland, Ohio. He remained
at this employment for nine months and then
became a messenger for the same company
traveling between Cleveland and Millers-
burg, Ohio. After six months in this branch
of the work he was transferred to Pittsburg,
Pennsylvania, with the Union Express Com-
pany of that city, which was later absorbed
by the American Express Company. During
this change, he went to work again as a por-
ter with the new company, and a month later
was made bill clerk, remaining such until the
Adams Express Company gathered in the sys-
tem, when he was made money order clerk,
holding that position until 1874. He then
went to Lake Superior, to accept employment
with the Sturgeon River Lumber Company of
Hancock, Michigan, which he resigned in
1880 to fill a position as supply clerk for the
Hecla mine. In 1888 he was made supply
clerk for the Calumet & Hecla Mining Com-
pany, and has held that position since then.
Mr. Brown has been married twice. His
first wife was Miss Elizabeth Lombard, of
Tacutneyville, Vermont, who died in 1889.
In 1893 Miss Julia Watkins, of Lapeer, be-
came Mrs. E. G. Brown.
Mr. Brown is a Democrat, and was made a
member of the board of control of the Michi-
gan College of Mines at Houghton, Michi-
gan, in 1897; his term will expire in 1903.
He is a Mason, and a member of Montrose
Commandery, Knights Templar, of Calumet,
and Saladin Temple, Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine, of Grand Rapids. He was formerly
chaplain and adjutant of the Grand Army
of the Republic Post of Calumet.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
233
ORR, GEORGE HENRY. Mr. Orr's
grandfather came originally from the State of
Vermont, and his father operated a farm in
Steuben county, N. Y., where George Henry
was born May 17, 1842. The boy attended a
district school and later a graded school at
Academy Corners, Pa., after leaving which
he worked with his father as a farm hand.
When he was 16 years of age he took a
contract getting out stave and tie timber, but
what money he made at this he turned in
toward the support of his family. In 1862 he
enlisted as a private in Company F, One
Hundred and Seventh New York Volunteer
Infantry and was discharged and sent home
four months later on account of rheumatism
contracted while he was in service. Borrow-
ing $125, young Orr then went into the retail
meat and provision business and continued
for five years with good success. His uncle
was in the business with him and the firm
bought and shipped stock to New York City.
In 1868 George bought out his uncle's inter-
ests and the next three years operated on his
own account, buying and selling live stock
and managing the retail department for three
years and then selling out on account of
poor
business. In the spring of 1871 he took
what money he had and could borrow and
started in getting out logs for Brooks & Gil-
lett, of Addison, New York. In the spring
of 1873 he moved his outfit to Manistique,
Michigan, and took a contract putting in logs
for the Chicago Lumbering Company of that
place. He met with sufficient success the first
year to enable him to pay off the mortgage on
his plant, and his debts in New York. He
then bought a larger outfit, working as a job-
ber until 1878, when he bought an interest in
the Chicago Lumbering Company, and be-
came superintendent of the logging operations
conducted by them. He occupies this same
position today. The Chicago Lumbering
Company cuts about 75,000,000 feet of lum-
ber per year.
GEORGE HENRY ORR.
Mr. Orr is also superintendent of The Wes-
ton Lumber Company's lumbering operations
at Manistique.
His success has been due to his own personal
efforts, his perseverance and energy. He has
not lost during the past twenty-eight years
over forty days for vacations and illness.
Mr. Orr is president of the State Bank at
Manistique, vice-president of the White Mar-
ble Lime Company, manager of the Manis-
tique & Northwestern Railroad and a director
in the Chicago Lumbering Company. He is
also vice-president and director in the Manis-
tique Electric Light & Power Company. He
was first president of the village of Manis-
tique, county treasurer for four years and
director of schools for ten years. In politics
he is a Republican.
Mr. Orr married Miss Ellen S. Eddy at
Greene, N. Y., in 1863, and his only surviving
child, Charles Orr, is a druggist at Manistique.
He is a Royal Arch Mason, and is a member
of the Board of Trustees of the Presbyterian
Church at Manistique.
234
MEN OF PROGRESS.

NORRIS OSCAR GRISWOLD.
GRISWOLD, NORRIS OSCAR. No
class of men has contributed more to the poli-
tical, military, industrial and intellectual his-
tory of the country than the so-called Scotch-
Irish. They gave tone to the early settle-
ments in portions of Pennsylvania, in Virginia
and the Carolinas, and their descendants are
found in the States to the west of those named.
Their energy is well exemplified in the sub-
ject of the present sketch. Mr. Griswold was
born on a farm at West Mecca, Trumbull
County, Ohio, in 1850, and is of Scotch-Irish
extraction. He was one of ten children and
his education up to the age of fourteen was
acquired at the country school, with a few
terms at a select school at Baconsburg, Ohio.
At the age of fifteen (1865) he quitted home
and started out to make his own way in the
world. His first halt was at Niles, O., where
he worked for a time as a carpenter's appren-
tice. Later he was employed in a lumber yard
at Bloomfield, O. The newer portions of
Michigan seemed then an inviting field, and
with a companion he landed at Greenville,
March 19th, 1869, at once securing employ-
ment as a farm hand on the oak openings in
Eureka township. Not satisfied with his lim-
ited education he went to Greenville and se-
cured a place to work for his board, while at-
tending the village school. With no means,
and no opportunity to earn any, he acted as
janitor for the school, and built the sidewalks
around the school house to pay his tuition.
During the summer vacation he worked with
the fence gang along the newly built railroad,
and earned money enough to carry him
through the fall term of school. The next
summer found him in the harvest field, and at
the age of twenty-one he was employed to
teach a district school four miles from Green-
ville. He attended the ensuing spring term
of school at Greenville, and the same year was
appointed superintendent of schools at Stan-
ton, which position he held one year.
ambition being the law, he pursued a course
of private study while at Stanton, and in 1872
he returned to Greenville and entered the law
office of Ellsworth & Lewis. In the fall of
1874 he was admitted to practice, and coup-
ling the insurance business with that of law,
he hung out his shingle at Greenville. He
soon quit insurance, however, and gave his
whole time to practice, and from that time
on has been a successful and well-known prac-
titioner in all the state courts.
His
Mr. Griswold served three consecutive
terms as circuit court commissioner for Mont-
calm county, having been first elected in 1874.
From this position he was directly advanced
to the more responsible office of judge of pro-
bate. He was for several years city attorney
of the city of Stanton, and has held that office
in Greenville as well as served on the com-
mon council of the city, and was for many
years a member of the Board of Education.
He is a Mason of the Royal Arch Chapter and
of the Auxiliary Order of the Eastern Star,
and is a member of the Knights of Pythias, of
the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and
of the Maccabees.
He is a Republican in politics, but quit his
party in 1896 upon the money question.
Mrs. Griswold was formerly Miss Franc A.
Gooding, to whom Mr. Griswold was mar-
ried May 11, 1875. She is a native of West
Henrietta, N. Y., and a graduate of Fairfield
Seminary, in the class of 1872. They have
three children, Harper H., a law student;
Hudson B. and Helen, aged respectively 19,
16 and 7 years.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
235
GARFIELD, CHARLES WILLIAM.
Charles William Garfield was born in Wau-
watosa, near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March
14, 1848. His father, Samuel M. Garfield,
having emigrated from Genesee County, New
York, about 1840. His mother, Harriet E.
Brown, was born in New Hampshire, very
near the original home of the Garfield family.
The Garfields moved from Wisconsin to
Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1858, settling
upon Burton Farm, just south of the city.
The subject of our sketch worked upon the
farm summers, attended school during the
winters, practically completing the High
School course when he had reached the age
of 18. He taught school several years in his
own and adjoining districts, and entered the
State Agricultural College as a sophomore in
1868. He paid his expenses in College
largely by teaching school, completing the
course in 1870.
Owing to greatly impaired health, his plan
of life was entirely changed, and he entered
horticulture as an occupation, spending a year
as an apprentice with the firm of Storrs &
Harrison, Painesville, Ohio. His first busi-
ness enterprise was in growing nursery stock,
which proved to be a disaster, owing to the
unprecedented severity of the winter of
1872-3, which practically destroyed his stock,
leaving him in debt for quite a large amount.
He was offered a position of foreman of the
gardens at the Agricultural College, on a
small salary, which he accepted, and soon
thereafter was elected secretary of the State
Horticultural Society. To these two branches
of labor was added a third, the management
of the Farm Department of the Detroit Free
Press. These positions he held until the death
of his father, after which he returned to the
old homestead in the autumn of 1877, which
he made his permanent home. He continued
as secretary of the State Horticultural Society
until 1885, when failing health compelled him
to retire from this work. During these years
many temptations to enter the educational
field were presented, but he was loyal to his
chosen occupation of horticulture, and be-
came an authority upon matters of fruit grow-
ing and gardening. He was secretary of the
American Pomological Society for some
years, but was compelled to retire from this
work on account of his health. He is still
chairman of the executive committee of this
organization. For twelve years he was a mem-
ber of the governing board of the State Agri-
cultural College, and has been prominently
identified with many organizations devoted to
CHARLES WILLIAM GARFIELD.
rural affairs in his own state, and in the na-
tion. At the date of this writing he is presi-
dent of the Grand Rapids Savings Bank, and
director in a number of business organiza-
tions at Grand Rapids. He was identified
with the movement which resulted in the
magnificent organization of Farmers' Insti-
tutes in the state. He was one of the leading
spirits in the organization of the American
Park and Outdoor Art Association. Under
a recent enactment of the Michigan Legisla-
ture he was appointed a member of the Michi-
gan Forestry Commission, and was subse-
quently elected president of the Commission.
As a member of the Legislature of 1881 he
rendered valuable service in connection with
enactments in the interests of rural affairs,
and was the originator of Arbor Day, as now
celebrated in this state.
His wife is of Scotch parentage, and was
the daughter of Mr. Thomas Smith, who in-
stalled the gas system in Grand Rapids at an
early day, and was identified with the devel-
opment of the city as a prominent factor.
Burton Farm, the home of Mr. Garfield,
is one of the most attractive places in the
suburbs of Grand Rapids, and is especially
noted for its wide range of tree growth. It is
a successful fruit and truck farm. Mr. Gar-
field's tastes do not run to making money, but
rather to the development of conditions that
add to the pleasure of rural life, and the at-
tractiveness of his city.
236
MEN OF PROGRESS.

WILLIAM GEORGE HOWARD.
HOWARD, WILLIAM GEORGE. Mr.
Howard is a native of Michigan, having been
born near Edwardsburg, in Cass county, in
1846. He is a contradiction of the adage that
a prophet is without honor in his own coun-
try, as a high measure of professional success
has attended him in the near neighborhood of
the place of his birth. He attended the neigh-
borhood school until 15 years old, and then
the village school at Edwardsburg for one
year.
Was a student at Olivet College in
1863-65, entering Kalamazoo College in the
spring of 1865 and graduating in 1867, hav-
ing taken the course. He entered the law
office of Balch, Smiley & Balch, of Kalama-
zoo, where he read law for two years, in con-
nection with a term in the Law Department
of the University, and was admitted to prac-
tice in Kalamazoo, October, 1869. His first
active practice was in Dowagiac, where he
formed a connection with James Sullivan, as
Sullivan & Howard, in February, 1870, so
continuing for three years. In the Fall of
1870 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney for
Cass County and was
of Dowagiac in 1871.
not proving as promising
elected City Treasurer
The field at Dowagiac
The field at Dowagiac
as he had hoped, he
returned to Kalamazoo in June, 1873, becom-
ing a partner in the newly-formed law firm
of Balch, Howard & Balch. This connec-
tion continued until 1878, when the firm be-
came Brown, Howard & Roos. The senior
of the firm, Arthur S. Brown, withdrew a
year later, and from 1879 to 1897 the firm
was Howard & Roos, and in the latter year
became Howard, Roos & Howard, by the ad-
mission of Henry C., a son of William G.
Mr. Howard stands at the head of the bar
in Western Michigan and enjoys a national
reputation as a patent lawyer. He was for
years the successful attorney in the celebrated
Spring Tooth Harrow litigation, which led
him to a close study of the patent laws, by
which he acquired a special aptness in the
handling of patent litigation. He owns the
farm in Cass county on which he was born,
and attends to its management, spending his
vacations there. He is the present mayor
of
the city of Kalamazoo, and was a member of
the Kalamazoo Board of Education for six
years, and was for four years its treasurer.
He is one of the executors of the Beckwith
estate, manufacturers of Round Oak stoves
and ranges at Dowagiac; vice-president and
director of the Home Savings Bank of Kala-
mazoo, a director in the South Side Improve-
ment Company, and a stockholder in the Kala-
mazoo Corset Company and the Kalamazoo
Ice Company. He has been attorney for and
trustee of Kalamazoo College since 1888, and
is the general attorney for the "International
Congress," a secret fraternal society, with
headquarters at Dowagiac, of which he is a
member. He is also a member of the Odd-
fellows, of the United Workmen, of the Na-
tional Union and has been president of the
Kalamazoo Club. In 1897 he was presented
and urged by the delegates to the Democratic
State Convention from Southwestern Michi-
gan, for nomination as Judge of the Supreme
Court. His father, George T., was from
Delaware, as was also his mother, whose
maiden name was Eliza Parsons. They set-
tled in Cass county in 1845. Mr. Howard
was married in 1870 to Miss Lizzie E. Cooper,
daughter of Charles Cooper, of White Pigeon,
Michigan. They have two sons, Henry C.,
previously mentioned, and John A., travelling
salesman for the Round Oak Stove Company.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
237
JUDD, GEORGE EDWIN. Mr. Judd
was born March 23rd, 1838, at South Hadley,
Mass. His father, Samuel, and all the family
on his father's side, were thoroughbred Yan-
kees and were born on one spot in the old
Bay State. His mother, who was Julia Ann
Swaine, is also of the old Yankee families of
that state. In 1852 the parents of George E.
emigrated to Michigan, settling in Grand
Rapids. The young man remained at the old
place until they could locate a home in the
then almost unexplored Northwest Territory,
and he did the best he could, working on a
farm at eight dollars per month. He followed
his parents to Michigan late in the year and
found employment as drayman with the old
firm of Martin Bros. He then went to Lamont
as clerk in a general store, remaining two
years. Returning to Grand Rapids, he en-
tered the store of Fox & Company, as clerk,
but sickness compelled him to leave this posi-
tion, and later he went with Church, Judd &
Co., butchers. At the age of nineteen he en-
gaged in business with Thomas Martin, this
partnership being subsequently merged in the
firm of Judd Brothers, which continued until
the war broke out. The firm then closed their
establishment, the partners enlisting in Co. A,
Third Michigan Infantry, of which one
brother, S. A. Judd, was captain. George E.
was elected sargeant, and the 10th of June,
1861, was mustered into service and left for
Potomac. In October, 1861, he was commis-
sioned first lieutenant, and at the Battle of
Fair Oaks, May 31st, 1862, his brother was
killed and he himself had his left arm shat-
tered, and it was later amputated at the
shoulder. He was brought to Washington,
and in four weeks he returned to Grand Rap-
ids, having been made a captain, and put on
recruiting service. He was made inspector in
1863 on the provost marshal staff, where he
remained one year. He was then relieved
from the third regiment and sent to Daven-
port, Ia., in charge of the Sioux Indians, held
as prisoners of war for the Sioux massacre of
1862. In January, 1866, he was ordered
south. He served during the days of the re-
MICH
GEORGE EDWIN JUDD.
construction, and in 1869 was placed on special
duty in Michigan. In August, 1868, Col.
Judd was mustered out of the volunteer ser-
vice, with the rank of captain, and was mus-
tered into the Forty-fifth Infantry of the regu-
lar army, as second lieutenant, serving until
1869. In May, 1870, he retired on full pay,
with the rank of captain, and has since resided
in Grand Rapids. March 1st, 1898, he was
elected commandant of the Michigan Soldiers'
Home, with the rank of colonel.
On September 25th, 1858, Col. Judd mar-
ried Lucinda, daughter of Henry Leach, of
Grand Rapids, and a son, George H., aged 39,
is the result of this marriage. The first Mrs.
Judd died on June 25th, 1887. In 1889, Miss
Nellie Post, of Grand Rapids, became Mrs.
Judd, and one son, Edwin, aged ten years, has
been born to them.
Col. Judd was Deputy United States Mar-
shal for the Eastern District of Michigan
from 1890-94, he was a member of the Michi-
gan House of Representatives in 1888-9, dur-
ing which time he was chairman of the com-
mittee of the Soldiers' Home, and exerted
much energy to build up that institution. He
is a member of Custer Post, No. 5, G. A. R.,
and has been its commander. He is also a
member of the Loyal Legion and Pythians.
238
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. ANDREW CHARLES STEPHENSON.
STEPHENSON, HON. ANDREW
CHARLES. Menominee boasts of the best
county system of roads in the state of Michi-
gan, in the 60 miles of stone road now ex-
tending out from the city of Menominee.
Andrew Charles Stephenson was the chair-
inan of the road committee when on the
Board of County Commissioners of Menom-
inee county, and superintended the building
of this beautiful road. He is a Republican
and was Mayor of the city of Menominee,
where he now lives, in 1884 and 1885, and
since 1885 has been alderman.
Andrew Charles Stephenson was born in
Charleton county, New Brunswick, April 10,
1843. When he was old enough to go to
school he attended those in the district until
he was large enough to go to work, and then
he was given a job driving a team. He had
one winter term at school when he was 14
years of age, and that completed his educa-
tion.
During the summer months, the boy
worked on the farm and during the winter as-
sisted his father, Robert Stephenson, in his
logging operations. He was not paid anything
for his services until he was 22 years old,
when his father gave him just enough money
to pay his fare to Menominee, Michigan, where
some of his relatives were then engaged in
the lumber business. He arrived at Menom-
inee April 15, 1865, and later joined an uncle
in that town. He secured work driving a
team in a logging camp at $40 a month dur-
ing the fall for Ludington, Wells & Van
Schaick Company, of Menominee, and he has
been with that company ever since. In 1868
he was made a foreman, and later in the same
year he was placed in charge of the company's
logging interests in the woods. In 1871 he
was made superintendent of logging opera-
tions for the Ludington, Wells, Van Schaik
Company, and he is still in that position to-
day. He has not lost one day through sick-
ness, and has made a valuable superintendent.
Since he has been connected with this com-
pany over eight hundred million feet of lum-
ber have been cut, and a force of from 300 to
700 men are employed under Mr. Stephenson
in his department.
For the past twelve years Mr. Stephenson
has held a one-third interest in the firm of F.
M. Stephenson, engaged in very extensive
logging operations.
In 1867 he married his first wife, Miss
Rhoda Parent, in New Brunswick, and her
death occurred in 1872. In 1874 he married
Mrs. Philina Armstrong, of Houlton, Maine.
He has four children, Sarah is the wife of
John Stevens, lumber inspector at Menom-
inee, Mich.; and Maud, Mamie and Ferdinand
are attending school in that city.
Mr. Stephenson is well known and liked
throughout the county in which he has taken
such an active part as a progressive factor,
and his friends know him better as "Andy."
He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and
belongs to Menominee Commandery, No. 35,
of the Knights Templar, and the Nobles of
the Mystic Shrine of Ahmed Temple, Mar-
quette, Michigan. He is also a member of
that big insurance order, the Knights of the
Maccabees.
Robert Stephenson, his father, came to
America from the north of Ireland in 1808
and settled in New Brunswick, where he pur-
chased a small farm and engaged in the lum-
ber business.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
239
MCCURDY, HUGH. One of the most
prominent members of the Masonic fraternity
in America, both in rank of office and knowl-
edge of Masonic jurisprudence, is Hugh
McCurdy, of Corunna, Mich., past eminent
grand master of the Grand Encampment,
Knights Templar.
He was born in Hamilton, Scotland,
December 22, 1828, and came to the New
World with his father ten years later, locat-
ing in London, Ontario. When he was 14
years of age he left home and went to Birm-
ingham, Mich., where he learned the trade of
a cooper. He traveled about as a journey-
man cooper the next year, visiting several
cities. Returning to Michigan, he again
entered the employ of his old employers, and
while working read and studied with his books
fastened up above his bench. Dr. Ebenezer
Raynale took an interest in the young Scot,
gave him a home and advised him to stick to
his books and study law. Attending school
the lad worked at his trade early and late,
learning Latin while working, and a mer-
chant in town, Charles Brownell, heard his
lessons after business hours at night. Hav-
ing saved a little money, young McCurdy
invested it in a course at the academy in
Romeo, and in the winter of 1848-49 taught
school at Royal Oak.
Mr. McCurdy commenced to read law in
the office of Judge A. C. Baldwin, of Pontiac,
Mich., and was admitted to the bar in July,
1854. February 24, 1855, he began his
practice in Corunna, met with success, and
has since resided in that city.
Mr. McCurdy became a Mason August 5,
1850, by joining Birmingham Lodge No. 44.
He is Commander-in-chief and Deputy for
Michigan of the Supreme Council of
Sovereign Grand Inspectors; General, 33d
Degree, A. A. S. R., Northern Masonic Juris-
diction, U. S. A.; Illustrious Commander-in-
chief, Michigan Council of Deliberation; Past
M. E. Grand Master of the Grand Encamp
ment of Knights Templar for the United
States; Past R. E. Grand Commander of
Grand Commandery, Knights Templar of
HUGH MCCURDY.
Michigan; Past M. Illustrious Grand Master
Grand Council, R. and S. M. of Michigan;
Past M. E. Grand High Priest, Grand Chap-
ter, R. A. M., of Michigan; and Past M. W.
Grand Master, Grand Lodge, F. and A. M.,
of Michigan.
Mr. McCurdy has been married twice.
His present wife was Miss Emma J. Good-
rich, of Charlotte, Mich. He has two chil-
dren, Spencer H., who is a farmer near
Corunna, and John T., an attorney of
Corunna.
In his earlier days Mr. McCurdy was
prominent as a jurist, farmer and banker, and
he still continues his legal practice with un-
diminished vigor. He has held the office of
judge of probate, prosecuting attorney and
state senator, all as a Democrat. He is a
shrewd business man, and organized the First
National Bank of Corunna, of which he was
the first president.
All over the United States Mr. McCurdy
is held in the highest respect by the mem-
bers of the Masonic fraternity. He has not
forgotten his own early struggles, and is
always ready to quietly assist any deserving
young man to obtain an education. Last
Christmas (1899) he made his city a gift of a
park of 34 acres in the heart of the town,
valued at $25,000.
240
MEN OF PROGRESS.

WILLIAM FRANCIS STEWART.
STEWART, WILLIAM FRANCIS.
William Francis Stewart started in life at the
lowest rung of the ladder and has made a
financial success by his own perseverance and
unaided efforts. He is a descendant of the
Stewart Clan of Scotland. His father, a small
farmer, came from Scotland to Canada in
1828 and located on a farm near London, On-
tario, where William Francis was born, on
July 22, 1846. He received a limited educa-
tion in the district school near his home, and
when 12 years of age, was loaned out to an
adjoining farmer, where for three years he
worked for his board and clothes. When 15
years old he was apprenticed for four years to
John Campbell, of London, Ont., to learn the
carriage woodwork trade. The first year he
received $25 and his board, and his salary was
advanced $5 a year for the balance of his
apprenticeship. After learning his trade in
a thorough manner, he went directly to New
York, arriving in that city with $2 in his
pocket. He remained there, working at his
trade until 1868, when he came west and
found work at Pontiac, Michigan, with the
firm of Parsons & Page. A year later he went
to Flint, to work for his brother, in the
firm of Roosvelt & Stewart, carriage builders.
After one year in his brother's employ, he re-
turned to Pontiac and worked for Charles
Parsons until the spring of 1871, when he
went back to Flint and entered the employ of
W. A. Patterson, carriage manufacturer. He
worked for Mr. Patterson, as a carriage body
maker, for ten years, and in 1881 started in
for himself, building carriage bodies for the
trade. He rented the upper floor of a small
factory and his force consisted of himself and
one small boy. Most of Mr. Stewart's output
was taken by W. A. Patterson, and as the
money commenced to come in, Mr. Stewart
increased his force by one man, and began
soliciting trade in Saginaw and Bay City. He
met with good success and in 1883 moved his
operations to Pontiac, where the demand
seemed better. Business thrived there and
he increased his force to eight men, and in
1886 had twenty-four men engaged in build-
ing carriage bodies. That Fall he returned to
Flint, rented a factory equipped for the manu-
facture of carriage woodwork, and began
operations under the name of W. F. Stewart.
In 1893 he built a factory of his own, which
burned the next year. It was immediately
rebuilt, and in 1897 he purchased the build-
ings he had previously rented, remodeled
them, thus increasing his capacity 50 per cent.
In 1898 he incorporated the company under
the name of The W. F. Stewart Co., of which
he is president and majority. The output of
the factory in 1899 was over 100,000 bodies,
giving employment to over 200 men. Mr.
Stewart is also a director in the Union Trust
& Savings Bank, a stockholder in the Citizens'
Commercial and Savings Bank, both of Flint,
and president of the Genesee County Agri-
cultural Society.
He is a lover of choice stock, making a spe-
cialty of breeding fine shorthorn cattle and
Oxford Down sheep on his farm, a short dis-
tance from the city.
In 1872 Mr. Stewart and Miss Olive Wy-
rick were married at Flint. Of their two sons,
William E. is secretary and manager of the
W. F. Stewart Company, and S. Sidney is
bookkeeper with the W. A. Patterson Com-
pany.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
241
GROSVENOR, EBENEZER OLIVER.
If Diogenes with his lamp in his search for an
honest man, should meet Mr. Grosvenor, he
would take out his memorandum book and
make an entry. Mr. Grosvenor has been for
sixty-three years a resident of Michigan, and
for the past sixty years, of the village of Jones-
ville. But in point of character and public
service, he belongs to the state and not to any
particular locality. The first representatives
of the Grosvenor family in America settled
in Pomfret, Conn., in 1650. Mr. Grosvenor's
father, Ebenezer O., and mother, Mary A.
(Livermore), Grosvenor, moved from Massa-
chusetts to Stillwater, N. Y., where the pres-
ent Mr. Grosvenor was born January 26th,
1820. His paternal grandfather was a Presby-
terian clergyman (to which faith Mr. Gros-
venor adheres), and was a chaplain in the
Army of the Revolution. On his mother's
side, his grandfather was a soldier at the Bat-
tle of Bunker Hill.
With an education reaching to the acad-
emic, Mr. Grosvenor began his active life as a
clerk at the age of sixteen. Coming to Albion,
Mich., in 1837, he was clerk for a brother
there for some fifteen months, and then went
to Monroe, where he was employed in the con-
struction office of the then Michigan Southern
Railroad, then owned by the state. He went
to Jonesville in 1840 and was for four years
clerk for Henry A. Delaran and Hon. Elisha
P. Champlin, a pioneer of southern Michigan
and a member of the Territorial Legislature,
and a daughter of Mr. Champlin, Miss Sarah
Ann, became Mrs. Grosvenor Feb. 22, 1844.
The same year, on a capital of $1,100, the
fruit of his savings, he became partner in a
general store. He has been a banker since
He has been a banker since
1854 and is now president of the Grosvenor
Savings Bank. He is a merchant miller and
has large farming interests, and is a stock-
holder in a number of business and financial
concerns.
He was an active promoter of the
building of the Fort Wayne, Jackson & Sag-
inaw Railroad, as he has been of other works
of local and general character. He has filled
the more important local offices in his village
EBENEZER OLIVER GROSVENOR.
and township and has been for thirty-three
years a member of the village school board.
But it is in his service to the state that he is
the more widely known. He was elected a
member of the Sate Senate in 1858 and again
in 1862. In April, 1861, on the outbreak of
the civil war, he was appointed on the staff of
Governor Blair, with the rank of Colonel and
was president of the Military Contract Board,
at that time a most important trust, and later
was president of the State Military Board. In
1864 he was elected Lieutenant-Governor, and
in 1866 State Treasurer and again in 1868.
He was appointed in 1871 a member of the
Board of State Building Commissioners, hav-
ing charge of the building of the new State
Capitol, and as vice-president of the board dis-
charged the duties of president. In 1879 he
was elected a Regent of the University. In
1881 he was appointed a member of the com-
mission to prepare a revision of the tax laws
of the state. Mr. Grosvenor is a Republican
in politics, and a member of the Michigan
Club, also a member of the Masonic and Odd-
fellows fraternities. Mr. and Mrs. Grosvenor
celebrated their golden wedding Feb. 22nd,
1894. They have one married daughter, Har-
riet C., wife of Charles E. White, an active
business man of Jonesville.
242
MEN OF PROGRESS.

A. OREN WHEELER.
WHEELER A. OREN. "From newsboy
to Senator" would aptly epitomize the history
of the representative citizen whose name heads
this sketch. Born at Mill River, Mass., in
1846, ill health prevented him from enjoying
the advantages of the New England system of
education until he was eight years old. Two
years at school in his home town and a term
at Joliet, Ill., to which place his parents re-
moved when he was ten years of age, com-
prised his early education. When thirteen
years of age, he obtained a situation as news-
boy on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific
Railway, running between Chicago and Joliet.
His train, reaching Chicago in the early morn-
ing and not leaving until night, gave him the
day in Chicago, which he improved by selling
the Chicago dailies on the street. He followed
railroading for five years, filling the positions
of brakeman and baggageman, and only
escaped being a conductor by reason of not be-
ing old enough. E. D. Wheeler, a brother of
A. O., was living at Manistee, Mich., and in
the fall of 1867 the latter obtained a thirty-
days' leave of absence, for the purpose of pay-
ing him a visit. He was winter-bound at Man-
istee, there being no railway communication,
with a mail but once a week, and though home-
sick enough to have taken wings if possible, he
was compelled to remain. His homesickness,
however, disappeared with the winter snows,
and an eligible business offer in the spring.
His energy and business aptness were recog-
nized by John Canfield, a resident of Man-
istee (his brother-in-law), who had decided to
build and operate a line of tugs for local ser-
vice. Mr. Wheeler was tendered and accepted
the position of manager and the sum of $60,-
000 was placed at his disposal to build and
equip the line. This fact itself is a striking
commentary on the confidence that he enjoyed,
and which could only have grown upon a well
grounded character. The Canfield Tug Line
subsequently built and operated several lum-
ber barges in addition to their local service,
Mr. Wheeler being identified with the man-
agement until he became proprietor a few
years since. His other responsible business
connections are: President of the M. B.
Wheeler Electric Co., of Grand Rapids; di-
rector in the Manistee National Bank, and
member of the Barnes & Co. Insurance
Agency of Manistee. Up to four years ago he
was identified with the lumbering interests of
western Michigan, with the late John Canfield
of Manistee.
Mr. Wheeler's parents were Abram
Wheeler, a direct descendant of Benjamin,
Wheeler of Berkshire county, Mass., and
Lucinda Canfield of New Marlborough, Mass.
He was married in 1870 to Miss Ella M.
Barnes, daughter of Russell Barnes of Man-
istee. They have four children, Irma, wife
of Rufus C. Thayer, of Colorado Springs,
Colo.; Abram O. and Morton B., connected
with the Wheeler Electric Co., of Grand Rap-
ids, and Burr, yet a college student.
In politics Mr. Wheeler has always been a
Republican. His official service has been as
alderman of his city, two terms in the state
Senate, 1891-2 and 1895-6, and U. S. Mar-
shal of the Western District of Michigan, to
which he was appointed by President McKin-
ley, Feb. 16, 1897, and which office he now
holds. He became a member of the Masonic
op-
fraternity, when twenty-two years of age.
There are few men in this favored land of
portunities and possibilities who can show a
better record than Mr. Wheeler.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
243
BROWN,
ADDISON MAKEPEACE.
The line of Browns represented herein traces
its descent from England, across the water to
New England and from New England to
Michigan. E. Lakin Brown was a name famil-
iar in Michigan affairs forty years ago. Mr.
Brown was a representative in the Legislature
in 1841, a Senator in 1855 and again in 1879,
and a Regent of the University from 1858 to
1864. He came from Plymouth, Vt., in 1831,
settling in Schoolcraft, Michigan. Mr. Brown
was twice married, first in 1837 to Amelia W.
Scott, and again in 1852, to Miss Mary Ann
Miles, of Hinesburg, Vt. To them were born
three children, Edward Miles Brown, now pro-
fessor of English Literature in the University
of Cincinnati; George Lakin (deceased) and
Addison Makepeace, born at Schoolcraft, Feb-
ruary 15, 1859. Addison M. passed from the
public schools of his native village to the State
University, from which he graduated with the
degree of A. B., in 1883. His father was an
extensive agriculturist at Schoolcraft, owning
a number of farms, and after leaving the Uni-
versity the son assumed the management of
these interests, which is still his occupation.
At the age of forty-one, his life history is but
just begun. He has served the people of his
native village, however, both as trustee and
president, three terms in the former and two
terms in the last named position. His uni-
versity training naturally inclined him toward
educational work, and he has for some ten
years held the position of director of the school
board of the village. He was for several years
secretary of the Kalamazoo County Pioneer
Society and president of the Kalamazoo
County Husbandmen's Club. He was called
to a larger field in 1898 by his election to the
State Senate from the Ninth Senatorial Dis-
trict, composed of the counties of Calhoun and
Kalamazoo. He was a useful member of the
Senate, being chairman of the Committee on
the Agricultural College and a member of the
ADDISON MAKEPEACE BROWN.
University Committee. His record in the Sen-
ate will commend him for further honors in
the future.
Miss Mollie Earl, daughter of John Earl, of
Schoolcraft, became Mrs. Brown, October
29th, 1895. They have four children.
Mr. Brown traces his lienage back on his
father's side to John Brown of Hawkden,
Suffolk County, England, born in 1631, from
whom he is sixth in descent. John Brown
married Esther Makepeace of Boston, Eng-
land, the company coming in 1655 to Cam-
bridge, Mass. Mr. Brown's suggestive middle
name is therefore traceable back to a period
when there was certainly a demand for peace-
making in Europe and when it was quite the
fashion to bestow upon or select names for
persons representing some moral idea. The
family tree also shows greater fruitfulness
than we are accustomed to look for in modern
families, the children in five of the families
of Mr. Brown's ancestry ranging from eight
to eleven in number. On his mother's side,
Mr. Brown's ancestry runs back to John
Miles, and his wife, Mary Ann Crane of New
Milford, Conn., 1793.
244
MEN OF PROGRESS.

GEORGE GARY COVELL.
COVELL, GEORGE GARY.
The par-
ents of Mr. Covell were Daniel H. and Caro-
line (Dustin) Covell, who came to Michigan in
1837, settling in Lenawee county, near the
Monroe county line, and near the village of
Dundee, in Monroe county. The earlier Cov-
ells came from England about the year 1722.
George G. was born in Dundee October 16th,
1860. His early education was received in the
public schools at Dundee, from which he en-
tered the law department of the University in
the class of 1885, where he remained one year.
He then entered the law office of Seth C. Ran-
dall at Dundee and was admitted to the bar
at Monroe May 27th, 1887, before Judge Jos-
lin, then the presiding judge of the circuit
comprising Monroe and Washtenaw counties.
Opening an office at Dundee, he soon learned
that there was no lawyer at Benzonia, then the
county seat of Benzie county, to which place
he removed in the summer of 1887. Ben-
zonia was then in the northern wilds, having
no connection by railroad with the outside
world. It is said that fortune favors the brave,
and if it required some fortitude to thus stick
his stake in the wilderness, Mr. C. has been
fairly well rewarded by the smiles of fortune.
He was elected prosecuting attorney of Ben-
zie county in 1888 and was re-elected in 1890.
During his two terms as prosecuting attorney
he had three noted murder cases, and made a
record as a young prosecutor. One of the
three, and which gave him marked promi-
nence, was the case of Wright, the millionaire
lumberman, which was fought through the
courts for several years, finally resulting in the
conviction and sentence of Wright to the state
prison at Jackson--a life sentence. This case
has been recalled to the public attention dur-
ing the past year by an unsuccessful applica-
tion to the pardon board for a commution of
Wright's sentence. Mr. Covell resigned as
prosecuting attorney before the end of his
second term, and removed to Traverse City,
where he resumed practice, which at once be-
came successful and lucrative, and to which
the prestige which he had acquired in the ad-
joining county no doubt largely contributed.
He was twice elected to the lower house of the
legislature, from the district comprising the
counties of Grand Traverse, Benzie and Lee-
lanaw, serving during the sessions of 1893 and
1895. He was elected to the State Senate in
1896 from the 27th district, of which Grand
Traverse county forms a part, serving during
the regular session of 1897, but did not serve
at the special session of 1898, having been ap-
pointed to the U. S. District Attorneyship for
the Western District. While his personal
business and address are at Traverse City, his
official headquarters are at Grand Rapids,
where the District Court is held.
Mr. Covell is a director in the Traverse City
& Leelanaw Railroad Co., of which enterprise
he was one of the originators and chief pro-
moters. The road, which is now building,
runs north from Traverse City into Leelanaw
county, and will tap the famous fruit belt of
northwestern Michigan, as well as open up an
immense hardwood tract.
Miss Alice Kyle, daughter of Robert Kyle,
They have one daughter, Beulah L.
of Corunna, became Mrs. Covell in 1885.
Mr. Covell's society connections are Ma-
sonic, including Traverse City Commandery
Knights Templar,
Knights Templar, Saladin Temple (Mystic
Shrine) of Grand Rapids, Oddfellows and
Elks. He is a Republican in politics.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
245
WARREN, HENRY MONTGOMERY.
Many of the older citizens of Michigan will
remember Joseph Warren, editor of the old
Detroit Tribune, at the pivotal period, politic-
ally speaking, of 1854. Mr. Warren has
been credited with being the father of the
Republican party. He was certainly one of
the earliest promoters of the movement which
culminated in its formation at Jackson, July
6th, 1854, and it has been said that the plan
was first suggested by him, as it had the earnest
support of the paper of which he was the edi-
tor. He
He was, in his earlier life, a journalist
at Bangor, Maine, but removed to Lancaster,
Pa., in 1830. After a few years he went to
Auburn, N. Y., and subsequently to Detroit,
with the business connection above noted.
His connection with the Tribune ceased in
1865, and he was afterwards editor of the old
Detroit Advertiser, before the consolidation of
the two papers. After the Republicans came
in possession of the national government in
1861, he was given a clerkship in the Pension
Office at Washington, which he held until his
death in 1886. He was the third in direct
descent from General Joseph Warren, who fell
at the battle of Bunker Hill.
The record so far will read more like the
biography of the father, Joseph Warren, than
of the son, the doctor, whose name heads the
sketch, but the latter will not envy the space
thus given to his ancestry. Dr. Warren was
born at Columbia, Pa., April 19th, 1840.
When he was seven years of age the family
removed to Auburn, N. Y., where he attended
the public schools, his primary school training
there and at Detroit, closing with his twelfth
year. He then took a commercial course in a
commercial college in Detroit, graduating
therefrom in 1856. The ensuing four years
were improved by commercial work and cler-
ical work in Detroit and Pittsburg, Pa., his
aim being to save means that would procure
him a professional education. In 1860 he
entered Hahnemann Medical College at Chi-
cago, studying there for a year. He then en-
tered the Western Medical College at Cleve-
land, graduating therefrom in 1864. Going
HENRY MONTGOMERY WARREN.
direct to Jonesville, he entered upon a success-
ful practice and has since resided there, except
a couple of years passed at a water cure in
Kalamazoo. Dr. Warren was president of the
State Homeopathic Medical Society in 1886
and is a member of the American Institute of
Homeopathy. He was township superinten-
dent of schools in Jonesville for three years,
during the time when the township superin-
tendency was in vogue, and was chairman of
the township Board of School Inspectors eight
years, 1885-93. Among the historic names
of Jonesville is that of Ransom Gardner, and
it was to Miss Georgia S. Harris, an adopted
daughter of Mr. Gardner, that Dr. Warren
was married July 16th, 1863. Lilian E., wife
of Fred Lewis of Vacaville, California, is a
daughter, and Harry B., of Wabash, Ind., is a
son. They also cherish an adopted son, Don,
a school boy at Jonesville. The mother of Dr.
Warren, whose maiden name was Anne E.
Spear, daughter of Robert Spear, of Bangor,
Maine, is still living, at the age of eighty-six,
and finds a home with the doctor. The only
business connection which the latter has, out-
side of his profession, is that of a stockholder
in the Omega Cement Company of Jonesville.
246
MEN OF PROGRESS.

GEORGE WILLARD.
WILLARD, GEORGE. For half a cen-
tury Mr. Willard has been a prominent figure
in the activities of central-western Michigan.
He is a direct descendant of Simon Willard,
the pioneer settler of Concord, Mass., who
came from England in 1634. His father was
Allen Willard, a teacher, and a student at
Dartmouth college, during its re-organization
and struggles with opposing factions, pending
the famous judicial decision. His mother was
Eliza Barron, daughter of Nathan Barron, one
of the early settlers of northern Vermont.
Mr. Willard was born at Bolton, Vt., March
20, 1824. The family moved to Battle Creek
township when the son was twelve years of
age. He was at that age a proficient Latin and
Greek student, the fruit of close application to
his school studies and his father's instructions.
He worked with his father in developing a new
farm, and at the age of seventeen entered the
of seventeen entered the
Baptist College at Kalamazoo, remaining two
years. For four years, 1844-48, he was prin-
cipal successively of the Marshall Academy
and the Coldwater public schools, two years in
each. In 1848 he entered the Episcopal min-
istry, and was pastor of churches respectively
at Coldwater, 1848-55, at Battle Creek,
1855-60, and at Kalamazoo, 1860-63. For
two years, 1863-65, he was professor of Latin
at Kalamazoo College. In 1856 he was
elected a member of the State Board of Edu-
cation. As a member of this board, he assisted
in organizing and opening the State Agricul-
tural College, then under its management.
He was twice elected a Regent of the Univer-
sity, first for the short term in 1863, and again
for the full term of eight years in 1865. Was
representative in the Legislature in 1867, and
in the spring of that year was elected a member
of the Constitutional Convention of 1867, and
was delegate at large to the National Repub-
lican convention in 1872. He was twice
elected to Congress, 1872 and 1874, and took
influential rank there. During the critical
days following the presidential election in
1876, when the peace of the country trembled
in the balance because of the claims of the
rival candidates, Hayes and Tilden, Mr. Wil-
lard was a member of the Joint Commission,
including the leading members of the two
houses, of both parties, that framed the elec-
toral bill, through which the imbroglio was
happily adjusted. He was also a member of
the joint silver commission. Mr. Willard was
not in all things in sympathy with his party,
on the currency question, and in 1878 he acted
with the then greenback party, but has other-
wise always been a Republican. He has also
filled various local offices in Battle Creek.
In 1867 Mr. Willard purchased the Battle
Creek Journal, then a weekly paper, from
which the Daily Journal sprang in 1872. His
newspaper connection has been continuous
since 1867 up to the present time. His intel-
lectual labors have by no means been purely
local, he having contributed hundreds of
articles to the press of the country, which have
won for him a national reputation as a writer
on national topics. The record of a life such
as Mr. Willard presents carries its own com-
mentary.
His
Mr. Willard has been twice married.
first wife, Emily Harris, daughter of Rev.
John Harris, died in 1885. In 1887 he mar-
ried Mrs. Elizabeth A. Willard of Chicago.
He has two daughters and a son by the first
marriage, Fannie A., wife of Charles D.
Brewer, and Lilla E., wife of E. W. Moore,
both of Battle Creek, and George B., con-
nected with the Journal.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
247
Mr.
O'BRIEN, THOMAS J. A native of
Jackson county, Michigan, born July 30th,
1842, Mr. O'Brien's name is suggestive of an
ancestry representing the land of Burke, of
Sheridan, of Emmet, and O'Connell.
O'Brien's early years were spent on his father's
farm in Jackson county, his early education
being such as was afforded by the country
school of the day. In his eighteenth year he
entered the High School at Marshall, and
during his course there read law in the office
of John C. Fitzgerald, with whom, on his ad-
mission to the bar in 1864, he formed a co-
partnership which continued until 1871. His
law studies also embraced a course in the law
department of the University. D. Darwin
Hughes of Marshall was at that time the
leader of the Bar of central Michigan, and
many of the older residents of the state hold
pleasurable recollections of his contributions
to literature, especially his articles on the song
birds and game birds of Michigan. Mr.
Hughes was tendered and accepted the posi-
tion of general counsel for the Grand Rapids
& Indiana Railroad Co., a position involving
not only the general duties of an attorney, but
also the defence of the company's rights, which
were more or less in controversy, to an exten-
sive land grant. This work necessitated his
removal to Grand Rapids. A man of Mr.
Hughes' ability and experience could not well
err in the choice of a partner and assistant,
which he found in the person of Mr. O'Brien.
The firm commanded a large practice outside
of their special railway clientage, and because
of this a third partner, Mr. M. J. Smiley, was
admitted, the firm of Hughes, O'Brien &
Smiley continuing until terminated by the
death of Mr. Hughes in 1883. Upon Mr.
Hughes' death, Mr. O'Brien was appointed to
take his place as general counsel for the Grand
Rapids & Indiana Railroad Co., a place which
he still holds.
A Republican in politics, Mr. O'Brien has
preferred to be the lawyer rather than the poli-
tician. Yet at the spring election in 1883,
without any solicitation on his part, he was
nominated by the Republican State Conven-
THOMAS J. O'BRIEN.
tion to fill a vacancy on the bench of the Su-
preme Court. The Republican ticket failed
at that election by a comparatively small mar-
gin, although Mr. O'Brien's vote exceeded
that of one or two others on the ticket. Mr.
O'Brien was a delegate at large to the Repub-
lican National Convention in 1896, and was
on the committee appointed to inform Mr.
McKinley of his nomination, which with the
candidacy mentioned, comprehends his politi-
cal action.
In the way of general business, Mr. O'Brien
is president of the Antrim Iron Co. and of the
Grand Rapids Law Library Association and is
a director of the National City Bank and the
Kent County Savings Bank of Grand Rapids,
also of the Grand Rapids Gas Lighting Co.,
the Alabastine Co. and the Mackinac Hotel
Co. He is an attendant upon the Episcopal
Church and a member of the Peninsular,
Country and Lakeside Clubs, and the Kent
Golf Club. Mrs. O'Brien, to whom he was
married September 4th, 1873, is a daughter
of the late Wm. A. Howard, a name familiar
in the political annals of Michigan forty years
ago. Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien have a son and
daughter, Howard, aged 24, and Catherine,
aged 22, both living at home, and unmarried.
248
MEN OF PROGRESS.

ALFRED DAY RATHBONE.
RATHBONE, ALFRED DAY. Among
the early settlers of the present city of Grand
Rapids was Alfred Day Rathbone, who came
from Cayuga county, N. Y., in 1836. He
was a lawyer by profession and the first to
locate in that part of the state. The name of
Rathbone is intimately associated with the
early history of Grand Rapids, and many citi-
zens who have passed the half way house in
the journey of life, will recall having found
rest and refreshment at the Rathbone House,
the leading hostelry of the city forty years
ago. The push and energy of the early settler
seem to have descended to the son, bearing
the same name, and the subject of this sketch.
Born at Grand Rapids June 14, 1842, his
early education, up to the age of fourteen, was
in the local schools. On the death of his
father, in 1856, he became clerk in a general
store, of which his uncle, Amos Rathbone,
was proprietor, so continuing until he reached
his majority in 1863. He then became a
partner in the business with his uncle, and
purchased the famous gypsum quarries at
Grand Rapids in 1864, for the purpose of
burning the gypsum and putting it on the mar-
ket as plaster, the two Rathbones, Amos and
Alfred D., being partners. In 1882 the two
Rathbones made a contract with the Alabas-
tine Company to furnish them rock from their
gypsum quarries for a term of five years. In
1886 the quarries passed into the hands of the
company, pursuant to stipulation in the con-
tract, and A. D. Rathbone was made secretary
of the company. In 1882 the quarries were
being worked by a force of from 75 to 150
men, which has been doubled under the new
management. In 1897 Mr. Rathbone was
made manager, secretary and treasurer of the
consolidated interests, and still holds that posi-
tion. The Alabastine Company was first or-
ganized in 1880, and its varied products are
now sold in every hardware, drug, paint, and
wall paper store in the United States and other
countries, giving employment the year round
to twenty traveling salesmen, and to a work-
ing force as above. As a judicious advertiser
and general all round pusher, Mr. Rathbone
certainly stands at the head.
Mr. Rathbone is the secretary, treasurer
and manager of the Anti-Kalsomine Company
and is president of the Aldine Manufacturing
Company, manufacturers of patent grates and
mantels. Is also a director in the Fourth Na-
tional Bank of Grand Rapids and member of
the discount committee. In politics, he ranks
as a Democrat.
Miss Orcelia Adams, daughter of John L.
Adams, a railroad contractor of Lynchburg,
Va., became Mrs. Rathbone in 1867. They
have one son, Alfred D., who is superintendent
of the Wall Finish Mills of Grand Rapids, and
confidential secretary of his father.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
249
CORLISS, HON JOHN B. Mr. Corliss is
now serving his third term in Congress, having
been first elected in 1894. He was born at
Richford, Vermont, June 7th, 1851. George
Corliss came to this country about 1760, and
settled at Haverhill, Mass., and took an active
part in the War of the Revolution. After the
war, one of his grandsons settled in Richford,
Vt., being among the first settlers at that
point, and John B. comes of this sturdy stock.
His higher education was received at the Ver-
mont Methodist University, from which he
graduated in 1871. He entered at once upon
the study of law and after an elementary read-
ing, he entered Columbian Law College at
Washington, D. C., from which he graduated
in 1875. In September of that year he came
to Detroit, and entered upon the practice of
his profession. His keen perceptive faculties,
his tireless energy and his devotion to clients,
soon won him position at the bar, and he soon
became recognized as among the leading attor-
neys of the city. During the first year of his
professional career, Mr. Corliss sought a con-
jugal partner in the person of Miss Elizabeth
N. Danforth, of Windsor Co., Vt. Two sons
and two daughters were the fruit of the union.
They were left orphans by the death of their
mother in 1886 and have since had only a
father's care, Mr. Corliss never having re-
married.
Early in his career Mr. Corliss began to take
an active interest in public affairs. There has
been no political campaign since he came to
Detroit in which his voice has not been heard
on the stump and always in advocacy of that
stalwart Republicanism which is his gospel.
In 1881 he was elected City Attorney of De-
troit, and re-elected in 1883. During his in-
cuumbency of this office he prepared a com-
plete revision of the city charter, which was
passed by the Legislature in 1885, and is still
the organic law of the city. Devotion to his
trusts, to his clients and to any cause that he
deems to be right, as well as devotion to his
friendships and his affiliations, forms, it may
be said, the more distinctive element of his
character. When the county clerkship was in
HON. JOHN B. CORLISS.
dispute following the election in 1892, deem-
ing that the right of the matter lay with the
Republican candidate, he espoused his cause,
as well from the sense of right as because of its
bearing upon his party's interests, and carried
the contest to a successful termination, making
his service gratuitous. He gave five months of
his time to the duties of Corporation Counsel
of Detroit, to which he was appointed by the
Mayor, over the then incumbent, Judge Speed,
and expended some $2,000 in defense of his
right while the same was in litigation, and
when the decree of the Supreme Court went
against him, he refunded to the city the salary
that he had drawn, declining the offer of the
common council to reimburse him. These
facts are cited simply as showing the high sense
of honor that governs his action.
Mr. Corliss is senior in the law firm of Cor-
liss, Andrus & Leete, one of the leading law
firms of Detroit, and has besides, outside bus-
iness and corporate interests. He is a zealous
worker in the Masonic fraternity and has held
the position of Commander-in-chief of the
Michigan Sovereign Consistory, and was one
of the chief promoters of the Masonic Temple
enterprise.
250
MEN OF PROGRESS.

PHILIP PADGHAM.
PADGHAM, PHILIP. Judge Philip
Padgham is the present presiding judge of the
Twentieth Judicial District, composed of the
counties of Allegan and Ottawa, his residence
being at Allegan village. He was born in
Kent county, England, in March, 1839, his
parents being of the English farmer class. His
early education was in a parish school for boys,
between the ages of seven and twelve years.
When he was twelve years of age his parents
came to America, locating first at Framington,
Ontario county, N. Y. As one of a family of
eleven children, his work was of necessity con-
tributed toward the family support, so that
his educational advantages in his new home
were limited. At the age of fifteen he came
to Michigan with a relative who was a farmer
near Palmyra, Lenawee county. He soon
found work as a farm hand, beginning at $6
per month, working at farm work during the
summer and in the winters of 1856 and 1857
working in the lumber camps of Sanilac and
St Clair counties. In the spring of 1857 he
returned to Farmington, N. Y., where he at-
tended the public schools for six months, fol-
lowed by two terms at Macedon Academy at
Macedon, Wayne county, N. Y. Returning
to Michigan in 1858 he secured a teacher's
certificate and taught district schools suc-
cessively at Blissfield in Lenawee county and
near Centreville, in St. Joseph county. He
then became a student in the Centreville High
School under J. C. Barnard until the fall term
in 1859, subsequently teaching for two win-
ters at Burr Oak. In September, 1861 he was
appointed assistant principal of the Centreville
High School, which position he filled for three
years, when he was promoted to the principal-
ship and served in that capacity until 1868,
a seven-years service in all. His life was not
designed for an idle one and during his four
years' principalship he read law as he had op-
portunity and during vacations, was a syste-
matic law student with a law firm at Centre-
ville. He was admitted to the bar before
Judge Nathaniel Bacon June 12, 1868, and
went into active practice at Centreville, and in
1869 removed to Plainwell, Allegan county,
where he was in practice four years. In 1873
he removed to Allegan and formed a law part-
nership under the firm name of Arnold &
Padgham, which continued about two years,
Judge Arnold being appointed Circuit Judge.
Mr. Padgham then formed a partnership with
his nephew, J. H. Padgham, and the firm be-
came Padgham & Padgham and lasted for
about twelve years, when it was dissolved
and Mr. Humphrey became one of the firm of
Padgham & Humphrey, which was terminated
in 1893, by Mr. Padgham's election as Circuit
Judge, to which he was re-elected in 1899 for
the further term of six years.
Judge Padgham has seen other official ser-
vice. He was elected prosecuting attorney in
1874 and served two terms, 1875-9, and was
elected to a third term in 1878 but resigned in
1879 because of other legal business. He was
president of the village of Allegan 1890-91
and served three years on the school board.
He is in politics a Republican and is a mem-
ber of the Oddfellows Order and of the
Knights of Pythias. Miss Eliza C. Landon,
daughter of O. P. Landon, of Sturgis, Mich.,
became Mrs. Padgham June 9, 1861.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
251
Mur-
DUNCAN, MURRAY MORRIS.
ray Morris Duncan was born May 10, 1858,
in the city of Washington, District of Colum-
bia. His father was Rev. Thomas Duncan,
D. D., of Pennsylvania, and his great-grand-
father was Chief Justice of Pennsylvania
from 1842 to 1848. His mother was Maria
L. Morris, daughter of Commodore Morris,
U. S. Navy.
Murray M. Duncan attended private
schools until he was 16 years of age, and then
entered the Leheigh University at Bethlehem,
Pa., from which he graduated as a mining
engineer, in 1880. He was engaged as chem-
ist, having taken a course in eclectic chemistry
at the University, by the Cambria Iron Co.,
at Johnstown, Pa., and remained with this
company for one year. The following year
he engaged with the Roane Iron Co. at Chat-
tanooga, Tenn., and stayed in that position
for ten years.
The first year he served as
chemist and the next he was promoted to
superintendent of the Open Hearth Steel
Co.'s plant. For nine years he acted as man-
ager for all the company's mines and fur-
naces. He came to Michigan in 1892 to take
charge of the Antrim Iron Co.'s plant at Man-
celona, as manager. On Jan. 1, 1897, Mr.
Duncan went to Ishpeming, Mich., as agent
for the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co., which is one
of the largest iron ore producers on the Upper
Peninsula, and operates the Cliffs Shaft,
Cleveland Lake, Moro, Salisbury, Tilden,
Volunteer and Imperial mines. Over 1,500
men are on the pay roll of the company. Mr.
Duncan has held the position of manager for
this big company ever since, making his home
at Marquette, Mich. He is a member of the
Board of Public Works of Ishpeming and is
a director in the Ishpeming National Bank of
that place.
MURRAY MORRIS DUNCAN.
DeWitt Coppee, the daughter of Dr. Henry
Coppee, LL. D., formerly the president of
the Leheigh University, from which Mr. Dun-
can graduated. He has three children, all of
whom are now attending school. They are
William Coppee, aged 14; Pauline Coppee,
aged 12, and Helen Coppee, aged 10.
His long experience in the finer branches
of mining, as an assayist, and his practical
knowledge of the work necessary in develop-
ing and securing the best results from mining
property have placed Mr. Duncan in the front
rank of his profession. This knowledge is
coupled with a knowledge of men and he
shows good executive ability in the handling
of those in the employ of the company he
represents. Mr. Duncan is a member of
Marquette Commandery and a Shriner of Ah-
med Temple, Marquette. He has a wide cir-
cle of friends, and when at college he became
a member of the Greek letter fraternity by
joining the Phi Kappa Sigma Society of the
Mr. Duncan married in 1881 Miss Harriet Leheigh University.
252
MEN OF PROGRESS.

MARTIN HENDERSON QUICK.
QUICK, MARTIN HENDERSON.
Lumbering was the first business in which
Mr. Quick engaged, and he has worked at it
all his life.
He was born at Cameron, N. Y., February
17, 1840. His father was Hiram Quick, a
descendant of the Quick family, that came
over from the Netherlands, contemporary
with Heindrick Hudson, and settled in New
Jersey. Being the oldest of a family of six-
teen children, it became necessary for him to
go to work very early in life. His education,
which was obtained at the district school, was
continually interrupted by work, but he at-
tended until he was 18 years of age, when
time permitted. At that age he commenced
life as a lumberman, working with his father,
who, during the falls and winters took con-
tracts for lumbering and clearing up lands.
When he was 20 years old he took charge
of a water sawmill at Cooper's Plains, N. Y.,
which his father was operating under con-
tract. The next year he took the contract
himself, and for two years cleared $1,000 a
year, which gave him his start in life. He
then spent one summer prospecting in Illinois
and Iowa, and made a little money dealing in
timothy seed, but in the fall of 1866 he re-
turned east and entered the employ of Fox,
Weston & Bronson, lumber manufacturers at
Painted Post, N. Y., working as a millwright.
He remained with this firm six years, and in
1872, together with his employers, became
interested in the purchase of the property of
the Chicago Lumbering Company at Manis-
tique, Michigan, whither he removed to take
charge of the manufacturing department of
their extensive lumbering operations. In
1883 he aided in the organization of the Wes-
ton Lumber Company, becoming a director
and superintendent. About the same time he
was made vice-president of the Chicago Lum-
bering Company, and later on became general
superintendent of both companies, all of
which positions he still holds. The increase
and success of the business of these companies
may be seen from the output. In 1873, with
one mill only, 6,000,000 feet of lumber was
produced, while in 1898 their three mills cut
nearly 75,000,000 feet.
Mr. Quick is also interested in other enter-
prises at Manistique, being a director in the
Manistique Bank, director and treasurer of
the White Marble Lime Company, director
and auditor of the Manistique & Northwest-
ern Railway Company, and president of the
Manistique Telephone Company, all of which
he aided in organizing.
On September 4, 1862, he was united in
marriage to Miss Martha Jane Gifford, at
Cooper's Plains, N. Y. They have two chil-
dren, Alice (now Mrs. E. W. Miller), and
Oren G. Quick.
In politics Mr. Quick is a Republican, and
has several times served as supervisor and as
president of the village of Manistique. He
has been a member of the School Board
twenty-six years, and moderator twenty-two
years. He is a deacon and trustee of the
First Baptist Church of Manistique, which he
was instrumental in organizing.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
253
HARRIS, SAMUEL B. Near Camborne,
in Cornwall, England, on December 18,
1834, Samuel B. Harris was born. That par-
ticular section of England is noted for its
many rich copper and tin mines, and most of
the people of Cornwall have been brought up
as miners, many of them entering the minest
when they are mere children, and grow up
learning every detail of the work almost as
thoroughly as a mining engineer learns it in
college.
Samuel B. Harris, agent and superintend-
ent of the Quincy mine at Hancock, Michi-
gan, comes from a family of miners. His
father was engaged as such, and his grand-
father, Benjamin Harris, was also a miner in
the mines at Cornwall. As a boy he attended
the national schools from his seventh until
his eleventh year, and then he became an
assistant to a mining surveyor and assayist at
40 shillings a month. Four years later he went
into the mine to work, and remained at that
employment until he was 19 years of age,
when he came to America and West, securing
his first work in this country at Dodgeville,
Wisconsin, in lead mines, working on specula-
tion and being paid pro rata for what ores
were uncovered. He earned his first money in
America sinking a 100-foot shaft. The fol-
lowing spring he attended a teacher's exam-
ination and was granted a certificate, and until
1856 he taught a district school at $30 a
month. After this he went back to his first
employment as a miner at the Old Minnesota
mine for two years, and then with a party of
three went to the gold fields of Nova Scotia,
which were then being opened and promised
great fortunes to the adventurers. The
ises were never realized. Mr. Harris came
back three months later with only a dollar in
his pocket and went to work at the Phoenix
mine. Returning to Dodgeville, Wisconsin,
shortly afterward he became principal of the
public schools of that city and after two years
he secured a mining contract at Isle Royale
mine and later with the Mesnard and Pontiac
mines, where in 1864 he was made mine cap-
tain of the underground work. He then ac-
prom-
SAMUEL B. HARRIS.
cepted a similar position with the Phoenix
The following two years he
copper mine.
was agent for the Eagle Harbor property,
having several mines under his management,
and after that he resigned to accept the posi-
tion of assistant mining captain on the Calu-
met & Hecla mine. A year and a half later
he was made captain of the Franklin mine,
which he resigned in twelve months' time.
He was then made agent for the Ontonagon
group of mines, including the Ridge, Adven-
ture and others, and he held this for thirteen
years, resigning in 1883 to accept the super-
intendency of the Quincy Mining Company's
mines at Hancock.
Mr. Harris is a Republican and has held the
office of supervisor of Quincy township,
Houghton county, since 1884. He is the presi-
dent of the First National Bank of Hancock;
vice-president of the Northern Michigan
Building & Loan Association, Houghton, and
a director in the Peninsular Electric Light &
Power Company of the same place.
Mr. Harris married Miss Mary Bennett in
1854 at Camborne, England. They have
three children.
254
MEN OF PROGRESS.

CHARLES WESTLEY GALE,
GALE, CHARLES WESTLEY. Charles
Westley Gale, of Owosso, Michigan, was born
in the township of Bennington, Shiawassee
county, Michigan, March 21, 1850. His
father, Isaac Gale, came to Michigan from
Canajahara county, New York state, in 1831,
making the trip by way of the Erie canal to
Buffalo, and thence by boat to Michigan, and
to Washtenaw county by ox team. In 1840
the elder Gale removed to Bennington town-
ship and purchased a tract of land of 415
acres, which he cleared up and which is now
one of the finest farm in the county.
Charles W. Gale, when a boy, worked on
the farm and attended district schools until
he was 18 years of age, when he attended the
Corunna High School, and when he gradu-
ated from there his father gave him the use
of twenty acres of new land and a team, and
offered him a start in life for himself or the
privilege of working as a farm hand. The
former proposition being the most favorable,
young Gale turned in on the new land and
raised a good crop of about 600 bushels of
wheat which netted him $2.10 per bushel.
With this he leased his father's farm and suc-
cessfully operated it until 1882, when he re-
moved to Eaton Rapids, Michigan, and em-
barked in the hardware business with his
brother under the firm name of Gale Brothers.
The business thrived and at the expiration
of four years sold it out to good advan-
tage. Charles Gale then looked after his
father's business, which required his full at-
tention until the latter's death. In 1894 Mr.
Gale moved to Owosso, Michigan, and made
that his home. He is identified with many of
its business and financial interests. He is
vice-president and director of the Owosso
Savings Bank, a director in the Estey Manu-
facturing Company (furniture, etc.), a direc-
tor in the Castree-Shaw Company and presi-
dent of the Owosso Telephone Company. The
latter company was organized by him in 1897
among the business men of Owosso, and Mr.
Gale was elected president of the independent
line. The company started with 153 sub-
scribers and in 1899 had grown to an ex-
change of 354 subscribers.
Mr. Gale was associated with his father
during the early days of the Chicago & North-
eastern railroad, now a part of the Chicago &
Grand Trunk. His father was vice-president
of the old road, and was associated with W. L.
Bancroft in selling the bonds in the east and
interesting eastern capitalists in the road. In
conjunction with his father, C. W. Gale, se-
cured the rights of way for this road between
Lansing and Flint, and the father lived long
enough to see a first-class road operating from
their small beginning.
Mr. Gale is a liberal or "gold democrat" in
his political faith, and a member of the board
of public works in Owosso.
Mr. Gale married Miss Florence McKee,
daughter of Robert McKee, at Laingsburg,
Michigan, in 1870. He has two children:
Maud A. Gale is in the literary department
of the University of Michigan and Robert I.
attending the high school at Owosso.
Mr. Gale is not associated with any frater-
nal order. He is a representative capitalist
and farmer of Owosso.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
255
COUTANT, ARTHUR S. If there is
any class of men to whom the term "Men of
Progress" applies with especial appropriate-
ness, it is the printers and editors. Guten-
berg was essentially a man of progress when
he put his types and his primitive press to
work and started the intellectual world of
Europe on a new career. Caxton, the earliest
English printer, was a man of progress in his
day. Dr. Franklin, one of the first to ply the
art in America, was a man of progress. So
was Horace Greeley and so was Thurlow
Weed, both leaders of public opinion, through
the press, fifty years ago. But omitting mere
personal mention, the press of today is the
great agent of progress, and the men who min-
ister to the public, through the press, are cer-
tainly men of progress. The influence of the
press in any particular case is necessarily lim-
ited by its field, but within the range of their
circulation, few, if any, hold a higher rank
than do The Enterprise and The Tribune,
published in the little city of Mt. Pleasant,
Michigan, under the management of Mr. Ar-
thur S. Coutant.
Mr. Coutant sprang from the Western Re-
serve in the State of Ohio, having been born
in Huron county, in 1854. At the age of
nine years, with four younger children, he
was left fatherless. His early life was a
severe struggle and a succession of hard
knocks, but he insisted upon securing a good
education, and hard, persistent work has re-
warded his efforts. He is one of the many
Michigan men who have made their own way
in the world and the influential position which
he holds at home and in the State, tells better
than words could how successful he has been.
Mr. Coutant is a printer from the ground up.
He came to Michigan in 1872 and served an
apprenticeship to the art preservative in the
office of the Greenville Independent. He
then attended the public schools for five years,
graduating therefrom with high honors, and
is also an undergraduate of Oberlin College.
In 1887 he purchased the Mount Pleasant
Enterprise and five years later the Enterprise
absorbed the Northwestern Tribune, pub-
lished in the same city, both being Republi-
can papers. A Republican in politics, he has
always taken a lively interest in political
affairs and has served four years as a member
of the Republican State Central Committee,
a member and secretary of the Congressional
Committee of the Eleventh District, and has
been a member of the Isabella County Repub-
lican Committee for a number of years and
ARTHUR S. COUTANT.
has served as its chairman. In September,
1897, he was appointed postmaster at Mt.
Pleasant by President McKinley, and gives
his personal attention to the management of
the office, besides publishing both of the news-
papers above mentioned, which will certainly
entitle him to rank among the busy men of
this busy age.
Mr. Coutant was one of the twelve citizens
of Mt. Pleasant who staked their entire for-
tunes and future upon the establishment of
the Central Michigan Normal School at Mt.
Pleasant, and was one of the foremost of the
twelve to push to a successful issue the mak-
ing of that fine school a state institution. He
has for years taken an active interest in the
Republican Newspaper Association of Michi-
gan, of which he served two years as vice-
president. His society connections are: Mem-
ber of Presbyterian Church, Wabon Lodge,
F. & A. M.; Mt. Pleasant Chapter, R. A. M.;
Ithaca Council, R. & S. M.; Mt. Pleasant
Chapter, O. E. S.; Mt. Pleasant Lodge, I. O.
O. F.; Lipsico Council, Royal Arcanum; Mt.
Pleasant Tent, K. O. T. M.; Slagle Trout
Club, and member Executive Committee,
Michigan Press Association.
Mr. Coutant was married in December,
1881, to Miss Anna M. Satterlee, of Green-
ville, and to them two children have been
born, a daughter and a son, aged respectively
12 and 10 years.
256
MEN OF PROGRESS.

FRANK M. STEWART.
STEWART, FRANK M. Frank M.
Stewart, president of the First National
Bank of Hillsdale, Michigan, a respected
citizen of that city, and engaged in many
important and flourishing business enter-
prises there, was born August 20, 1852, in
New Haven, Ohio. He is of Scotch-Irish
descent. His father was Albert G. Stewart
and his mother Elizabeth M. Johnson.
As a boy, Mr. Stewart received his educa-
tion in various cities, attending school in
New Haven, Ohio, first, and when he was
eight years of age and his family moved to
Buffalo, New York, he attended the public
schools of that city until his fifteenth year.
He worked for the first time on the Buffalo
Commercial-Advertiser as a carrier, having
a route which paid him about $1 a week and
42 subscribers to look after. When he was
15 he took one term during the evenings at
Bryant & Stratton's business college in Buf-
falo, and in the fall of that year his parents
came to Michigan and took up their residence
in Hillsdale.
Here his father began business as a pro-
duce dealer, having already established a
branch in Buffalo, and the boy resumed his
studies in the schools of that city until July
5, 1868, when he found work as a janitor
and errand boy in the First National Bank,
of which he is now the president. His sal-
ary for the first year was $200, but he was
promoted the next year to collection clerk
and given an increase of salary. He worked
hard and earnestly and the directors of the
bank recognized his efforts by a steady ad-
vancement of his position. He was made.
bookkeeper, teller, assistant cashier, cashier,
and in January, 1881, was given his present
position of president.
He was but a young man when this honor
was accorded him, an honor that seldom
comes to one so youthful and is generally re-
served for gray hairs. He was considered
at that time the youngest national bank presi-
dent in the United States.
Mr. Stewart has always been a member of
the Republican party. In 1898 he was the
choice of the Republicans of Hillsdale county
for Congress from the Third Congressional
District. The convention had great difficulty
in settling upon a candidate for this honor,
and voted 333 times before a choice was
made.
time.
This was a record-breaker at that
The people of Hillsdale county did
not change their vote, but supported Mr.
Stewart to a man until the final ballot, when
Mr. Washington Gardner was declared the
choice of the convention. This convention
will be long remembered by the people of
Hillsdale county and those who participated
in the exciting scenes that occurred during
its session.
September 20, 1877, Mr. Stewart married
Miss Elizabeth M. Henry, daughter of Simon
J. Henry, at Hillsdale, Michigan. He has
three children, namely: Mabelle, Clifford A.
and Waldron Stewart. The first named is
attending Hillsdale College and the latter
two the high school in that city. Mr. Stew-
art was mayor of Hillsdale for one term and
declined re-nomination. Has been alderman
several terms and also city treasurer. Is a
member of the board of control, State Public
School, Coldwater, Michigan. He is presi-
dent of the Omega Portland Cement Co.,
Jonesville, Michigan, a director in the Bu-
channan Screen Co. and Hillsdale Grocery
Co. He belongs to the F. and A. M., I. O.
O. F. and B. P. O. E.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
257
CARTON, HON. JOHN JAY. John Jay
Carton was born in Clayton township, Genesee
county, Michigan, November 8, 1856. He
was one of a family of thirteen children and
he commenced to look out for himself before
he had reached his 'teens. The elder Carton
was a farmer with no bank account, and hav-
ing such a large family, it was necessary that
every member of it should turn in and assist
in the maintainence of the farm and its people.
John, with his other brothers and sisters,
worked to this end, in season and out. The
boy obtained a fairly good start toward an
education by attending the neighboring school
during the winter months and when he reached
the age of thirteen he determined to bid fare-
well for a time to the paternal roof and en-
deavor to make for himself a small place in
the business world. He journeyed into the
neighboring county of Shiawassee, where he
found employment on a farm where he could
do chores and attend school, being given his
board in return for his work. Still desirous
of bettering his condition he went to the vil-
lage of Flushing, where he worked in a drug
store for one year. He then attended school
in the village of Flushing and city of Flint
for two years, supporting himself and paying
his tuition by doing various kinds of work after
school hours and on days when school was not
in session. He was then competent to teach,
and secured positions as school teacher in the
district schools, following this profession for
five terms and devoting his spare time to the
study of law, borrowing his law books from his
friends at Flint. In the spring of 1877 he
returned to Flushing, where he accepted the
first position that was offered to him, that of
clerk in a drug store at $12.50 a month. He
had to open up at 5 o'clock in the morning,
but at the end of five months he had another
offer, that of bookkeeper in the general mer-
chandise firm of Niles & Cotcher. Here he
remained until he was nominated for County
Clerk on the Republican ticket in 1880 and
elected to that office. He was renominated
and again elected in 1882, leading his ticket
in the number of votes cast for any candidate.
HON. JOHN JAY CARTON.
During his two terms as clerk he continued his
law studies, and August 21, 1884, he was ad-
mitted to the bar by Judge William Newton.
Mr. Carton at once formed a partnership with
Judge Durand and under the firm name of
Durand & Carton commenced practice. The
firm still conducts an excellent law business
at Flint.
Mr. Carton was elected to the Legislature of
1898-99 from the Flint district by a large
majority, and was a candidate for speaker, be-
He owns a fine
ing defeated by one vote.
farm of 200 acres in Clayton township, which
includes the original farm owned by his
father, and which as a boy he helped to clear
up and work. He married, November 22,
1898, Mrs. Addie C. Pierson, daughter of
Charles Wager, of Oakland county, Michigan,
at Ukiah, California.
Mr. Carton is Past Master of Genesee
Lodge, No. 174, F. & A. M., a member of
Genesee Valley Commandery, Knights Tem-
plar; Michigan Sovereign Consistory, Scottish
Rite; Moslem Temple, Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine, Detroit; an Elk, Maccabee, Forester,
Knight of Loyal Guard and was Grand Mas-
ter of the Michigan Grand Lodge, F. & A. M.,
in 1896.
258
MEN OF PROGRESS.

LEWIS RANSOM FISKE, D. D., LL.D.
FISKE, LEWIS RANSOM, D. D., LL. D.
Dr. Fiske is essentially a Michigan man and
has made his impress upon the civil, moral
and intellectual life of the state. His first
American ancestry came from England in
1637, settling in Wenham, Massachusetts.
His parents, James and Eleanor (Ransom)
Fiske, were residents of Penfield, Monroe
county, N. Y., where the son was born Decem-
ber 24th, 1825. Removing to Coldwater,
Mich., in 1835, they settled on a farm which
is now within the corporate limits of the city.
Passing over earlier studies, the younger
Fiske spent the college year 1845-6 at the then
Wesleyan Seminary and Collegiate Institute
at Albion, since Albion College, of which,
he was the honored president for over
twenty years, resigning in January, 1898. Af-
ter four years in the University, he received
his Bachelor's Degree in 1850. He had begun
the study of law, which was his intended pur-
suit, but in the fall of 1850 he accepted the
position of professor of Natural Science at Al-
bion, resigning in 1853 to accept a like position
at the Normal School at Ypsilanti. In 1856 he
was elected Professor of Chemistry in the State
Agricultural College. His purposed pursuit
later on,
of the law gave away under his educational
work, which he found congenial, and he de-
cided to enter the ministry of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. He filled pastorates at
Jackson, Ann Arbor and Detroit, from 1863
to 1877, when he was elected President of Al-
bion College. For five years from January,
1875, he was editor of the Michigan Christian
Advocate. The degrees represented by the
initial letters, D. D. and LL. D., were con-
ferred upon
him respectively by Albion Col-
lege in 1873 and by the State University in
1879. Dr. Fiske has been six times elected
delegate to the quadrennial general confer-
ence of the M. E. Church, held respectively
in Brooklyn, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New
York, Omaha and Cleveland. In 1891 he
was a member of the ecumenical conference in
Washington. For sixteen years he has been
trustee of the board of education which super-
vises all the educational work of the church.
This board has its headquarters in New York
City. In the year 1889 he was president of
the State Teachers' Association. He has also
been president of the College Presidents' Asso-
ciation of the M. E. Church, is president of the
Detroit Annual Conference (corporate), vice-
president of the Michigan Publishing Com-
pany of Detroit, of which company he was
president before leaving Detroit.
In a business way he is a director in the Al-
bion State Bank.
Dr. Fiske is a well known contributor to the
standard literature of the country. In 1898
he published a most successful work entitled
"Echos from College Platform." Another
book, "Among the Professions," is just
printed. He is now engaged in a third work,
"Man Building." The ruling thought in pro-
jecting and bringing out the three works has
been the hope that they may be a guiding help
to the rising generation, in the foundation of
character, fitting them for usefulness in life.
Dr. Fiske has been twice married, first in 1852
at Howell, Mich., to Miss Elizabeth Ross
Spence, a lady of Scotch birth, who died in
1879, and in 1880, to Mrs. Helen M. Davis,
of Detroit, who died in 1896. He has three
sons, all men of mature years and men of af-
fairs; and one daughter, the wife of Otis A.
Leonard, of Albion.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
259
LYON, FRANK A. The paternal ances-
tors of Mr. Lyon were Scotch, his great-grand-
father coming to this country in 1771, and
locating at Wallworth, Wayne county, N. Y.
His grandfather, Daniel Lyon, was a Baptist
minister, and his father, Newton T., was a
farmer, both of Wallworth, where Frank A.
was born January 4th, 1855. The family
removed to Michigan a year later, settling on
a farm in the township of Quincy, Branch
county. Frank A. attended the neighbor-
hood schools until eighteen years of age. He
then attended a winter and spring term at the
High School in the village of Quincy, walking
from his home to the school, a distance of four
miles, in the morning and back again at night.
He secured a teacher's certificate and taught a
district school and in 1877 taught the graded
school at Girard, Branch county. Later he
attended the Northern Indiana Normal School
at Valparaiso, Indiana. He learned the trade
of a carpenter, and alternated his labors,
whether of study or teaching, with farm or
carpenter work, as occasion or convenience
suggested. Having saved a little money, he
began the study of law, with Hon. Charles
Upson of Coldwater, and was admitted to the
bar in February, 1880. Following his admis-
sion, he served for a few months as clerk of
the Winnebago Indian Agency in Nebraska.
His first essay at active practice was in Mont-
calm county, where he opened an office in
November, 1880. Two years later he removed
to Stanton, in the same county, and formed a
co-partnership with M. C. Palmer, with whom
he continued until 1886, when, by reason of
poor health, he returned to Quincy, remaining
there until July, 1891, when he removed his
office to Hillsdale, succeeding A. B. St. John
in the law practice, and has since resided there.
He is also interested in mercantile business at
Quincy and is a stockholder in the Quincy
Knitting Works and in the Omega Portland
FRANK A. LYON.
Cement Company at Jonesville, being attor-
ney for the latter.
While at Stanton Mr. Lyon served on the
County Board of School Examiners for three
years. He was elected Circuit Court Commis-
sioner in Branch county for one term and was
Village Attorney of Quincy for one year, de-
clining a re-election in both cases. During
his residence in Hillsdale, he has been fre-
quently solicited to stand for election to official
position, which he invariably declined, until,
contrary to his wish, he was placed in nomina-
tion by the Republicans as their candidate for
the State Senate at the election in 1898, from
the district comprising the counties of Hills-
dale, Branch and St. Joseph. In the Senate
he was chairman of the important committee
on judiciary at the session of 1899. He is a
member of the Masonic fraternity and of
Eureka Commandery Knights Templar.
Mr. Lyon has been married twice. His
first wife, to whom he was married in 1878,
died in 1881. In 1885 Miss Emma Fink of
Ionia became Mrs. Lyon. They have one
child, Vivian E.
260
MEN OF PROGRESS.

CLAUDE WILLARD CASE.
CASE, CLAUDE WILLARD. Claude
Willard Case, cashier of the Munising State
Bank, Munising, Michigan, was born in
Brighton, Mich., September 3rd, 1861. His
father, Spaulding M. Case, was a merchant in
that village, and a member of the Michigan
Legislature in 1851-52. Claude Willard di-
vided his time during his early youth between
attending the village school and working on a
farm. His father died when the boy was but
six years old, so at the age of fourteen he found
himself obliged to start out in the world to
make his own living. He found employment
with W. C. Hawes, clerking at $3.00 per week
in his dry goods store at Lansing. With a little
assistance from his mother from time to time
he managed to live and keep himself fairly
well clad. His next position was more remu-
nerative, that of bookkeeper for E. Bement &
Sons, Lansing and later he was given the posi-
tion of cashier with B. F. Simons, of the same
city. The next year he engaged with James
Nall & Co., of Detroit, as check and collection
clerk, and in 1879 Ducharme, Fletcher & Co.,
wholesale hardware merchants, employed him
as city entry clerk and later advanced him to
county entry clerk. In the spring of 1880 his
health failed and he went to Kansas to re-
cuperate. That summer he herded cattle on
a ranch near Atchison, Kansas, and regaining
his health, the following fall, pending em-
ployment in an office, clerked in the grocery
store of John Perkins for a few weeks. He
then found a position in the grain commission
office of Halsey & Co., at Atchison, as book-
keeper, and upon their failure, was employed
as tracer clerk in the Missouri Pacific freight
office until offered a position with the Atchi-
son Savings Bank as bookkeeper.
Later, he kept books for a bank in Billings,
Montana, and from that position went into the
employ of the Supply Company on the North-
ern Pacific road, where he remained until the
spring of 1883. The following year was spent
in the bank of Nelson Story, at Bozeman,
after which he left the banking business to be-
come a merchandise broker, selling to the hard-
ware and grocery trade in Montana and Idaho.
In September, 1884, he returned to the bank-
ing business temporarily as bookkeeper in the
First National Bank of Helena, Montana,
coming thence, December, 1884, to Michigan
to take position as bookkeeper for Newberry
& McMillan, of Detroit, and on November
5th, 1890, removed to Newberry, Michigan,
to take the management of the Newberry Fur-
nace, which plant was largely owned and con-
trolled by Newberry & McMillan.
The property has since passed into the hands.
of P. H. Griffin, of Buffalo, and Mr. Case re-
mains in charge.
Mr. Case is a Republican. In 1894 he was
appointed a member of the Board of Building
Commissioners of the Upper Peninsula Hos-
pital for the Insane, at Newberry, which insti-
tution he was largely instrumental in bringing
to that place, and in 1895 was appointed one of
the Trustees of the Hospital for the long term
of six years. In 1894 he was president of the
village of Newberry, and member of Board of
Supervisors of Luce county. He was the or-
ganizer of the Munising State Bank, which
came into existence July, 1896. Mr. Case
married Miss Lillie Belle Spencer at Howell,
Michigan, in 1889. They have two children,
Ruth Margaret and Dorothy Serena, aged re-
spectively nine and five years. Mr. Case is a
Mason, also belongs to the Elks, Oddfellows
and Foresters. Mr. Case's mother (nee Serena
Lawson) resides with him at Munising.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
261
CARROLL, THOMAS FRANCIS. The
name of Carroll associates itself at once with
Ireland, from which the father and mother of
Thomas F., James and Mary (Kennedy) Car-
roll, came in 1845. The Carrolls are of the
same original stock as those of the same name
who settled in Maryland in the seventeenth
century, of which Charles Carroll, one of the
signers of the Declaration of Independence,
and Archbishop Carroll, well known in Revo-
lutionary history, were representatives.
Thomas F. Carroll, senior in the law firm of
Carroll, Turner & Kirwin, at Grand Rapids,
was born at Chili Centre, N. Y., Nov. 23rd,
1854. His parents settled in the township of
Arlington, Van Buren county, Michigan,
when he was a small child, and where his
father began chopping out a home. He re-
ceived his education in the district school, and
afterwards in the village school at Lawrence.
At the age of seventeen he secured a teacher's
certificate and began teaching a district school,
serving a year at the compensation of thirty
dollars a month, being the first money he could
call his own. He taught in the village school
at Lawrence during the years 1875, '76 and
77, working on a farm in summer. During
these years he began reading law, having
bought a second-hand copy of Blackstone. In
the summer of 1876 he went to Grand Rapids
and read law during his school vacation, but
declined employment in the schools there for
the
year 1878, which was tendered him. Re-
turning to Grand Rapids he continued his law
studies in the office of Hughes, O'Brien &
Smiley and was admitted to the bar in 1879.
A law partnership with Charles M. McLaren
was soon after formed, which existed until the
fall of 1881, when he associated himself with
Isaac M. Turner, this partnership continuing
until Mr. Turner's death in 1895. Joseph
Kirwin then became a member of the firm,
under the firm name of Carroll, Turner & Kir-
win, Mr. Turner's name being continued as a
mark of respect for the man.
Mr. Carroll had many early struggles,
which, however, have been substantially re-
warded, as is evident from the fact of his
THOMAS FRANCIS CARROLL.
being now a large holder of real estate and a
director in the Fifth National Bank. He is also
a member and director of the Grand Rapids
Board of Trade, a member of the Peninsular
Club of Grand Rapids, and of the Michigan
Bar Association. He was Assistant Prosecu-
ting Attorney of Kent County 1883-6; he was
secretary of the Democratic State Central
Committee in 1889-90, member of the execu-
tive committee of the Democratic State Cen-
tral Committee from 1890-94, chairman of the
Democratic campaign committee for the Fifth
Congressional District, 1892-4, Postmaster of
Grand Rapids, 1894-8 under President Cleve-
land, and in 1898 was elected chairman of the
Kent County Democratic Committee.
stands high at the bar and as a business man.
He is very popular with all classes and particu-
by the fact that he was Labor Day orator in
larly with the labor element, as is evidenced
1897 and 1898 at Grand Rapids.
He
In 1880 Mr. Carroll married Miss Ella,
daughter of William B. Remington, of Grand
Rapids. After her death in 1882 he remained
a widower until 1889, when Miss Julia A.
Mead of Grand Rapids, only daughter of the
late Major A. B. Watson, became Mrs. Car-
roll. He has two children, Charles by the first
marriage, and Katharine by the second.
262
MEN OF PROGRESS.
COLE, THOMAS FREDERICK. Gen-
erations of the Cole family have followed the
trade of miners, in this country and in their
native land, England. Thomas Frederick
Cole, of Ironwood, Michigan, is the general
superintendent of the Oliver Iron Mining
Company, which has properties in the Upper
Peninsula and in Minnesota. He is in charge
of the Norrie mine, the North Norrie mine,
East Norrie mine and the Pabst mine, all sit-
uated around Ironwood, and the Tilden mine
at Bessemer, Michigan.
He was born at Cliff mine, Keweenaw
County, Michigan, July 19, 1862. When
he was but 6 years of age his father was killed
by an explosion in the Phoenix mine, and
so it became necessary when the lad was old
enough to work, for him to help support the
family.
ing at l'hoenix mine, and when 8 years old was
put to work in the rock house of the Phoenix
mine picking out the copper rock from the
rock hoisted from the mine at 50 cents per
day. The mother had a hard struggle to
keep the little family together after the
death of the father, and every penny brought
into the house was expended to buy wood
and provisions. For eighteen months the lit-
tle fellow sorted rock, and then secured a
place at $18 a month in the stamp mill of the
Cliff mine and worked there for three
years. He then found employment on the
railroad operated by the Calumet & Hecla
Mining Company, commencing as a track
laborer, then becoming a switch tender,
brakeman and finally yard man, remaining
with the railroad for eight years. During
He obtained a few years' school-
this time he attended the night school in
Calumet and learned to write a plain business
hand. Many nights during the long winter
months he would have to go direct to school
from his work, ofttimes without his supper,
but he earned enough to pay his tuition
and also support the family. He was then
given a position in the general office of the
Calumet & Hecla as bookkeeper and as such
he worked for two years, resigning in 1886
to accept a similar position at an increase of
wages with the Chapin mine at Iron Moun-
tain, Michigan. After three years' time in
this office he was made superintendent of
the Queen group of iron mines at Negaunee.
He remained with the company until the
fall of 1897 when the firm of Corrigan, Mc-
Kinney & Co. secured control of these iron
mines. In 1897 he was tendered the posi-
tion of superintendent of the Norrie mines at
Ironwood, which he accepted and later he
was made general superintendent of the Oliver
Iron Mining Company's interests in the Upper
Peninsula and Minnesota, which position
he now occupies. The Oliver Iron Min-
ing Company's properties in Minnesota and
Michigan consist of over thirty iron mines,
and thousands of men are under Mr. Cole's
direction. In the Upper Peninsula the
Oliver Company is a rival of the Calumet
& Hecla, only the latter company is in the
copper while the Oliver is in the iron district.
Mr. Cole married Miss Elcey Hoatson, daugh-
ter of Thomas Hoatson, who has charge of
the underground work of the Calumet &
Hecla Mining Company at Calumet. They
have two children.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
263
DANAHER, CORNELIUS DOUGLAS.
One of the largest owners and operators of
timber lands in the State of Michigan is Cor-
nelius Douglas Danaher, of Dollarville, Mich-
igan. The firm of Danaher & Melendy is
well known in the Upper Peninsula, and they
own and control large tracts of valuable tim-
ber country not only in this state but in Wis-
consin as well. The firm also has an office
and place of business in Ludington, Michigan.
C. D. Danaher was born near Kenosha,
Wisconsin, August 2, 1859. His father
came from near Limerick, Ireland, where the
family lived for many generations.
The boy was educated in the district school
near his home, and until he was fourteen years
of age his educational facilities were limited to
those usually found in district schools at that
period. His father owned a farm but as he
had been a railroad and lumbering contractor
in the past, he soon sold the farm and removed
to the town of Kenosha, where for two years
his children enjoyed the benefits of the city
schools.
After two years' residence in Kenosha, the
family decided to move to Michigan, where
the father undertook a large lumbering con-
tract near White Hall, Michigan, and at the
completion of it in 1871 removed to Luding-
ton and engaged in the lumbering manufac-
turing business on his own account.
The F. & P. M. railroad was then advanc-
ing into Ludington, and as Cornelius was 16
years of age, he secured a job driving a sup-
ply team for the construction gang at $2 a
round trip. When he could make two trips
a day he felt that he was making excellent
wages, and on his way to a comfortable com-
petence. When he reached his seventeenth
year he engaged in business on his own ac-
count. He had saved a little money and he
borrowed some at 8 per cent. from a friend
in Chicago, Illinois, for which he also paid
2 per cent. commission, and he then com-
menced "looking" timber lands, buying and
selling tracts of pine and in less than three
years, by dint of hard and constant work, he
managed to save $17,000, clear profit, after
repaying the loan.
In the meantime his father was in financial
difficulties, as the panic of 1873 had severely
crippled the firm of Danaher & Melendy
Co.; so Cornelius and his brother jointly con-
tributed their savings to the company, and as-
sumed charge of their father's interests under
the same name, Danaher & Melendy Co.
They devoted all their time and efforts to put-
ting the enterprise on its financial legs again,
and their youth and determination were suc-
cessful. They commenced their operations at
Newberry, in the Upper Peninsula, in 1895,
and today their mill at that place is considered
one of the most prosperous and modern
equipped plants in Michigan.
Mr. Danaher married, on March 12, 1879,
Lillie, daughter of Owen Taylor, one of the
pioneer lumbermen on the Pere Marquette
river. They have three children, Lillian,
aged 19, attending the University at Chicago,
and Margarette and Cornelia, at home. Mr.
Danaher was appointed member of the Board
of Control of the Upper Peninsula Hospital
for the Insane at Newberry, January, 1897,
and resigned June 16, 1899. He is a Roman
Catholic and a member of the Elks.
264
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. WILLIAM HOLMES.
William
His
Maine. He worked two months for the firm
of Jewett & March, then returned to his
home in New Brunswick, and worked
one year. Then, at the age of 21, he
returned to Maine and worked two more years
for Jewett & March, running camp the last
year. In the winter of 1855 he ran a logging
camp at Escanaba, Michigan, for N. Luding-
ton & Company, then took charge of the
camps at Rum River, Minnesota, for Jona-
than Chase, returning to Escanaba and work-
ing at Upper Mill and Flat Rock. In Feb-
ruary he
he was summoned to Taylor Falls,
Minn., by the death of a relative. It was
before the day of railroads in that region, and
the trip was made on the ice with an Indian
mail train of dogs to Menominee, thence to
Green Bay, and thence by various stages to
St. Paul and Taylor Falls. He worked a
her home to Bangor, Maine. He worked a
while lumbering in Minnesota, and then re-
turned to Escanaba. In 1857 he joined forces
with Samuel M. Stephenson and took a con-
tract getting out logs for N. Ludington & Co.
There were only two camps in operation that
winter, and Stephenson drove the ox team tot-
ing supplies into camp, while Holmes looked
after the men. The next year they operated
at Menominee, and Stephenson bought an in-
terest in the Kirby, Carpenter Company, lum-
ber manufacturers, and the following year
Mr. Holmes was put in charge of the logging
interests of the company, and was superin-
tendent of logging operations for thirty-eight
years. In January, 1897, he built a logging
road of seventy-five miles, and has been work-
ing on logging contracts with great success
HOLMES, HON. WILLIAM.
Holmes, of Menominee, was born at Mirami-
che, New Brunswick, April 16, 1830.
father was a farmer and lumberman, who
came to this country from Port Glasgow,
Scotland, and settled in New Brunswick in
1804. In all, young Holmes received about
eighteen months' schooling in a district
school, and at 10 years of age he commenced
work driving the supply team for the lumber
camps. At 16 years of age he left home with
$4 in his pocket, loaned him by his sister,
and then started to walk to Bangor, Maine, a
distance of over 350 miles. He worked four
days in a hay field on the way down, at fifty
cents a day, but the farmer had to drive
twenty miles to Frederickstown in order to
get money to pay the boy, and he charged
him $1 for the trouble. Young Holmes re-
sumed his tramp and landed in Old Town,
Maine. He slept on a bench in the hotel office,
earned a little money digging a cellar at Still-
water, Maine, and reached Bangor. Here
he borrowed $3 from a friend and went into
the woods for the winter, chopping for a
firm operating on the Fish river, Aroostook, children.
ever since.
In politics Mr. Holmes is a Republican. He
'99, and supervisor in 1896.
was mayor of Menominee in 1897, '98 and
'99, and supervisor in 1896. He is a director
in the Lumbermen's National Bank of Me-
nominee, and one of the original stockholders
and organizers of the Menominee Electric
Railroad & Power Company. He belongs to
Menominee Commandery, K. T., and Ahmed
Temple, Marquette. Mr. Holmes married
Miss Augusta J., daughter of Alden Chand-
ler, July 12, 1869, at Escanaba, and has five


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
265
STANTON, FRANK MCMILLAN.
Agent Frank McMillan Stanton, of the At-
lantic, Baltic, Central and Phoenix copper
mines, in the Upper Peninsula, is a New
Yorker by birth and education. He ac-
quired his knowledge of the profession of
mining engineer, in the School of Mines of
Columbia College, in New York city, and has
supplemented his knowledge with a practical
experience in the copper mines of Michigan.
His father, John Stanton, is one of the best
known men in the copper country.
John Stanton's experience as a mining
engineer commenced on the other side of the
water. He was engaged in this profession
in Bristol, England. He came to this
country in 1835 to take charge of the
iron mines at Dover, New Jersey. Later the
elder Stanton took charge of a number of
copper properties in Maryland, Virginia and
Tennessee from 1852 until 1862, when the
Confederate government confiscated the
properties.
In 1864 John Stanton came into Michi-
gan and made his way into the copper coun-
try. His first interests were in the Central
mine, and in 1870 he purchased a controlling
interest in the Atlantic mining properties,
which were made to prosper under his man-
agement. He is also interested in the Bal-
tic, Mohawk, Michigan, Winona, Central and
Wolverine mines. He was one of the
founders of the New York Mining Stock &
Petroleum Exchange, and the first president
of the exchange.
Frank McMillan Stanton was born in New
York city May 23, 1865, and he attended the
Twentieth Street public school, and graduated
from the Columbia Grammar School in 1881.
He then entered the School of Mines of Col-
umbia College, where he took a six years'
course, and from which he graduated in 1887.
In June of that year young Stanton came to
Michigan, as mining engineer for the Central
Copper mines in Keweenaw county, and
also as agent pro tem. Six months later he
returned to New York city and studied under
Professor Hallock, of the New York Gas
FRANK MCMILLAN STANTON.
Company, and that winter returned to Michi-
gan to become a mining engineer on the At-
lantic mine property. In 1889 he was made
agent for the Atlantic mine.
Frank McM. Stanton is a director in the Na-
tional Bank of Houghton, vice-president of
the Mining Gazette Company, of Houghton,
and a director of the New Douglass Hotel
Company, of the same place. He was super-
visor of Keweenaw county for several terms
and was also chairman of the building com-
mittee during the building of the $100,000
steel bridge over Portage Lake. He is a mem-
ber of the American Society of Civil En-
gineers, and also of the Mechanical En-
gineers' Society, the Western Society of En-
gineers, and one of the board of manage-
ment of the American Institute of Mining
Engineers. His great-grandfather, Benjamin
Wertervelt, served during the Revolution in
the American army, so Mr. Stanton is a mem-
ber of the Sons of the Revolution, served
full term in the 7th regiment, National Guard,
State of New York, and now a member of
the 7th Regiment Veteran Association. He
also belongs to the Psi Upsilon Society of
Columbia College, and the Sons of St. An-
drew's Society. Mr. Stanton makes his home
at Atlantic Mine, Michigan.
266
MEN OF PROGRESS.

THEOPHILUS JOHN LANGLOIS, M. D.
LANGLOIS, THEOPHILUS JOHN,M.D.
From Rouen, France, in the Province of Nor-
mandy, the ancestors of Dr. Theophilus John
Langlois came to this country in 1720 and
twenty years later settled in Acadia. His
great grandfather was one of the ninety who,
during the early troubles of that colony, es-
caped through New Brunswick, crossing the
Gulf of St. Lawrence in flat boats of their
own construction, and locating finally about
thirty-six miles north of Montreal.
During the Canadian Rebellion of 1837-38,
Dr. Langlois's father was an active member of
the Revolutionary party, and at that time
was forced to seek refuge in the United States.
He came to Michigan and settled in Grosse
Ile, where, September 7, 1840, Theophilus
John Langlois was born. After the rebellion
was over he went back to the old homestead
near Montreal. The following year his wife
died and the boy was taken care of by his
grandparents, while the father, touched with
the gold- fever of 1849, went to California to
seek his fortune. He remained away seven-
teen years. In the meantime the boy grew up,
attending the district school about two miles
from the farm, and when he reached the age
of fourteen he started out in the world for him-
self, securing the humble position of janitor
and instructor in the College of Joliette in the
Province of Quebec. Leaving college after
graduation in 1862, he removed to Amherst-
burg, Ontario, where in 1863 he was made
principal of the R. C. Separate School and
remained such until 1870. In June, 1865, he
had commenced the study of medicine with
Dr. Walter Lambert, where he speedily
acquired a good knowledge of the Hippo
cratic art, so resigning his position in the
schools in 1870 he devoted his entire time to
the study of medicine attending the Detroit
Medical College. While still in his first year
he took the final examination and stood first
in the class. The faculty gave him a tes-
timonial letter and would have given him his
diploma had the rules of the college per-
mitted. He acted during the following year
as an assistant to Dr. Edward W. Jenks, then
the president of the faculty, and graduated in
1871. Upon receiving his degree, Dr. Lang-
lois opened his office in Wyandotte, where to-
day he is the oldest practitioner and enjoys
an extensive practice.
Dr. Langlois married twice. Miss Maria
Bertrand, of Amherstburg, was he first wife.
Of their two children Eugenie is now Mrs. D.
W. Roberts of Cleveland, and Napoleon T. is
a practicing physician in Wyandotte. His
second wife was Miss Elizabeth Schuhmacher
of Wyandotte. Their only child, Elfrida,
lives at home.
Dr. Langlois is a Mason of high standing,
a member of Damascus Commandery, No. 42,
K. T., Michigan Sovereign Consistory and
Moslem Temple, all of Detroit. He is also
connected with the I. O. O. F., Royal Ar-
canum, Knights of Honor, A. O. U. W., K.
O. T. M., and the National Union. He was
elected mayor of Wyandotte in 1874 and re-
elected to that office in 1888. He was city
physician from 1875 to 1881, president of the
Water Board, 1889-90-91-92, and president
of the Board of Public Works in 1896-97-98-
99.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
267
SHANK, RUSH JESSE, M. D. Dr.
Rush Jesse Shank was born in Lansing, Michi-
gan, December 15, 1848, and has lived in
that city all his life. His father, Dr.
Herbert B. Shank, located in Lansing in
1848, coming from New York state, where
his father, Isaac Shank, was a farmer living
in Cayuga county.
Up to the age of 14 years, the boy at-
tended the village school, after which he was
sent to a Quaker Academy at Union Springs,
Cayuga county, New York, where he remained
until he reached the age of 15. In
this year
he became a soldier. The boys of
Oakwood Academy, in the spring of 1864,
went down in a body to hear the Hon. Will-
iam H. Seward address a patriotic meeting.
In the enthusiasm attending that meeting the
boys from the academy took an active part,
and young Shank was so impressed with the
thought that his services were needed in the
battle for union, that after the speechmaking
was over he hurried around to the re-
cruiting office, where he offered himself as a
recruit. He was accepted and mustered into
Company C of the 148th New York infantry,
and a few days later was sent to the front with
his regiment.
The One Hundred and Forty-eighth New
York was assigned to the department of the
Army of the Potomac, where the young sol-
dier at once came into active service in front
of Petersburg, Virginia. With his company
he participated in the Weldon Raid through
the enemy's country and for three months lay
in the trenches before Petersburg. In the
meantime his father had been detached from
the Eighth Michigan as surgeon and detailed
as recruiting surgeon for central Michigan.
He wrote to his son saying that if he wanted
to leave the service he could obtain his dis-
charge on account of his age, but the young
man did not answer the letter. He remained
in the service until he was mustered out at
Richmond, Virginia, June 22, 1865.
He returned to Lansing and entered the
public schools, declining to go to West Point,
after he had been appointed. He commenced
RUSH JESSE SHANK, M. D.
the study of medicine in his father's office,
entering the Medical Department of the Uni-
versity of Michigan, from which he gradu-
ated as an M. D. in 1871. He then went
into partnership with his father, which rela-
'tionship continued for 18 years.
In 1875 Dr. Shank married Miss Ella
Williams, daughter of Wm. K. Williams, at
Lansing, Michigan. They have one daugh-
ter, Ruth (Mrs. M. W. Montgomery), living
in Lansing.
Dr. Shank has taken all the degrees in Ma-
sonry, including that of Knights Templar.
He was Department Commander of Michi-
gan G. A. R., 1874-75, was Commander
of Charles T. Foster Post, G. A. R., was
a member of the board of managers of
Michigan Soldiers' Home, 1887-93; United
States pension examiner, central Michigan,
for 10 years, and for several years alderman
in the city of Lansing. While Department
Commander of the G. A. R. he was instru-
mental in drafting and passing a bill through
the Legislature organizing the Soldiers'
Home in this state.
He is now special aide on the staff of the
Commander-in-Chief, G. A. R., in charge of
military instruction in public schools of Michi-
gan.
268
MEN OF PROGRESS.

DR. CHARLES STORM HAZELTINE.
HAZELTINE, DR. CHARLES STORM.
If there be anything in hereditary, a long line
of professional ancestors, including doctors,
lawyers and teachers have transmitted to Dr.
Hazeltine elements of character, peculiarly
fitting him for professional life. His father,
Gilbert H. Hazeltine, was a noted physician
and surgeon of Jamestown, N. Y., where he
practiced for half a century and was widely
known also as a writer and local historian.
His grandfather, Laban Hazeltine, was of the
same profession, and others of his ancestry
were prominent in other professions. The
family were early inhabitants of Vermont.
Dr. Hazeltine was born at Jamestown, N. Y.,
Oct. 1, 1844, his mother having been Eliza
C. Boss. It was the wish of his family that he
should be a physician and his education had
that destiny in view for him. With an acad-
emic education acquired at Jamestown, and
considerable progress in scientific study
through elementary reading at home, he first
attended a course of medical lectures at the
University of Michigan, and subsequently en-
tered the medical department of the Univer-
sity of Albany, graduating therefrom in 1866.
He then for a short time attended the hospitals
and colleges in New York. Following this,
for six months he had charge of the lying-in
hospital at Buffalo. He then entered upon an
active practice at Jamestown, but a physician's
life proving distasteful to him, he retired from
it after some eighteen months' trial and en-
gaged in the drug business. Coming west in
1872 and stopping at Grand Rapids, he de-
cided to locate there. He first interested him-
self in manufacturing, but soon formed a con-
nection with Charles Shephard in the
wholesale drug business, under the firm name
of Shephard & Hazeltine, and from this be-
ginning was evolved the stock corporation, the
Hazeltine & Perkins Drug Co., Mr. Shephard
having sold his interest to Capt. C. G. Perkins,
of Henderson, Ky., an intimate friend of the
doctor's. In 1888 Mr. Perkins' interest was
purchased by Dr. Hazeltine and the business
continued under the incorporated name. Un-
der the management of Dr. Hazeltine, and as a
natural consequence of honorable business
methods, the business has acquired a practical
monopoly of the jobbing drug trade of west-
ern Michigan and compares favorably in ex-
tent and influence with its older competitors
in Detroit and Chicago.
Dr. Hazeltine is a director in the Grand
Rapids National Bank, and has other collateral
business interests. Politically he was first a
Republican, but President Cleveland's policy
in his first term won him over to the Democ-
racy and he became an enthusiastic Jefferson-
ian. He was appointed United States Consul
at Milan, Italy, September 16th, 1893, under
the second Cleveland administration, a posi-
tion which he filled with credit both to his
government and to himself. After a service of
two years, however, he resigned to resume his
place in the drug house of which he is the head.
He is a member of the vestry of St. Mark's
Church of Grand Rapids, having been its
junior warden; of the National Wholesale
Druggists' Association; of the Grand Rapids
Board of Trade, and of a number of social
clubs. He is a Knights Templar and member
of the Mystic Shrine. For many years he was
an active member of the Board of Trustees of
Butterworth Hospital and much was due to his
efforts as its secretary and treasurer in its early
foundation and the construction of its build-
ing.
Dr. Hazeltine has been twice married, his
first wife having been Miss Ella C. Burnell,
daughter of Madison Burnell, a noted criminal
lawyer of western New York, to whom he was
married at Jamestown, N. Y., in 1868. After
her death, Miss Anna O. Fox, daughter of
George H. Fox, of Boston, Mass., became Mrs.
Iazeltine in 1875. He has three, daughters
and a son.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
269
AINSWORTH, CORYDON EVERETT.
Since the days when Isaac Walton lured the
trout and grayling from the streams of Eng-
land with his light tackle and gentle skill, the
fishing industry has been growing larger every
year, and the old father of fishermen were he
alive today, would throw up his hands in hor-
ror at modern methods, necessary to accommo-
date the great populations of cities, and sup-
ply the various markets with quantities of fish.
The firm of Ainsworth & Ganley, of Sault
Ste. Marie, controls one of the largest fishing
industries on the Great Lakes today. From
an humble beginning it has grown in size and
output year by year.
Corydon Everett Ainsworth is the senior
member of this firm. He was born at Cape
Vincent, New York, September 30, 1861,
where he attended school until he was 17
years of age, and then went to the Collegiate
Institute at Adams, New York, where he re-
mained until his twenty-first year, and gradu-
ated. It was his intention to become a phar-
macist, and to that end he sought employment
and worked for 18 months in a drug store.
In 1883, however, he gave this up, and came
to Sault Ste. Marie, where his father had an
interest in a fish company, and the same year,
borrowing $2,000 from his father, he joined
with Joseph Ganley and went into the fish
business on his own account. His first outfit
consisted of a few small sailing boats and he
employed only 12 men. The new firm con-
tracted with a Chicago house and sent all their
fish there, but the Chicago people failed to
meet their obligations and a lawsuit was neces-
sary to bring them to time. For some time
the firm of Ainsworth & Ganley were forced
to do business on their credit, but their trade
increased and their yearly output today is
about 1,500 tons of fish. The firm employs
nearly 200 men, eight tugs and a small fleet
of sailing vessels. In 1891 Mr. Ainsworth be-
came a stockholder in the J. W. Alexander
Lumber Company, and in 1895 was compelled
CORYDON EVERETT AINSWORTH.
to buy out the other stockholders to save the
money he had invested in the enterprise. He
still operates the mill under the name of the
sawing for other parties, averaging about
C. E. Ainsworth Lumber Company and does
12,000,000 feet of lumber a season, and doing
a prosperous and remunerative business.
When the Edison Electric Light Company
was organized in Sault Ste. Marie, Mr. Ains-
worth was made a director in the company and
later became its president. At present he is
a stockholder and director of the Sault Sav-
ings Bank at Sault Ste. Marie.
Mr. Ainsworth has always had a keen eye
for good investments. During the boom of
1888 he purchased and platted a 40-acre sub-
division to the city, and the investment has
proven most profitable. He still holds a large
block of down-town real estate. He is a direc-
tor of the A. Booth & Co. Packing Company,
dealers in fish, doing business with a head-
quarters in Chicago, and their manager in this
territory. In 1891 Mr. Ainsworth married
Miss Florence, daughter of E. H. Mead,
cashier of the First National Bank of Sault
Ste. Marie. He has two children, Margarette
and Frances, aged five and seven years.
270
MEN OF PROGRESS.
HON. ARCHIBALD BROWN LANG, M. D.
LANG, M. D., HON. ARCHIBALD
BROWN. Hon. Archibald Brown Lang,
M. D., prominent as a citizen of Sault Ste.
Marie and a skilled physician and surgeon of
that city, was born October 28, 1848, at
1848, at
Owen Sound, Ontario. His father, Dr. Will-
iam Lang, was a surgeon in the English navy
and remained in that service from 1823 to
1838, spending 10 years of his life in India,
Dr. A. B. Lang attended school until he
was 17, when he was granted a first-class
teachers' certificate, and shortly afterwards
started teaching in a district school. The fol-
lowing year he was made principal of the
schools at Medford, Ontario. He remained
in this capacity for four years, and left it to
start a drug business at Owen Sound, Ontario.
Here he commenced the study of medicine,
a profession in which his three brothers
and his father were all engaged. He be-
gan his studies in the office of his elder
brother, and in 1880 sold out his thriving
drug business in order to be able to give his
entire time to his studies. He entered the
Medical Department of Trinity College, in
Toronto, in 1880, and went from there to the
University of New York, from which he
graduated in 1884. After graduating he
established himself in practice in New York
city, where he remained until 1878.
That was the year when Sault Ste. Marie
started to boom. Dr.
Dr. Lang determined to
get in on the ground floor, so he gave up his
New York practice and coming west located
in the young city. Here he soon became
known and popular, and with his popularity
his practice increased until at the present
time he stands at the head of his profession
in that city, where he is an honored and re-
spected citizen.
Dr. Lang has always been a Republican,
and identified as a leading member of that
party. He has held many political offices,
at his home in Owen Sound. In 1892 he
was elected mayor of the city of Sault Ste.
Marie.
During his term as mayor, many improve-
ments were made in the city of Sault Ste.
Marie.
Dr. Lang is a member of the State Medi-
cal Association of Michigan, and the Amer-
ican Medical Association, and he is a Royal
Arch Mason. He is unmarried, and has a
cozy home at Sault Ste. Marie, enjoying a
large practice and the confidence and esteem
of his fellow-townsmen, who look upon him
as a progressive man, willing to aid any cause
that will tend to benefit the city or its people.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
271
FISHER, WALTER J. A small boy
struggling with a large push-cart in a vain
effort to keep it from running away from him
on the down-grades was a sight that amused
the citizens of Pontiac some thirty years ago.
The small boy has pushed himself far away
from the cart now, but he still remembers his
struggles with that vehicle and how his arms
and back would ache at the termination of
his day's work.
From a grocer's boy and the motive power
of the delivery cart, Walter J. Fisher has be-
come one of the wealthy and influential citi-
zens of Pontiac, and the proprietor of one of
the largest and busiest wholesale and retail
grocery stores in the county. He is only 40
years of age now, for he was born in Chicago,
Ill., October 5, 1859, and yet in this short
time he has firmly established himself among
the business men of this state.
His parents moved from Chicago to De-
troit in 1863, and from Detroit to Pontiac in
1864.
Walter Fisher was sent to the public
school in Pontiac until he was 12 years of
age, and when not at school he was given odd
jobs to keep him busy. At the age of 12 he
was sent to work in a grocery store, presum-
ably as clerk, but in reality he was everything
else beside.
In 1874 he had the good fortune to enter
the employ of Joseph Nusbaumer, and he
remained with him until 1881. During this
During this
time his employer taught him bookkeeping.
At the age of 16 the young man was head
clerk in the establishment, beside buying all
the goods and managing the business.
He returned to his old employer, Walters,
who, in 1882, made an agreement with him.
that he would sell out in five years. At the
expiration of that period Mr. Fisher found
himself the proprietor of a good business and,
by dint of hard work and strict attention, he
has made that business one of the most suc-
cessful in the country. In 1883 he started
in the real estate business, purchasing some
property on the main street of Pontiac.
In 1893 he bought the old Walton farm,
on Woodward avenue, just outside of the
WALTER J. FISHER.
city
city limits, and in 1895 he bought the
Washburn farm, also on Woodward avenue.
These properties, although not yet platted,
are considered the most desirable real estate
near Pontiac. Mr. Fisher owns many fine
building lots in Pontiac, together with seven
dwelling houses from which he derives con-
siderable income in rentals. He is also owner
of much desirable realty in Detroit.
In all his real estate transactions Mr.
Fisher has been more than ordinarily suc-
cessful.
cessful. He knows good property when he
sees it and can figure some distance ahead
when making a deal. He does a large real
estate business in connection with his grocery
trade.
His wife, formerly Mary R. Crawford,
daughter of Joseph B. Crawford, of Pontiac,
has proven a valuable helpmate to him ever
since their union in 1887. They have five
children, namely, Walter Joseph, Mark R.,
Charles Henry, Alva Francis H. and James
Kenneth Fisher, all of whom live at home.
Mr. Fisher is affiliated with the Masonic
fraternity, being a member of Pontiac Lodge,
No. 21, F. and A. M., and the Pontiac Com-
mandery, K. T.
272
MEN OF PROGRESS.

JOHN WESLEY FITZGERALD.
FITZGERALD, HON. JOHN WES-
LEY. Hon. John Wesley Fitzgerald, the
present postmaster of Grand Ledge, Michigan.
and a prominent business man of that place,
was born in Montpelier, Vermont, October 22,
1850, being the child of Irish parents, his
father coming to this country from Limerick,
Ireland, in 1830. When Mr. Fitzgerald was
quite young both of his parents died, and the
boy was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. David Bar-
ton, of Lyons, New York. He worked on a
farm and attended the district school until he
was 19 years of age, when he secured a teach-
er's certificate and became a teacher at a sal-
ary of $25 a month in a district school. The
following summer he worked on a farm and
taught the next two winters in district school.
Anxious to further his education in every way
possible, he entered the Sodus Academy, at
Sodus, New York, having earned enough
money to economically pay his way through
the course. In company with three other
young students he rented a room, and each one
took his turn as cook, so in this way they man-
aged to keep expenses down to about $1.50 a
week. In June, 1873, Mr. Fitzgerald started
west to make his fortune, intending to locate
in Iowa. He stopped at Jackson, Michigan,
to visit an uncle who was a resident of that
city, and in company with him drove down to
Grand Ledge to visit another uncle at that
place. It was during the harvesting season,
and young Fitzgerald turned in and helped his
uncle gather the crops. He was offered a
good district school and a salary of $40 a
month if he would consent to remain there
that winter, so he accepted and remained there
until the following fall, working as a farm-
hand during the summer and the next summer
going out on the road as a traveling salesman
for S. B. Green, selling agricultural imple-
ments to farmers throughout the country. He
then took the position of clerk in the hardware
store of S. B. Granger, at Grand Ledge, which
had now become his home, and as such he
worked steadily and industriously for seven
years, and was then taken into the firm as an
equal partner. At the end of ten years Mr.
Fitzgerald severed his connection with this
business and selling out in 1890 he organized
the Grand Ledge Sewer Pipe Company, of
which he is at present a director. For several
years he sold this company's output on the
road. He was also identified with the estab-
lishment and locating of the chair factory at
Grand Ledge, which is one of the most pros-
perous institutions of that place, and gives em-
ployment to a large number of people.
Mr. Fitzgerald is a Republican. He was
representative for the first district of Eaton
county in the Legislature of 1895-1896 and
clerk of the house committee on state affairs
during the session of 1893. He was a mem-
ber of the school board of Grand Ledge from
1894 to 1898; township clerk from 1876 to
1878 and appointed postmaster June 16,
1898, and he still holds that office.
He married Miss Carrie G., daughter of
Tobias Foreman, at Grand Ledge, Michigan,
in 1879, and has three children: Pearl, Harry
B., employed in the Grand Ledge postoffice,
and Frank D., at school in Grand Ledge.
Mr. Fitzgerald is a Mason, and belongs to
Lansing Commandery, No. 25, K. T. He is
also a Pythian and a member of the K. O.
T. M.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
273
GRAHAM, RODNEY SHEPHERD.
The name of Graham is a familiar one, both
in Scottish history and romance. In the
Gaelic the name is rendered Graeme. It was
a Graeme whose weapon slew James I. of
Scotland. Malcolm Graehame is made a
character in Scott's "Lady of the Lake," and
Roland Graeme is the hero of the romance of
The Abbott. A page of Scottish history in
medieval times would be deficient if not
marked by the name of Graham or Graeme.
From this stock sprang Richard Graham, who
emigrating from Scotland at an early day,
settled in the state of New York, where his
son, Harvey Graham, father of Rodney S.,
was born and reared. Harvey Graham re-
moved from New York to Newmarket, On-
tario, in the early forties, where he married
Sarah Ann Barker, a native of Ontario, and
where Rodney S. was born August 11, 1864.
He attended school at Queensville until 14
years of age, when the family moved to Sault
Ste. Marie, Michigan. Here Rodney S. en-
tered the high school, where he finished the
course, and then attended college at Valpa-
raiso, Indiana. After completing his studies,
he taught district school for several terms, in
the meantime taking a teacher's review
course. Returning to the Sault in 1887, he
there married Miss Nellie McKinnon. In
1891 he went to Washington and secured a
position in the Indian school service, being
stationed at the Pulallup
Pulallup Consolidated
Agency as a teacher. He remained there six
years, being promoted at the end of the first
year to the position of superintendent. This
school being discontinued, Mr. Graham was
transferred to Hoopa, California, where he
was made superintendent of the much larger
school at that place. September 8, 1897, he
was transferred to the Indian school at Mt.
Pleasant, Michigan, where he became a
bonded superintendent. The school then had
but a single large building and 140 pupils.
The number increased in one year to 300,
and is now regarded as one of the first insti-
tutions of its kind in the country, and is doing
a great work. The boys are taught general
RODNEY SHEPHERD GRAHAM.
farming and many useful trades. The in-
struction for girls includes housekeeping, sew-
ing, dressmaking in its several branches, cook-
ing, nursing and laundry work, with special
branches for advanced pupils in both sexes.
Pupils are taken at seven years of age
and up-
wards, remaining until eighteen. The regu-
lar school embraces eight grades, correspond-
ing to those usually prescribed for the public
schools, and the pupils when graduated are
eligible to the Carlisle and Haskell Schools
for advanced Indian pupils. In brightness
and aptness to learn, the young Indians com-
pare very favorably with white pupils of the
public schools. The Mt. Pleasant institution
is a model of its kind, the farm consisting of
320 acres, located on a high plateau, one and
one-half miles from the city of Mount Pleas-
ant, in the county of Isabella.
Mr. Graham has held the position of mem-
ber and chairman of the Chippewa county
board of school examiners, but has held no
other public office, his entire work having
been in connection with the teaching profes-
sion. He is a member of the Masonic frater-
nity, of the Elks, and the Maccabees. Al-
though his calling is wholly non-political in
character, he is at the same time an adherent
of the Republican party.
274
MEN OF PROGRESS.

CHARLES ROBERT SLIGH.
SLIGH, CHARLES ROBERT. Mr. Sligh
was born at Grand Rapids, Mich., January 5,
1850, and is of Scotch-Irish descent, his
father, James W., being born in Scotland, and
his mother, Eliza (Wilson) Sligh, in Ireland.
His grandfather settled in Canada in 1833,
and his parents came from Rochester, N. Y., to
Michigan in 1846. His father was a captain
in the Michigan Engineers and Mechanics'
Regiment, was wounded in battle and died in
1863.
The boy attended the common school until
he was fifteen years old, when he realized that
he would have to shift for himself and help
support the family. After a few months'
work in the County Clerk's office, he appren-
ticed himself to W. D. Foster, of Grand Rap-
ids, to learn the trade of tinsmith. After com-
pleting his apprenticeship, he worked one
year as a journeyman, through Illinois and
Michigan. He was sometimes hard pressed
for food, one day subsisting on raw green corn,
picked in the fields along the road. Twice he
had to pawn his valise and watch, for a night's
lodging. At Galesburg, Ill., he secured em-
ployment with the C., B. & Q. R. R., where
he worked four months. Then he returned
to Grand Rapids and again entered the employ
of W. D. Foster, as clerk. He engaged with
the Berkey & Gay Furniture Co., and from
1874 to 1880 was a traveling salesman for that
firm, being the first man to introduce Grand
Rapids furniture in Texas, making his trips
by stage or on horseback.
In 1880 Mr. Sligh organized the Sligh
Furniture Company, with a capital of $18,-
500, of which he furnished $4,000. Only
40 men were employed, but the firm has pros-
pered until it now employs 325 men and the
goods sell in every state in the Union.
Mr. Sligh was married in 1875, to Mary S.,
daughter of David Conger, of Prairie du Sac,
Wis., and three daughters, Edith, Adeline and
Loraine, are the result of this union.
Mr. Sligh is a director in the Citizens' Tele-
phone Company, which was organized largely
through his efforts and which is one of the
largest independent companies in the country.
He served one term on the Board of Education
and was president of the National Furniture
Manufacturers' Association 1888-92, and for
several years was president of the Grand Rap-
ids Furniture Manufacturers' Association, and
is at present one of its directors. He was one
of the organizers of the Grand Rapids Board
of Trade, was its vice-president for one year
and a director for ten years.
He was recently appointed by Gov. Pingree
a member of the "Michigan Board of Man-
agers at the Ohio Centennial."
Mr. Sligh was for several years engaged in
importing mahogany from Central America,
making five trips to that country. He was
especially instrumental in 1890 in breaking
up the mirror glass trust, making a trip to
Germany for that purpose. He also made a
trip to Europe in 1894, introducing Grand
Rapids furniture.
Mr. Sligh was a Republican, but separated
from the party on the financial question. In
1896 he was nominated for Governor by the
Bay City fusion convention and polled the
largest vote ever given a Democrat in Michi-
for that office. He is a man of sterling
qualities and a most influential citizen.
gan

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
275
HART, RODNEY GEORGE. Rodney
George Hart was the first white child born in
Lapeer County, Michigan. The date of this
event was May 28, 1834, when that section
of this now thickly populated state was almost
a wilderness.
His father, Alvin N. Hart, was the pioneer
settler in Lapeer County, cutting his way
through the woods from a point near Oxford,
Michigan, guided only by the signs known to
the woodmen of that time, and camping
wherever nightfall found him. One night he
camped under a huge elm tree.
still standing today on the commons in the City
of Lapeer. Alvin N. Hart was the first sen-
ator from that section, and also county judge
This tree is
Until he was about twelve years old Rod-
ney G. Hart attended the district school near
his home, and then he was sent to the school
in Romeo, Michigan. At sixteen he visited
relatives in Cleveland, Ohio, and attended
school in that city, when he returned to Michi-
gan to enter the University of Michigan. His
studies were interrupted by ill-health and at
nineteen years
years of age he was forced to leave
school altogether.
Mr. Hart was present at the first session
of the Legislature in Lansing, in the capacity
of page, being one of the three pages that
were appointed in 1848. He was then four-
teen years old.
In the year of 1866 he established a pri-
vate bank and successfully conducted the
banking business until 1878 when he sold out
his interests and went abroad to spend a year
in Europe. While abroad he visited the Paris
Exposition with the General Grant party.
Mr. Hart was the first mayor of the city of
Lapeer. For six years he held the position of
postmaster there, and was a member of the
Board of Aldermen for several terms. While
serving on the Board of Water Commission-
ers, together with Judge Joseph B. Moore,
now on the Supreme Bench, he was instru-
mental in giving Lapeer the water system now
in use.
Since his return from Europe, Mr. Hart,
beside devoting his attention to his many
RODNEY GEORGE HART.
other interests, has been occupied in the
breeding of Percheron and standard bred
horses, Devon and Galloway cattle, Merino
sheep and Victoria hogs. His Devon and
Galloway stock are famous and Merino sheep
from his farm have been sold all over the
world where sheep are raised.
Mr. Hart has interested himself in the pro-
motion of many enterprises in this state, prin-
cipally the New State Telephone Company,
of which he is one of the largest stockholders.
He is manager of the local institution, and a
director in the original Detroit company. He
owns and operates many large farms, the
largest of which adjoins the city of Lapeer.
In the Masonic fraternity, Mr. Hart has
made his way as far as the Mystic Shrine, is
a member of Moslem Temple in Detroit, and
of the Genesee Valley Commandery No. 15
in Flint. He married Mary C. Hazen at La-
peer, December 5, 1854, and has three daugh-
ters, all of whom are married. Kate being
the wife of Frederick Lincoln, of Lapeer;
Belle, that of M. H. McCarthy, of Chicago,
and Mary, wife of E. J. Southwich, also of
Chicago.
276
MEN OF PROGRESS.

COL. JOHN PAUL PETERMANN.
PETERMANN, COL. JOHN PAUL.
Col. John Paul Petermann, of Allouez, Mich-
igan, won his spurs in the Spanish-American
war, fighting under General Shafter and Gen-
eral Duffield in the battles around Santiago de
Cuba, and being present at the siege and cap-
ture of that place. He has shown himself an
excellent officer, and his services have been
officially recognized by the government.
He is of German descent. His father, Fer-
dinand D. Petermann, came to this country
from Stuttgart, Germany, at the age of 14.
Mr. Petermann's grandfather, Daniel Peter-
mann, was a soldier in the Prussian army, and
later, when Napoleon conquered the province,
served under the great French emperor.
John Paul Petermann was born at Ridge
Mine, Ontonagon county, Michigan, July 24,
1863, and five years after his birth, in 1868,
the family moved to Calumet, where the
youngster attended the public school until he
reached his fifteenth year. His parents de-
His parents de-
sired that their boy should study for the min-
istry, but he had mechanical ideas, and wanted
to learn to be a machinist, and eventually
young Petermann carried the day. At the age
of 15 years he entered the machine shops of
the Calumet & Hecla mine, where he worked
for three years mastering the trade he had de-
termined upon following. He then took the
position of fireman on one of the engines
owned by the Calumet & Hecla Company and
engaged in hauling rock, and learning how to
run the engine. The two following years
were occupied as a time-keeper at the machine
shop, and he then accepted the position of en-
gineer and put in three years hauling the
rock.
After this Mr. Petermann then associated
himself with Ernst Bollman, getting out tim-
ber for the mines, and he is still engaged with
Mr. Bollman in this enterprise.
His general store in Allouez was started in
1894, when Mr. Petermann took all his sav-
ings from the bank, a matter of $8,000, and
went into this business. His father, prior to
the boy coming of age, had been the custodian
of all his savings, and when young Petermann
became 21 years of age, he informed him.
that it was time he looked after his own
money. John Paul sent the money
over to a banker and instructed him to buy
one share of Calumet & Hecla every time he
had enough money on hand. He bought
12 shares of this stock at the average price of
$250 a share, and he held them until the
spring of 1899, when he sold them for $870
a share.
Mr. Petermann joined as a private the
Calumet Light Guard in 1881 and served suc-
cessively as corporal, sergeant, second lieuten-
ant, first lieutenant, captain, major and was
made colonel of the Fifth Regiment, January
15, 1897. He served as colonel of the Thirty-
fourth Michigan Volunteers during the Span-
ish-American war, and upon the reorganiza-
tion of the Michigan State troops, was made
colonel of the Third Regiment in July, and
resigned August 15, 1899. Col. Petermann
married Miss Ida E. L. Groth, the adopted
daughter of Ernest Bollman at Calumet, in
1890. They have five children at home.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
277
SHELDEN, HON. CARLOS DOUG-
LASS. When Carlos Douglass Shelden was
making $10 a day for five days on a contract
he took when he was 14 years of age to move
a steam boiler from Portage Lake to the
Huron mine, he thought his fortune was
made, and that never again in his career
would he ever get so much money in such a
short space of time. He has almost forgotten
that episode now in the busy life he has been
leading since that period, and to-day this
prominent capitalist and business man of
Houghton, Michigan, is largely interested in
copper, iron and timber lands in the Upper
Peninsula.
Carlos D. Shelden was born in Walworth,
Walworth county, Wisconsin, June 10, 1840.
His father was Ransom Shelden, one of the
pioneers of the copper district of Michigan, and
his grandfather was George Shelden, of Essex,
New York. Mr. Shelden's mother, Theresa
M. Douglass, was a descendant of the Doug-
lass family of Massachusetts, mentioned fre-
quently in the historical records of the New
England colonies, and of revolutionary fame.
The elder Shelden brought his family to
Michigan in 1847, when the boy was but
seven years of age, and located in Houghton.
Here young Shelden was sent to the district
school. From 1858 to 1861 the boy attended
the public schools of Ypsilanti, and when the
civil war broke out he raised a company, which
was mustered in as Company I, Twenty-third
Michigan Infantry. He was elected captain,
and as such he served with his regiment
through the war, participating in many en-
gagements. He was mustered out in 1865.
Returning to Houghton, he engaged in the
drug business, in which he remained for six
years. He was then made manager of the
Portage Lake Foundry, and he held that posi-
tion for eighteen years, leaving it to become
the superintendent of the Shelden & Shafer
Iron Company, at Crystal Falls.
After four years in this latter position, Mr.
Shelden returned to Houghton, having pre-
HON. CARLOS DOUGLASS SHELDEN.
viously been appointed executor of the estate
of his father, Ransom Shelden, which com-
prised thousands of acres of the most valuable
iron, copper and timber lands in the Upper
Peninsula.
In 1865 Mr. Shelden married Miss A. Mary
Skiff, daughter of George and Eliza Skiff, of
Willoughby, Ohio. She died in 1868, when
their son, Ransom Skiff Shelden, now a prac-
ticing attorney at Houghton, Michigan, was
only six months old. In 1888 Mr. Shelden
married Mrs. Sallie W. Gardner, of Washing-
ton, D. C., a daughter of John Dashiell, an
attorney of Princess Anne, Maryland.
Mr. Shelden, in 1892, was elected a mem-
ber of the Michigan Legislature. He was sen-
ator from the Thirty-second District in 1894,
and elected to Congress from the Twelfth Dis-
trict of Michigan in 1896. He was re-elected
trict of Michigan in 1896.
to Congress in 1898. He is a Mason of the
Thirty-second degree, and belongs to Montrose
Commandery, K. T., of Calumet; the Shrine
of Ahmed Temple, Marquette, and the Grand
Rapids Consistory.
278
MEN OF PROGRESS.

CLEMENT M. SMITH.
SMITH, CLEMENT M. Judge Smith
first came to the Circuit Bench in January,
1893, when he was appointed to a short term
vacancy. He was elected for the full term at
then ensuing April election, and at the election
of 1899 was re-elected for a further term of six
years. He was born near Fort Wayne, Ind.,
December 4, 1844, his father, David W.
Smith, having been of English descent, and his
mother, Leonora McDonald, of Scotch descent.
The parents settled near Nashville, Barry
county, on the farm on which they still live,
in 1843. The son's early years were divided
between farm work and the country school.
When sixteen years of age he entered the Ver-
he entered the Ver-
montville Academy, where he passed a year
with the view of qualifying himself for teach-
ing. The three or four following years were
passed at teaching and farm work. An inci-
dent that brought him in connection with a
suit at law, as a witness, awakened in him an
interest in legal proceedings and determined
him to make the law his profession. In 1865
he entered the law department of the Univer-
sity and was admitted to the bar in 1868. He
accepted the principalship of the first Union
school opened at Nashville, 1868-9, and after
a few months spent in Minnesota he formed a
law partnership with Harvey Wright at Mid-
dleville, which was closed out after about six
months, when he returned to Nashville and
entered upon a successful practice. In 1876
he was elected Judge of Probate of Barry
county. In the fall of 1880 he formed a co-
partnership with Hon. Philip T. Colgrove,
which continued until Judge Smith was ap-
pointed to the Circuit Bench, necessitating his
withdrawal from active practice. In 1890
Judge Smith was appointed Prosecuting At-
torney of Barry county, to fill a vacancy. His
re-election to the judgeship in 1899 sufficiently
attests the estimation in which he is held as a
judge and citizen. A prominent member of
Eaton county bar (Eaton county being in-
cluded in Judge Smith's circuit) during the
earlier days of his judgeship, thus wrote of
him: "Judge Smith has much ability as a
jurist and is distinguishing himself for his
readiness in grasping and mastering principles.
He is extremely courteous and kind to mem-
bers of the bar. His great strength is seen in
his quick decisions, when once satisfied of the
right. Many a harsh rule of law is set aside
in behalf of justice and conscience, in his
He is apparently the most
chancery court.
interested person in the cases tried before him.
He has already taken front rank as a jurist in
the state. Being yet a comparatively young
his future must be as bright as his course
on the bench is upright and just."*
man,
Judge Smith is vice-president of the Hast-
ings Wool Boot Company and a director in the
Hastings National bank and the Hastings
Table Company. He is a member of the Ma-
sonic fraternity, including the Knights Tem-
plar, and of the Knights of Pythias. He is
also a member of the Circuit Judges' Associa-
tion of Michigan.
tion of Michigan. Miss Frances M. Wheeler,
daughter of Milo T. Wheeler of Hastings,
became Mrs. Smith in 1871. Their children
are Shirley, a graduate of the literary depart-
ment of the University, Class of '97, now an
instructor and taking a post-graduate course
there, Gertrude J., in the literary department
of the University, and Donald D., in the law
and literary departments
*Bench and Bar of Michigan, p. 288.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
279

HAWKINS, VICTOR. Among the
promising young attorneys of Southern Mich-
igan and one whose aim seems to be to honor
his native place, and who will deserve honors
at her hands, is Victor Hawkins of Jonesville.
He was born at that place June 7th, 1867, his
father, William B. Hawkins, having been one
of the pioneers of Hillsdale county, and for
forty years one of the best known practicing
physicians in that part of the state. His pa-
ternal grandfather was from Cornwall, Eng-
land, and was of the class known as the landed
gentry. His mother, Ellen Robinson, was a
Pennsylvania lady. The son at the age of
sixteen, with such education as the Jonesville
schools (including the primary and high
schools) afforded, decided to strike out for him-
self and went to Jeddo, Pa., and entered the
service of the G. B. Marble Coal Company,
starting in at $25.00 per month and in a short
time was made assistant bookkeeper. While
thus employed he was tendered a position as
bookkeeper in the Grosvenor Savings bank of
Jonesville. This offer, affording him as it did
an opportunity of resuming his residence in
his old home, was readily accepted. His bent,
however, seemed to be toward the law rather
than finance, and in the fall of 1886 he entered
the law department of the University, gradu-
ating therefrom with the class of 1889, and
was admitted to practice before Judge E. D.
Kinne at Ann Arbor. He at once opened
office at Jonesville, first with a partner, under
the firm name of Weaver & Hawkins, but after
six months the firm was dissolved and he has
since been in practice alone, having had a suc-
cessful and profitable practice from the start.
Mr. Hawkins is a Republican in politics and
his enviable standing at the bar and in the com-
munity his led him to be looked upon as
eligible timber for political preferment, and
VICTOR HAWKINS.
he has been tendered nominations on several
occasions, but has uniformly declined, deem-
ing it part of wisdom for a young man to at-
tend to business rather than politics. He has,
however, been village attorney for Jonesville
for the past ten years, an office that comes by
appointment rather than by popular election.
He has business interests in the village, bemg
a stockholder in the Omega Portland Cement
Company of Jonesville, attorney for the Gros-
venor bank and a director in the Jonesville
Electric Light & Power Company. He is a
society man, his connections being Masonic,
Knights of Pythias, Maccabees and Elks. He
is Past Master of Lafayette Lodge, No. 16, F.
& A. M., of Jonesville, and Past Chancellor of
Pythagorns Lodge, K. of P., which he organ-
ized.
Miss Jennie Eckler, daughter of Louis Eck-
ler of Jackson, became Mrs. Hawkins in 1897,
the fruit of the marriage being two children,
Ellen and Edwin Richard Hawkins.
280
MEN OF PROGRESS.

JAMES ALBERT COYE.
COYE, JAMES ALBERT. James Albert
Coye, Surveyor of Customs at Grand Rapids,
is a descendant of a sturdy Scotch family,
which originally came to this country in 1752,
settling in Connecticut. At that time the
name was written McCoy. Members of the
family served with distinction in the war of
the Revolution and in that of 1812.
Fighting his own battles since he was nine
years of age, he has risen steadily with the
growing position of Western Michigan and is
today one of the aggressive forces of the second
city of the state. He is a Republican of the
old stock, and his term of party service is a
long and honorable one, earning for him the
reputation of being one of the war horses of
party in Western Michigan. In 1897 he was
appointed by President McKinley to the sur-
veyorship of customs and he has so adminis-
tered the trust that the port of Grand Rapids,
in the value of its importations, has taken a
leading rank. He has put his personal energy
into the work, with the result that the govern-
ment receives more net revenue from Grand
Rapids than from any other port in the coun-
try in proportion to the business transacted.
His father, Albert Coye, was a manufacturer
of awnings and tents at Grand Rapids in 1854,
and it was there that James Albert Coye was
born, October 9, 1855. His mother, Mary
Pew, was of English descent, and was a woman
of strong character, training her son in prin-
ciples of sterling integrity which have been
his guiding star. The boy's early education.
was not extensive, being confined mainly in
early life to four years of instruction in the
public schools of Grand Rapids. His first ex-
perience was work in the upholstering depart-
ment of Comstock, Nelson & Co., and his
wages amounted to 25 cents a day. In the fall
of 1864 he was apprenticed to and learned the
wood carver's trade, serving from 1865 to
1875 as an employe of the great furniture
manufacturing company of Nelson, Matter &
Co. In 1875 he moved to Goshen, Ind., and
took charge of the carving department of the
Hawks Furniture Co., a newly organized con-
cern, and made their first designs in tables and
he returned to Grand Rapids and to the ser-
vice of his former employers, where he re-
mained for nearly ten years. Meantime, at
the suggestion of friends, he had begun the
study of the law, reading at intervals from the
time he was 15 years old until in 1890 he spent
a year in the law offices of Morris Houseman.
He was admitted to the bar in 1891, before
Judge Grove of the Kent County Circuit
Court, practicing law until he was appointed.
to the position which he now holds. He has
held no other public office, though he was
twice a candidate for the Michigan House of
Representatives at a time when Repu' lican
majorities were hard to find in Grand Rapids.
He has been chairman of the Republican city
committee of Grand Rapids, was for seven
years a director of the Valley City Building &
Loan Association, and in 1887 was president
of the Grand Rapids Retail Grocers' Associa-
tion.
chamber sets. He was there until 1880, when
In 1875 he married Miss Belle Judd, of
Ligonier, Ind. They have no children.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
281
LEE, FRED ELMER. Mr. Lee is general
manager of the P. D. Beckwith estate and of
the Round Oak Stove Works (now become ex-
tensive) established by P. D. Beckwith in
1869. He was born in Dowagiac in 1858 and
after passing the public schools, he finished
his education at Buchtel College, at Akron,
Ohio. In 1876 he began his business career as
bookkeeper for the banking firm of C. T. Lee
& Son at Dowagiac. Two years later he went
to Quincy, Mich., to take charge of his father's
affairs there. Returning to Dowagiac at the
end of a year (1879) he entered the employ of
Mr. Beckwith. After three years employed in
the works and office he went on the road as
salesman for five years,, when the magnitude
of the business had become such that he was
called in to take charge of the sales depart-
ment, and for several years previous to Mr.
Beckwith's death in 1889, he was in charge of
all the office work. On Mr. Beckwith's death,
Mr. Lee's familiarity with the business, to-
gether with his known probity, pointed him
out as the one eminently fitted for the respon-
sible trust of general manager of the estate, of
which he was appointed one of the executors.
A daughter of Mr. Beckwith, Miss Kate
Beckwith, became Mrs. Lee in 1878 and
Mr. and Mrs. Lee joined with the other heirs
in erecting the handsome opera house to the
memory of Mr. Beckwith, in Dowagiac, who
had done so much for the growth and prosper-
ity of the town, and had equally endeared him-
self to his family and friends. Mr. Lee is one
of the solid men of Western Michigan. He
has banking interests at Dowagiac and Benton
Harbor and manufacturing interests at
Buchanan, is president of the Buchanan & St.
Joseph River railroad company and has ex-
tensive real estate interests at home and in the
west.
He was mayor of Dowagiac in 1890 and a
delegate to the Republican National Conven-
tion at Minneapolis in 1892. His father and
mother, Chauncey T., and Sarah H. (Lock-
wood) Lee, are both living in Dowagiac. Mrs.
Fred E. Lee is a graduate of Mrs. Towle's
Female Seminary at Detroit. She has always
FRED ELMER LEE.
given much of her time and means to benevo-
lent
purposes, and established and maintained
at her own expense the first kindergarten in
Dowagiac. She is a great reader and an ex-
tensive traveler, both in this country and
abroad. She is fond of club work and is a
member of the Board of Control of the Chil-
dren's Home at St. Joseph. Both Mr. and
Mrs. Lee's ancestry date back to the Puritans
of the Mayflower. They have one child.
The Beckwith works, first established for
the manufacture of Round Oak Stoves, em-
ployed in the beginning eight hands. Today
the estate employs 600 men and the plant re-
quires for its buildings and operating space
over fifteen acres of ground, and the furnaces
have a daily melting capacity of sixty tons of
pig iron. The stoves are adapted both to hard
and soft coal and wood, and the demand for
the output is co-extensive with the continent.
The concern manufactures cooking ranges and
furnaces (of the latter of which they manufac-
ture ten different sizes) which have, equally
with the heaters, points that commend them
to the trade and to the public. The manage-
ment are proud of the fact that they have
never had any misunderstanding with their
employes, and that the business has increased
five fold within the last seven years.
282
MEN OF PROGRESS.

MARTIN G. LOENNECKER.
LOENNECKER, MARTIN G. Mr.
Loennecker is one of the public spirited citi-
zens of Jackson. Born in Germany in 1845,
his education, up to the age of fourteen years,
was received in the Normal School of Olden-
burg, but improving his evenings by the study
of languages. At the age of fourteen he went
to work as assistant bookkeeper in a commis-
sion house, without salary, remaining there
three years. He had so pursued his linguistic
studies that at the age of seventeen, in addition
to his native German, he could speak and write
English, French, Spanish and Dutch (Hol-
land). Seeing no opening in Germany he de-
cided to come to America. With twenty dol-
lars given him by his father, and a passage
ticket, he came to New York. After a five
days' quest, he secured a position as assistant
bookkeeper in a wholesale liquor house, in
which position he remained one year. He
afterwards learned the trade of a cigarmaker.
After some three years spent in New York
City, he diversified his occupation by working
as a salesman for a New York book concern in
western New York for about three years, when
he decided to remove to Chicago. He opened
a book store in that city and did a good business
until 1871, when he was burned out. The
great Chicago fire of 1871 so crippled the in-
surance companies that out of insurance of
$7,000 which Mr. Loennecker carried on his
stock, he received less than $300. He came to
Jackson in 1872 and first went to work at his
trade of a cigar maker and soon became a
manufacturer.
In 1886 and 1887 he was elected alderman
and in 1888 was elected mayor on the Demo-
cratic ticket and re-elected in 1889 by a large
majority.
Mr. Loennecker was led in his political
action to affiliate with the People's party, as
the best representative of that social and indus-
trial equality that has been the dream of many
of the best thinkers and philosophers the world
over. In 1889 he started the Industrial News
at Jackson, which he sold out in 1899, though
still retaining his connection with it as an edi-
torial writer. He helped to organize the Peo-
ple's party in the state in 1889 and '90 and
has taken an active part during the several
campaigns. He was nominated on the com-
bination ticket at the Bay City convention in
1896 for Commissioner of the State Land
Office, and supported Wm. J. Bryan (of whom
he is a great admirer as well as of the Chicago
platform) for the presidency. In 1897 he
was again nominated and elected mayor of the
city of Jackson, and was re-elected in 1898
and again in 1899 for a fifth term. On his
first election he at once began an investigation
of the city finances and city officials, and
secured the return to the city of considerable
sums of money wrongfully withheld by two
different officials. During his term the local
taxes were reduced and a bonded indebtedness
of $53,000 paid off. The Jackson City Hos-
pital owes its existence largely, if not wholly,
to his efforts. He started a popular subscrip-
tion in 1888 by which the hospital was founded
and donated to the city. He still continues his
business as a cigar manufacturer and is presi-
dent of the Michigan Mutual Plate Glass In-
surance Company and is a member of the Ger-
man Arbeiter Society of Michigan. Mrs.
Loennecker, to whom he was married at Buf-
falo, N. Y., in 1866, was formerly Miss Mary
Borchard. Their children are Louisa, widow
of Frederick Price of Jackson, Anna, wife of
G. Mumford, an attorney, Chicago; Gustav
A., business manager with his father; Blanche
A., at home; Julius E., with Metropolitan Life
Insurance Company.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
283
WARNER, FRED M. Born in Hickling,
Nottinghamshire, England, July 21st, 1865,
at the age of three months he was brought to
this country by his parents, and a few months
later his mother died. After the death of his
mother he was adopted by Hon. P. Dean War-
ner, the oldest resident of Farmington village
and one of the earliest settlers in that vicinity.
Fred graduated from the Farmington High
School at the age of fourteen, and afterwards
attended the State Agricultural College for
one term. He then became a clerk in his
father's large general store, and when he
reached the age of twenty-one, the mercantile
business was turned over to him. Three years
later he purchased the hardware business in an
adjoining store, uniting the whole under one
roof, and making it the most extensive mer-
cantile business in Oakland county.
Realizing the fitness of the land in that part
of Oakland county for grazing purposes, Mr.
Warner in 1889 established a large cheese fac-
tory at Farmington. The success of this fac-
tory led to the establishment by him later on of
like factories at Franklin and Novi. In 1899
the output of the three factories was ten
thousand boxes, or 450,000 pounds, of cheese,
nearly all of which was sold to the Michigan
trade. He has recently purchased a fourth
factory. In addition to his other lines of busi-
ness Mr. Warner operates a cold storage plant,
in connection with which immense quantities
of eggs and butter are handled every year.
He is also senior partner in the brick manu-
facturing firm of Warner & Whipple.
Largely through Mr. Warner's efforts a bank
was established at Farmington in 1898, he be-
ing a stockholder and one of the directors.
When twenty-three years of age Mr. War-
ner was elected a member of the village coun-
cil, and has served on the council nine years.
He has been five times elected president of
the village, four times without opposition, and
the one time when there was opposition, he was
chosen by an overwhelming majority. In
1894 he was elected to the State Senate from
the twelfth district, comprising the counties
of Oakland and Macomb, and was returned in
FRED M. WARNER.
1896, both times leading the entire ticket in
both counties in votes received. He was the
youngest member of the Senate in the sessions
of both '95 and '97. His career in the Senate
was marked by the same energy, ability and
fidelity that he has shown in
every official
position which he has held. He made a deter-
mined fight against the plank road companies
which had for years exacted tolls from the
people without keeping their roads in proper
condition, and he secured the passage of a law
which brought the companies to time.
The name of Warner is one that is much
respected at Farmington and the adjacent
country. P. Dean Warner saw Farmington
in 1824, and although now in his eightieth
year is still active in business affairs, being
president of the Farmington bank. He was a
representative in the Legislature in 1865 and
1867, and was Speaker during the latter ses-
sion. He was a member of the Senate in 1869.
Both father and son have done a great deal
toward the advancement of the town and vicin-
ity in which they live.
Mr. Warner is a member of the higher
Masonic orders and of the auxiliary Eastern
Star, of the Knights of Pythias, Knights of
the Loyal Guard, and of the Maccabees. In
1888 he married Martha M. Davis, daughter
of Samuel Davis, of Farmington. They have
four children, the oldest ten years and the
youngest one year of age.
284
MEN OF PROGRESS.

CYRUS GRAY LUCE..
LUCE, CYRUS GRAY. There is a wide
difference between an office seeker and an office
holder. As a rule the office seeker does not get
there, while the office holder gets there be-
cause he is wanted. This distinction will at
least hold good in the case of a man who for
half a century has been continuously (with
some possible interims) in the service of the
public in various positions. More than fifty
years ago (1848) Gov. Luce was a Whig can-
didate for the Indiana Legislature. Whigs in
office in those days were rather a scarce com-
modity, and although Mr. Luce was defeated,
it was by only a few votes in a strong Demo-
cratic district. This may be termed the com-
mencement of a life covering more than fifty
years.
Gov. Luce combined New England with
Virginian blood, his father, Walter Luce, be-
ing from Connecticut and his mother, Mary
M. Gray, from Virginia. The parents were
married in Ohio, Cyrus G. having been born
at Windsor, that state, July 2nd, 1824. The
family removed to Indiana in 1836 and Cyrus
G. settled in Gilead, Branch county, in 1849.
Three years later he was elected supervisor of
his township and has served in that capacity
at different times for eleven years. In 1854
(the first year of the Republican ascendancy),
he was elected to the Legislature. He was
treasurer of Branch county two terms, 1858-
'62, and State Senator two terms, sessions of
1865 and '67. He was elected Governor in
1886 and again in 1888. In all his public
trusts, economy, honesty, force and courage to
do right, have been the governing factors. As
governor he did not hesitate to use the veto
power where his judgment so inclined him.
Whether wise or unwise in itself, his veto of
an appropriation in behalf of the State Univer-
sity during his first term illustrates the sturdy
courage of the man. Few men hoping for re-
election would have hazarded the enmity of
an institution so strong in itself, and with thou-
sand holding cherished relations to it, in every
part of the state. But he did what he thought
was right regardless of what might come after.
As State Oil Inspector, 1879-83, he so system-
atized and economized the work that a finan-
cial balance of over $32,000 was saved to the
state. Mr. Luce served for a number of
years
on the State Board of Agriculture and as Mas-
ter of the State Grange and as President of the
State Pioneer and Historical Society, and is
now President of the State Library Commis-
sion. With an education running from the pri-
mary to the academic, he has been equal to
every place to which he has been called. With-
out pretentions to oratory, he is, in debate or on
the stump, as Mark Anthony was, a plain,
blunt man who speaks right on, and to the pur-
pose. With a capital of only $200 supplied
him by his father, he has made a home and a
farm of which he is justly proud and a name of
which his fellow citizens are equally proud.
While his hand and his heart are with 'the
farming interests, not his own merely, but
those of the state at large, he has other busi-
ness and financial interests. Mr. Luce was
first married in 1849 to Miss Julia A. Dick-
inson of Gilead, by whom he had four chil-
dren, two sons and two daughters. Left a
widower, August 13th, 1882, he was again
married November 12th, 1883, to Mrs. Mary
E. Thompson of Bronson.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
285
LONG, M. D., OSCAR RUSSELL. Dr.
Oscar Russell Long, medical superintendent
of the State Asylum, Ionia, Michigan, and a
resident of that city, is a native of Williams-
port, Pennsylvania, in which city he was born,
August 16, 1850. His father was Francis
F. Long, a lumber manufacturer of that place.
When Oscar Long was nine months of age his
mother died and her adopted father, Col.
Joseph S. Titus, took charge of the three chil-
dren that were left alone. He lived just out-
side of the city of Williamsport and young
Long was sent to the district school and later
to Dickinson Seminary. When the boy was
seventeen years old he quit school and entered
his father's sash and blind factory, working at
first as a mill hand earning $1.25 per diem, and
being sent from one department to the other
in order to learn the work thoroughly. The
next year he entered the sash department and
later was placed in charge of it. While there
he was tendered and accepted a position as
general manager of a new plant of the same
kind which had been erected at West Creek,
near Emporium, Pa., by the Allen W. Swift
Company. It was a step upward and for the
next eighteen months Mr. Long was superin-
tendent of a hustling small plant employing
40 to 50 men. He was not satisfied and de-
cided to take up some other profession, so he
gave his employer notice that he intended to
quit at a certain date, and despite flattering
offers of better pay, left the works and after
a consultation with his older brother decided
to adopt the medical profession, as one that
presented the best opportunities to a hustling
young man.
Entering the office of Drs. Doane and Rein-
hold, March, 1870, he read medicine during
the spring and summer and taught school in
the winter of 1870 and 1871, entered the Uni-
versity of Michigan in the fall of 1871, he at-
tended the full course of lectures of the college
year of 1871 and 1872. In October of the
latter year he came to Detroit, Michigan, and
entered the Detroit Homeopathic Medical Col-
lege, from which he graduated in June, 1873.
He then started to seek his fortune in the west-
OSCAR RUSSELL LONG, M. D.
ern country, locating at Burlington, Iowa,
where he practiced successfully and saved up
$300, which he deposited in a bank that was
among the first to fail in 1873. He was ten-
dered and accepted the position of professor
and demonstrator of anatomy at the Detroit
Homeopathic College and returned to Michi-
gan, remaining in that capacity for two years.
In the spring of 1874 he located at Ionia,
Michigan, and practiced his profession there
for eleven years. When the state of Michigan
had completed an asylum for the dangerous
and criminal insane (now State Asylum), Dr.
Long was appointed medical superintendent
and opened the institution in September, 1885.
The new buildings were erected in 1890 and
1896, and there are 260 inmates today.
Dr. Long married Miss Annie M. Freeman
at Detroit, Michigan, in 1874. He has one
child, Grace S., wife of Albert B. Bedford,
capitalist and jeweler of Ionia, Mich. Dr.
Long is vice-president of the State Savings
bank of Ionia; a member of the American
Psychological Association, the American In-
stitute of Homeopathy; ex-president of the
Michigan Homeopathic State Medical Society,
and a member of the F. & A. M.
286
MEN OF PROGRESS.

CHARLES E. BELKNAP.
BELKNAP, CHARLES E. "From drum-
mer boy to Congress" seems to be an appropri-
ate introduction to a sketch of this well known
citizen of the Valley City. Closing his school
life at twelve years of age and entering upon
and entering upon
shop work, he acquired a knowledge of handi-
craft and business at the receptive period of
life during the ensuing three or four years,
that later on beaconed him forward to a suc-
cessful career as a manufacturer. His father
was engaged in wagon making and blacksmith-
ing at Grand Rapids, and it was here that Mr.
Belknap's apprenticeship was served. In 1862,
then less than sixteen years of age, carried
along by the patriotic impulse, he enlisted as
a drummer boy in the Twenty-first Michigan
Infantry and served until the close of the
Civil War, although the drummer boy's sash
was soon exchanged for the sword and musket.
He entered the ranks and participated in the
battles of Perrysville, Stone River, Chicka-
mauga, Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, Savan-
nah, Bentonville and in many minor battles
and skirmishes. He was wounded five times,
and was captain of his company at the close of
the war, and had been breveted Major and
Lieutenant-Colonel. Returning to Grand
Rapids, he worked for a year at his old trade
and then for five years conducted his father's
farm near Grand Rapids. In 1872 he opened
a small wagon shop and the first
year turned
out about fifteen wagons. The business grew
steadily and in 1884, the Belknap Wagon Co.
was organized and incorporated and is today
the second largest manufactory of sleighs in
the United States. Their output last year was
1,200 wagons and 1,800 sleighs, giving em-
ployment to about sixty men the
year round.
Mr. Kelknap has done service to the state in
civil life as well as in the military and indus-
trial lines. He served seven years as member
of the Grand Rapids School Board and was
its acting president for two years, 1882-3, and
a like time as mayor, 1884-5. He was a mem-
ber of the board of control of the School for
the Deaf at Flint for five years.
He was
elected to and served two terms in Congress
(the Fifty-first and Fifty-second), and was
elected to the Fifty-third Congress by a plu-
rality of nine votes, but the seat was given to
his opponent by the adverse Democratic ma-
jority in Congress. In 1895 he was appointed
by Governor Rich as president of the Michigan
Commission with duties pertaining to the
Chickamauga, Chattanooga and Missionary
Ridge National Military Park. As such, he
compiled and published a report thereon, of
which 10,000 copies were ordered printed by
the State, for distribution.
The Belknaps were originally from Eng-
land, coming to and locating at Woburn,
Mass., in 1637. The father and mother of
Charles E., James A., and Mary (Butler) Bel-
knap, were from Vermont, but resided for a
time in Massena, N. Y., where Charles E. was
born Oct. 17, 1846. His paternal and ma-
ternal grandfathers were both soldiers in the
war of 1812 and a great great grandfather
served in the revolutionary war. Commander
Charles Belknap, in charge of the navy yard
at Annapolis, and Rear-Admiral George E.
Belknap, represent a branch of the family.
Mr. Belknap was married in 1866 to Miss
Chloe Caswell, daughter of David Caswell, of
Grand Rapids. Four daughters, three of
whom are married, are the fruit of the union.
Mr. Belknap is a member of the Loyal Legion,
G. A. R., and Pythians.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
287
RANNEY, FREDERICK
FREDERICK
ELI. The
Ranney Refrigerator Company, of Greenville,
Michigan, of which Frederick Eli Ranney is
the president, was organized in 1892, and
since that time it has grown into one of the
largest manufacturing plants of its kind in
Michigan, giving employment to 300 men
and manufacturing in 1899 40,000 refrigera-
tors. It is still a growing institution, and the
plant is being increased 50 per cent for 1900.
Frederick E. Ranney, the organizer of this
industry in Greenville, is a native of Massa-
chusetts and was born in Ashfield, Mass., July
2, 1853. His schooling stopped when he was
15 years of age, and he commenced, to look
out for himself at that age, working first on
a tobacco farm near Sunderland, Mass., as a
farm hand, and thus earning the first dollar
he could call his own. He came to Michigan
in 1872 and located at Belding, whither his
brother had preceded him. He was disap-
pointed in his search for employment, and
determined to return east, but was persuaded
by his brother to remain, and the following
week he went to work as a carpenter, follow-
ing that vocation during the summer and in
the following winter going into the lumber
camps. He saved his money and in 1877 had
sufficient to enable him to start a livery and
feed barn in Belding. That fall the, now
Pere Marquette Railroad having a spur track
into Belding, Mr. Ranney secured the contract
to operate the street car system between Beld-
ing and Kiddville. He occupied "the many
positions" on the railway, and "all at the same
time," being "street car conductor, driver,
general manager and track laborer." The
jocose travelling men gave the line the name
of "The Hay-Burner Line." For seven years
Mr. Ranney did all the work on the little street
car system, maintaining at the same time his
livery business, and by good management and
judicious investments he managed to save sev-
eral thousand dollars.
Saturday night, August 30, 1884, Mr.
Ranney gave up his positions as driver, conduc-
tor, general manager, etc., of the street car
line, and the next Monday morning entered
FREDRICK ELI RANNEY.
the manufacturing world. He had already
helped organize the Belding Manufacturing
Company, into which he had put all his earn-
ings, and soon became president and general
manager of that concern. He remained in
this position, ably conducting the affairs of the
company until 1892, when he sold out his
interests and purchased the building of the
Potato Starch Factory in Greenville, and
organized the Ranney Refrigerator Company.
The growth of the new enterprise fully justi-
fied Mr. Ranney's keen business descernment,
and the affairs of the company are in a most
flourishing condition.
Mr. Ranney married, in 1875, Miss Mary
L. Ellis, daughter of Louis Ellis, of Belding,
one of the first settlers in that portion of the
state, having located there in 1842. He has
four children. Ellis W. is attending the
Michigan Agricultural College at Lansing, and
Carrie L., Hattie B., and LeRoy are attend-
ing school in Belding.
Mr. Ranney is a member of the Masonic
Fraternity, a Royal Arch Mason and a Knight
of Pythias.
As a business man he is known for his
directness in all his dealings, and for his ability
to carry his plans to a successful completion.
He has done much for Greenville, especially
in giving employment to many heads of
families in that city.
288
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. JOSEPH MOSS GAIGE.
GAIGE, HON. JOSEPH MOSS. Hon.
Joseph Moss Gaige, of Croswell, Michigan,
was born in West Burlington, New York,
June 13, 1848. His father, Henry W.
Gaige, was born in West Burlington, Otsego
county, New York, December 7th, 1820. The
family is of English descent and came to this
country in the latter part of the seventeenth
century. Young Gaige attended the district
schools until he was about 14 years of age,
when he was sent to the Oneida Conference
Seminary at Cazinovia, New York, where he
took a preparatory course, and then went to
the Cooperstown Seminary at Cooperstown,
New York, where he prepared for college. In
1866 he was sent west to join Truman Moss,
his uncle, a lumberman, of Croswell, Michi-
gan. He expected to take a position in the
office, but the practical old uncle put him in
charge of the docks at Lexington, Michigan,
paying him $25 a month and giving him his
board for his services. The following winter
his uncle secured him a position in the law
offices of Walker & Kent, at Detroit, where
the young man read law and looked after the
clerical work in the office and the collection
department, earning barely enough to pay
his expenses. Satisfied with the way the lad
had conducted himself during the trials im-
posed upon his nephew the old uncle assisted
him to enter the law department of the Uni-
versity of Michigan, from which Mr. Gaige
graduated in the spring of 1869.
He was
admitted to the bar by examination before the
Supreme Court October 7 of the same year.
He then removed to Detroit, where he opened
up a vessel and ship brokerage business at the
foot of Woodward avenue, meeting with great
success, but selling out the next winter to
join his uncle in the lumbering business at
Croswell. About the first of that year he was
made junior partner in the firm, which then
became Moss, Mills & Gaige. The firm did
an extensive business in Sanilac and Huron
counties. The firm was dissolved on the death
of the senior member, Truman Moss, March
28, 1883.
Mr. Gaige then started a private banking
institution at Croswell, under the name of
the Sanilac County Bank, and in 1885 sold
out to become the manager of the Truman
Moss estate. He continued at this until the
estate was settled in 1895. Mr. Gaige incor-
porated and organized the State Bank of
Croswell and was elected president. He is
also president of the State Bank at Carson-
ville, Mich., the State Bank of Deckerville,
Mich., and one of the heaviest stockholders
and vice-president of the Croswell Milling
Company at Croswell, Mich. Mr. Gaige is a
large stockholder in the Sanilac Jeffersonian,
the official republican organ
organ of Sanilac
county. He married Miss Mary Ella Jones,
daughter of M. V. K. Jones, in 1869, at Ann
Arbor, Mich.
Mr. Gaige is a republican. He was state
senator of Michigan from the twentieth sen-
atorial district in 1895-96, being elected on
the republican ticket with 2,200 plurality.
He is a thirty-second degree Mason, being
Past Eminent Commander of Lexington Com-
mandery, K. T., No. 27, a Shriner of Moslem
Temple, Detroit, and a member of the Michi-
gan Sovereign Consistory, Detroit. He
platted the town of Sandusky, Sanilac county,
Mich., now known as Sanilac Center.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
289
DURAND, JUDGE GEORGE HAR-
MON. Judge George Harmon Durand is
another Michigan man who has risen to a
position of affluence and the top round of the
ladder of his profession from a humble begin-
ning as a farmer's boy. He was born Febru-
ary 21, 1838, on a farm near Cobleskill,
Schohanie county, New York, and, although
his early opportunities were limited, he
possessed the grit and determination neces-
sary to make the most of them. He worked
in summer that he might attend school during
the winter months, and mastered his books
sufficiently to enable him to become a district
school teacher. He took a course in the
seminary located at Lima, New York, and in
1856 came to Michigan, where he at once
secured a school at Oxford, in Oakland
county. The following year he went to
Flint, where he now resides, and commenced
the study of law under the direction of Col.
Wm. M. Fenton, but outside of the office.
He was admitted to the bar before Judge
Josiah Turner in 1858, and at once began an
active practice. His ability was recognized
by his appointment as city attorney, and he
held that office one year (1858). He is a
staunch Democrat, and has several times been
called upon by his party to accept high posi-
tions, and in all cases he has been a credit
to the honorable positions he has filled. In
1862 he was elected to the common council,
and served five
years. While in this position
he was instrumental in having several streets
opened to valuable city property after a long
contest, and as a testimonial for his services
the people of Flint presented him with a set
of silver. In 1873 Mr. Durand was elected
mayor of Flint, and re-elected the following
year. In the fall of 1874 he accepted the
nomination to Congress on the Democratic
ticket, and was elected against Josiah W.
Begole. He was re-nominated in 1876, but
was defeated for re-election by the Hon. Mark
S. Brewer. During Mr. Durand's term in
Congress he was acting chairman of the
important committee on commerce, an un-
usual honor to confer on a new member.
JUDGE GEORGE HARMON DURAND.
Resuming his practice of law, Mr. Durand
formed a co-partnership in 1884 with John J.
Carton, which still continues. In 1892 Gov.
Winans appointed Mr. Durand justice of the
Supreme Court to succeed Judge Morse, who
had resigned to accept the nomination for gov-
ernor. He filled out the term until a suc-
cessor was chosen, and in the fall of 1893
was appointed
was appointed special counsel for the United
States in the famous Pacific coast conspiracy
cases. The cases were concluded in 1896.
In 1893 Judge Durand was elected presi-
dent of the Michigan State Bar association,
and was the first president of the board of
State Law Examiners.
State Law Examiners. He is still a member
of that board. He was Grand Master of the
Michigan Grand Lodge of Masons in 1876,
and in 1893 was elected Presidential Elector-
at-large for the eastern district of Michigan.
He owns a fine farm near the city of Flint.
Judge Durand married Miss Sarah A. Ben-
son at Mindon, New York, August, 1858,
and he has two children. Charles A. Durand,
his son, is 38 years of age, and a member of
the firm of Durand & Carton at Flint, Mich.
Elizabeth A. Durand lives at home with her
parents.
Judge Durand is a member of Michigan
Sovereign Consistory and of Moslem Temple,
Detroit, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
290
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. WILLIAM WEBSTER.
The
WEBSTER, HON. WILLIAM.
Hon. William Webster was elected mayor of
Sault Ste. Marie, the city in which he lives,
in 1897, and while in that office he was largely
instrumental in having the streets of that
beautiful little city macadamized. In the first
year six miles of this modern paving was built,
and this step, in the direction of the making
of a city in the present time, has resulted most
beneficially, for all the streets that are being
built there now are of the same material.
Mr. Webster is still a young man and a be-
liever in the spirit of the age, "progress." He
was born in St. Helens, Huron County, On-
tario, February 10, 1863. His ancestors
came from Aberdeen, Scotland, and his father,
James Webster, went to Canada from Scot-
land. As a boy young Webster had very few
advantages in the way of receiving an
education that are given to most youths of
today, and it was not until his family moved to
Sault Ste. Marie in 1874 that he was able to
attend school. The first winter in his new
home was a hard one. He was obliged to
remain away from the district school a great
portion of the time, and was employed driving
a delivery and express wagon at 25 cents per
day, with the privilege of hauling water for
a few families after work hours, to earn
enough money and purchase clothes and shoes
so that he could take his place with the other
scholars in the High School.
The following summer he drove a mule on
the canal, earning $1.50 a day until the close
of navigation, and helped to support the fam-
ily with his earnings. When he was 17 years
of age he was earning $400 a year clerking
in the general store of W. C. Given, where he
remained for three years. His health then
commenced to fail, so he went to Dakota,
where he pre-empted a piece of land and
farmed for six months, until, his health re-
turning, he went home and clerked in the
store of Sevald & Pease. The firm made an
assignment July 4, 1886, and Mr. Webster
was appointed assignee. He closed out the
$28,000 stock that fall, and in the beginning
of 1887 went into partnership in a general
store under the firm name of Tubbs & Web-
ster. After a few months he sold out and
purchased an interest in the steamboat St.
Marys, which was in the passenger and freight
service between Sault Ste. Marie and Mar-
quette. He acted as clerk on the steamer all
summer until navigation closed in the fall.
January 1, 1888, he took his seat as County
Clerk of Chippewa County, in which office he
remained until 1896. During this period -he
read law and was admitted to the bar Septem-
ber 26, 1893. In September, 1895, he became
associated with Hon. H. M. Oren, the present
Attorney-General of Michigan, in the law
business under the name of Oren & Webster.
Mr. Webster was elected mayor of Sault
Ste. Marie in 1897. He was chairman of the
Board of Supervisors for six years and has
been postmaster since 1897. He is a Mason
and a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Com-
mandery, K. T. He is also Past Master of the
Blue Lodge and Past High Priest of the Chap-
ter, and has been chairman of the Repub-
lican County Committee for the past six

years.
Mr. Webster married Miss Bertha F.
Bateman at Port Arthur, August 27, 1889.
They have four children, Bertha F., aged 9;
Bessie, aged 7; William W., aged 5, and Joy,
aged 2 years.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
291
VAUGHAN, COLEMAN CHAUNCY.
Coleman Chauncy Vaughan, of St. Johns,
Michigan, comes from good, old New Eng-
land stock, his parents being farmers in Ver-
mont, and moving from there to Machias,
New York state, where, August 1, 1857, the
subject of this sketch was born.
From his sixth until his twelfth year the
boy attended the district school near his home,
and then, his father having died a few years
before, he was sent to live with his uncle,
attending district school and three terms at
Ten Brook academy at Franklinville, N. Y.
When he left school he started for Michigan,
arriving at Lapeer in 1873. S. J. Tomlin-
son, publisher of the Lapeer Clarion, gave
the young traveler an opportunity by taking
him on the paper as an apprentice. For his
first year's work, besides his board, young
Vaughan was paid one dollar a week. This
was raised to two dollars during the second
year, three dollars for the third and four
dollars for the fourth year. At the end of
his apprenticeship the young man had just
$1.84 coming to him; but as he had become
a valuable man, Tomlinson made him fore-
man of the office, and as such he remained
until 1878, when he sought to better himself
by going to Detroit.
There he readily
secured a position in the job office of James
E. Scripps, later holding cases on the Detroit
Free Press.
After two years in Detroit, he returned to
New York state, where, at Sardinia, he
entered the employ of his step-father as book-
keeper in his woolen mill at that place.
Later he became a traveling man on the
road, and in 1884 he returned to Lapeer and
bought the Lapeer Clarion for $7,000.
Under his management the paper met with
good success, and in 1887 he sold the plant
and paper back to the original owner, Mr.
Tomlinson, for $10,000.
After this, Mr. Vaughan became engaged
in various enterprises, drifting from one thing
COLEMAN CHAUNCY VAUGHAN.
to another until 1889, when he found that the
Clinton Republican, of St. Johns, was for
sale, and going there, he purchased the paper.
The Clinton Republican is one of the
strongest Republican weeklies in the state of
Michigan, and under Mr. Vaughan's man-
agement it has proved one of the best paying
propositions of its kind in the country. It
exercises considerable influence throughout
the county, and its politics are backed up with
a sound philosophy.
Mr. Vaughan has always been a Republi-
can, and is a leading spirit in that party in
both local and state politics. He is at present
a member of the Republican State Central
Committee. He has been an alderman at
Lapeer; president of St. Johns village two
terms; member of the board of control of the
State Asylum at Ionia, '93 to '97; is a mem-
ber of the board of trustees State House of
Correction, Ionia, and president of the St.
Johns water and electric light board. He is
a Mason and a Knight Templar and also a
member of the Royal Arcanum.
292
MEN OF PROGRESS.
NEWTON, JUDGE WILLIAM.
Will-
iam Newton was born in Soldiers' Delight,
Paltimore county, Maryland, September,
1829. Until he was 14 years of age his edu-
cation was conducted by a private tutor, and
then he was sent to Boise au Academy, Bal-
timore.
He came to Michigan in 1848 and engaged
in the saddlery business at Byron, Shiawasse
county, when, earning enough money to pay
his
way through law school, he went to Rals-
ton Spa, Saratoga county, New York, and
attended a law school at Ralston for a year
and a half. He then returned to Michigan
and entered the law office of Lothrop & Duf-
field, at Detroit. He was admitted to the bar
by the Supreme Court of Michigan, held in
the old state house in Detroit in the fall of
1851, receiving his papers from Chief Justice
Whipple of the Supreme Court. Immedi-
ately going to Flint, Mr. Newton formed a
partnership with Lieutenant-Governor Fen-
ton. Impaired in health, with small practice
and very little money, Mr. Newton remarked
one day to his partner that if he could raise
$500 he would go to California and seek
health and fortune, the gold excitement being
then at its height. Fenton loaned the money
and soon afterwards Mr. Newton purchased
transportation to the coast from Commodore
Vanderbilt and made the trip by way of the
Isthmus of Panama. He was delayed four
weeks at Panama, waiting for the steamer
"Old Tennessee," and as he had very little
money, those were anxious days for the young
man. The hotel was a tent, kept by an Amer-
ican, who charged $1 for the privilege of
sleeping on the ground under its walls. Young
Newton slept under the blue sky and made
the best of the worst.
California realized all the young man
hoped for. He found good health and a little
wealth there. There, for the first time, he
met with Edwin B. Winans, engaged in
placer mining at Honcutt-in later years gov-
ernor of Michigan. Later he met a man
named Jesse Daly, a practical miner, with
whom Newton formed a partnership. With
Mr. Daly, they discovered "Gold Hill," in
Yuba county, and in 1853 he returned to
Michigan, not a wealthy man, but with com-
pensation for his venture. Once more start-
ing in the law business with Fenton, in 1853,
at Flint, the firm met with success, until three
years later, Mr. Newton returned to Califor-
nia. He came back, settled in Flint and re-
sumed his partnership with Fenton, which
lasted until the latter's death in 1871.
Judge Newton is a Democrat. He was
Circuit Court Commissioner in Genesee
county in 1858-59; elected Circuit Judge in
1881, by a plurality of 1,300 over Judge
Adams, now of Cheboygan; re-elected in
1887 by 6,000 plurality, when counties gave
4,000 plurality for Garfield.
He has been twice married. His present
wife was Miss Grace T. Hughes, of Cheat-
ham, N. Y. He has one child, William Fen-
ton, now four years of age.
Judge Newton has been interested in many
important cases and met with great success
as a practitioner. His cases may be found
all through the Michigan reports from vol-
ume 10 up to 50, the present date.
As Circuit Judge of the Seventh Judicial
Circuit, his decisions usually stood the test of
the higher courts, in which respect he has
very few superiors among the Circuit Judges
in this state. He was defeated for the Su-
preme bench by Frank A. Hooker by a very
narrow margin-166 votes-in the fall of
1892. He gives much of his spare time to
two farms, from which he says he makes
enough to pay the expenses incident to that
occupation, and is also the owner and raiser
of standard-bred horses and Durham cattle.
The dam of the famous young pacer Sphinx
was bred and raised by him on his farm in
the township of Benton, Genesee county,
Michigan. He says he enjoys excellent
health, and that he attributes his good health
and strength to the mining adventure in Cali-
fornia for over a year.




HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
293
WOOD, EDWIN O.
Edwin O. Wood,
of Flint, Michigan, was born in Goodrich,
Genesee county, Michigan, October 29, 1861.
His people were all New Yorkers, who came
to this state at a very early date and were the
first family to settle in Genesee county. His
father was Thomas P. Wood and his mother
Paulina Hulbert Wood.
Mr. Wood was given an excellent educa-
tion in the graded schools of Goodrich and in
the High School at Saginaw, Michigan. Dur-
ing his schoolboy days he earned his first
money by clerking in a country store, and
when he left school in Saginaw he went to
Flint, where he entered the employ of George
W. Buckingham, a clothier of that city, with
whom he remained until 1884. He was then
appointed postal clerk under President Cleve-
land's administration, but he declined the
position to accept a more promising one with
W. J. Gould & Co., of Detroit, Michigan, as
a traveling salesman. After traveling for
this firm for a period of three years he went
with the large clothing firm of New York-
Hackett, Carhart & Co. He traveled for this
house until 1893, when he was again offered
a political position under Cleveland's admin-
istration, that of special agent of the United
States treasury department, which he ac-
cepted. For four years and three months
Mr. Wood was with the treasury department
and was assigned to many important cases, in-
cluding the celebrated opium and Chinese
smuggling cases at Portland, Oregon, and
Puget Sound, resigning voluntarily in July,
1897, in order to push the work of building
up the Knights of the Loyal Guard, which
organization had been brought to perfection
largely through his efforts. He was elected
the first Supreme Recorder-General of the
order and at the first biennial election was
chosen Supreme Commander-in-Chief, which
office he holds at the present writing.
Mr. Wood is a Democrat and a firm be-
liever in the principles of that party. He
was for several years chairman of the Demo-
cratic county committee of Genesee county.
EDWIN O. WOOD.
He served four years in the Michigan State
Militia, as a member of the Flint Union
Blues. For a brief period he was engaged in
the manufacturing business at Flint, being a
stockholder and interested in the patent in
the Flint Revolving Hat Case factory.
He married Miss Emily Crocker, daughter
of Stephen Crocker, one of the earliest settlers
in Genesee county, at Flint, December 17,
1889. They have three boys and one girl.
Mr. Wood is a Mason, a Knights Templar,
a member of Michigan Sovereign Consistory,
32°, and Moslem Temple, Mystic Shrine;
Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Knights
of the Loyal Guard; a member of the Mac-
cabees, Foresters, A. O. U. W., Oddfellows,
Royal Arcanum and Knights and Ladies of
Security. He is an attendant at St. Paul's
Episcopal Church, of Flint, Michigan.
Mr. Wood's ancestors, on both sides, trace
to Revolutionary stock, and he is a member
of Michigan Sons of the Revolution. He is
greatly interested in pure bred live stock and
was one of the original founders of the Mich-
igan Oxford Down Sheep Breeders' Associa-
tion.
294
MEN OF PROGRESS.

FRANKLIN WELLS.
In
WELLS, FRANKLIN. A biographical
sketch of Mr. Wells carries us back over a
period of more than sixty years, to the time of
a former governor, John S. Barry, in whose
store Mr. Wells was a clerk. The Wells fam-
ily were originally from Connecticut and later
of New York. Franklin Wells' father, Joseph
Wells, was a merchant at Cambridge, N. Y.,
in 1822, but became a hotel keeper at Salem,
N. Y., where the son was born April 19th,
1823. His mother was Lucy Hollister of Man-
chester, Vermont. Mr. Wells' early education.
was in the primary schools, with a few terms
in the Washington Academy, at Salem.
the spring of 1837 the family, in company
with two other families, made the overland
trip in emigrant wagons from their New York
home to Michigan. The journey occupied
thirty days, with its attendant hardships, when
the Wells family located in the township of
Mottville, St. Joseph county. Mr. Wells
therefore ranks as one of the early pioneers,
and has ever since made his home in St. Joseph
county. In the fall of 1838 he became clerk
in the store of Albert Andrews & Co., at Con-
stantine, and two years later entered the store
of John S. Barry (afterwards Governor of the
State), in the same capacity. In 1842 he bor-
rowed $1,200, with which, in company with
his first employer, Albert Andrews, he en-
barked in a general mercantile trade. The
partnership was terminated in 1846, when
Mr. Wells began business alone, which he con-
tinued up to 1873, since which time he has
given his attention to farming, wool and grain
buying, he being the owner of several large
farms in the county. In a note he says: "If
I have done anything to feel proud of, or that
I would wish to have remembered by my
friends after I am gone, it is in matters con-
nected with agricultural and farming inter-
ests." This sentiment is in admirable har-
mony and consistency with Mr. Wells' work.
During the 1880 decade, he was prominently
connected with the State Agricultural Society,
having been for several years a member of the
executive committee and chairman of the busi-
ness committee. In 1888 he was unanimously
elected president of the society, which honor
he felt impelled to decline, while still con-
He was for
tinuing his committee duties.
twenty-seven years a member of the State
Board of Agriculture, having in charge the in-
terests of the State Agricultural College, and
was for twelve years president of the board.
He was first appointed by Gov. Bagley, who as
a young man had been a clerk in his store,
and was successively reappointed by Govs.
Crosswell, Alger and Rich. He was appointed
and served during the Harrison administration
as State Statistical Agent, charged with mak-
ing, through local correspondents, special re-
ports to the Department of Agriculture, cover-
ing information not otherwise obtainable.
Mr. Wells served at an early date as town-
ship clerk and was president of the village of
Constantine, 1870-71, and has been a member
of the local school board for twenty-five years,
and was for ten years its president. He was
postmaster at Constantine, 1861-2, and again.
1882-86. Mr. Wells was one of ten corpora-
tors composing the Constantine Hydraulic Co.,
which built the dam across the St. Joseph
River at a cost of $40,000, by which ample
water is supplied. In his religious con-
nections Mr. Wells is a Congregationalist, and
is a Republican in politics. He was married in
1844 to Miss Helen M. Briggs, a relative by
marriage of his early employer, Gov. Barry.
They had nine children, of whom two sons and
three daughters survive, all of middle age and
in active life. Mrs. Wells died Oct. 22, 1891.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
295
COLGROVE, PHILIP T. Mr. Colgrove
is a native of the state of Indiana, having been
born at Winchester, in that state, April 17,
1857. His first American ancestry is traced
in the person of Francis Colgrove, born in
1667 and who settled in Warwick, Rhode
Island. His father was Charles H., from Steu-
ben county, New York, and his mother was
Catherine Van Zile, a sister of Judge Philip
T. Van Zile of Detroit. Good educational
advantages in his early youth, at Olivet Col-
lege, coupled with a commendable energy and
application, placed him some years in advance
of the average student. He read law concur-
rently with his literary studies and was admit-
ted to the bar at the age of twenty-one, before
the Supreme Court of Michigan. His first
essay at practice was at Reed City, but in 1880
he removed to Hastings and formed a law part-
nership with Clement Smith, now judge of the
Fifth Judicial Circuit. The partnership was
terminated upon the appointment of Mr.
Smith to the judgeship in 1893, and Mr. Col-
grove is now senior in the firm of Colgrove &
Potter. It is not often that a man is chosen
to a responsible office during his first two years
of residence in a place, but in 1882 Mr. Col-
grove was elected prosecuting attorney of
Barry county and was re-elected for the two
terms following, in 1884 and 1886. In 1888
he was elected a member of the State Senate
from his district, and was nominated for re-
election in 1890, but declined the honor. He
was an active and efficient member of the Sen-
ate and was a member of the Judiciary Com-
mittee and chairman of the Committee on In-
surance. He was also for several years city at-
torney of Hastings. He is a Republican in
politics and is an earnest and active partisan,
though not bitter or intollerant in his partisan-
ship. He is a member of the Michigan Club
and has filled the position of president of the
State League of Republican Clubs. He was
a presidential elector in 1892.
Mr. Colgrove's business interests are varied.
He is president of the Hastings Iron Co., vice-
PHILIP T. COLGROVE.
president of the Hastings Table Co., and a di-
rector in the Hastings Wool Boot Co. and the
Hastings City Bank. In his fraternal relations
he has acquired prominence and enjoyed hon-
ors fully equal to those that have come to him
in professional and political life. He is a
Knights Templar Mason and a member of the
local lodge of the Knights of Pythias and was
Chancellor Commander of the lodge in 1883.
He was a member of the Grand Lodge in 1886
and was elected Grand Master-at-Arms of that
body, and in 1887 was elected Grand Chan-
cellor. In 1889 he was elected by the Grand
Lodge of the state as their representative to the
Supreme Grand Lodge and was again elected
as such in 1890. In 1894 he was elected Su-
preme Vice-Chancellor and has come to be a
recognized authority on the jurisprudence of
the order. But the highest honors of the order
awaited him in 1896, when, at the session of
the Supreme Grand Lodge, held at Cleveland
in August of that year, he was elected Supreme
Chancellor of the Supreme Lodge of Knights
of Pythias of the world.
Mr. Colgrove has two children, Mabel, a
student at Vassar College, and Lawrence, at-
tending the Hastings public schools.
296
MEN OF PROGRESS.

D
HON. FRANCIS HEARN RANKIN.
RANKIN, HON. FRANCIS HEARN.
Hon. Francis Hearn Rankin was mayor of the
city of Flint, Michigan, in 1891, and has for
years been a member of the board of education
in that city, being elected treasurer of that
body two years and is now president of the
board. In 1881 he was elected city treasurer
of Flint and held that office for one term. He
was appointed a member of the board of con-
trol for the Michigan School for the Blind in
1897 for a six years' term. At present he is in
partnership with his father, publishing The
Wolverine Citizen, one of the leading journals
of this state.
Francis H. Rankin was born December 28,
1854, in Flint, Michigan, and he has lived
in that city all his life, receiving his education
in its public schools. His father was a prac-
tical printer, and came to this country from the
north of Ireland when he was a young man,
locating in Genesee county at a very early date
and in 1850 establishing the Genesee Whig,
which for many years was the only Republican
paper published in that county. The Whig
was the original name of the Wolverine Citi-
zen, which has always been an organ for the
republican party and principles.
After attending the Flint schools until his
fourteenth year he entered his father's office
as a printer's devil. His father was a practical
man and intending that his son should learn
the business in a thorough manner, he forced
him to start as he himself had commenced at
the bottom of the ladder. He did not show
him any favoritism, and treated him in the
same manner that he did his other employees.
It was in 1870 that young Rankin first took
his place at one of the cases, and he worked as
a compositor in the job room until 1881, when
he took a half interest in the business. The
Wolverine Citizen was run as a daily paper
for a period of six years, but the town being
too small to support a daily paper it was dis-
continued, and published as a weekly.
Mr. Rankin is best known throughout the
state of Michigan as the Supreme Recorder of
the Knights of the Loyal Guard. He was one
of the nine business men of the city of Flint
who originated and founded that order, which
is a fraternal beneficiary, co-operative insur-
ance society.
It was founded upon entirely original and
new plans and started with a membership of
500, February 21, 1895. Its growth has been
steady and it is creating a strong Reserve or
Emergency Fund. The order is still growing,
as its business-like methods appeal to business
men and its fraternal features to the younger
generation seeking good, substantial insurance.
Mr. Rankin married Miss Caroline Pierce,
daughter of Silas Pierce, in Flint, Michigan,
in 1881. He has one child, a daughter, Caro-
line Arabella Rankin, eleven years of age.
Mr. Rankin is a Mason, being a member of
Genesee Valley Commandery, No. 15, Knights
Templar, belongs to the Michigan Sovereign
Consistory, Moslem Temple, Mystic Shrine,
Order of Elks, Royal Arcanum, K. O. T. M.,
and is a Knight of the Loyal Guard.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
297
CRAWFORD, HUGH ALEXANDER.
Hon. Hugh Alexander Crawford, who enjoys
the distinction of being the youngest municipal
executive ever elected in his home city of
Flint, Michigan, is a son of David Crawford,
a native of Paisley, Scotland, who came to
America in 1842 and to Michigan in 1851,
where he followed the business of lumbering
for a number of years in the Lower Peninsula.
The subject of this sketch was born at Otis-
ville, Genesee county, Michigan, March 29,
1873. When he was four years old his par-
ents moved to Flint, where he attended the
public schools and graduated from the High
School in June, 1891. He began the active
duties of life as a clerk in the book store of
M. E. Carlton, where he remained for six
months, when he embarked in a business that
was more to his liking and in which he has in
a few short years achieved marked distinction
and prominence. This he found in the
vehicle industry, which was just beginning to
develop in Flint on a large scale, and he began
his new career as a shipping clerk in the fac-
tory of W. A. Paterson & Co. His business
capacity and tact won for him a succession of
advancements until he finally became general
superintendent of the big factory plant, as
private secretary to Mr. Paterson, who had by
years of arduous work richly earned the
respite that came to him in his judicious selec-
tion of an assistant. In 1896 the concern was
reorganized into a stock company, Mr. Craw-
ford being appointed to his present post of
secretary and treasurer.
Mr. Crawford's connection with politics was
not of his own making. The Democratic city
convention, which nominated him for the
mayoralty in the spring of 1899 did so without
his sanction, and it was only under pressure
that he consented to ratify the action of the
convention and make the run. The younger
element of the city and the rank and file of
progressive citizens of both contending politi-
cal parties rallied to his support and he was
elected by a majority as large as that usually
given the Republican mayoralty candidates in
previous years. It is significant of his popular-
ity and the general appreciation of his excep-
tional business qualifications that he was the
only candidate on the Democratic city ticket
to win out in the battle of the ballots, the re-
maining offices being captured by the Republi-
can candidates by comfortable majorities.
Mayor Crawford employed the same progres-
sive methods in managing the affairs of the
city that he does in his own private business,
and with the united support of his council and
HON. HUGH ALEXANDER CRAWFORD.
business men of the city, he contributed his
full share to the accomplishment of certain
public improvements that stand out conspicu-
ously as substantial monuments to his success-
ful administration. One of these was the arch-
ing of the main street of the city with incan-
descent electric lamps, which gives to the
broad and well-paved business thoroughfare a
strikingly attractive appearance at night. Flint
was the first city in Michigan to adopt this
unique and effective system of street lighting,
and as a means of advertising the city far and
wide it has fully justified every expectation en-
tertained in respect to a public improvement
which to a large extent had this particular and
practical aim in view. The "white wings"
system of sweeping the paved streets of the
city is another beneficial result of Mayor Craw-
ford's progressive administration and has given
to the city a cleanliness that has been a bless-
ing to its inhabitants.
As secretary and treasurer of the W. A.
Paterson Carriage Company, Mr. Crawford is
connected with an institution that manufac-
tures 30,000 vehicles a year and gives employ-
ment to 450 men. Mr. Crawford is a member
of Genesee Valley Commandery, No. 15,
Knights Templar; a Shriner of Moslem Tem-
ple, Detroit; a member of the Michigan Sov-
ereign Consistory at Detroit, and of the Inde-
pendent Order of Foresters, the Knights of the
Loyal Guard and the Benevolent and Protec-
tive Order of Elks.
298
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HARRY DIMICK JEWELL.
JEWELL, HARRY DIMICK. The pres
ent Judge of Probate of Kent county is one
of the young men of mark who have forced
their way to the front from humble begin-
nings, and of which Michigan has furnished so
many bright examples during the past few
years. The father of Mr. Jewell was in early
life a journalist. The Jewells were originally
from New England. The father and mother
of Mr. Jewell, Oliver P. and Hannah (Dimick)
Jewell, settled in the township of Solon, Kent
county, from Ovid, N. Y., in 1856. In a little
clearing chopped out of the pine forest, a log
house was built and the work of making a farm
begun. When young Jewell was old enough
to attend school he entered the Cedar Springs
Union school, to and from which for several
years he walked, a distance of two and one-half
miles. Graduating from the High School at
the age of seventeen (1886), he began the
study of law with D. C. Lyle, an attorney at
Cedar Springs, alternating his time between
farm work in the summer and study during the
winter months. He entered the law depart-
ment of the University in the fall of 1889 and
graduated in the spring of 1891. Then taking
the post-graduate course he received the degree
of LL. M. (Master of Laws) in 1893. While
at the University he did journalistic work, edi-
torial and correspondence. He was one of the
founders of the U. of M. Daily and for several
years one of the editors of the Michigan Law
Journal. He was for two years assistant law
librarian at the University, and was appointed
by the Board of Regents, Assistant Marshall
Professor of Law, the small compensation re-
ceived for this service helping him to pay his
necessary expenses. He was admitted to prac-
tice before the State Supreme Court at Lan-
sing in 1891, and subsequently before the U.
S. Supreme Court at Washington. Locating
at Grand Rapids in June, 1892, he formed a
co-partnership with Judge Reuben Hatch, but
having been appointed Register of Probate
Jan. 1st, 1893, the partnership was then
terminated. This position he held for four
years under the then Probate Judge Cyrus
E. Perkins, when, on January 1st, 1897, he
took his seat as Judge of Probate for Kent
county. The election of a young man of
twenty-seven years of age to so important an
office, Mr. Jewell having been born in 1869,
is certainly a marked tribute to his ability and
fitness.
Although an active Republican in
politics, he has administered the affairs of his
office in an entirely non-partisan manner, and
his decisions have been uniformly sustained or
affirmed by the higher courts.
Judge Jewell became a member of the Mich-
igan Probate Judges' Association in 1898, and
was secretary of a committee that drafted the
rules of practice for the Probate Courts, which
has been approved and adopted by the Su-
preme Court. He is also a member of a com-
mittee which has in preparation a uniform
series of blanks for use in the Probate Courts.
In a business way he is connected with a few
industries in Grand Rapids. He is a member
of the Grand Rapids Board of Trade, of the
Peninsular Club, has taken the higher Masonic
degrees and belongs to the Knights of Pythias,
Maccabees and Modern Woodmen of America.
Miss Euphemia F. Smith, daughter of Rev.
J. Malcolm Smith, of Churdan, Ia., became
Mrs. Jewell in 1894. They have two children.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
299
THOMPSON, WILLIAM BAKER. The
line of Thompsons represented by Wm. B.
settled in New Haven, Conn., in 1638, coming
from England. An hundred years later they
removed to Goshen, Conn., in 1750 to Stan-
ford, Dutchess county, N. Y., and in 1793 to
Fort Ann, N. Y., where Wm. B. was born
August 27th, 1838. He is seventh in descent
from the original emigrant ancestor, Anthony
Thompson. The family genealogy is there-
fore traced thus: John (son of Anthony) and
wife Hellena; Samuel (son of John) and wife
Rebecca Bishop; Samuel (son of Samuel) and
wife Esther Alling; Caleb (son of Samuel)
and wife Lydia Haskins; Judah (son of Caleb
of Stanford, N. Y.) and wife Mary Harris;
Israel (son of Judah of Fort Ann, N. Y.) and
wife Martha Ann Baker, and Wm. B., son of
Israel, born as above, and married June 20th,
1883, at Chattanooga, Tenn., to Emma, daugh-
ter of Judge D. M. Key and wife Elizabeth
Lenoir. It is worthy of note that the year of
Mr. Thompson's nativity was the two hun-
dredth from the first coming of his ancestor
to America. Mrs. Thompson died in 1886
without issue.
Mr. Thompson's education was academic,
he having passed two and one-half years at
Fort Edward, N. Y., after leaving the com-
mon school.
Soon after leaving school he
came to Hudson, Mich., which has since been
his home. Some of his mother's family have
been residents of Hudson since a very early
period in the state's history. He was commis-
sioned a second lieutenant in the Eleventh
Michigan Cavalry and was mustered in with
the regiment, serving until the close of the
war, when he was mustered out as first lieu-
tenant. After the war he returned to Hud-
son, and in 1867 engaged with his brother, G.
I. Thompson, in the banking business, which
is continued as the Thompson Savings Bank,
he retaining his interest therein.
For seventeen years he was connected with
the Postoffice Department, starting as route
agent in 1868 between Toledo and Chicago.
WILLIAM BAKER THOMPSON.
He was successively promoted to be chief
clerk, assistant superintendent, and superin-
tendent of the New York and Chicago fast
mail, and subsequently superintendent of the
Ninth Division. In 1878 he became general
superintendent, Railway Mail Service, and
during President Arthur's administration was
Second Assistant Postmaster-General, retiring
at the beginning of President Cleveland's first
term. He is now of the firm of Thompson &
Slater, attorneys before the executive depart-
ments in Washington, although his home re-
mains in Hudson. He is a member of the Mili-
tary Order of the Loyal Legion, Sons of the
American Revolution, and Sons of Colonial
Wars of the District of Columbia; also a mem-
ber of Lebanon Lodge, No. 26, and Phoenix
Royal Arch, Chapter No. 99, F. & A. M. of
Hudson. He is also a member of the Michigan
(Republican) Club of Detroit. He has always
been a Republican, but never held an elective
office. He has been the treasurer of the Re-
publican Congressional Campaign Committee
since 1893.
300
MEN OF PROGRESS.

JAMES EDWARD DOYLE.
DOYLE, JAMES EDWARD. That Mr.
Doyle is of Irish descent may be inferred by
his name, and that he is thoroughly American
is assured both by origin and by the fact that
he was born on Michigan soil, he having first
seen the light at Kalamazoo, May 5th, 1856.
He attended the Kalamazoo public schools
until fifteen years of age, and then became
messenger boy in the telegraph office of the
Michigan Central Railroad Co., without com-
pensation other than the privilege of learning
the operator's art. This privilege he improved,
and in a very short time was able to receive
and transmit messages. In 1872 he was given
his first assignment as operator. He arose in
esteem and confidence of the management for
the next six years. Was operator at various
points on the line between Chicago and De-
troit, the last two years being in the office of
the superintendent at Chicago.
In 1878 he quit the railroad and opened a
grocery and supply store in Kalamazoo. The
enterprise met with success from the first, and
by strict attention to business, in 1884 was the
largest and most prosperous of its kind in Kala-
mazoo. In 1887 he sold out, and embarked in
the confectionery business as a manufacturer
and wholesale dealer, continuing the business
until 1892, when he sold out, having several
years previous to this taken interest in the
American Carriage Co., at Kalamazoo, and
being one of its principal stockholders he be-
came its manager in 1893 and still so con-
tinues. Under Mr. Doyle's management the
American Carriage Co. has forged to the front.
Having two large and commodious factories,
one located on the Michigan Central tracks
and the other on the Chicago, Kalamazoo &
Saginaw and Michigan Central junctions, with
repositories located in Chicago, New York and
Washington.
The American Carriage Co. is making a
specialty of fine pleasure vehicles, stanhopes,
phaetons, surreys and up-to-date vehicles in all
varieties. The American Carriage Co.'s pro-
duct is known and sold throughout the United
States.
Mr. Doyle is also interested in several other
lines of manufacture in Kalamazoo. He is a
Democrat in politics, and is a member of the
Michigan Carriage Builders' Association, also
belongs to the Elks, Kalamazoo Lodge, No. 50.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
301
SPAULDING, OLIVER LYMAN. was
born in Jaffrey, N. H., August 2nd, 1833;
son of Lyman and Susan (Marshall) Spaulding.
He is descended from Edward Spaulding, who
came to America from England in 1632, set-
tling in Massachusetts. In his boyhood he
worked on his father's farm, and received such
education as was afforded by the country
schools of the period. He fitted for college by
reading Latin and Greek with the local clergy-
men, and in 1851, his family removing to
Michigan, he entered Oberlin College, and
graduated in 1855. His college expenses were
met, except such slight assistance as his father
could afford him, by manual labor during the
college terms and by teaching in vacations.
For three years he was engaged in teaching
in Ohio and Michigan, but at the same time he
carried on the study of law and was admitted
to the bar in 1858 at St. Johns, Mich., where
he has since resided. The same year he was
elected a Regent of the University of Michi-
gan. In 1862 he entered the military service
as a captain in the Twenty-third Regiment of
Michigan Infantry, and was successively pro-
moted to major, lieutenant-colonel, colonel
and brevet-brigadier general, and continued in.
service until mustered out at the close of the
war. The service of his regiment extended over
a wide range of territory, both east and west,
and included some of the severest engagements
of the war. On his muster out he resumed the
practice of his profession at St. Johns. In
1866 he was elected Secretary of State of
Michigan and re-elected in 1868. In 1875 he
was appointed a special agent of the Treasury
Department, a position he held until he re-
signed to take his seat in Congress, to which
he was elected in 1880. In 1883 he was chair-
man of a commission sent to Hawaii to investi-
gate alleged violations of the Hawaiian Reci-
procity Treaty. He was Assistant Secretary of
the Treasury under the administration of
President Harrison, and was re-appointed to
the same position by President McKinley.
For several years he was a member of the
Republican State Committee of Michigan and
was a delegate to the National Republican
OLIVER LYMAN SPAULDING.
Convention in 1896. He is prominent in
Masonry and has filled the highest chairs in
all the Masonic grand bodies of Michigan. He
is also a member of the military order of the
Loyal Legion and of the Grand Army of the
Republic. He is a communicant of St. John's
Episcopal church, and for twenty-five years
was senior warden of the parish.
In 1856 he was married to Jennie Mead of
Hillsdale, who died in 1857; in 1859 he mar-
ried her sister, Martha M. Mead, who died in
1861; in 1863 he married M. Cecilea Swegles,
daughter of John Swegles, founder of St.
Johns, and former Auditor-General of Michi-
gan. He has five children, Frank M., a hard-
ware merchant at St. Johns; Edna C., a gradu-
ate of Wellesley College, Mass.; Oliver L., Jr.,
a graduate of the literary and law departments
of the University of Michigan, and now a lieu-
tenant in the 3d United States Artillery; John
C., a graduate of the literary department of the
University of Michigan and the law depart-
ment of Columbian University, Washington,
D. C., and Thomas Marshall, a student in the
literary department of the University of
Michigan.
302
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. MATHEW DAVISON.
DAVISON, HON. MATHEW. About
twelve miles from the city of Belfast, in Ire-
land, James Davison, the father of the subject
of this biography, owned and operated a small
farm, and in conjunction with this occupation,
was also a weaver of that fine quality of linen
for which Ireland has been famous for many
years.
On this farm, January 4, 1839, Mathew
Davison was born, but when he was only a
year old his parents came to America, and set-
tled near Adrian, Michigan. The following
year they moved into the township of Forest,
Genesee county, being the third family to
locate in that section, which was then thickly
wooded. The farm had to be made out of the
wilderness, and the pioneers lived an extremely
primitive life, burning pine-knots instead of
candles. No school was established until
Mathew reached his tenth year, and when the
district school was inaugurated, Mathew took
advantage of a few winter terms until he was
fifteen years of age, when his father died, and
as Mathew was the eldest in a family of seven
children the heavy responsibilities of the fam-
ily support fell upon his youthful shoulders.
He worked the little farm until his brothers
were able to handle it, and then at the age of
twenty-two he left home to work as a farm
hand and in the lumbering camps.
He secured one more term at school in
Royal Oak, Michigan, when he was twenty-
two years old, and the following year became
a clerk in a general store operated by Benja-
min Cothrain, in Flint, Michigan, where he
was paid $22 a month and his board. He next
engaged himself to Henry Brown, clothier.
Four years' experience in the clothing business
gave him sufficient insight into its workings
and decided him to start out in it for himself.
Taking his savings, which amounted to about
$664, Mr. Davison went to Rochester, N. Y.,
to see if he could get credit and a stock of goods
from some of the firms in that city. The firm
of Stetheimer, McDonald & Co. was impressed
favorably with the young man's straightfor-
ward application and gave him a credit of
$3,000, so returning to Flint, Mr. Davison
took half of a small store. When his stock of
goods arrived he did not have money enough
to pay the freight, but the fortunate sale of a
new trunk for $18 enabled him to pay the
ful from the beginning, he enlarged his store
railroad company. The business was success-
and stock yearly and continued in the clothing
business for thirteen years, investing his sav-
ings in desirable Flint city business property.
He retired from the clothing business in 1883
on account of failing health, and for ten years
farmed and handled real estate. In 1893 he
was one of the organizers of the Union Trust
and Savings Bank of Flint, and he has been
connected with the same as cashier and man-
ager since 1894. He was also one of the or-
ganizers of the Alpena County Savings Bank
of Alpena, Mich.; the Citizens' Commercial
and Savings Bank, Flint, Mich., and for
twenty years a director in the Genesee County
Bank, also of Flint. Mr. Davison was mayor
of the city of Flint in 1886-1887. He mar-
ried Miss Helen M., daughter of John Rich-
mond, at White Lake, Oakland county, Mich.,
in 1869. He has four children, Arthur M., in
clothing business at Flint; Nellie, wife of H. L.
Bridgeman; Mathew, in the employ of Durant
& Dort Carriage Co., Flint, and William H.,
student at the Michigan Military Academy.
Mr. Davison is a Mason and K. T.; also a mem-
ber of Detroit Consistory.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
303
BAWDEN,
FREDERIC
JOHNSON.
The career of Frederic Johnson Bawden has
been a varied one. He has worked in many
callings and is now the junior member of the
firm of Close & Bawden, which has large ware-
houses and docks at Hancock, Michigan, and
deals in flour, feed, hay, grain, brick, lime,
cement and tile. Mr. Bawden lives in the
town of Houghton, Michigan. He was born in
Eagle Harbor, Michigan, July 23rd, 1856.
Here he attended the village school until he
was eleven years of age and then put to work
at a salary of $5 a week, driving a delivery
wagon for a general store three miles from his
home. He walked to and from his work and
sometimes worked until 10 or 11 o'clock at
night. He then worked for a time at the
Petherick mine and afterwards became the
printer's "devil" in the office of the Keweenaw
Times, where he turned the press and learned
the art of typesetting. In 1873 the paper
moved to Lake Linden and became the La
Franc Pioneer, and young Bawden set type
for the first issue, both in French and English,
as the French compositor had not arrived.
For nearly a year he worked on this sheet, and
then returned to Eagle Harbor to again enter
the general store, this time as clerk. From
this position he went to the hotel his father
was then running, as clerk, and while there
took up and learned telegraphy. He received
two days' instruction in sending from the
superintendent, W. V. Stevens, and a tape
register was put in for receiving messages.
Young Bawden took charge of the instrument
and in two and one-half months discarded the
tape system, having mastered the art of receiv-
ing from the sounder.
He remained as telegraph operator at Eagle
Harbor until 1876, when he was transferred
to a busier office at Hancock, Michigan, and
in September, 1877, he was made the superin-
tendent of the Mineral Range Telegraph
Company. He remained in this position until
1883, and then became cashier and account-
FREDERIC JOHNSON BAWDEN.
ant in the general store of S. D. North & Son
at the Quincy mine, Hancock, where he
remained until 1888, when he was elected
sheriff of Houghton county, proving a valu-
able and efficient officer for four years. He
then became interested in the firm of S. D.
North & Son for three years. In 1896 Mr.
Bawden became associated with Mr. J. A.
Close, Jr., and has since carried on a prosper-
ous business.
Mr. Bawden is the president of the
Houghton County Street Railway Company,
now engaged in building an electric line
around Houghton county. In 1892 he was
nominated for the Legislature by the Demo-
cratic party and was defeated by Carl Sheldon,
Republican, by only 52 votes. He married
Miss Clara Garvin, daughter of Jeremiah
Garvin at Corfue, N. Y., in 1887, and has
one child, Garvin Bawden, aged four years.
Mr. Bawden is a Mason, a member of Mont-
rose Commandery, Knights Templar, of Calu-
met, and the Shrine of Ahmed Temple, Mar-
quette. He is extremely popular with the
people of Houghton county, and highly
respected as an able and enterprising business
man in his resident city of Houghton.
304
MEN OF PROGRESS.

ROUSSEAU O. CRUMP.
His
CRUMP, ROUSSEAU O. The parents
of Mr. Crump were from England, settling in
Pittsford, N. Y., in 1842, where the future
Congressman was born May 20, 1843.
early education was confined to the public
schools of Pittsford and Rochester, N. Y.
After learning the trade of wagon and car-
riage builder, in the spring of 1865 he went
west to grow up with the country, and going
into the employ of Col. A. D. Straight, of
Libby Prison fame, then operating a lumber
yard at Indianapolis, Ind. He made his first
start in the lumber business, and while there
was sent to Canada a number of times to buy
stock for the yards. In 1868 he, as a mill-
wright, helped build the large planing mills
of Laird & Nester at Winona, Minnesota,
helping them in their lumber operations, since
which time the latter has been his chief busi-
ness.
He first came to Michigan in 1869,
establishing himself at Plainwell, but in De-
cember, 1872, by reason of sickness, he
returned to his native place at Pittsford, where
in 1876, forming a partnership with D. B.
Eder, he built and operated a planing mill
and lumber yard, until 1879. In 1877 Mr.
Crump formed one of a company that built
and operated a powder mill near Syracuse,
N. Y., which blew up the same year, and most
of his capital went up with it. His next busi-
ness venture was in connection with an uncle
at Simcoe, Ontario, where they operated a
general lumber, sash and door factory and
stave and shingle business, until the fall of
1881. That summer, while making a tour of
the Great Lakes, Mr. Crump visited Bay City,
and being impressed with the business push
of the twin cities, and not liking Canada, he
and his uncle decided to remove there and in
October, 1881, moved into their new mill at
West Bay City, Michigan, operating it until
November, 1884, when Mr. Crump purchased
his partner's interest and in February, 1884,
he organized the Crump Manufacturing Co.
as a corporation, in which he was the principal
stockholder. This concern has grown to be
one of the largest box and package manufac-
turing plants in the country, employing over
100 hands. Mr. Crump is also senior in the
firm of R. O. Crump & Son, operating a saw-
mill and lumbering plant at Roscommon,
Michigan. In all of his business enterprises
he has been noted for his energy and push,
accompanied by fair and honest dealing,
especially in his relations with his employes,
with whom he has never had any disagreement.
In politics Mr. Crump his always been a
Republican of the stalwart type, and an active
worker for his party. He has served four
years as alderman, and an equal term as mayor
of West Bay City. In 1894 he was placed in
nomination by the Republicans as their candi-
date for Representative in Congress from the
Tenth Congressional District, composed of
fifteen counties, running from Bay county
north to the Straits of Mackinac.
ing been for years a Democratic stronghold,
the tide was turned by Mr. Crump's popular-
ity, aided by his energy and sagacity, he being
elected by a majority of 3,843 votes, over his
opponent, who was one of the most prominent
and wealthy lumbermen of the state, and was
re-elected in 1895 and 1898. Mr. Crump has
extended business interests other than those
named. His society connections are Masonic,
including the higher degrees, Royal Arcanum,
Foresters, Pythians and United Workmen.
He was married in 1868 to Miss Phoebe A.
Tucker, of Craigsville, N. Y. They have five
children. A son, Shelley C. Crump, is man-
ager of the Crump Manufacturing Co., and a
daughter, Mabel A., is clerk of a committee in
the U. S. House of Representatives.

From hav-

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
305
BEGOLE, CHARLES MYRON. Charles
Myron Begole, of Flint, Michigan, president
of the Flint City Water Works, was born in
Genesee Township, Genesee county, Mich.,
August 10, 1848. He is the only surviving
son of Hon. Josiah W. Begole, who is remem-
bered as one of the pioneers of Genesee county
and in his day, one of the influential men of
this state, being its chief executive from 1883
to 1885.
war,
Young Begole grew up as it were with the
state. He was born in the old Begole home-
stead and lived there until he was eight years
of age, attending the district school near by
when he was six years old, and when the fam-
ily moved to Flint entering the public schools
of that city. He completed the High School
course when he was 17 and his father, desirous
of having him continue his studies, had him
enter the Michigan Agricultural College at
Lansing, Mich. This was during the and
the only way to get to Lansing was by stage
from St. Johns, and as Mr. Begole remembers
the journey today it was far from being a
pleasant one. After one year at college young
Begole persuaded his father to let him go to
work, and as his tastes ran out out-door life
he was given employment scaling logs in the
woods, where he earned the first dollar he
could really call his own. His father was ex-
tensively engaged in lumbering at that time
at Flint and Otter Lake and in the spring of
1867 young Begole joined the "drive" on
Flint river and in the course of time became
one of the crack raftsmen on that river. In
company with his brother, Frank, he then
engaged in the lumbering business for him-
self, building a mill at Otter Lake. It was not
a success and in two years they gave it and
up
went to farming. This was in 1874, and for
20 years Mr. Begole worked and grubbed on
his property until it was out of debt. In 1895
he removed to the city of Flint, where his
father had been so greatly honored, and en-
gaged in the manufacturing business. He is
CHARLES MYRON BEGOLE.
now a director in the Flint Wagon Works
and in the Flint Gas Works, and by way of
recreation he looks after his fine farm about
nine miles from the city, and located as near
as he could get the property to the old Begole
homestead.
Mr. Begole is a Democrat. A quiet, con-
servative man not anxious to shine forth as a
life in the contentment he finds in his various
occupations. He has never sought public
office.
Mr. Begole married Miss Emma R. Begole,
the daughter of a farmer near Ypsilanti. The
marriage occurred in Ypsilanti. They have
one child, Louise Begole, who is attending
school at Flint, Michigan.
He is an attendant of the Presbyterian
church in Flint, and the only fraternal order
with which he has associated himself is the
Knights of the Maccabees.
The business and manufacturing concerns
in which Mr. Begole has an interest are flour-
ishing institutions, the Flint Wagon Works
having a world-wide reputation for the num-
ber and quality of vehicles turned out by them.
306
MEN OF PROGRESS.

ELMORE S. PETTYJOHN.
PETTYJOHN, ELMORE S. Although
sprung from a long line of Methodist ancestors,
and himself a licensed local preacher in that
denomination, Dr. Pettyjohn's life work is
that of a physician. The Pettyjohns were of
Virginia stock, migrating to Ohio. The
father of Elmore S. was Collard Fitch Petty-
john, a well known educator in Ohio. His
mother was Elizabeth Wallace, whose grand-
father was a prominent character in the Har-
rison presidential campaign in 1840. Elmore
S. was born at Ripley, Ohio, July 9th, 1855.
When a small lad, his parents removed from
Ohio to Illinois, where he had the advantages
of the public school, but enjoyed excellent
home training and at an early age became a
teacher. In 1876 he entered the Indiana
State Normal School. How well he improved
his early years can be judged from the fact
that when but sixteen years of age, he was
granted a first grade teacher's certificate. The
advanced schooling that followed by private
tutors was earned by his own exertions, for
he early learned the value of a dollar. From
the Normal School he taught for nine years,
latterly in city schools of Terre Haute. He
entered Rush Medical College at Chicago,
from which he graduated in 1882 with high
honors. The same year he was appointed to
the medical staff of the Eastern Illinois Hos-
pital for the Insane, where he remained three
years, when he resigned to accept the respon-
sible position of medical superintendent of the
Bellevue Sanitarium at Batavia, Ill., an insti-
tution for the treatment of nervous diseases.
While there he came into marked prominence
and declined several advantageous offers that
promised advancement, but the work was not
congenial to him so he returned to Chicago
and engaged in general practice, with nervous
diseases as a specialty. He here enjoyed a
large and lucrative practice, but in 1893 he
removed to Alma, Mich., to accept the postion
of Superintendent and Medical Director of the
Alma Sanitarium. Six years later, after a
most successful medical career, he came into
full control as lessee and proprietor. Under
his administration the institution has acquired
wide celebrity in the medical profession.
Dr. Pettyjohn has contributed many valu-
able papers to the medical journals, being
associate editor of two on professional topics,
and is a recognized authority on many sub-
jects. Owing, however, to the effect on the
doctor's health, of exhausting, steady and con-
tinuous practice for over 18 years and the
difficult work at the Sanitarium for the past
seven years, without vacation, he has decided
to relinquish his lease of the institution and his
medical practice, for a year's rest, travel and
study abroad. He is commissioned by the
Governor of Michigan to visit all institutions
for nervous diseases in Austria, France and
Germany. He will study in Berlin, Vienna,
Prague and Paris. He will retain his interest
in the Sanitarium and remain a member of
the Board of Directors.
He is a member of and officer in many lead-
ing medical societies in the state and nation.
He enjoys high standing in the Methodist
Episcopal church, both in Illinois and Michi-
gan, and has represented with distinction the
Michigan Conference in the Methodist Gen-
eral Conference, session of 1900 of the church.
In society connections, he is a Mason, a mem-
ber of the Knights of Pythias, of the Royal
Arcanum, and of the National Union Medical
Examiners, being a Senator in the last named.
He is a Republican in politics, though he has
not desired nor held any political office. He
was joined in marriage in 1885 to Miss Ada
E. Lozier, daughter of Rev. John Hogarth
Lozier, D. D., of Indianapolis, Ind., now of
Mt. Vernon, Ia. They have three children,
Wallace Hogarth, Margaret and Elmore S.,

Jr.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
307
HENRY NELSON LOUD.
LOUD, HENRY NELSON. Henry Nel-
son Loud was born at Huntsburg, Ohio, Aug.
22, 1850. When he was five years of age, his
parents moved to Concord, New Hampshire,
then to Lowell, Watertown, and Medford,
Mass, where he secured his early education.
He then took a course at Mr. Noble's Prepara-
tory School, intending to enter Harvard. His
father, however, had become largely inter-
ested in Michigan pine and moved to that
state. For this reason it was thought best for
him to enter the University of Michigan,
which he accordingly did in the fall of 1869.
In 1873 he married Miss Agnes E. Hathaway,
of Medford, Mass., and they have six children.
Since leaving college, he has been engaged
in the lumber business at Au Sable, Mich.
He entered his father's office there and has
successively filled all positions up to manager.
Upon the retirement of his father, Mr. Loud
and his brothers formed a co-partnership and
have successfully conducted the business under
the firm name of H. M. Loud's Sons Company.
He is also secretary and treasurer of the Au
Sable & Northwestern Railway Company
and is a large owner of vessel property.
On the 13th of October, 1899, he was ap-
pointed member of the State Board of Library
Commissioners. He is a member of the Au
Sable Lodge, No. 234, F. & A. M.; Iosco
Chapter, No. 83; Alpena Commandery, No.
34; Michigan Sovereign Consistory, Detroit,
and Moslem Temple, Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine, Detroit. He is also Aide-de-Camp
and Colonel on the staff of Major-General
Callahan, of the Uniform Rank, Knights of
Pythias.
Mr. Loud has always been deeply interested
in educational matters and the comparatively
high standard of the local schools is very
largely due to his efforts. He is also a very
close student of modern political problems.
The money question especially has been very
exhaustively studied by Mr. Loud and his
plan for an international coinage has received
favorable comments from a great many of the
highest authorities on the subject, both in this
country and in Europe.
308
MEN OF PROGRESS.

CHARLES AUSTIN.
AUSTIN, CHARLES. Mr. Austin's guid-
ing star seems to have led him upon somewhat
varied and irregular, though comparatively
smooth lines. Men are not responsible for
their temperaments, but their temperaments
are largely responsible for their acts and the
history that they make. An even tempera-
ment, coupled with clear perception and the
energy that attends a healthful physique, have
carried Mr. Austin successfully through vari-
ous enterprises, to a position ensuring comfort
and competence, during the remainder of a
well-ordered life. Born in the City of Lon-
don, April 19th, 1834, he received the ele-
ments of an education popularly termed the
three R's. His father, Charles Austin, was of
the old order of mechanics, retailing his own
make of footwear. Later he moved to New
Zealand and became a Wesleyan minister.
His mother was Marguette Moody. During
the popular disturbances and revolution of
1848 young Austin imbibed the principles of
Republicanism as opposed to monarchy and
with the consent of his parents emigrated to
and subsequently became a citizen of the
Great Republic, an important event in his life
which he has never regretted.
Charles Austin earned his first dollar sell-
ing newspapers and magazines on the streets
of London. He learned the trade of a shoe-
maker and in 1852, with three dollars and a
steerage ticket to New York, he separated
from his parents, who emigrated to New Zea-
land, and whom he did not again see for nearly
twenty years. He found work at his trade in
Albany, N. Y., going from thence to Little
Falls, N. Y., and later opened a shop of his
own at Utica, N. Y. In 1854 he sold his busi-
ness and moved to Concord, Jackson County,
Michigan, where he found work at his trade.
He attended the first Republican gathering
"Under the Oaks" at Jackson, July 6, 1854,
and affiliated with the new party, with which
he has since uniformly acted. He moved to
Homer, Calhoun County, in 1855, still fol-
lowing his trade, and in 1857 removed to Bed-
ford, where he opened a general store, and in
1872 moved to Battle Creek, and became a
partner with Peter Hoffmaster in the dry
goods trade, so continuing for ten years. In
1882 he became senior partner in the whole-
sale grocery and commission firm of Austin,
Godsmark & Co., but withdrew from active
connection with the business in 1894, to accept
the position of vice-president of the National
Bank of Battle Creek, with the duties of active
president, which position he now holds.
Mr. Austin was elected Mayor of Battle
Creek in 1876, was elected to the lower house
of the Legislature in 1880 and to the State
Senate in 1882 and again in 1884, and was
among the most useful and influential mem-
bers of both bodies, serving on important com-
mittees and showing himself at all times punc-
tual in his attendance, clear-headed and in-
corruptible. He was delegate to the National
Republican Convention at Minneapolis in
1892 and was made a member of the Commit-
tee on Resolutions.
Mr. Austin's New Year in 1855 was made
memorable by his marriage with Miss Lucy
D. Taylor of Concord. They have three sons,
Oliver T., traveling salesman for a Chicago
house; Charles J., in the grocery trade at Bat-
tle Creek, and Edward D., of DesMoines, Ia.
Mr. Austin is a Royal Arch Mason and a
member of Battle Creek Commandery,
Knights Templar. His religious connections
are Independent Congregational.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
309
FRANCIS HENRY DODDS.
DODDS, FRANCIS HENRY. Francis
Henry Dodds, of Mt. Pleasant, Isabella
county, Michigan, was born in St. Lawrence
county, State of New York, on the 9th day of
June, 1858. His early education was received
in the district schools and in the village school
of Shepherd, Michigan, to which place his
parents removed, in the year 1866. At the
age
of sixteen years he began teaching school,
in which profession he continued for the period
of four years; first, in the district schools of
Isabella county, next in the village schools of
Mt. Pleasant, and finally, as principal of the
village schools at Farwell, in Clare county.
In 1878 he commenced reading law in the
office of Edmund Hall, at Detroit, and in the
fall of the same year entered the Law Depart-
ment of the University of Michigan, and grad-
uated therefrom in the spring of 1880, at
which time he was elected president of the
Law Alumni of that institution for the then
ensuing year. Continuing his literary studies
at Olivet College, Michigan, he graduated
from that institution in 1882.
Entering into partnership with his brother
-now Judge Peter F. Dodds at Mt. Pleas-
ant, he pursued the practice of law there until
1884, when he removed to Bay City, where
he continued in practice until 1887, at which
time he returned to Mt. Pleasant, and again
formed a partnership with his brother, and
this business relation was kept up until the
election of his brother to the bench in 1893.
Mr. Dodds has continued in the business of his
profession, at Mt. Pleasant, since then, has
built up a large practice, and is considered one
of the leading lawyers in that part of the State.
In 1892 he was married to Miss Hattie A.
Cole, daughter of Oscar M. Cole, at Alpena,
Michigan.
fellow and a member of the Knights of
Mr. Dodds is a Royal Arch Mason, an Odd-
Pythias. He has always been strongly identi-
fied with the Republican party, and is at pres-
ent chairman of the Republican County Com-
mittee of his county. He is prominently men-
tioned as a candidate for congressional honors
from the Eleventh Congressional District, the
present year.
310
MEN OF PROGRESS.

GEORGE L. YAPLE.
YAPLE, GEORGE L. In the county of
St. Joseph is a little village of 700 to 800 in-
habitants, called Mendon. Possibly the village
would never been much heard of, but for a
circumstance or two. Firstly, there was born
there, in 1851, a boy baby that has since borne.
the name of George L. Yaple. Secondly, he
grew to manhood with a marked personality
and an intellectual vigor that gave him promi-
inence, and thirdly, he was a candidate for
Congress in the year 1882 against Julius C.
Burrows, and the latter, confident of his own
election, and looking somewhat lightly upon
Mr. Yaple's candidacy, derisively spoke of him
as "the boy from Mendon." Mendon thus be-
came famous and the boy from Mendon has
since added to its fame as well as his own. And
at the time referred to, the joke reacted upon
Mr. Burrows, who was himself beaten by "the
boy from Mendon."
Mr. Yaple's higher education was received
at the Northwestern University at Evanston,
Ill. He studied law and was admitted to the
bar when twenty-one years of age. Instead
of rushing to some large city as a candidate for
practice, he seems to have preferred his native
village and friends and associations with which
he had been familiar. He has been a student,
not of law alone, but of social, economic and
moral questions as well. A study of the lead-
ing writers on political economy made him a
free trader. Similar studies inclined him to
the so-called Greenback theory of currency.
Mr. Yaple's aptness for the forum early
developed itself. He was on the stump for
the Democratic ticket in 1868, when only
seventeen years old. He first became prom-
inent in State politics in 1880, when he was a
candidate for Congress on the Greenback
ticket. Two years later, the joint support of
the Democrats and Greenbacks landed him in
Congress against Mr. Burrows, as before
stated. Mr. Yaple, within a few months, while
in Congress, became famous the country over
as one of the most eloquent and brilliant speak-
ers upon the subject of tariff reform (from the
Democratic point of view), ever heard in Con-
gress. He has since been two or three times
a candidate for Congress, though unsuccess-
ful, while running largely ahead of his ticket.
In 1886 he was the Democratic-Greenback
candidate for Governor, but the odds were
hopelessly against him, although making a
brilliant and tireless campaign. In 1883 he
was elected judge of the Fifteenth Judicial
Circuit and re-elected in 1899. He still lives
at Mendon, the head of a family of a wife and
seven children, forming an ideal home center.
Published sketches during his political cam-
paigns imply that the wife and mother (for-
merly Miss Mary E. Hawkinson, of Rockford,
Ill., to whom Judge Yaple was married Janu-
ary 1st, 1873) is not a little responsible for the
elegance of the home life, if not to some extent
for Judge Yaple's brilliant career. Judge
Yaple's parents were Elisha L. and Delila
(Eddy) Yaple. Judge Yaple is a Mason
(Knights Templar), and a member of the
Sigma Chi, and has the usual Collegiate de-

grees.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
311
REID, EDWY CAMPBELL. Mr. Reid
is a vigorous representative of Michigan jour-
nalism. Although born in Brantford, Ont.,
Feb. 12, 1852, he is practically a Michigan
boy, his parents having removed to Kalamazoo,
Mich., when he was but eighteen months old,
subsequently removing to Otsego, Allegan
county. The Reids had lived in New Jersey
for several generations, where the elder Reid
was born, but removing to Brantford. The
mother of Edwy C. was Martha A. Long, a
native of Norfolkshire, England. Edwy C. is
a resident of Allegan, and editor and propri-
etor of the Allegan Gazette, which he estab-
lished in 1882. Having the usual advantages
of the local schools at Otsego until sixteen
years of
age, the young man began his active
career in life as an apprentice in the office of
the Otsego Herald. He served two years at
$3 per week. Later, while at Otsego, in com-
pany with H. E. J. Clute, he published the
Otsego Record, a small local weekly, for eight
months. In 1870 he went to work in a job
printing office at Kalamazoo, piecing out his
small income by setting type evenings, on the
Kalamazoo Telegraph. In 1871 he was fore-
man of the composing room of the Kalamazoo
Gazette. Going to Allegan in 1871 he became
foreman in the office of the Allegan Democrat,
serving in that capacity for six months. He
became foreman of the Allegan Journal, the
Republican paper, April 1, 1872, and in
1872, and in
August, 1874, on the strength of some bor-
rowed money, he bought a one-third interest
in the paper. The firm then became Hender-
son & Reid and went on with comparative
smoothness until April 1st, 1882, when he and
Henderson differed as to the policy of the
paper. That night Henderson converted the
type in the office into what is technically
known as "pi," and the next day, Reid, with
but $4.50 in his pocket started the Allegan
Gazette. The paper was at first printed in an
outside office, but friends of Reid came to his
aid and in a month he had a new office
EDWY CAMPBELL REID.
gan, to which position he was appointed in
June, 1898. His personal fitness, his integrity
and party fealty (Republican) are sufficiently
guaranteed by his appointment to this respon-
sible trust. He was appointed a member of
the Board of Trustees of the State Asylum for
the insane at Ionia in 1893 and was re-
appointed for the full six-year term in 1895,
having during his first term acted as president
of the board. His re-appointment is a flatter-
ing testimonial of his faithful administration
of the office. Mr. Reid was for twelve years
secretary of the State Horticultural Society,
and for many years he has devoted from one
to two pages of his paper each week to horticul-
tural interests, which has been largely influen-
tial in developing the fruit growing industry in
the widely known fruit belt on the western
coast of Michigan. Mr. Reid has been a mem-
ber of the Congregational Church for twenty
years past.
years past. His lodge connections are Odd-
fellows, Foresters, Maccabees and United
Workmen. He has been a member of the
Executive Committee of the Republican Press
Association. His family consists of his wife,
equipped, and today the Gazette has a circu- formerly Miss M. Adah Borradaile, of Sodus,
lation of 3,000 copies weekly.
Mr. Reid is the present postmaster at Alle-
N. Y., to whom he was married in 1876, and
two children, a son and a daughter.
312
MEN OF PROGRESS.

ETHEL M. ALLEN.
ALLEN, ETHEL M. Ethel M. Allen, of
Portland, Michigan, was born in Williamson,
New York State, November 18, 1840. His
early life was spent on his father's farm and
he became well acquainted with the drudgery
it implies. He obtained the first rudiments of
an education in the schools of the district, and
when 15 years of age, attended Marion Col-
legiate Institute, paying for his education by
doing odd jobs around the town and caring for
the school buildings. He boarded himself
He boarded himself
and managed to remain at the institute until
1861, teaching during vacations and part of
the time taking classes in the institute.
When the Civil War broke out, Mr. Allen
enlisted October 15, 1861, in the Ninety-
eighth Volunteer Infantry, with which regi-
ment he served until disabled by wounds re-
ceived on Chapin's Farm, September 29,
September 29,
1864, at the capture of Fort Harrison. He
was advanced rapidly from the ranks, being
promoted successively to second lieutenant,
first lieutenant and captain, succeeding to the
command of the company in which he first en-
listed. The Ninety-eighth served through the
Peninsular campaign under Gen. McClellan,
and with Gen. Grant in 1864. It participated
in all the fierce engagements about Richmond,
and was one of the first regiments to enter the
Confederate capital, April 4, 1865, five days
before Gen. Lee surrendered at Appomatox
Court House.
The exciting incidents of the war were ex-
changed for the quiet life of a farmer. Upon
leaving the army Mr. Allen returned to his
home and followed that peaceful vocation for
a period of six years. He was made commis-
sioner of schools in his district in New York
state, and held that office for two terms of
three years each, from 1866 until 1872. In
1874 he came to Michigan determined to
make a try for fortune in the west. He lo-
cated in Portland, where he still resides, and
after being there a short time entered the
banking house of Maynard & Allen in the
capacity of cashier, and he has held that posi-
tion with the same firm ever since.
Mr. Allen is an ardent and enthusiastic
Republican and fully committed to the prin-
ciples of that party. He works hard for his
party in the various campaigns, contributing
with both voice and pen toward the success of
his ticket. He is a man of quick wit, keen dis-
cernment and endowed with all those charac-
teristics that make a successful man.
In matters pertaining to the Grand Army
of the Republic, Mr. Allen has always taken a
deep and active interest, working in behalf of
his comrades and doing all in his power to fur-
ther the interests of the G. A. R. in this state.
He is a charter member of the John McGarry
Post.
As an ex-instructor in the public schools he
is well fitted for the position he occupies as
trustee of the Portland High School, and he
has acted as such for the past twenty years.
He married in Williamson, New York,
November 29th, 1863, Miss Anne C., daugh-
ter of Robert and Electa Smith, of that place,
and has three children: Mrs. A. V. Bell, of
Seattle, Wash., Gertrude M. and Clifton M.
The two latter are unmarried and live at home.
Mr. Allen is now supervisor of the United
States census for the Fifth District of Michi-
gan. He is a member of the M. E. church.
He has recently become affiliated with the
Loyal Legion. On June 8th, 1900, Mr. Allen
was elected Department Commander of the
Grand Army of the Republic of Michigan.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
313
WILLIAMS, RT. REV. GERSHOM
MOTT. Episcopal Bishop of Marquette, Rt.
Rev. Gershom Mott Williams is the grandson
of John R. Williams, the first mayor of the
city of Detroit, and five times re-elected to that
office. He was president of the Constitutional
Convention of Assent which admitted Michi-
gan as a state to the union, and also organized
the militia of Michigan, being the first Major-
General of this state. His son, Brigadier-
General Thomas Williams, U. S. V. (Major
4th U. S. Artillery) of the Second Brigade of
the Army of the Gulf, who was killed at Baton
Rouge, Louisiana, August 5th, 1862, was
Bishop Williams' father. On Bishop Wil-
liams' mother's side, the family traces to the
old New England family of Bailey, the
mother's maiden name being Mary N. Bailey.
Bishop Williams was born at Fort Hamilton,
New York, February 11th, 1857. He attended
a private school at Newburg, N. Y., until
1866, and then the public schools, graduating
from the Free Academy at Newburg in 1871.
Later he attended a classical school under
Hugh S. Banks. He earned his first money
when he was sixteen years of age, as a time-
keeper in the foundry of Whitehill, Smith &
Hampson. In December, 1874, he went to
Europe and returning in the spring of 1875
became bookkeeper in an agricultural manu-
facturing business at Newburg. The company
failing, the ensuing fall Mr. Williams won a
competitive examination scholarship at Cor-
nell University, of which he availed himself,
taking a two-years course at that University.
In 1877 he removed to Detroit, to look after
his father's estate, entered the law office of
Robert P. Toms, and was admitted to the bar
December 29th, 1879. He then commenced
to study for the ministry and was ordained at
St. John's Church, Detroit, December 26th,
1880, and immediately became curate to Rev-
erend George Worthington, now Bishop of
Nebraska. While in Detroit he developed the
RT. REV. GERSHOM WILLIAMS.
St. Matthew's Colored Church and in conjunc-
tion, with this held, for two years, the Church
of the Messiah at Hamtramck, Mich., and
afterwards St. George's Church, Detroit, until
the spring of 1889. He had been ordained a
priest in 1882. Mr. Williams resigned St.
George's Church and took charge of the Cathe-
dral at Buffalo, N. Y., and in the fall of 1889
became Dean of All Saints' Cathedral, at Mil-
waukee, Wis. In October, 1891, Rev. Mr.
Williams became Arch-Deacon of the North-
ern Peninsula of Michigan, with residence at
Marquette. He continued in charge of the
work of the church in this section, as deputy
of the Bishop of Michigan, until he was raised
to the Episcopate on May 1st, 1896, at Grace
Church, Detroit. In 1879, Eliza Bradish
Biddle became Mrs. Williams. She is the
daughter of W. S. Biddle of Grosse Ile, Michi-
gan, and grand-daughter of the late Major
John Biddle of Detroit. Bishop Williams has
seven children, Susan D., Thomas Victor,
Dayton Ogden, Cecil H., Rhoda, John B. and
Mary Josepha Williams.
314
MEN OF PROGRESS.

JOHN ALEXANDER SIBBALD.
Mr.
SIBBALD, JOHN ALEXANDER.
Sibbald is of Scotch parentage, his father and
mother, Thomas and Anne (Dickson) Sibbald,
being from Roxburyshire in Scotland, coming
to Michigan in 1838, John A. having been
born March 29, 1836, in New York City, dur-
ing a temporary stay of his parents there. His
first school years were passed in a country dis-
trict school near Jonesville.
This was fol-
lowed by a couple of years in school at Albany,
N. Y., and a further attendance at the Jones-
ville Union school during the years 1848-51.
When sixteen years old he took a position as
clerk and copyist in the office of the Register
of Deeds at Hillsdale, a work of no little re-
sponsibility for a youth of that age. Remain-
ing there six months, he then entered the em-
ploy of R. S. Varnum, a druggist and also a
postmaster, at Jonesville, as clerk. Two years
passed here was followed by a like term as
bookkeeper in the general store of E. O. Gros-
venor. His established character then ad-
vanced him to the position of confidential clerk
in Mr. Grosvenor's bank, which position he
filled for seven years. In 1863 a co-partner-
ship was formed by Mr. Grosvenor, E. B. An-
drews and himself, under the firm name of E.
O. Grosvenor & Co., as dealers in general
merchandise. This partnership continued for
seven years, when Mr. Andrews withdrew on
account of ill health, Mr. Grosvenor and him-
self continuing the business four years longer,
when C. L. Spaulding was admitted a member
of the firm, which then took the style of Sib-
bald, Spaulding & Co. Mr. Spaulding with-
drew in 1879, the business being then con-
tinued under the style of J. A. Sibbald & Co.,
Mr. Grosvenor being the silent partner. In
1897, Frank E. Guy took Mr. Grosvenor's
place in the firm, under the same firm name.
Mr. G. was special partner in the business from
1863 to 1870 and general partner from 1870
to 1897.
It will thus be seen that Mr. Sibbald has
spent practically his entire life, at the ripe age
of sixty-four, in Jonesville, and has been in
active business either as employe or principal,
since he was sixteen years of age, a period of
nearly fifty years. His official career is meas-
ured only by several years' service as a trus-
tee of the village and one year as its presi-
dent, he having been given more to business
than to politics. He is largely identified with
the material interests of Jonesville and is also
interested in Trinidad, Colorado, real estate,
Trinidad being a coal mining town in Color-
ado. He was also very active in securing the
extension of the old Fort Wayne, Jackson &
Saginaw railroad to Jonesville in 1869, and
has been a stockholder and director in and
vice-president of the Grosvenor Savings Bank.
He was efficient in building the First Presby-
terian church edifice in Jonesville, was for
years a trustee and treasurer of the society,
and is still one of the elders of the church. Mr.
Sibbald has been twice married. Miss Cynthia
M. Wales, daughter of Lewis Wales of Jones-
ville, became Mrs. Sibbald in 1859 and died in
1872. His second marriage was in 1877 to
Mrs. Martha Boynton, nee Hill, daughter of
Hezekiah Hill, of Wayne county, N. Y. He
has two daughters and a son, Maggie L., wife
of C. V. Turner, of Trinidad, Colorado, Lewis
W., a clerk with his father, and Anne, at home.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
315
PRINGLE, EUGENE. A professional
career of fifty years in Michigan will cer-
tainly entitle Mr. Pringle to rank as one of
the older members of the legal profession in
the State. His paternal ancestry was Scotch,
the first American representative of the fam-
ily having settled in New London, Conn., in
1689. His father and mother, Homer and
Harriet (Hatch) Pringle, were residents of
Richfield, Otsego County, N. Y., where
Eugene Pringle was born December 1, 1826.
The father's culture cast its light upon the
son, whose primary school training was sup-
plemented by a three years' course at the
Mayville (Chautauqua County) academy, the
parents having removed to that county in
1828. He was engaged a portion of the time
during the winter months in teaching, and
soon after reaching the age of eighteen, he
began the study of law at Batavia and was
admitted to the bar in 1849. He located in
Jackson, this state, in December, 1850. Dur-
ing the 1850 decade he held co-partnership
relations successively with Samuel H. Kim-
ball, John C. Fitzgerald and Edward Pom-
eroy. From April, 1861, he was alone in prac-
tice until September, 1894, when he became
associated with his present partner, A. E.
Hewett.
Aside from a successful professional career
Mr. Pringle has made a popular history
equalled by but few men in the state. His
agency in promoting the business prosperity
of Jackson, is especially noteworthy. The
Grand River Valley, the Jackson & Fort
Wayne, and the Michigan Air Line railroads
were Jackson enterprises, of which Mr. Prin-
gle was largely the propelling force, in the
way of personal interviews, addresses at pub-
lic meetings and newspaper articles prepared
by him.
Mr. Pringle's public service has given him
a state reputation. In 1852, he was elected
circuit court commissioner for Jackson
County. In 1853 and again in 1854 he was
elected village recorder, and in 1856 and
again in 1858 prosecuting attorney, and was
city attorney of Jackson, 1859-60. In 1860
he was elected a representative in the State
Legislature. During the administration of
Governor Blair, he filled the responsible and
exacting position of military secretary to the
governor. In 1866 he was elected to the
EUGENE PRINGLE.
State Senate, and
State Senate, and not being politically
friendly to Senator Chandler, he was pur-
posely omitted from the more important com-
mittees, leaving him a greater freedom of
action, and he prides himself on having been
able to accomplish more on that account. In
1867 he was elected a member of the consti-
tutional convention of that year. Mr. Prin-
gle's early political leanings were Democratic,
but he became a Republican in the political
crisis of the 1850 decade. In 1872, however,
he joined in the so-called independent move-
ment and has since acted with the Democrats.
He was United States register of bankruptcy,
1867-78, was a member of the board of pub-
lic works in Jackson, 1871-76, and state com-
missioner of insurance, 1883-85.
He was
elected mayor of Jackson in 1885 and prose-
cuting attorney in 1886, being the only Demo-
crat elected in the county. He was candidate
for Congress in 1880 and again in 1888, can-
didate for circuit judge in 1881 and for lieu-
tenant-governor in 1882, but fell under
adverse majorities, though leading his ticket
in each case. He sided with the so-called gold
wing of the party in 1896.
Mr. Pringle's religious connection is Epis-
copalian. Miss Frances A. Becker, daughter
of Abraham Becker, of Ann Arbor, became
Mrs. Pringle in 1855. They have two daugh-
ters, Jessie, widow of Milton Harmon, of
Jackson, and Fannie, at home.
316
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. JAMES MACNAUGHTON.
HON.
MAC NAUGHTON,
JAMES.
Archibald MacNaughton, father of the sub-
ject of this sketch, came to this country from
the Highlands of Scotland in 1854. The Mac-
Naughtons were farmers, and lived for genera-
tions in Perchshire, Scotland. James Mac-
Naughton was born March 9th, 1864, at the
Bruce mines in the Province of Ontario.
the following June the family moved to Han-
cock, Michigan, and from there in 1867 they
moved to Lake Linden. Here the boy grew up
and was sent to the public schools.
In
After he was eleven years of age he worked
during his summer vacations as a water-boy at
the Calumet & Hecla coal docks, receiving one
dollar per day for his services. At the age of
sixteen he left school, and became a switch-
tender on the railroad operated by the Calumet
& Hecla Company. In about a year thereafter
he began operating a stationary engine on the
gravity road at the stamp mills of the same
company, receiving for his services two dollars
per day. The railroad at that time was not
built down to the stamp mills, and a gravity
road was used to lower the trains of loaded cars
down to the mills. When nineteen years of
age it was decided to send him to Oberlin Col-
lege, at Oberlin, Ohio, where he studied for
one year. In the fall of 1884 he entered the
University of Michigan, taking a course in
engineering, until June, 1886. He then
accepted a position in the mining engineer's
office of the Calumet & Hecla Mining Co.,
where he did surveying and draughting until
February, 1889, when he resigned to accept
the position of mining engineer at the Chapin
mine at Iron Mountain, Mich. In May, 1890,
he was made Assistant Superintendent, and in
March, 1892, was given the position he now-
occupies, that of General Manager.
Mr. MacNaughton has been a supervisor of
Dickinson county ever since that county was
organized, and was for one year chairman of
the Board of Supervisors. He was appointed
in 1895 by Governor Rich as a member of the
Board of Control of the Upper Peninsula
Prison, at Marquette, Mich., and held the
office until 1899. He is also the president of
the Board of Public Works at Iron Mountain,
and was a delegate to the Republican conven-
tion held in St. Louis in 1896. At the State
Republican convention held in Detroit in
April, 1900, he was nominated as a presidential
elector.
Besides being general manager of the Cha-
pin mine, Mr. MacNaughton is also manager
of the Winthrop mine at Ishpeming, Michi-
both of which are owned by the National
Steel Co.

gan,
Mr. MacNaughton married in 1892 Mary
E. Morrison, daughter of John S. Morrison,
of Calumet, Michigan. He has one child,
Martha Lois MacNaughton.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
317
WINANS, GEORGE G. Among the early
emigrants to California, after the gold discov-
ery there, was a young man named Edwin B.
Winans. He was a Michigan man and made
the overland journey in 1850. His business
there was at first placer mining, but in 1856
he engaged in banking in the town of Rough
and Ready. He found time to take a wife
during the interval, in the person of Elizabeth
Galloway, whose parents, of Scotch descent,
were pioneers of Livingstone county, Mich.
Of this parentage George G. was born at the
California town July 20th, 1856. Further as
to the father's history, he returned to Michi-
gan in 1858 and settled on a farm of 400 acres
in the town of Hamburg, Livingstone county.
The confidence of his fellow citizens was mani-
fested in his election to the Legislature, to the
Constitutional Convention of 1867, to the
office of Judge of Probate and to two terms in
Congress, 1882 and '84. In 1890 he was
elected Governor of the state, his politics hav-
ing been uniformly Democratic.
of
George G. Winans, with the average pri-
mary and graded school training, at the age
seventeen entered Deveaux College at Niagara
Falls, taking a preparatory course designed to
fit him for admission as a cadet at the West
Point Military Academy. The impairment
of his teeth, however, resulting from a severe
illness, unfitted him to pass the requisite physi-
cal examination and his proposed military edu-
cation was necessarily abandoned. He became
collection clerk in a bank at Howell (1875)
and retired as teller, after five years of service.
He then engaged in the crockery business at
Howell, for two years, when he sold out and
removed to Denver, Col., where he was en-
gaged successfully for a year as a partner in a
commission house. Returning to Michigan in
1883, he was engaged for the next two years
as traveling salesman for a wholesale grocery
firm in Detroit. In 1885 he accepted a posi-
tion in the mail service, as mail clerk between
Detroit and Grand Rapids, but was relieved
in 1889 by the then Republican (Harrison)
administration. He then went to Guthrie,
Oklahoma Territory, when the public lands
GEORGE G. WINANS.
were thrown open for settlement, and took a
hand is starting the first newspaper in the terri-
tory, the Oklahoma State Journal, in which
he had a one-third interest. He sold out his
interest during the year, for three times its
cost value, and became the representative in
the west and south of the extensive line of
silver-plated ware manufactured by Rogers
Brothers of Waterbury, Conn. When his
father was elected governor he threw up his
position with the last named company, to be-
come his private secretary. This position in-
volving also the duties of military secretary,
carried with it the rank of Major. Maj.
Winans took up his residence at Hamburg in
1895, where his occupation has since been that
of a farmer. He has been tendered nomina-
tions for official position a number of times
by his party (the Democratic) but has uni-
formly declined. He is a member of the Ma-
sonic Fraternity, of the Odd Fellows and of
the Knights of the Loyal Guard.
Miss Catherine Valentine, daughter of Al-
fred Valentine, of Webster township, Wash-
tenaw county, became Mrs. Winans in 1889.
They have one son, Edwin, at school in Ham-
burg.
318
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HUTSON BENEDICT COLMAN.
COLMAN, HUTSON BENEDICT. Fran-
cis Colman, father of H. B., was of English
extraction. His grandfather, Martin C., was
a Baptist minister in western New York. His
mother, Mary Benedict, was from an old Con-
necticut family. The father came from
Brockport, N. Y., in 1837, settling near Roch-
ester, in Oakland county, where H. B. was
born, June 8th, 1855. In 1866, the family
removed to Kalamazoo. With a preliminary
training in the public schools, young Colman,
at the age of thirteen, began a preparatory
course for Kalamazoo College, from which he
graduated in 1877. Before graduation he
passed a year as tutor in the college; followed
by a year as superintendent of schools at
Hastings, after finishing his college course. In
the summer of 1878 he visited Paris, and re-
corded his observations and impressions, in a
series of newspaper articles. This was fol-
lowed by two years as principal of the Kalama-
zoo High School, to which he declined a re-
appointment in 1884, desiring to engage in
active business. He became associated with
C. H. Bird in the manufacture of windmills,
and has since been connected with different
manufacturing enterprises that have served to
make Kalamazoo a manufacturing center.
Mr. Colman's early life was spent between
farm chores and the district school. His father
was one of a few Republicans in the midst of
a strong Democratic community, and he often
refers to early impressions which he received
from the discussions which he heard in those
days. In college he distinguished himself as
a scholar and a public speaker. In an inter-
collegiate oratorical contest in which most of
the denominational colleges of the State par-
ticipated he represented Kalamazoo College,
and carried off first honors. While always an
active business man, he has never lost his love
for the literary and intellectual. Reading and
study have been his main pastimes. One of his
cardinal principles is that it is the duty of every
man to give attention to public affairs and to
carefully guard the commonweal; therefore
when asked to take the nomination for alder-
man, he consented, and being elected, he
spared no time or labor in his efforts to protect
the interests of the city and to secure a high
order of government. In 1896 Mr. Colman
was elected Senator to represent the Ninth Dis-
nized as a prominent and influential member
trict in the State Legislature. He was recog-
of that body and his work was heartily ap-
proved by his constituency. The demands of
his private business forced him to decline a
second nomination to that office. When the
death of Hon. James Munroe made a vacancy
in the Kalamazoo postoffice, the appointment.
of Mr. Colman as postmaster gave universal
satisfaction. Mr. Colman's thorough business
habits and his long experience with men, have
eminently fitted him for such a position. In
1892 he organized the Home Savings Bank
and was its president for four years, and is still
a director. He is also a director in several in-
dustrial enterprises at Kalamazoo, and a stock-
holder in the Borden Paper Company at
Otsego. He is a trustee in the Kalamazoo Col-
lege and a director in the Y. M. C. A. His
society connections are Masonic, including
Peninsular Commandery, K. T., at Kalama-
zoo, and De Witt Clinton Consistory of Grand
Rapids. It is perhaps needless to add that he
is a Republican in politics.
Mr. Colman has been twice married. His
first wife was Miss Fannie Z. Lowell, daughter
of Dr. L. W. Lowell of Climax, to whom he
was married in 1883, and who died in Decem-
ber, 1884. In September, 1897, Miss Cath-
erine Fletcher, daughter of Calvin Fletcher,
of South Haven, became Mrs. Colman.




HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
319
BURTLESS, WILLIAM EARLY, M. D.
"Per Aspera ad Astra" is a motto that Wil-
liam Early Burtless, M. D., may fittingly
choose, for he has made his way to his pres-
ent position in life through difficulties that
would have discouraged a less persevering
man very early in the struggle.
He was born in Liberty, Jackson County,
Michigan, June 22, 1847. His family came
originally from Central New York State, his
grandfather, William Burtless, having been
a farmer in Seneca County, New York, for
many years.
Dr. Burtless' early life was not a partic-
ularly happy one. His mother died when he
was but eight years of age, and his father,
James Burtless, married again a year later.
After this the home was none too pleasant for
the lad, so when only nine years old he left
the uncongenial atmosphere and started out
as a farmer's boy.
He worked in the fields and did the gen-
eral work that falls to a boy around a farm
until 1863, shortly after the breaking out of
the Civil War. Farm work had given him a
rugged physique, and he was unusually tall
for a boy of sixteen, so he easily passed mus-
ter and enlisted in Company M, Eleventh
Michigan Cavalry.
He saw service in Virginia during the tur-
bid times that followed, and at the battle of
Saltville, in that State, was wounded and
taken prisoner by the Confederates who sent
him, with a batch of other prisoners, to Rich-
mond. October 2, 1864, found him in Libby
prison, where he remained a guest of the Con-
federacy for six weeks, when he was paroled
November 16, 1864.
Upon the expiration of his service he
of his service he
returned to Tecumseh, Michigan, where he
sought and found employment as a collector in
the employ of local physicians and merchants.
From 1872 to 1875 he did a small trade in
the lumber and mercantile business at Auburn,
Michigan, the results of which eventually
enabled him to finish his medical education.
After one year spent in the Baptist College
at Kalamazoo, Mich., he entered the literary
WILLIAM EARLY BURTLESS, M. D.
department of the University of Michigan.
In 1875 he commenced his medical studies at
that college, graduating in 1878.
In 1883 his health, which had been failing
for some time, broke down altogether, and
he was compelled to relinquish his growing
practice and seek some health resort in order
to recuperate. He went to St. Clair, Mich.,
to take the mineral baths for which that city
is noted, and finding the town and its people
congenial to him he decided to locate and
make it his future home. Dr. Burtless was
made house physician of the Oakland Hotel,
St. Clair, in which position he remained for
five years. At the end of that time he left the
hotel and started an independent practice.
Today he is one of the representative physi-
cians of St. Clair.
During the year 1892 he occupied the post.
of City Physician of that city.
Dr. Burtless married Miss Emma C. Blod-
gett, at Midland, Michigan, June 22, 1877.
They have one child, Alice May Burtless,
age three years. Dr. Burtless is a member of
St. Clair Lodge, F. & A. M., and also of Port
Huron Commandery, K. T.
320
MEN OF PROGRESS.

C
THOMAS HAWLEY CHRISTIAN.
CHRISTIAN, THOMAS HAWLEY.
Thomas Hawley Christian was born in De-
troit, June 3, 1856, and educated in the
Wyandotte High School. When he was a
young man he expressed a desire to follow the
calling of a druggist, but his father, Dr. Ed-
mond P. Christian, endeavored to persuade
him to follow in the same course he himself
had taken, attend the University of Michigan
and graduate as a physician. Young Chris-
tian had selected the line of work which he
thought most congenial to him and one day
he informed his parents that he had accepted
a position in the laboratory of the Wyandotte
Silver Smelting Works. This position he
secured through the interest he had awakened
in Prof. W. M. Courtis, then in charge of that
department, who, learning of the boy's desire
to become a druggist, offered to further it.
Here, working for six dollars a week, the
young man, under the personal supervision of
Prof. Courtis, learned the work of an assayer.
He continued as an assistant for two years and
then resigned the position, which was paying
him a salary of ten dollars a week, to work
for three dollars in the pharmaceutical labor-
atory of Farrand, Williams & Co., of Detroit.
For two years he worked and studied, until
at the expiration of that period he found him-
self in a position to follow the calling he had
determined upon in early life.
He left the firm to start in business on his
own account, and opened a drug store in the
then thriving little lumber town of Farwell,
Mich. He carried on this business most suc-
cessfully for four years, returning to Detroit
in 1884 and entering the pharmaceutical lab-
oratory of John J. Dodd & Co., with whom
he continued for two years.
The next two years of his life were spent as
a traveling salesman, selling oil for the firm of
Perrin & Snow, of Detroit. He then engaged
in the same line of business with the J. W.
Fawsett Company, of Cleveland, Ohio, but
quit on account of the long trips assigned to
him. From 1886 to 1888 he held the posi-
tion of assistant bookkeeper for the Eureka
Iron & Steel Works of Wyandotte, after
which he was made teller and bookkeeper of
the Wyandotte Savings Bank, where he re-
mained until a severe attack of typhoid fever
forced him to give up the position.
Mr. Christian's illness lasted for several
months. When he was at last able to go to
work again he went with the firm of J. H.
Bishop & Company. In 1893 he was appoint-
ed Deputy Sheriff of Wayne County, and the
following year Deputy County Clerk. He
was one of the three County Auditors elected
in Wayne County in 1897 and he fills that
position most ably at the present day. He is
a stockholder in the First Commercial and
Savings Bank of Wyandotte, and also in the
Wyandotte Savings Bank. Mr. Christian is
a Mason, a member of Wyandotte Lodge, F.
and A. M., Wyandotte Chapter, R. A. M.,
Monroe Council, R. and S. M., E. B. Ward
Lodge, I. O. O. F., and Wyandotte Tent, K.
O. T. M.
He married, June 10, 1879, Miss Anna M.,
daughter of Rev. G. W. Bloodgood, of Wyan-
dotte. Their two children, M. Evelyn and
George E., are attending school in Wyandotte.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
321
MACKENZIE, FREDERICK. Frederick
Mackenzie, of Calumet, Michigan, proprietor
and editor of the Copper Country Evening
News, as well as the weekly edition of the same
paper, was born in London, England, on the
27th of October, 1832, his father being the
celebrated architectural draughtsman of the
same name, who was associated with Pugin,
the architect, in illustrating many of the lat-
ter's works, whose father, again, was a whole-
sale linen-draper and hosier of London.
The subject of this sketch was educated at
the Metropolitan High School with the inten-
tion of entering government employ. Whilst
waiting for the promised appointment, he
took a clerical position, continuing in this
occupation for several years, as the govern-
ment changing, the promised appointment did
not materialize.
Promise of brighter prospects led him to
America. Upon his arrival he went to Chi-
cago
and was there persuaded by a brother of
the novelist, Charles Dickens, to purchase
some land in Champaign county, Ill. which
he did, with a gentleman he had met on the
ocean. Farming not being a very pleasant
occupation for one brought up in a large city,
he came to the Lakes, another object being
to get rid of the ague, with which he had been
seized while on the prairie. He landed at
Eagle Harbor in the fall of 1865 "busted,"
without a friend and shaking with the ague.
Nothing daunted, he applied to the late Sam-
uel W. Hill, then agent for the Pennsylvania
mine, and was given employment on the sur-
face. He stuck to it until the break-up in the
spring, when the mine closed down, and he
made his way to Hancock, where, after some
months, he obtained employment in the hard-
ware store of Holland & Patterson and was
eventually given charge of their wholesale
department. Here he met Mr. Thomas W.
Buzze, who was then supply agent for the
Calumet Mining Company.
Having had a dispute with Mr. Holland,
Mr. Mackenzie resigned his position and was
immediately engaged by Mr. Buzze as supply
clerk for the Calumet mine, remaining for
some eighteen years.
FREDERICK MACKENZIE.
Having loaned some money to a Mat Kelly,
who had started The Calumet News he found
himself obliged to take the plant to save his
money. The News was greatly improved
under the management of Mr. Mackenzie,
who eventually started "The Copper Country
Evening News," the first daily paper to be
published in the Copper Country. Mr. Mac-
kenzie has brought the paper through a sys-
tem of evolution, until the office generally
may be favorably compared with any office
this side of Milwaukee.
Mr. Mackenzie in politics is a liberal Repub-
lican; he has held for upwards of thirty years
the office of township clerk of Calumet. He is
a Mason, a member of the Order Sons of St.
George, a member of the Reform Club of
New York, of the Chicago Press Club, and a
charter member of the U. P. Press Association.
In 1856 Mr. Mackenzie was married to
Emma Mathilda Banks, of London, Eng.; the
family consists of Edith, wife of Col. J. N.
Cox, of the C. & H. Mine office; Nellie, wife
of John B. Curtis, J. P., Calumet; Emma M.,
widow of the late S. B. Salms of Chicago;
Frederick Henry, in charge of his father's
farm in the Red River Country, Minnesota;
Clyde S., business manager of the paper, and
Robert B., educated for a dentist, but who, on
account of illness, had to give up his profession
and is now looking after the financial depart-
ment of "The News."
322
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HENRY CHAMBERLAIN.
CHAMBERLAIN, HENRY. On his
father's side Mr. Chamberlain traces his an-
cestry back to his great great-grandfather,
Jacob Chamberlain, who was a resident of
Roxbury, Mass., born about 1690. From him
sprang Samuel, of Chelsea, Mass., born 1724,
thence Moses, of Hopkinton, Mass., born 1757,
and from him the father of Henry, also named
Moses, of London, N. H., born 1792. Mr.
Chamberlain himself having been born at
Pembroke, N. H., March 17, 1824. On the
maternal side his genealogy goes back to the
time of Elizabeth, in the person of Reginald
Foster, born in 1595, and who settled in Ips-
wich, Mass., in 1636, his mother having been
Mary Foster of Canterbury, N. H., born in
1797, a direct descendant of Reginald.
Mr. Chamberlain's education was advanced
from the primary to the academic but at the
age of twelve he is found as a clerk in his
father's store at Concord, N. H. His father
removed in 1843 to what is now the township
of Three Oaks, in Berrien county, where he
had located some government land in 1836,
on which to make a farm. Giving his time and
labor here until 1850, the son then commenced
opening a farm at what is now Three Oaks
village, and in 1854 commenced mercantile
business. This place has since been his home.
His business status may therefore be described
as farmer and merchant, while having given
much attention to public affairs. Year after
year he served as supervisor and justice of the
peace of his township. In 1848 he was elected
to the State Legislature. Being a Democrat
in politics, his party fell into the minority in
the political revolution of 1854, and his of-
ficial service has since been limited. In 1864
he was a candidate for the State Senate and in
1867 for the Constitutional Convention of that
year. He was his party's choice for Congress
in 1868, 1870 and 1876 and in 1872 and 1896
for presidential elector. In 1874 he was their
candidate for governor and was defeated by
less than 6,000 votes, against 56,000 Repub-
lican majority, two years previously. In 1885
Mr. Chamberlain was appointed by Gov. Alger
a member of the commission in charge of the
semi-centennial exercises, commemorative of
the formation of the state government. It was
a purely harmony appointment and Mr. Cham-
berlain's counsel contributed very largely to
the success of the occasion. The public posi-
tions that Mr. Chamberlain has held and for
which he has been named, have come to hin
by reason of his fitness, his affability and an
even temperament that attracts rather than
repels, and not by his own seeking.
Mr. Chamberlain has been a prominent
member of the Masonic fraternity since 1853
and was Grand Master in 1872. He is a mem-
ber of the Congregational church, as were his
ancestors members for some generations back.
He is believed to be the sole survivor of those
who organized the State Agricultural Society
in 1849, having been secretary of the meeting
held for that purpose. He has never held any
official position in the society but has attended
most of its fairs and has given much attention
to its work. He served twelve years as a mem-
ber of the State Board of Agriculture which
controls the Agricultural College, 1883-89
and 1891-97. Mr. Chamberlain's first wife,
Sarah Jane Nash, to whom he was married in
1851, was a native of Indiana, and daughter
of Vincent Nash of Three Oaks. She died in
1852, leaving an infant son. Mrs Rebecca
(Van De Vanter) Ames, a native of Ohio, be-
came Mrs. Chamberlain in 1856. Two daugh-
ters and a son are the fruit of this marriage.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
323
DODGE, HON FRANK LUKE. The
man who defended and secured the acquittal
of Hon. Thomas B. Barry, of Saginaw, in the
great conspiracy case of 1886, when Barry,
as chairman of the great executive board of
the Knights of Labor, during the strike in
Saginaw, was arrested under the Baker law,
for conspiracy, Mr. Dodge won for himself a
national reputation. Mr. Dodge has had a
good practice, and has prosecuted a large
number of cases for damages, with excellent
results. Hon. Frank Luke Dodge was born
in Oberlin, Ohio, Oct. 22, 1853. He was sent
to school until he was fifteen years of
age, and
then given employment at a news stand. He
worked as a newsboy, and later on a train,
running from Cleveland to Wellsville, Ohio,
and Pittsburg, Pa. At seventeen he had the
position of locomotive fireman and later was
promoted to a similar position on a passenger
engine, and for a time he ran a yard engine.
During his work as fireman, he had been
reading Kent's Commentaries, and preparing
himself for a course of legal study. Quitting
the railroad, he engaged in the hotel business,
at Eaton Rapids, with his brother, Wm. H.
Dodge; later traveled on the road for a firm
in Cleveland, Ohio. In two years at this work
his savings enabled him to take up the study
of law, which he commenced in the office of
Hon. Isaac M. Crane, of Eaton Rapids, one of
the foremost lawyers and public speakers of
the state. He was admitted to the bar in 1877,
before Justice F. A. Hooker, of the Supreme
Court, then Judge of the Circuit at Charlotte.
Mr. Crane took him into partnership, and his
career as an attorney had commenced. While
with Mr. Crane, he compiled and annotated
the railroad laws of Michigan. The partner-
ship continued until 1884, when the senior
member retired from practice on account of
ill-health.
In the celebrated Daken impeachment case
before the Legislature in 1887, Mr. Dodge,
together with Judge Van Zile and Judge
Holden, appeared for the defendant, Repre-
sentative Milo H. Daken, but, notwithstand-
ing their splendid efforts for Daken, he was
unseated. Mr. Dodge in 1897 was secretary
of the Democratic State Central Committee.
and has been for several years chairman of the
Democratic county committee. He was a
member of the Legislature from Lansing in
1882-5, and alderman of the city of Lansing
since 1891, being now president of the Coun-
cil. From 1887 to 1898 he was United States
Commissioner, and is secretary of the Super-
HON. FRANK LUKE DODGE.
visors' Association of Michigan, and chairman
of its Executive and Legislative Committees.
On the 22nd of November, 1888, he mar-
ried Abby, daughter of Hon. James Turner,
of Lansing. They have four children, Sophie,
aged 11; Franklin L., aged 9; Wyllis Osborn,
aged 7, and Josephine Elizabeth, aged one
year. Mr. Dodge is a direct descendant of the
original Massachusetts Dodge family, and
Nathan Dane, the great jurist and lawyer of
Massachusetts, was his great uncle. His
mother was Angeline Stevens Dodge, a native
of New Hampshire.
Mr. Dodge is a Mason, a member of the
Knights of Pythias, Uniform Rank; of the
I. O. O. F. and K. O. T. M. He is attorney,
secretary and a stockholder of the Lansing,
St. Johns & St. Louis Railroad Company,
having devoted much energy to this enterprise.
He was formerly associated with Hon. James
M. Turner, at the Springdale Farm, in raising
blooded horses and cattle.
Mr. Dodge is greatly attached to Lansing,
and has ever been loyal to its interests. He
was regarded by all persons as accomplishing
more for Lansing than any other person who
has represented the district. While he took
much interest in general legislation, as one of
the leaders of the minority, he never lost sight
of the interests of his district and the Capital
City; and its people, it is said, are equally
mindful of him.
324
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. PETER CHARLES KELIHER.
KELIHER, HON. PETER CHARLES.
It is not an abuse of the term, "a self-made
man," to apply it to Peter Charles Keliher,
for such he is. His early opportunities were
exceedingly limited, and what has since come
to him in life he has worked hard and earn-
estly to procure.
He is of Irish descent, and was born in
North Adams, Massachusetts, January 11,
1856. He attended the public school in
Worcester, Massachusetts, and during his va-
cations worked in a foundry, making cores.
His father had married a second time and the
step-mother did not agree with the boy, so he
left home, working at various occupations,
from making shoes to driving a sprinkling
wagon. He kept up his schooling during the
winter, and when 19 years of age enlisted in
the regular army, June 18, 1876. He was as-
signed to Company B, Tenth Infantry, U. S.
A., and sent with other recruits to Fort Mc-
Kavett, Texas, which was located 210 miles
from the railroad and was reached on foot.
The next year he was sent with a scouting
party to Fort Clark, 190 miles across the
country, and while there the troops were sent
in pursuit of a gang of cattle thieves. In this
campaign the men suffered extremely, going
at one time 24 hours without water, and nar-
rowly missing an engagement with the Mexi-
can troops. He was mustered out June 17,
1881. He had $156, with which he opened
a grocery store at Sault Ste. Marie, which
was closed up by his creditors, leaving him
an indebtedness of $1,000 and cash on hand
of $17.75. He worked with a pick and
shovel at $40 a month for three months on
the Soo lock, then went into the fish busi-
ness, buying and selling fish all that sum-
mer and later working on the docks load-
ing freight and checking coal for L. P.
Trempe at $45 per month. The next spring
he again embarked in the grocery business,
buying a store for $625, of which $100 was
paid in cash. The store did not thrive and
his backer, W. A. Dennis, failing in the
spring, Mr. Keliher was forced to mortgage
his home in order to buy goods. At this time
he bought on credit 50 barrels of flour and
did some advertising as a cash-priced store,
The follow-
offering the flour at a low rate.
ing day he did $130 worth of business. H.
T. Tremaine, the general manager of the
Hammond Standish Company, of Detroit,
then guaranteed his account and sent him
$4,000 worth of goods, other firms also
showed confidence in him, and when naviga-
tion opened in the spring he paid off the
mortgage, all his debts, including his old
creditors, with 8 per cent. interest. He built
his new block in Sault Ste. Marie in 1891-92
and his warehouse for his wholesale business.
He was appointed alderman to fill a vacancy
in the Democratic city council, in 1895, and
in 1898-1899 was mayor of Sault Ste. Marie,
being elected on the Republican ticket.
February 4, 1880, he married Miss Mary
A. Gardner, daughter of John J. Gardner, at
Sault Ste. Marie. They have nine children:
Lavina, Austin B., Otto C., Hattie, Lester,
Gertrude, Dorris, Thelma and Helen. Mr.
Keliher is a Catholic, a member of the Catho-
lic Mutual Benefit Association and the
Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of Sault
Ste. Marie.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
325
LEISEN, JACOB. Koplands, Germany,
was the birthplace of Jacob Leisen, president
of the Leisen & Henes Brewing Company of
Menominee, Michigan. He was born there
May 7, 1828, and came from sturdy German
stock, his forefathers having been farmers
and soldiers for generations and his grand-
father a government forester. The govern-
ment schools furnished the boy with his edu-
cation and at the age of 15 he was appren-
ticed with a cabinet-maker and carpenter to
learn that trade. After two years of this work
he left his employer and started out to work
for himself as a journeyman, earning about
25 cents a day. He then served about four
years as a volunteer in a sharpshooters' regi-
ment in the Prussian Army, and after work-
ing a while at his trade in 1853 he left the old
country and came to America.
The voyage was not as comfortable as
steerage passengers enjoy in the big Atlantic
liners now plying between the two hemi-
spheres, for Mr. Leisen came over in the
steerage of a sailing vessel, landing in New
York after a long voyage November 23, 1853.
He had 30 cents capital and was in debt 60
cents to a fellow passenger. On the voyage
over he spent his time studying the English
pronunciation from a book, and the day after
his arrival he was able through this little
knowledge to secure work. In 1854, during
the fall of that year he came west, and went
to Chicago, Illinois. Small-pox was raging in
that city at the time of young Leisen's arrival,
and the same day he got there one of the
boarders in the house where he had found a
room, died with the plague. The dead man
had been a carpenter and Leisen applied for
and secured his vacant position in the shop.
The following year he moved to Centerville,
Wisconsin, where he worked two years at his
trade, and then started a general store and
did a good business until the panic of 1873.
Coming to Michigan in that year he bought
out a small bottling works at Menominee,
where soft drinks were manufactured, and in
1876, in partnership with John Henes,
JACOB LEISEN.
bought out two small breweries and sold the
first beer in February. The sales for the first
year were less than 800 barrels, but this has
shown a yearly increase, and the output last
year (1898) was 22,000 barrels.
During the Civil War Mr. Leisen organ-
ized Company B, 45th Wisconsin Volunteer
Infantry and was mustered into service as
captain November 4, 1864.
The company
served around Nashville, Tennessee, until the
close of the war.
Mr. Leisen was an alderman the first two
years that the city of Menomineee was incor-
porated; he was also postmaster at Centerville,
Wisconsin, for six years, and a member of the
Democratic State Central Committee of Mich-
igan in 1892-'94. In his politics he is a
"Gold" Democrat. He married at Center-
ville, Wisconsin, in 1858, Miss Verena Fehr-
enbach and has six children.
Mr. Leisen is a director of the Lumberman's
National Bank and president of the Menom-
inee Stained Glass Works of that city. He
belongs to the Loyal Legion and the Grand
Army of the Republic and is an honorary
member of the Sons of Herman.

326
MEN OF PROGRESS.

FREDERICK BRAASTAD.
BRAASTAD, FREDERICK. Norway
and Sweden has furnished Michigan with
many valuable citizens, men who have helped
in the development of the vast mineral and
timber resources of the state, who have
wielded the ax, the pick and the shovel, bear-
ing with fortitude the cold winters of our
northern woods, not unlike the winters in their
own lands, and growing up with the country.
These two hardy races are largely represented
on the Upper Peninsula, and much of the
prosperity and progress of that section of
Michigan is due to their individual and col-
lective efforts. Many of them, since they be
came citizens of the United States, have held
high offices under their adopted government,
and won places in the esteem of the people by
their honest and manly methods.
Ringebo, Guldbrandsdalen, in Norway, is
the birthplace of Frederick Braastad, form-
erly state treasurer of Michigan, and now a
resident of Ishpeming, where he is at present
engaged in conducting a mercantile business.
He is also largely interested in mining proper-
ties here, up to the close of 1899 having held a
half interest in the Winthrop mines.
He was born in the year 1847 and received
a common school education at the little vil-
lage school adjacent to his father's farm.
When not attending school he helped with the
farm work until he reached the age of 16,
when he secured a position as clerk in a store
at Lillehammer, where he remained for five
years. He decided to try his fortune in the
new world and came to the United States in
1868, and in October of the same year he
went to Marquette, Michigan, where he found
work as a common day laborer. In 1869 he
clerked for J. P. Pendell, of Negaunee, work-
ing for him four years, and leaving in 1879
to go
into the mercantile business on his own
account. Mr. Braastad had saved a small
amount of money, and he now branched out
for himself, opening his store in Ishpeming
with a very modest stock of goods, but busi-
ness flourished and since that time has de-
veloped into one of the largest and finest in
the whole Upper Peninsula. Mr. Braastad has
since become identified with many other im-
portant and prominent enterprises.
Mr. Braastad is a man of keen discernment
and recognized business ability. He is a
leader of the Scandinavian element in the
Upper Peninsula, and has been elected to
offices of trust by the people of this state.
He was made state treasurer in 1891-'92,
by a vote of 179,744 to 178,857 for J. B.
Moore, Republican; 25,218 for A. P. Cod-
dington, Prohibitionist, and 14,226 for H. H.
Blackman, Industrial.
Mr. Braastad is a leading member of all the
Scandinavian societies of this state, and also
of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
He married in 1874 Miss Ingeborg Kunutson,
and eight children have been the result of the
union. Arvid C., the eldest boy, is now
assisting in the management of his father's
stores, the other children, Ida, Julius, Flor-
ence, Ingeborg, Lillie, Borghill and Helen are
living at home in Ishpeming and attending
the schools of that city. Besides his present
business, Mr. Braastad is a director in the
Peninsular Bank of Ishpeming, and the Ne-
gaunee & Ishpeming Street Railway & Elec-
tric Company. In 1898 he was chosen a mem-
ber of the Ishpeming board of education and
in 1900 was elected mayor of the city.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
327
CHARLES DEWITT LAWTON.
LAWTON, CHARLES DeWITT. The
ancestors of the subject of this sketch, on both
the paternal and maternal side, came from
England and settled in this country early
in the seventeenth century. His mother's
family, whose name was Wiggins, emi-
grated to New York and remained there.
The original (American) Lawtons came from
Lawton, England, and they settled in Rhode
Island with Roger Williams in 1636. The
early records of the Rhode Island colony
freely show the connection of this family with
its formative history. The paternal great-
grandfather of Charles D., and his maternal
grandfather, were both soldiers on the patriot
side in the war of the Revolution. In 1794
his paternal great-grandfather settled in Her-
kimer county, N. Y., where his father, Nathan
Lawton, was born in 1801, his life closing at
Auburn, N. Y., in 1892. Charles D. Lawton
was born at Rome, N. Y., where his father
then resided, on November 4th, 1835, and
was mainly educated at the Auburn Academy
and at Union College, Schenectady, N. Y.,
from which latter institution he graduated
with honors in 1858. For three years, 1860-
1863, he was principal of the academy at
Auburn, N. Y., and until 1865 was city en-
gineer also.
The Michigan Central railroad
having located a station on lands owned by
his father, the father platted there the village
of Lawton, to which the son removed in 1865,
and engaged in part in the nursery business.
He purchased at Geneva, N. Y., 5,000 grape
cuttings, which were planted out in vine-
yards, thus starting the important grape in-
dustry at Lawton. In 1866-7 he was the
moving spirit in the establishment of a blast
furnace at Lawton, for the manufacture of
charcoal pig iron from Lake Superior ore. He the Republican State Convention in 1897,
also conducted a foundry and machine shop at
the same place. In 1870 he was appointed
Assistant Professor of Engineering at the Uni-
versity. In 1872 and '73 he assisted Maj.
Brooks in the geological survey of the Mar-
quette iron region and the Menominee range.
He continued in the work in the Upper Penin-
sula, and in 1877-78 assisted Mr. C. E. Wright
in the field work and in the preparation of his
report as Commissioner of Mineral Statistics.
Thenceforward he took upon himself the ac-
tive duties of this office, writing the reports for
1880, '81 and '82, Mr. Wright remaining
Commissioner, but Mr. Lawton doing all the
work, for which he received the appropriation
provided by the state. In 1884 Gov. Alger
appointed him Commissioner of Mineral Sta-
tistics, having first offered him the appoint-
ment of State Geologist. He continued to
hold the office until 1891, publishing each year
a report covering the mines and mineral in-
terests of the state. These reports are now
much sought for and prized by men in all
parts of the world who are interested in Michi-
gan geology and Michigan mines.
Mr. Lawton has always been an active Re-
publican, though never an aspirant for political
office. The office of Regent of the University
can hardly be termed a political one, and for
this trust he was urged by his friends before
resulting in his nomination and election.
With his activity in other industries, Mr.
Lawton has surpassed the average citizen in
adding to the population of the state. Mar-
ried in 1860 at Seneca Falls, N. Y., to Miss
Lovina L. Latham, daughter of O. S. Latham,
nine children, five sons and four daughters,
all living, have been the fruit of the union.
The sons are all filling useful positions in the
professions, the daughters being liberally edu-
cated. Mr. Lawton has been a member of the
Masonic fraternity since 1860. He still re-
sides at Lawton, near which he has extensive
farming interests.
328
MEN OF PROGRESS.

WILLIAM W. TERRIFF.
TERRIFF, WILLIAM W. W. W. Ter-
riff, of Portland, Mich., was born on a farm
near Guelph, Ontario, July 16, 1866. His
antecedents on both sides were Scotch, his
father being a native of Aberdeen, Scotland.
After leaving school he worked in a dry goods
store in a country town, later accepting a posi-
tion as timekeeper in the shops of the Mid-
land Railway, then located at Port Hope;
then went to Rochester, New York, finding
a position in a large department store.
When living at home, he was called upon to
assist in doing the family washing, from which
he conceived the thought of inventing a wash-
ing machine. After several experiments and
disappointments, he scored a success, and after
securing his patent and selling a large number
of machines, he sold his Canadian right and
secured a patent in the United States. In
September, 1889, he came to Grand Rapids,
but found washing machines more plentiful
here than in Canada and they seemed almost
a drug on the market. He tried to interest
several manufacturers in and around Grand
Rapids, but none could be induced to even
make machines for him at a given price, until
he met Mr. C. J. Warren, of Portland, who
was at that time making furniture in a small
way, and with whom he succeeded in making
a contract for a given number of washers at
a given price, while the inventor exploited
the territory. After about six months sell-
ing machines and territory in Michigan, a
stock company was organized in Portland for
the manufacture of the machines, under the
style of the Portland Manufacturing Co.
Mr. Terriff engaged with the company at
a salary of $50 per month and 25 cents
royalty on each machine, he to go on the
road and appoint agents; but after ten months
he returned home, only to find the stockholders
discouraged and on the point of abandoning
the enterprise, but Mr. Terriff made them a
proposition to continue for another year and
give him the entire management, without
compensation other than his royalty. This
they accepted, and at the end of the first
year a cash dividend of 20 per cent. was de-
clared, with one-half of the company's in-
debtedness paid off. At the end of the sec-
ond year, he handed them a cash dividend of
50 per cent. and all indebtedness paid. The
next year the stockholders received a cash
dividend of 100 per cent. and the stock is
now worth 500 cents on the dollar and no
one willing to sell at that. The Portland
Manufacturing Co. is now one of the largest
and most successful washing machine fac-
tories in the country.
The reasons for Mr. Terriff's success are
not difficult to understand. Before he was
an inventor, he was a salesman, and under-
stood the tribulations of the chap who solicits.
orders for a washing machine. Unlike most
inventors, he has remarkable ability in the
management and exploitation of his device
or product, and can handle successfully a busi-
ness which has strewn the country with wrecks
in the shape of dismantled and abandoned
manufacturing plants, and win success where
others have achieved only failure. He is also
one of the organizers of the Portland Furni-
ture Co. and a stockholder in the Michigan
Commode and Cabinet Co.
Mr. Terriff was one of the original organ-
izers of the Wolverine Soap Co., but had no
active part in its management, but when the
soap business was on the point of collapse, he
bought out the other stockholders and now
has the management of the company, which
paid a dividend of 65 per cent the first year,
and there is every prospect of the stock being
even more valuable than that of the Port-
land Manufacturing Co.
Mr. Terriff is comparatively a young man,
and his remarkable record is due wholly to
the exceptional executive ability with which
he is endowed, and he is looked upon as one
of the shrewdest business men in Michigan.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
329
PARKER, G. WHITBECK. Marine
City's young mayor, G. Whitbeck Parker,
represents the progressive element of that
city, and he has been instrumental in push-
ing suggested improvements and all move-
ments tending toward the advancement of
that city. He is a Democrat and was elected
to the office of mayor April 4, 1897, re-elected
in 1898, in a city which usually gives from 100
to 250 Republican majority. Although the
balance of the Republican ticket was elected
at the time of Mr. Parker's election, he carried
the city by a handsome plurality. Such honor
is seldom accorded so young a man as Mr.
Parker, and it must be credited to his popular-
ity among all classes, especially the business
element of Marine City, in which the young
mayor is a sturdy and prominent figure. As
junior member of the firm of L. B. Parker &
Son, he is part owner of a line of vessels now
G. WHITBECK PARKER.
the business world. He comes from good, old
plying the lakes, and he was given the posi- American stock, as the name Parker implies.
tion of manager with an interest in his father's
business when only 21
years of age.
The extreme youth of the junior member
of the firm of L. B. Parker & Son was at one
time a great subject for jest among the ves-
gave
sel owners, who him the title of "the
persistent kid," and he has never been
ashamed of that name, for this trait in his
character has given him a high standing
among the larger vessel owners; and he has
shown that thorough his characteristic persis-
tency he has been able to make a success in
his work. Even in dull times "the persistent
kid" has managed to hustle up business, keep-
ing his boats moving all the time, and yet
finding plenty of opportunity to exercise his
functions as mayor of the city in which he
lives and works.
Mr. Parker was born in Marine City, June
22, 1868, and he received a portion of his
education there, finishing up at that splendid
Michigan institution, the Michigan Military
Academy, where he received
the training
which has stood him in such good stead in
His great grandfather, Robert Parker, helped
in the war of the American colonies against
the mother country in 1776, and the Parkers
have been identified with the history of the
early days of the American republic, especi-
ally down east, in that cradle of liberty,
Massachusetts.
As mayor of his native city, Mr. Parker
has won the respect of his townsmen by his
and his non-partisan methods.
firmness of character, his executive ability
His efforts
have always been to conduct the affairs of the
city in a thoroughly business-like manner,
and with these ends in view, the advancement
of its interests, the enlargement of its com-
mercial resources, the proper conduct of its
municipal offices and the good government of
its people.
Mr. Parker is a bachelor, and is not a mem-
ber of any secret organization. He belongs
to the Newport
to the Newport Club, however, the local
social club of Marine City, commodore of the
Lake St. Clair Ice Yacht Club, and is presi-
dent of the local gun club.
330
MEN OF PROGRESS.

MARK HOPKINS.
HOPKINS, MARK. Mark Hopkins, of
St. Clair, a well-known capitalist and promi-
nent man of that city, is the great-grandson
of Samuel Hopkins, the first pastor of the
church in Great Barrington, Massachusetts,
and a direct descendant of Rev. Mark Hop-
kins, D. D., for many years president of
Williams College, who was a direct descen-
dant of Sir Richard Hopkins. In England,
this family has been represented in Parlia-
ment for a period of four hundred years.
John Hopkins, the founder of the family in
this country, came to America in 1804.
Samuel Hopkins, the father of Mark Hop-
kins, was born in Berkshire county, Massa-
chusetts, and came to Michigan with his
father as early as 1824, settling in the city
of Detroit. In the fall of that year the fam-
ily moved to Palmer, now St. Clair, leaving
young Samuel in Detroit, where he remained
for a time before going to work with his
parents in St. Clair. In 1831 he married
Miss Mary A. Keeney, and out of the large
family born to them, Mark and Edward
Hopkins alone survive. Samuel Hopkins
moved to St. Clair after his marriage, open-
ing a carpenter and joining shop, where he
taught his son Mark that trade. Mark was
sent to an academy in that city, taught by
Rev. O. C. Thompson, where he received a
substantial education.
In 1859 he went to Houghton, Michigan,
where for a time he was employed as a pat-
ternmaker in an iron works. Before this he
had become interested in a planing mill in
Wisconsin, which he owned and operated
for some time. He lived for a while in Chi-
cago, but owing to business reverses, found
himself compelled to return to St. Clair,
where he engaged in manufacturing hubs and
spokes. Through the death of his brother,
Mark Hopkins, of California, in 1878, Samuel
Hopkins inherited a large fortune, which did
not pass to his sons, except in the way of
gifts, until some years later, when, by the
death of himself and his wife, the estate
descended to their sons. Since that time
Mark Hopkins has inherited another large
amount through the death of another uncle.
Mark Hopkins owns large property in-
terests in St. Clair, and is interested in
the Hopkins Steamboat Company. He was
the original promoter and stockholder in the
Diamond Crystal Salt Company, and owns
the property now leased for foundry purposes
to D. LaMont. Mr. Hopkins was one of the
promoters of the Somerville School for Young
Ladies, which was afterwards converted into
the Somerville Springs Resort, managed now
by Mr. Hopkins' only son, Walter J. Hopkins.
The wealth brought to St. Clair by the
Hopkins family has been of great material
benefit to that city. The building of the
beautiful home kept many people employed,
and the paving of Front street, from Somer-
ville to Oakland, as well as the water works,
are among the improvements given St. Clair
by Mark Hopkins.
That the people of St. Clair have at least
in a measure appreciated this fact is shown
by the fact that Mr. Hopkins has served one
term on the school board, one term as alder-
man and two terms as
man and two terms as mayor of St. Clair.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
331
WOODWORTH, M. D., FRED DE
FOREST. Fred De Forest Woodworth,
County Clerk of Ingham County, Michigan,
and a resident of the county seat, Mason, is
the son of George W. Woodworth, who came
to Michigan from New York State in 1831
and settled near Jackson, Michigan. The
family is an old one in the United States,
coming from England in the latter part of
the sixteenth century, and locating in New
York State, and afterwards in New England,
where the name is an old and respected one
today.
The elder Woodworth engaged in farming
near Jackson and became quite well to do.
Fred De Forest Woodworth was born on the
farm, December 9, 1846, and when old
enough sent to the district school until his
14th year and then to the public schools of
Jackson and later to the High School of that
city, from which he graduated when 17 years
old. He expressed his desire of becoming a
civil engineer and the next four years of his
life were spent as a student under Henry O.,
Bean.
The death of his father upset the young
man's plans, and his mother persuaded him
to give up his civil engineering work and take
пр
up the study of medicine as his elder brother
was a successful physician enjoying a large
practice at Leslie, Michigan. In compliance
with his mother's wishes, Fred then turned
his attention to the study of medicine, read-
ing in his brother's office at Leslie, and in
the fall of 1866 entering the medical depart-
ment of the University of Michigan. He
graduated from the Detroit Medical College
of Michigan in 1869, and after receiving his
diploma and the title of M. D., he entered into
partnership with his brother at Leslie, and re-
mained with him for one year. Money did
not flow in fast enough to suit the young doc-
tor so he began to look about for a more favor-
able opening for himself, where the chance
FRED DE FOREST WOODWORTH, M. D
of making a good income was afforded him. In
the spring of 1870 he went to Whitehall,
Mich., and finding an office, hung out his sign
and waited for patients. The town was then a
lively lumbering center, but eight other doc-
tors had located there previous to Dr. Wood-
worth's coming, and at the end of six months
Dr. Woodworth wrote home to his brother and
borrowed enough money to get out of the
In May, 1871, he removed to Onon-
daga, Michigan, and established a good prac-
tice, following his profession until January
1, 1899, when he assumed the duties of county
clerk of Ingham county, and removed to
Mason, where he now resides.
town.
He is a Republican, and has held the office
of township clerk of schools for six years;
township clerk of Onondaga Township, and
supervisor, Ingham County board, one year.
In 1898 he was nominated on the Republican
ticket for county clerk.
Dr. Woodworth is a Mason, Knights Tem-
plar and an Elk. He married Miss Louise C.
Baldwin, daughter of Thomas K. Baldwin, at
Onondaga, in 1873.
332
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. JUSTIN RICE WHITING.
WHITING, HON. JUSTIN RICE.
Foremost among the men who have been
identified with the progress of this State
stands Justin Rice Whiting, the best known
representative of democratic principle in
Michigan, and a prominent figure in its
political history.
He was born in Bath, Steuben County,
New York, February 18, 1847, but he has
lived in St. Clair since 1849. His father,
Col. Henry Whiting, came from New York
State to Michigan in 1844, but after a short
stay returned to his native state. In 1849
Col. Whiting founded at St. Clair the mer-
cantile business still conducted under the
Whiting name.
Justin was prepared for college in the dis-
trict school of St. Clair, and entered the
University of Michigan at the age of seven-
teen. He continued his studies until the be-
ginning of his junior year, then left school to
take a place in the store, later becoming a
partner with his father.
In 1879, he was elected mayor of St. Clair;
for three years he was director of the Union
School, and afterwards was moderator of the
Board of Trustees. In 1880 he took an
active part in the establishment of the Som-
merville School for Women. He affiliated
with the Republican party until 1876, when
he voted for Peter Cooper. Mr. Whiting
also served on the Board of Aldermen in St.
Clair for several terms. He was elected to
the State Senate from the Seventeenth Dis-
trict (St. Clair County) in 1882, on the "Peo-
ple's Ticket.'
Mr. Whiting declined a renomination for
the Senate in 1884, but 1886, when that
locally celebrated "Telephone Convention"
occured, he accepted a nomination for Con-
gress. Mr. Whiting would have declined this
nomination, and had entered the hall of the
convention for that purpose, when the chair-
man, Judge Walker, of Capac, declared the
convention adjourned sine die. The "Old
Man of the Sea" of the Republican party,
John P. Sanborn, was his opponent. When
the votes were counted, Sanborn was shown
to be beaten, his minority being 827. Carlisle
was speaker when Mr. Whiting first took his
seat in Washington. Mr. Whiting represented
his district in the fiftieth, fifty-first, fifty-sec-
ond and fifty-third Congresses. In 1896 he
was Democratic nominee for lieutenant-gov-
ernor, and in 1898 he was nominated for Gov-
ernor on the Democratic ticket, but was de-
feated by Governor Pingree.
In 1868 Justin R. Whiting married Miss
Emily F. Owen, the daughter of the sister of
the late E. B. Ward, and the wedding took
place at the Ward residence on Fort street
west, Detroit. They have been the parents
of eleven children, eight of whom are living.
Mr. Whiting is the vice-president of the
Ward Lumber Company, of Chicago, Illinois,
a stockholder in the Inter-Ocean Transporta-
tion Company, of Milwaukee, senior member
of the firm of J. R. Whiting & Company, of
St. Clair, and was one of the organizers of
the Diamond Crystal Salt Company, of St.
Clair. He is a Mason, a Knights Templar,
belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the
Knights of the Maccabees, and the Indepen-
dent Order of Foresters.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
333
John
CUDDIHY, JOHN DONNELL.
Donnell Cuddihy is the Democratic leader of
the Calumet district, and a man of sterling
business character, well known and liked
throughout the county. He is a Michigan
man, having been born in this State, and his
father, Captain Michael Cuddihy, was one of
the first settlers in the copper country, coming
to Michigan from near Tipperary, Ireland, in
1854. The old gentleman was one of the
first mining captains in the copper country.
John Donnell Cuddihy was born in Hough-
ton, Michigan, January 15, 1857, at the Isle
Royal mine, where his father was employed
at the time. Later the family moved to Han-
cock, Michigan, where the boy attended the
public school, until another move on the part
of the family took him to the town of Calu-
met, which at that time was only a little min-
ing camp.
As the town increased in size, a
public school was built, and young Cuddihy
was the first scholar enrolled, and one of the
eight that stood for honors at the end of the
first term.
He went to work when he was 15 years old
at the Mineral Range telegraph office as a
messenger boy, for the purpose of learning
telegraphy. He was not paid for his services
in delivering messages unless the message had
to be carried over a mile from the office, when
he received 25 cents per message, and at this
ratio the largest amount he received for one
month's work amounted to $2.75. In less
than nine months he had mastered the dots
and dashes of the Morse system, and was then
assigned as an operator to Eagle River, Michi-
gan, where he received a salary of $15.00 per
month and board. He remained in that posi-
tion until April, 1874, and then in company
with Captain Bendery went to Baraga, Michi-
gan, where the captain intended to establish a
telegraph office. The arrangements in some
way fell through, and young Cuddihy during
the two months of waiting for the office to be-
come a reality, secured work loading lumber
He then learned that when the
office was established he was only to receive
into scows.
JOHN DONNELL CUDDIHY.
made him by Edward Ryan, he returned to
his board for his services, and as an offer was
Calumet and went to work for him as clerk in
a general store. He was promoted to head
bookkeeper in 1879 and was made manager in
1887, in which position he still continues. The
business is one of the most flourishing in the
Upper Peninsula, and controls a large trade
throughout the surrounding district.
Mr. Cuddihy has found time to devote to
other enterprises, and is a director in the First
National Bank of Calumet. He is also a
director in the Northern Michigan Building &
Loan Association of Hancock, Michigan.
Associated with his present employer, Mr.
Edward Ryan, Mr. Cuddihy was one of the
organizers of the First National Bank of Calu-
met, in 1886.
Mr. Cuddihy is a Democrat and has held
a few political offices. He was recorder in
1882 and 1884, and from 1886 until 1892
president of Red Jacket. He was a member
of the Democratic State Central Committee
from 1894 until 1898. He is a Catholic, and
associates with the following fraternal bodies:
the B. P. O. E., A. O. U. W., A. O. H. and
Modern Woodmen of the World.
334
MEN OF PROGRESS.

WILLIAM J. DALEY.
DALEY, WILLIAM J. Born Novem
ber, 4, 1846, on a farm near Mt. Clemens,
and educated in the public schools of that
city, William J. Daley has taken an active
part in the progress of Michigan and the his-
tory of the United States.
His hard work commenced very early in
his career, and he has continued with the
same amount of energy ever since.
When a lad, Mr. Daley drove a horse and
cart in the employ of the Grand Trunk Rail-
way Co., during the building of that now
great system, and received for his services
the sum of 48 cents per day. Later he
worked in a "general store," until, in 1863,
he enlisted in the United States navy to serve
during the civil war. He was 17 years of
age when, in the fall of 1864, he became a
sailor in the navy of Uncle Sam, and he
served one year, leaving the service in 1865,
at the close of the war. Mr. Daley was an
able seaman on board the U. S. gunboat "For-
rest Rose," one of those light draught boats
belonging to the "Mosquito Fleet," stationed
in the Mississippi, engaged in patrol duty and
occasionally demolishing the batteries erected
along the river by the Confederates.
After the war Mr. Daley again took up his
commercial life in the store of Traver, Ste-
phens & Traver, in Mt. Clemens, remaining
with that firm until June, 1871, saving his
earnings during that time with the intention
of starting in business on his own account.
At last he was able to do this, his first busi-
ness venture being in the hardware business,
in company with George W. Robertson,
under the firm name of Robertson & Daley.
This partnership, begun in June, 1871, con-
tinued until 1880, when Mr. Daley sold out
his interest in the hardware trade and, with
Phil. Shook, started in the boat building bus-
iness. The firm of Daley & Shook soon be-
came well known, and was most successful.
It built many lake freighters, among them
the Ida M. Torrent and Virginius, and at one
time it owned five other vessels on the Great
Lakes. Mr. Daley remained a member of this
firm until 1889, when he sold out his interest.
In 1881 he organized the Mt. Clemens
Bath Co., Limited, of Mt. Clemens, owning
and operating the largest tub-bathing house
in the world. This scheme was a success
from the beginning. The capital stock of
$16,000 has never been increased beyond
that amount, and the company now owns an
entire block in the very center of the city,
together with its large bath house and valu-
able plant. Mr. Daley has also invested in
much valuable real estate in the Bath City;
he owns the Lexington Hotel, and was form-
erly one of the owners of the Sherman House.
His home, situated on South Gratiot avenue,
is one of the prettiest in Mt. Clemens.
Mr. Daley has engaged in political life,
having been elected mayor of Mt. Clemens
in 1888. He is a member of the Chamber
of Commerce, a director in the Ullrich Sav-
ings Bank, and a member of the "Old
Crowd" and Mt. Clemens Clubs.
November 4, 1891, Mr. Daley married
Miss Martha Blanche Johnson, daughter of
Robert F. Johnson, at Lexington, Kentucky.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
335
BENNETT, EBENEZER OMSTEAD,
M. D. The story of the struggle of Eben-
ezer Omstead Bennett to obtain an education
and to make his way in the world should
furnish excellent reading material for any
young man who has become discouraged and
feels like giving up the fight. Dr. Bennett
was born in Maumee, Ohio, January 16,
1838. His father, E. O. Bennett, who came
from Connecticut, was a cabinet maker and
joiner by trade.
When Dr. Bennett was still a boy the fam-
ily moved to Michigan, and he was sent to
the district school in Perrinville, Michigan.
EBENEZER OMSTEAD BENNETT, M. D.
Until he was twenty years of age the
young man worked on a farm near Ypsilanti,
and during the winter months he attended
the High School in that city. In his efforts
to obtain an education at this period, young
Bennett with four others, students like him-
self, rented a small room at Ypsilanti. In
until the close of the war in 1865, during
this room they did their own cooking, study-
which time he participated in the battle of
ing, and, when night came, all five turned in
La Verne, Tennessee. After his discharge
together.
he returned to Michigan and entered Harper
One spring young Bennett found himself Hospital in Detroit, as clerk for Dr. Farrand,
short of funds and unable to meet the ex-
penses of his tuition. For a time things
looked very cloudy, but Prof. Joseph Esta-
brook, learning of the young student's di-
emma, generously advanced the necessary
amount, $4.50, out of his own purse. Shortly
after this the young fellow worked in the
hay fields until he earned enough money, and
drove across the country to repay it.
He left school in Ypsilanti when he was
20 years of age and became a teacher in the
school at New Boston, Mich. During the
summer he returned home and assisted his
father. In 1862 he visited an uncle in
Vinton, Iowa, and while there was offered
the position of principal in the school of that
city. He accepted and remained there until
1863, when he returned to Wayne.
This same year he enlisted in Company
M, First Michigan Engineers and Mechanics,
and was sent to the front at once. He served
who had charge of the hospital at that time.
He resigned the position in the fall and re-
sumed teaching in the college at Logansport,
Indiana. Later he came back to Michigan
and taught in the public schools of Wayne.
In 1876 he entered the University of Michi-
gan to study medicine, graduating from there
in 1879. Two years later he was appointed
house surgeon by the regents.
In May, 1881, he was tendered and ac-
cepted the place as Medical Superintendent
of the Wayne County Asylum, which posi-
tion he has filled most successfully up to April,
1900, at which time he resigned to accept the
position of surgeon for the Soldiers' Home in
Grand Rapids.
October 28, 1863, he married Miss Jan-
netta D. Felton, and two children have been
the result of that marriage. His son, Dr.
Joseph E. Bennett, is now practicing physi-
cian, located in Wayne, and the daughter,
Antoinette, is teaching at Harbor Springs,
Michigan.
336
MEN OF PROGRESS.

CHARLES EDWIN THOMAS.
THOMAS, CHARLES EDWIN. Mr.
Thomas' father, Thomas H. Thomas, a native
of New York, was of Welsh stock, the latter's
father and mother coming to this country in
1806. On his mother's side, he is of English
and Irish descent.
Mr. Thomas was born in the village, now
city, of Battle Creek, November 28, 1844,
and has always resided there. With him,
Battle Creek has grown to the enterprising and
prosperous city it now is, and no one has taken
more pride in its growth than he.
His father and mother came into the state in
1835, and his father, at the age of 20 and up to
the time of his death, was a prominent con-
tractor and builder, many of the early mills
and the first bridges on the Michigan Central
railroad having been constructed by him. At
the age of 14, Charles E. Thomas became a
member of the family of Dr. Edward Cox, one
of the pioneer physicians of Michigan.
His education was at the public schools of
Battle Creek, and afterwards at the law school
at Ann Arbor. Entering the law department
in the fall of 1864, he graduated therefrom
in the spring of 1868. At home he read law
in the office of Judge Benjamin F. Graves
and Myron H. Joy. On his return from Ann
Arbor in 1868, he became a member of the
law firm of Dibble, Brown & Thomas, which
firm was succeeded by the firm of Brown &
Thomas, Mr. Dibble going into railroading.
By the death of Mr. Brown in 1887, the firm
was succeeded by Mr. Thomas. Mr. Thomas
is a Democrat in politics and has been many
times chairman of the city and once of the
county committee. Although his party has
been for the most time in the minority, he
has been frequently elected to office. He
was alderman of the city four times and secre-
tary of the school board for eighteen years
continuously. He was elected Circuit Court
Commissioner of the county, being one of
three others elected on the Democratic ticket
for the first time in twenty-four years. In
1894 he was appointed postmaster by Presi-
dent Cleveland. Under him the postoffice
was raised from a second-class to a first-class
office, and his management was praised by all
the citizens of Battle Creek. While an alder-
man, he was chairman of the ways and means
committee, and as such had to meet the pay-
ment of nearly $200,000 railroad aid bonds,
and his report, after the Supreme Court de-
cision, pointed out the way for their payment.
While on the school board, the board paid off
$81,000 of ten per cent. bonds, and built three
school houses. The result of the wiping out
of this bonded indebtedness is credited, to a
great extent, to Mr. Thomas by his fellow
members.
In 1874 Mr. Thomas was married to Isa-
bella A. Adams. They have one daughter,
Maud A. Thomas.
Mr. Thomas was one of the organizers of
the Union School Furniture Company, and
of the Advance Thresher Company. Of the
latter company he is, and has been, its attor-
ney and a director since its organization.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
337
JOSEPH EDWARD SCALLON, M. D.
SCALLON, M. D., JOSEPH EDWARD.
The family of Dr. Joseph Edward Scallon, of
Hancock, Michigan, came to this country in
1810, from Ireland. His father, Edward
Scallon, became engaged shortly afterward in
the lumbering business in and around Joliette,
Province of Quebec.
Joseph E. Scallon was born in Brooklyn,
New York, February 25, 1853, and when his
father removed to Joliette the boy was sent to
the Classical College at that place until he was
18 years of age. In 1870 he joined the last
detachment of volunteers who left Canada to
join the Zouaves in the Pope's army. He pro-
ceeded as far as France. The capture of
Rome, September 20, 1870, by the forces of
Victor Emmanuel prevented him from join-
ing the regiment. He returned to Canada,
finished his classical course of studies, entering
Laval University at Quebec, studied medicine
there for two years, changing to Victoria Col-
lege of Medicine at Montreal, from which he
graduated in 1874 and secured a license to
practice. August 25, 1874, he came to Mich-
igan and hung up his sign in Negaunee. His
first month's practice amounted to $1.50, and
as he only had $4.50 when he started, his ex-
chequer was very low. The next month he
took in 50 cents, and up to January 1, 1875,
he had only received $19.60 for four months'
work. There were a number of Frenchmen
around Negaunee engaged in chopping wood
for the mining camps, so the young doctor
tramped the woods in snowshoes and organ-
ized a co-operative association among them, by
which, upon payment of 50 cents a month,
they could have Dr. Scallon's attendance in
case of sickness or accident. Part of the men
paid for one month, and then all the mines
closed down except one, and that company put
their men under the charge of their own phy-
more.
sician, and the co-operative association was no
Then the smallpox broke out in Ne-
gaunee, and Dr. Scallon was put in charge of
the pest house, and after the epidemic had
passed he received $150 in town orders for his
services, which his landlady positively refused
to accept in payment of his board. In just
one year he had earned the munificent sum of
$300, from the time he arrived in Negaunee,
so with a sigh he packed up his worldly pos-
sessions and moved to Hancock. Here he
soon established a lucrative practice and has
since built it up into one of the best in the
county.
Dr. Scallon was formerly a Democrat, and
was elected mayor of Hancock in 1890-'92.
He also acted as chairman of the Democratic
congressional and county committee. He
became a Republican in 1896, on the money
issue. He has been a member of the school
board at Hancock for 15 years, and health
officer for 22 years.
Dr. Scallon married, in 1877, Miss Bridget
Finnegan, daughter of Michael Finnegan,
who was one of the pioneers of the copper
country, who went there in 1847. There are
five children, three surviving, as a result of
this union. Marguerette is studying at the
Literary Department of the University of
Michigan, and Mary, Anna and Bridget are
attending the public schools of Hancock,
Michigan, where their parents now reside.
Dr. Scallon is a Catholic. He was State
secretary of the A. O. H. for six years, and
State delegate for two years. He has been
one of the national directors of the order, and
the first president and organizer of that splen-
did Catholic organization, which has such an
extended membership in this State, the C. M.
B. A. of Hancock. He is also a member of
the A. O. U. W.
338
MEN OF PROGRESS.

AUSTIN WHITE ALVORD, M. D.
ALVORD, AUSTIN WHITE, M. D. Dr.
Alvord's paternal ancestors came remotely
from Somersetshire, England, settling in
Massachusetts in 1630. His great-great-grand-
father, Gad Alvord, served through the Revo-
lutionary War as sergeant in a Massachusetts,
company. His parents were Rev. Alanson
and Adeline (Barrows) Alvord, of Chester,
Mass., where Dr. Alvord was born Feb. 3rd,
1838. When he was 9 years old his parents
removed to Concord, Morgan Co., Ill., his
father being in the service of the home mis-
sionary work of the Congregational Church.
Two years later they removed to Downer's
Grove, near Chicago, where they lived until
the son was 14. With such preliminary edu-
cation as he had received in his native place
and in Illinois, he resolved to attend Oberlin
College, in Ohio. Without a cent in his
pocket he worked his way to Oberlin and also
worked his way into the junior year. He paid
$1.25 per week for his board, earning the
money by sawing wood, but leaving Oberlin
$40 in debt, passing from student to school
teacher before he was 17, in which occupation
he cancelled the debt which he had left behind.
His mother having died in Illinois, his father
removed to Grass Lake, Mich., and was here
joined by the son, who found employment as
a farm hand. In the fall of 1858 he entered
the literary department of the University, re-
maining there some two years, during which
time he read medicine under Prof. Corydon
L. Ford, of the medical faculty, his ultimate
aim being the medical profession. After leav-
ing the University he taught school in Western
New York, and in 1860-61 was principal of
the High School at Owego. He had been en-
gaged for a second year when the Civil War
summoned the young men of the nation to its
defense. Fifty-two young men of his school
volunteered, and insisted that he take the
command. He resigned the principalship for
a captaincy in a company which, in the pro-
cess of organization, became Company H, One
Hundred and Ninth New York Volunteers.
He served with the regiment until January,
1864, when he was made surgeon to the De-
partment of the South, and was mustered out
in October, 1864, on account of physical disa-
bility. With restored health, Dr. Alvord re-
turned to the medical lectures at the Univer-
sity and was graduated in 1868. After grad-
uation he practiced medicine at Clinton,
Mich., until May, 1882, then removed to Bat-
tle Creek. He is a member of the American
Medical Association, the Michigan State Medi-
cal Society, Calhoun County Medical Society,
Battle Creek Academy of Medicine, Ameri-
can Public Health Association, American
Academy of Political and Social Science, and
is member and president of the Michigan
State Medical Association. He is a member
of the State Board of Registration (Medical
Examining Board) since October, 1899, and
has been a member of the Pension Examining
Board since 1897. He is the present Health
Officer of Battle Creek. He is a Knights
Templar and member of Saladin Temple (Ma-
sonic) of Grand Rapids, and member of the
Maccabees, of the G. A. R. and the Loyal
Legion.
Dr. Alvord has been twice married, first in
1861 to Miss Eliza M. Barnes, of Ann Arbor,
who died in 1877, leaving two children,
Grace, wife of T. J. Kelliher, and William
Roy Alvord, the latter in the dental depart-
ment of the University; second in 1878 to
Miss Fannie R. Little, of Grinnell, Iowa.
Their children are Louise and Max Barrows
Alvord.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
339
His
LOCKERBY, WILLIAM H. On the pa-
ternal side Mr. Lockerby is of Scotch descent,
his father, John Lockerby, coming to Amer-
ica from Aberdeen, Scotland, his mother's
maiden name having been Flavia Hollenbeck.
He was born at West Vienna, N. Y., Feb. 24,
1859, his parents coming to Michigan ten
years later and settling on a farm near the
village of Quincy, in Branch County.
early education was that afforded by a coun-
try school, with a term at the graded schools
at Quincy. Beginning at the age of 17, he
taught district school five winters, first receiv-
ing $20 per month, and working as a farm
hand during the summer months. He had
read some law, taken the census, bought and
sold farm produce, and had saved about $600
up to 1883, when he decided to make the law
his study and profession. Milo D. Campbell,
then a young lawyer in Quincy, and at the
present time president of the State Tax Com-
mission, offered him a desk in his office, where
he studied until December, 1884, when he
was admitted to the bar before Judge R. R.
Pealer, at Coldwater. He remained with Mr.
Campbell until December, 1885, then opened
an office at Bronson, but remained there a few
weeks only, when he returned to Quincy and
entered into partnership with Mr. Campbell,
who kept an office at the county seat. After
a year in this connection he opened an office
by himself at Quincy, where he now is the
senior member of the law firm of Lockerby &
Lockerby, with a branch office at Reading,
which was discontinued in 1899.
The Portland cement industry in Quincy
owes its inception and successful develop-
ment to the energy and perseverance of Mr.
Lockerby. Becoming interested in the marl
beds near Quincy, he interested some capital-
ists of Sandusky, Ohio, in their proposed de-
velopment, and secured options on all the
nearby lands, but failed to secure enough
financial means to make much progress. He
then interested some Chicago capitalists to the
extent of putting down some test wells. He
remitted his law practice for the summer and
assisted in the prospecting and putting down
of the wells through the chain of lakes ex-
tending some six or seven miles out from
WILLIAM H. LOCKERBY.
Quincy. The necessary financial means again
ran short at this point, when he turned his
attention to capitalists nearer home. In the
fall of 1898 S. M. Wing, of Coldwater, to-
gether with Detroit capitalists, took hold of
the enterprise, and in January, 1899, the
Michigan Portland Cement Company was or-
ganized with a capital of $2,500,000. Two
cement factories were built, one at Coldwater
and one at Quincy, each of which turn out
1,500 barrels daily. Mr. Lockerby sold his
options to the company, but remains their lo-
cal attorney. He has other business interests,
including that of vice-president and director
of the Quincy Knitting Company.
Mr. Lockerby's official service has been
quite extended and useful. He served as
township clerk of Butler, was a member of the
Branch County Board of School Examiners
for five years, three years its secretary, and
was secretary of the Quincy School Board
three years. He was elected Circuit Court
Commissioner for Branch County two terms,
and in 1895 was appointed by Gov. Rich a
member of the Railway and Street Crossing
Board, being its secretary and serving until
1899. He is a member of the Masonic Fra-
ternity and of the Knights Templar.
Miss Cora Gorball, daughter of Ezekiel
Gorball, of Girard, Branch County, became
Mrs. Lockerby Sept. 26th, 1882. They have
two daughters, Metha and Marjorie.

340
MEN OF PROGRESS.

SAMUEL ANKER.
ANKER, SAMUEL. One of the leading
business men of East Tawas, Michigan, the
proprietor of the Anker Mercantile Company,
of that place, also of the Holland Hotel, and
the Anker Lumber Company, Samuel Anker
at 47 years of age can look back now with
pride to the time when a boy he worked for
his board so that he might attend the little
village school in Rochester, Michigan, where
he was born December 25, 1852.
His father, Samuel Anker, Sr., was the
son of Sir William Anker, of England. Up
to his tenth year, the subject of this sketch
attended the district schools near his home,
and enjoyed one winter term at the village
school. The first employment that brought
him any financial remuneration was picking
up shingles in a shingle mill, working under
the machine, at 75 cents per diem, out of
which his board and room cost him $3.50.
The little money over and above his expenses
served to keep him in shoes and other neces-
sities. He was shortly afterwards appren-
ticed to the machine trade, where he earned
50 cents a week and his board, and at the
end of three years' hard work he was getting
as much as $9 per week. He then joined his
father, who built the first mill at Alpena,
Michigan, the J. K. Lockwood sawmill. At
this time Alpena was almost a wilderness, in
the heart of a big timber country. At the
age of 23 young Anker was given full charge
of the Whittemore sawmill at Tawas City,
where he was retained in that capacity for
five years.
He then started in business for
himself as a lumber jobber and for three years
put in five to seven millions feet of timber for
this mill. In 1873 the Whittemore mill
failed and all Anker had to show for his work
was a due bill for $1,900, and a few very
weary horses.
In 1874 he built a shingle mill on Tawas
creek, which had a daily capacity of 40,000
shingles. He started this enterprise with
only $175 in cash, and $2,400 he borrowed
at 10 per cent. to build the mill and equip it.
In 1876 he loaded 320,000 shingles on the
steamer Oconto, and the steamer promptly
went ashore on the same night it sailed. This
disheartened him in the shingle business, so
he changed the character of his mill to a
flour mill, having to mortgage the property
to make the necessary alterations. Business
was very bad, and the mortgagee came down
him and closed him up.
upon
He then went
into the woods as a blacksmith, working all
that winter about 40 miles from Au Sable,
Michigan, and the following spring, coming
down with the log drive, he found work in
the machine shop of what is now the D. &
M. railroad. The next year he worked in the
salt block in East Tawas, and in 1886 started
a meat market at that place. The following
year he went back into the shingle business,
building a mill on Long lake, which has
proven a financial success. In 1893, in com-
pany with Temple Emery, he built the Hol-
land Hotel, and when the Holland, Emery
Company closed out their business in East
Tawas, Mr. Anker bought it. He married
Miss Rose Stickney at Saginaw, Michigan.
Mr. Anker is a Chapter Mason, a Pythian,
and belongs to the I. O. O. F. In politics he
is a Republican.




HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
341
MITCHELL, SAMUEL. Samuel Mitchell
has had to start in life twice in his career, and
the position he occupies in the business world
today has only been the result of hard work
and unabated energy. His father and his
father's father were farmers, but he was not
content to follow in the furrow after the slow-
moving plow, so he has diverged from their
footsteps, and is today one of the wealthiest
and most respected citizens of Negaunee.
He was born in Bridestowe, England, April
11, 1846, where, when of age, he attended the
National school until he was 12 years of age,
and then worked in a grocery store at about
$1.00 a week. His next employment was in
a bakery, where he received a sum equivalent
to about $2.50 a week, until he was 15 years
of age, when he was put to work in a copper
mine at Travistock, England, at £2 a month.
He
When he was 18 years of age he came to
America, and landed at Copper Harbor,
Michigan, without money or friends.
worked in the Madison, Phoenix, Delaware,
Resolute and Central mines and then with the
Calumet, where he helped to open and work
the first pit on the now famous Calumet &
Hecla mine. In the fall of 1867 he started for
the iron country, where he found work in the
old Washington mine, at Humboldt. There
he remained for three years, and in 1870 went
to Negaunee and took a contract from the late
Edward Breitung to mine ore on the South
Hematite range. In 1871 he mined the first
ore taken from the South Jackson mine on
contract, also continuing to mine ore for Ed-
ward Breitung until the fall of 1871. In
January, 1872, he took a contract to do min-
ing work at part of the old Saginaw mine,
hauling the ore with teams to the main line of
the railroad. In April, 1872, he contracted
with the Lake Superior Iron Co. to mine ore at
Section 19 mine, better known as the New
Burt, where he conducted operations until
May 1, 1873. He then took the captaincy of
the Saginaw mine, and in December of that
year was made agent and general manager of
the Saginaw Mining Co. In 1879 he leased
and opened up for this company the Perkins
mine on the Menominee range, and in 1883
SAMUEL MITCHELL.
commenced to explore the Negaunee mine,
retaining the management of the company
until its interests were sold to the American
Steel & Wire Co. in March, 1900.
In 1876 he leased the Shenango mine and
organized the Mitchell Mining Co., working
the mine until 1882, when the property was
sold to St. Clair Bros. In 1878 he leased the
National mine from the Lake Superior Iron
Co. and worked it until 1884. In the fall of
1885 Mr. Mitchell went into the Gogebic
Range and bought a controlling interest in
Montreal and Section 33 mines. He paid
$30,000 for test pits on this property and sold
the Montreal for $100,000 the next year, and
later the Section 33 mine to good advantage.
Mr. Mitchell married in February, 1868,
Miss Elizabeth Penglase, at Humbolt, Michi-
gan. He has 11 children, two of whom,
Samuel J. and Arthur G., are boys. Mr.
Mitchell was a member of the school board in
Negaunee for six years. He is president of
the Jackson Iron Co., Negaunee; vice-presi-
dent of the First National Bank of Negaunee,
and director of the First National Bank of
Escanaba; president of the Mitchell Steam-
ship Co. line of ore carriers at Cleveland,
Ohio; president of the Negaunee & Ishpeming
Street Railway Co. and Electric Light Co.
He belongs to the F. & A. M.

342
MEN OF PROGRESS.

LIEUT. WM. HENRY THIELMAN.
THIELMAN, LIEUT. WM. HENRY.
William Henry Thielman, junior member of
the firm of Armstrong-Thielman Lumber
Company, operating in South Lake Linden,
Calumet and Hancock, was born in Detroit,
Michigan, July 12, 1866. His father, Chris-
topher Thielman, came to the copper country
in 1858 and his grandfather was a native of
France, who was killed while fighting under
Napoleon against the Russian invasion.
The family moved to Rockland, Ontona-
gon County, where the boy attended school
during the winter, and from the time he
was 7 years of age, worked around the mine
during the summer, his first employment
being picking out small pieces of copper ore
from the rock pile. When young Thielman
reached his 13th year he had to go to work
in earnest and give up his schooling as his
father, through an endorsement, had lost all
his earnings. He drove a team, hauling
wood to the mine until he was 15 years old
and was then apprenticed to learn the car-
penter trade. After working at this one
summer he started out for himself, going to
Duluth, where, unable to find work at his
trade, he went to work loading lumber on ves-
sels until the following fall, when he started
for the lumber camps of Cloquet, Wisconsin,
where he worked during the fall and winter.
He drifted around considerably after that, in
a spirit of adventure, going west to the Black
Hills, and so on to the Pacific coast, prospect-
ing for gold. He returned to the copper coun-
try and for nearly three years worked as car-
penter at the Copper Falls mine in Keewenaw
County, after which he again went to Mon-
tana, expecting to get large wages at his
trade, but failing to realize his hopes, came
back to Michigan and was engaged at the
copper smelters at Lake Linden. For four
years he conducted a contracting business at
South Lake Linden under the firm name of
Kimball and Thielman, and for three winters
during this partnership he attended the Acad-
emy of Architecture and Building at St.
Louis, Missouri, and a business college at
Valparaiso, Indiana. One year he went to
Valparaiso, Indiana.
Dallas, Texas, to assist in starting a sash and
blind factory. In 1891 he formed a partner-
ship with Thomas W. Armstrong, under the
firm name of the Armstrong-Thielman Lum-
ber Company, having yards at South Lake
Linden, Hancock and Calumet.
When the Spanish-American war broke out
in 1898, Mr. Thielman, as first lieutenant of
Company D, Thirty-fourth Michigan Volun-
teers, served through the war, seeing some of
the hard fighting in which the famous Michi-
gan regiment participated around Santiago.
Previous to this Mr. Thielman was connected
with the militia of this state by enlisting as a
private in Company D, Fifth Infantry, Calu-
met Light Guard. In two years he rose
from the ranks through the rank of corporal
until he became second lieutenant. He
served with this company during the miners'
strikes at Ironwood and again at Ishpeming
in 1896. Mr. Thielman belongs to Montrose
Commandery, Knights Templar, of Calumet,
and Ahmed Temple, of the Mystic Shrine, at
Marquette.
Marquette. He is also a member of the


Knights of Pythias.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
343
If there is
HALL, ALBERT JAMES.
anything that the city of Mason is justly proud
of it is her well conducted schools, and when-
ever the question of new building and equip-
ment for the betterment of the school has
arisen Mr. Hall's voice has been raised in its
favor. He has been a member of the school
board for the past six years, for two years its
president, and since then the treasurer. Mr.
Hall is a Republican and takes an active inter-
est in the primaries.
Albert James Hall was born in Mason,
where he now lives, Feb. 8, 1862. His father,
Robert Hall, was a cabinet maker and was the
first undertaker in Mason. The elder Hall an-
swered Lincoln's call for 300,000 men and
died in a southern hospital when Albert was
two years of age. After the death of the
father the mother kept the little family to-
gether as best she could by manual labor, and
when the boy was old enough to help he did
all he could with the other children toward
the support of the family. From 9 until 13
years of age he sawed and split wood and did
chores for the neighbors, attending school in
Mason, and working Saturdays and during
vacations. When he was 13 years old he be-
gan to work nights, mornings and Saturdays
for N. A. Dunning, a grocer in his native
town, and received $50 for the first year, at-
tending public school in the meantime. His
salary was doubled the next year, and after
finishing school he continued in the employ
of Mr. Dunning and remained with him
ten years, and when, while in his employ,
the
young man attained his majority, his em-
ployer gave him a one-quarter interest in the
business as a birthday present. The firm
gradually commenced to close out their groc-
ery business and engaged in the drug busi-
ness, continuing until 1885, when Mr. Hall
sold out his interest on account of his failing
health, and moved to a farm near Norfolk,
Virginia, where he worked outdoors for nearly
a year and regained his health and strength.
At the end of the year on the farm he
returned to Mason, and was employed in the
grocery of A. L. Vandercook of that city,
with whom he remained for six months and
ALBERT JAMES HALL.
left to accept a position which had been ten-
dered him as bookkeeper in the Farmers'
Bank of Mason. His advance was rapid.
The next year he was made teller and then
assistant cashier, and when the hard times
came to all bankers he was elected to his pres-
ent position, that of cashier. He married
Miss Katie E. Smith, of Mason, in 1883, and
her death occurred in 1892. In 1895 he mar-
ried Mrs. Ada A. Cook, daughter of Simon
Rockham, of Leslie. Mr. Hall has two chil-
dren, Winnie the eldest attends school in
Mason and Horace A. lives at home, being
as yet too youthful to commence his studies.
Mr. Hall has been treasurer of the city of
Mason for two terms. He is a director in the
Farmers' Bank of Mason, and is also pro-
prietor of the Mason Cold Storage plant at
Mason, Michigan, engaged in buying and
storing eggs and butter. He is a Mason, also a
member of the Independent Order of Fores-
ters, the Royal Arcanum and the Knights of
the Maccabees. He takes an active interest in
church matters, being a member of the First
Baptist Church of Mason, and has been for the
school of that church. He is also chairman of
past 14 years superintendent of the Sunday
the finance committee. He is ready at all times
to promote any scheme for the betterment of
the city in which he was born and where he
now holds such an honored position in society.
344
MEN OF PROGRESS.

earning enough to pay his own tuition, as his
parents were unable to assist him. The end
of the first term he had to walk all the way
back to his home in Rochester, as he did not
have enough money to pay his fare. The
last year of his college term he decided to
take up the study of medicine. He had $300
from his mother's estate, so he entered the
office of Dr. D. O. Farrand, of Detroit, and
read medicine for a year, teaching school dur-
ing the summer months and entering the
University of Michigan the next year, where
he took a year's tuition, and then, just before
vacation, he was tendered and accepted the
position of bookkeeper for the Mining Cop-
per Company, on Isle Royale, at a salary
which enabled him to complete his education.
He remained with this company for two
years, the first winter being the longest he
had ever spent, as the island was without mail
for a period of six months, and had no con-
nection with the outside world. At the con-
clusion of his two years spent on Isle Royal,
he returned to his studies at the U. of M. and
remained there during the fall of 1881 and
winter of 1882. The following spring he
these employees, employ skilled and practiced physician at Harper Hospital, in Detroit. He
accepted the appointment of assistant house
ALBERT BARNES SIMONSON, M. D.
SIMONSON, ALBERT BARNES, M. D.
All the large mining companies engaged in
operating through the copper country have
in their employ many thousands of men, and
in order to properly care for the health of
physicians and surgeons. The employees and
their families of the Calumet & Hecla Min-
ing Company are divided into three divisions,
and Dr. Albert Barnes Simonson, of Calumet,
has charge of the South Hecla division, and
has under his medical care over 3,000 people.
The Simonson family came to Michigan in
1843, from Roxbury, New York, where Al-
vin Simonson, the father of Dr. Simonson,
had for his schoolboy friend the late Jay
Gould. When the family came to this state
they settled on a farm near Birmingham,
Oakland county, where, October 31, 1857,
Albert Barnes Simonson was born. The boy
first attended the district school, and later the
Birmingham High School, until 1874, when
he became a student at the Michigan Agricul-
tural College at Lansing until 1877. He
worked his own way through college and
taught school during his vacation periods,
graduated from the Detroit Medical College
in that city in 1883, and then, in the June
following, went to the Upper Peninsula as
assistant physician to Dr. F. E. Fletcher,
at Lake Linden. In 1885 Dr. Simonson
was appointed physician for the South
Hecla branch of the Calumet & Hecla
hospital, and he still acts in that capacity.
While with the Mining Copper Company
on Isle Royale, Dr. Simonson was super-
visor, postmaster, township treasurer, super-
intendent of schools, and, in fact, looked after
all the political offices in the township. He
married, in 1893, Miss Elizabeth M. Evans,
daughter of William Evans, superintendent
of smelters for the Boston & Montana Cop-
per Company, at Great Falls, Montana.
Dr. Simonson is a member of the Phi Delta
Theta society of the U. of M., and he also
belongs to the Knights of the Maccabees.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
345
HANDY, HON. SHERMAN T. Sher-
man T. Handy, of Crystal Falls, Michigan,
has gained considerable renown in this State
as a prosecuting attorney of unusual ability
and as one of the youngest members of the
Michigan Legislature.
He was born in Morpeth, Ontario, Canada,
April 3, 1867, on a farm, and when he
reached the proper age he attended the pub-
lic school near his home during the winter
months and in 1880 entered the Ridgetown
Collegiate Institute. His college year was
one of privation, as the money he possessed to
pay his way through the term was earned by
him during the summer, and he made it go
as far as possible by renting a small room
and boarding himself. By continuing this
method of working during the summer
months and attending school in winter he
graduated from the Stratford University in
1889. After leaving college he then went to
work on the farm the following summer and
in the fall, with some assistance from home
he entered the Law Department of the Uni-
versity of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1889
and graduated from there with the class of
'91. In February of the following year, Mr.
Handy started practicing law at Crystal Falls,
Michigan, with W. F. Cairns, under the firm
name of Cairns & Handy, and in July of that
year he bought out Mr. Cairns' interest and
practiced alone until June 1, 1895, when a
partnership with Fred H. Abbott was formed,
which continued until October, 1897, since
which time Mr. Handy has been practicing
alone.
In 1894 Mr. Handy was elected circuit
court commissioner, and he was elected to
the office of prosecuting attorney in 1896.
It was while in this office that he prosecuted
Peter Bons, the noted criminal who is now
serving a life sentence in Marquette for hav-
ing murdered Miss Pearl Morrison of Crystal
Falls on July 26, 1897. This was considered
one of the most outrageous crimes ever com-
mitted in Michigan and a recent writer has
classed Bons as being one of the worst crim-
inals in America.
HON. SHERMAN T. HANDY.
In 1898 Mr. Handy was again nominated
for prosecuting attorney of Iron County.
The Legislative Convention of Dickinson Dis-
trict, after being in session for several days,
had been unable to agree upon a candidate,
and at last they came to an agreement and a
unanimous nomination was tendered to Mr.
Handy, who accepted, and at the same time.
being obliged to decline the renomination for
prosecuting attorney. Mr. Handy was elected
on the Republican ticket for the House from
Dickinson district, sessions of 1899-'00.
December 31, 1895, Mr. Handy married
Miss Leora A. Anderson, daughter of Rev.
D. R. Anderson, at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.
He has one child, Theodore A. Handy, three
years old.
Mr. Handy's earliest ambition was to be a
lawyer. He has been gifted with rare powers
as a speaker, and when the specific tax bill,
putting a tax of two cents on every ton of
iron, passed the House, one of the most forc-
ible and convincing arguments delivered in
the House during that session was made by
Representative Handy in opposition to the
tax.
346
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. ALFRED CRUSE.
CRUSE, HON. ALFRED. Mayor Alfred
Cruse of Iron Mountain, Michigan, and who
also acts as postmaster of that place, was born
February 1, 1848, in Cornwall, England.
His father, William Cruse, and his ancestors
as far back as the family can be traced, were
all miners in Cornwall. Mr. Cruse's educa-
tion was commenced in the National School,
about two miles from his home, but when he
was 10 years of age his parents were no longer
able to pay for the lad's tuition, so he was
sent home, and put to work on a farm at eight
cents per day. The following year he was
raised to 12 cents. When only 12 years of
age he went into the Kit Hill copper mine,
together with his brother, and earned 30 shil-
lings a month. He remained at this labor
for three years, and toward the latter part of
this period was earning two-thirds of a man's
pay.
The two brothers then took what is
a "tribute job" at the Homebush mine, work-
ing gratis for the first ten weeks and then get-
ting one-third of the product of the mine.
Young Cruse attended night school for four
nights every week for as many years, and in
1866 started for America. There were ten
people in the little party and all the funds
were merged into a general fund and divided
equally among them. The party come west
to Michigan, and when they reached Detroit
their money was exhausted and they had to
travel on their baggage to Ontonagon. They
invested all the money they had left, $1.60,
in crackers, butter and dried herring, which
kept them from hunger until they were one
day out from Ontonagon, where they got one
meal on credit. There was not a penny in
the party when they reached their destina-
tion, and the tug that took passengers ashore
there demanded fifty cents each. A hotel
man who knew some of the relatives of the
party made the necessary advance.
Mr. Cruse then found employment at the
Ridge mine and then on the Pennsylvania
mine, where he worked until spring, when
the company failed and the employees were
left unpaid for their winter's work. He then
found work on the Central mine, where he
remained for four years. The first air drill
ever put in operation was introduced on this
property and Mr. Cruse was the first oper-
ator. From the Central he went to the Al-
louez mine and in 1872 became a delivery
clerk in Frank & Frued's store at Eagle River,
Michigan. The following year he bought out
the meat and provision department of this
firm and operated the same for nearly three
years. He then, in company with Charles
Briggs, of Calumet, built and opened markets
at Central and Delaware mines. He sold out
all his interests in 1887 and moved to Iron
Mountain, where he opened a market at the
Chapin mine, which he continued to manage
until May 20, 1897, when he was appointed
postmaster and sold out his interests in Janu-
ary, 1899.
Mr. Cruse is a Republican. He was alder-
man of the city of Iron Mountain 1895-'96;
treasurer 1897, and elected mayor in 1898.
He is a director in the First National Bank
of Iron Mountain. Mr. Cruse married in
1869 Miss Mary S. Jackson at Central Mine,
Michigan. He has four children. Mr. Cruse
is a Mason of high standing.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
347
AUSTIN, EDWARD. Although at pres-
ent residing in Marshall in the discharge of
his duties as Clerk of Calhoun County, Mr.
Austin's residence and home is in the city of
Battle Creek. He is a native of Ontario Coun-
ty, N. Y., where he was born April 8th, 1861,
removing with his parents to Michigan in the
spring of 1866, and locating upon a farm near
the city of Battle Creek. Mr. Austin enjoyed
the usual country school advantages available
to a farmer boy until fifteen years of age, when
he entered the Battle Creek High School,
graduating therefrom in 1879. He then en-
tered the literary department of the Univer-
sity of Michigan, and attended the University
nearly two years with the class of 1883, being
obliged to give up his studies on account of a
sun-stroke received while in the harvest field
during his summer vacation the previous year.
January 3rd, 1883, Mr. Austin was married
to Elnora Fuller, of Battle Creek, who with
their three children, Ethel L., aged 14; Clarke,
aged 12, and Marjorie, aged 9, respectively,
make up their present family. Upon leaving
school Mr. Austin soon commenced the world
for himself, in the way of handling stock and
running a dairy farm, which business he still
delights in, priding himself as being one of
the oldest dairymen connected with the city
of Battle Creek. Mr. Austin has always been
friendly to fraternal organizations, and has
always taken a very active part in the organiza-
tion of the Farmers' Alliance and Patrons of
Industry, having represented them in their
State meetings several times. At the present
time he is a member of the Masonic fraternity,
being a Knights Templar and a member of
Marshall Commandery, No. 17, also a member
of the Knights of the Maccabees and of the
Modern Woodmen of America. In 1894 Mr.
Austin, in order that his family might enjoy
the privileges of the graded schools, built a
residence with all the modern improvements
near the Union School building in the city of
Battle Creek and removed his family thereto,
expecting to enjoy the advantages connected
with the city surroundings.
EDWARD AUSTIN.
0
In politics Mr. Austin has always been of
Democratic faith, but at the same time was
never ready to affiliate with the Democratic
party until 1896, when the party for the first
time for several years adopted the principles
of reform for which he had been working
since 1878, "Free Coinage of Gold and Silver
at 16 to 1." Mr. Austin was elected Township
Clerk when 21 years of age and afterwards to
all the minor offices of the township; he was
a delegate from the Farmers' Alliance to St.
Louis in 1892, when the People's party was
organized, was a delegate at large to the
Omaha convention in 1892, when James B.
Weaver was nominated for President, and a
delegate from the third district to St. Louis
convention in 1896, when Bryan was endorsed,
and was one of Michigan's five delegates that
stood for Bryan from the beginning. In 1896
he was elected County Clerk of Calhoun
County and re-elected in 1898, being the only
Democrat on the ticket elected. Mr. Austin
does not believe in life tenure in office, there-
fore is willing to retire into private life. When
that time comes it is his intention to interest
himself in the stock business.
348
MEN OF PROGRESS.

FRANK H. LATTA.
LATTA, FRANK H. The little town of
Lewiston, N. Y., situated on the Niagara
River, is where Mr. Latta first saw the light,
July 18th, 1851. His father, Alfred Latta,
was a native of New York and moved with his
family to Kalamazoo, Mich., in 1853. Mr.
Latta received his early education at the pub-
lic schools of Kalamazoo and at the Battle
Creek High School, from which he graduated
in the spring of 1873. He also attended
Olivet College during one year. After leaving
school he went to Chicago, remaining there
two years. Upon returning to Battle Creek
in the spring of 1875, he at once opened a
repository for the sale of carriages and farm
implements, which business he conducted suc-
cessfully and continuously until the winter of
1898-99, when, in order to give his individual
attention to his official duties, he disposed of
although not to a degree that might be termed
"offensive partisanship." Being a staunch
Republican, he has always subordinated per-
sonal preferences or prejudices to the good of
his party. He has done veteran service as
chairman of the county committee of Calhoun
County and of the city committee of Battle
Creek, serving therein four and eight years,
respectively. He has never aspired to political
office, although frequently urged to offer his
candidacy. He has always felt that he could
do more effective service in behalf of his party
as a private in the ranks than if handicapped
by official position. He does not by any means
confine himself to local politics, but takes an
interest in national and state affairs, always
attending the state conventions and nearly
always as a delegate. One year as an alderman
of his ward is the only elective political office
that he ever held.
Mr. Latta has taken no small interest in mili-
tary affairs. He was for four years aide on Gov.
Rich's staff, with the rank of colonel, and while
ceptance of the local military company into
serving was instrumental in obtaining the ac-
the state service as Co. L, the quota of state
troops being otherwise full at the time. The
credit of the formation of this company is
largely due to Mr. Latta. It is composed of
the
very best
young men in the city and ranks
with the best in the enrollment of the state
troops. During the Spanish war, Mr. Latta
devoted both time and money in enlisting re-
cruits, personally conducting one squad to
Island Lake. He was a member of the Execu-
tive Board of the State Agricultural Society
for eight years, is president of the local branch
of the Standard Building and Loan Associa-
tion of Detroit, and also a member of the Bat-
tle Creek Board of Trade. In 1898 his busi-
ness ability and his party fealty were recog-
nized by President McKinley by his appoint-
ment as postmaster at Battle Creek, in which

the business of which he had been the origin- position he is doing a service to the public and
ator and sole manager for nearly a quarter of
a century.
Aside from his business career Mr. Latta has
manifested his public spirit in many enter-
prises affecting the welfare and prosperity
of his city, and has found a congenial field in
politics, in which he has been especially active
an honor to himself.
Mr. Latta's church connections are Presby-
terian. His society connections are Masonic,
including the Knights Templar, Knights of
Pythias and Elks. Miss Kittie Upton, daugh-
ter of Stephen Upton, a well known citizen and
manufacturer of Battle Creek, became Mrs.
Latta November 10, 1882. They have one
daughter, aged thirteen years.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
349
CUTLER, FRED JR. Fred Cutler, Jr., of
Ionia, Michigan, was born in that city, Oct.
2nd, 1862. His father, George Cutler, was
born in Germany and came to Michigan, lo-
cating in Ionia during the building of the D.,
G. H. & M. Railroad in 1859. He is now one
of the leading shoe dealers of Ionia. Fred
Cutler, Jr., began his education in the district
schools just outside of Ionia, and when he was
twelve years of age in the public schools of
that city. He then took a commercial course
at the High School and graduated from there
at the
age of seventeen. After finishing school
he was offered a position in the dry goods store
of A. S. Wright of Ionia and started in at a
salary of $100 a year. After six years in the
employ of Mr. Wright, being then twenty-one
years of age, young Cutler entered the dry
goods trade on his own account and conducted
it most successfully for ten years.
He was
then elected City Clerk of Ionia and later sold
out his business to attend to his new duties.
He served three years in this capacity. Mr.
Cutler had become associated with the Knights
of Pythias. He was appointed Deputy Grand
Chancellor and State Instructor of the K. of
P. in 1894 and as such visited 113 K. of P.
Lodges in that year. Later he was made.
Grand Keeper of Records and Seals of that
fraternity. After leaving this office he re-
turned to Ionia and established a real estate
and insurance office, and was prominently
identified with the progressive element in the
city of Ionia in an effort to secure new indus-
tries for that city and build up its commercial
strength. He is at present a member of the
city common council. He also acted as secre-
tary of the Ionia County Agricultural society
for a period of three years. In 1896 he be-
came associated with Thomas A. Carten as
superintendent and bookkeeper of the latter's
extensive dry goods business in Ionia and as
such is at present engaged. Mr. Cutler be-
came identified with the Maccabees in 1885,
when he joined Wabassis Tent, No. 144. He
served as Finance Keeper for three years and
was then made Commander. He was re-
elected to this office in 1896-'97 and during
his term as such he increased the membership
FRED CUTLER, JR.
from 125 to over 400. He had been a delegate
to the Great Camp, K. O. T. M., since 1886.
Mr. Cutler was elected Great Chaplain of the
Great Camp in 1887 and was re-elected as
such three terms. In 1896, when the Great
Executive Committee was enlarged from three
to five members, Mr. Cutler was elected to the
committee from the floor of the convention.
At the recent Great Camp Review, held in
Grand Rapids, he was elected Great Lieuten-
ant Commander.
Among the Maccabees, Mr. Cutler enjoys
the reputation of being one of the most ener-
getic and hustling members in Michigan.
During the past two years he was chairman
and business manager of the building com-
mittee of Wabassie Tent's new lodge rooms,
the finest in this state.
In 1898 Mr. Cutler was nominated for
County Clerk of Ionia county on the Republi-
can ticket, but was defeated by a small minor-
ity. He has served as secretary of the county
committee for four years. He is Past Com-
mander of the Knights of Pythias, and a mem-
ber of the Grand Lodge of that body, and is
also associated with the I. O. O. F., Elks, F.
& A. M., Modern Woodmen, Royal Arcanum
and Court of Honor.
Mr. Cutler married in 1887 Miss Allie M.
Ryerson, daughter of Abraham Ryerson of
Ionia. The marriage took place in that city.
They have one daughter aged eight years.
350
MEN OF PROGRESS.

upon
WILLIAM BALL.
BALL, WILLIAM. Mr. Ball is essentially
a Michigan man and has made his impress
the political, social and industrial life of
the state. Born in Cayuga County, N. Y.,
April 7th, 1830, his parents, Samuel H., and
Olive (Seeley) Ball, came to Michigan in 1836
and located on a farm in the township of Web-
ster, Washtenaw county. His was the usual
experience of farmer boys-alternating farm
work with attendance at the local school.
When nineteen years of age he became a
teacher and followed that profession most of
the time for the next ten years. During the
time, he took a preparatory course at Albion
College and entered the literary department of
the University in 1855, remaining there for
a year, paying his way by means earned in
teaching. He was principal of the graded
schools at Otisco, Ionia county, two years,
1856-'58. In 1857 he invested his savings
in a farm of 150 acres near the village of Ham-
burg, in Livingston county, and the next year
began his career as a farmer. He gradually
increased his holdings until he was at one time
operating a farm of 700 acres. For the past
For the past
thirty years he has been a noted breeder of
American Merino sheep and has a national
reputation in that line, having been one of the
first to introduce that grade of sheep in the
west. He was also an early introducer and
extensive breeder of short horned cattle. He
has been a director in the State Agricultural
Society for the past twenty-one years and
served as president of the society continuously
for six years. He is chairman of the Finance
Committee of the society and is well known
throughout the state in connection with his
work in the society. For the past five years
Mr. Ball has devoted much of his time to the
Farmers' Institute work and his aid and ex-
perience is much sought after by those in
charge of these gatherings.
1882.
Mr. Ball has, however, made his impress
upon the civil and political life of the state.
He served three terms in the State Legislature
as Representative, during the regular sessions
of 1865, '67, '81 and the special session of
At the session of 1881 he was elected
Speaker pro tem of the House. He was
elected to the State Senate in 1888 and was
chosen President pro tem at the session of
1889, and upon the death of Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor McDonald, two months after the session
began, he became President of the Senate and
Acting Lieutenant-Governor. In 1890 he was
the Republican candidate for Congress from
the sixth district, but was defeated by the nar-
row margin of 500 votes. He was a member of
the Board of Control of the Industrial School
for Boys at Lansing, 1885-88. Mr. Ball be-
longs to the Masonic fraternity, including the
Howell Commandery, Knights Templar, to
the order of Oddfellows, including the Can-
tonment and to the Delta Kappa Epsilon fra-
ternity of the University. Miss Catherine
Powers, daughter of David B. Powers of Ham-
burg, became Mrs. Ball in 1858. Their family
numbers one son and four daughters-Erwin,
a farmer near Hamburg and a graduate of the
State Agricultural College; Sarah, wife of L.
A. Saunders, a merchant at Hamburg; Inlia
A., at home; Kate, wife of Henry M. Queal, a
farmer near Hamburg; Alice H., wife of
Henry M. Osborn, a railroad employe residing
at Grayling. The girls are all graduates of the
State Normal School at Ypsilanti.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
351
ALWARD, DENNIS ELDRED. Mr. Al-
ward is a product of the excellent county of
Berrien, having been born at Niles, January
26th, 1859, his father, Cyrus M. Alward hav-
ing been a well known attorney at that place.
Dennis E. attended school in Niles, graduating
from the Niles High School in 1876, and then
entered the literary department of the Michi-
gan University but soon left to teach school.
In 1878, in company with Martin E. Brown,
he started the little daily paper at Battle
Creek called the Battle Creek Moon. The
enterprise, at first regarded as a doubtful ven-
ture, proved a gratifying success and became
a valuable property. In 1880 he sold his in-
terest to his partner and purchased the Clare
Press, then a struggling Republican weekly, in
a new county, which paper he published suc-
cessfully for ten years. He received a prac-
tical introduction to state politics by his ap-
pointment as clerk to the Senate Committee
on Railroads, at the Legislative Session of
1887. His aptness for that class of work and
his careful attention to details, aided not a
little by a personal popularity that is an insep-
arable part of his make-up, advanced him to
the position of Assistant Secretary of the Sen-
ate in 1889, and to the full secretaryship in
'93 and '95. He served as secretary of the
Republican State Central Committee under
Senator McMillan in the campaign of 1894,
and was continued in that position under
Chairman Dexter M. Ferry in the memorable
campaign of 1896. Retiring from the secre-
taryship in 1898 he was recalled to it in 1900,
being named therefor by Chairman Diekema
and unanimously elected by the State Central
Committee.
During the Fifty-fourth Congress he served
as superintendent of the House document
room at Washington and upon the organiza-
tion of the Fifty-fifth Congress was promoted
to the very responsible position of Reading
Clerk in the National House of Representa-
tives, to which position he was unanimously
re-elected in 1899. In 1900 he was selected
DENNIS ELDRED ALWARD.
by the National Republican Committee as
Reading Clerk of the Philadelphia Conven-
tion which nominated McKinley and Roose-
velt. Mr. Alward's political work has not
been confined to the secretary's chair and the
reader's desk, but he has been a popular and
effective speaker in the state campaigns for
several years, and at Washington there is no
more popular officer of either House than
"Dennie" Alward.
Mr. Alward has been identified with the
business and municipal interests of the city
which is his home. He was clerk of the
village and mayor of the young city. He was
also a member of the local school board and
secretary of the county board of school exam-
iners. He is still a newspaper man and owns
a large farm near Clare.
He is an enthusiastic Mason, an Oddfellow,
a Knights of Pythias and holds membership
also in the A. O. U. W., Modern Woodmen
and Loyal Guard. In the first four orders
named he has passed the chairs.
Miss Etta Stross, daughter of Peter Stross
of Battle Creek, became Mrs. Alward Nov.
11th, 1879. Hazel E., born in 1890, is their
only child.
352
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. FREDERICK OWEN CLARK.
CLARK, HON. FREDERICK OWEN.
Frederick Owen Clark, a staid and respected
resident of Marquette, and senior member of
the law firm of Clark & Pearl of that city,
was born at Girard, Erie County, Pennsyl-
vania, December 18, 1843.
His father, John B. Clark, was a tanner
and dealer in leather, and evidently intended
that his son should follow the same trade.
Although the boy was sent to the schools
of Girard and fitted for a course in
Hamilton College, he spent two hours each
day in the tannery, and all day Saturday. He
was a hard worker and devoted much time to
his studies, the result being that when he be-
came 18
years of age, his health, sapped by
overstudy, commenced to fail him and instead
of attending college he remained at home
and read law. He decided to go North,
selecting Northern Michigan as a health re-
sort. In June, 1862, he left home and
went to Marquette, where he sought em-
ployment without success. His money grad-
ually dwindled away, and when his capital
had been reduced to 50 cents he found work
with a survey gang laying the state road to
Escanaba.
The following years he was put on the
regular survey corps as transit man, and the
next year had charge of the engineer work
and superintended the earthworks for the new
iron ore docks. Then he took charge of the
engineer work on one division of the road and
taught school during the winters at Harvey,
Michigan.
Mr. Clark remained with the C. & N. W.
R. R. on construction work until 1865, and
left to become general engineer for the Iron
Cliff Company at Ishpeming, surveying, etc.
He platted and laid out the present city of
Negaunee, working at this line of work until
1869, when he resumed the study of law, and
in 1871 he was admitted to practice before
Judge Goodwin at Menominee, Michigan.
Mr. Clark opened a law office at Escanaba and
practiced there until July, 1876, when he re-
moved to Marquette.
Frederick O. Clark married in 1877 Miss
Ellen J., daughter of Hon. Amos Harlow, of
Marquette. Two children have come to
Mr. and Mrs. Clark. The name Alden is a
family name, as Mr. Clark is a direct descend-
ant on his mother's side of John Alden. His
great grandmother was Sally Alden. Mr.
Clark's great grandfather was Major Daniel
Clark of Revolutionary fame.
Mr. Clark was a member of the legisla-
tive session of 1875-76, being nominated by
the Republican party and endorsed by the
Democrats. He received every vote cast. He
was the first clerk of Escanaba, Michigan, and
president of Escanaba in 1871. He has held
the following offices: Prosecuting attorney
Delta County, 1873; mayor of Marquette,
1886-87; member of School Board, Mar-
quette, ten years, and president of board two
years; alderman, 1896-97-98; member of
Upper Peninsula Prison Board, appointed by
Governor Pingree for six years in 1896.
His other business interests are: President
of the Marquette City & Presque Isle Elec-
tric Railway, and stockholder and director in
the Barassa Iron Mining Company of Ne-
gaunee.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
353
HON. ROBERT BRADLEY WEBB.
WEBB, HON. ROBERT BRADLEY.
Robert Bradley Webb started in life as a
farmer's boy and by his own efforts has be-
come identified with some of the largest min-
ing properties on the Upper Peninsula, and
one of the largest industries in Crystal Falls,
where he now resides. Other honors have
been won by him, for in 1896-'97 he was the
mayor of the little city in which he lives.
He was born March 9, 1852, at Waukegan,
Illinois. His father was Ira P. Webb, a
farmer, and the Webb family came originally
to the west from Utica, Herkimer County,
New York State. Young Webb attended the
district schools near his farm home, as usual
with farmers' children working during the
summer on the farm, and getting what school-
ing he could during the winter.
When he was 16 years of age, the boy at-
tended the High School at Waukegan for
two terms, working during vacations in order
to help toward paying for his own education.
After leaving the High School he became a
hotel clerk at Woodstock, Illinois, at a sal-
ary of $15 per month, and at this employment
he worked for one year, and the year follow-
ing became manager of a railroad eating
house at Howard Junction. After this he
came to Michigan, and became a clerk in the
general store operated by the Furnace Com-
pany at Menominee, Michigan, where he re-
ceived a salary of $75 a month. He saved
his money and in two years started in the
mercantile business on his own account in
Hainesville, Illinois. Fire was responsible
for the failure of this attempt, for a year
later the store and stock were destroyed and
young Webb was left without a cent. He
managed to pull himself together, and the next
year he was established in the live stock busi-
ness, and for two years he bought and ship-
ped live stock for the Chicago market. He
then accepted a position in the general store
of I. R. Lyon at Waukegan, Illinois, where
he worked for two years, and then became a
traveling man, selling tobacco and spices for
James G. Flint, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
His territory was through Wisconsin, Iowa
and Michigan and for one year he engaged
in this business. During his travels in this
capacity he had an opportunity of studying
the country, and obtaining a knowledge of
the different industries then being developed.
He then interested himself in some iron min-
ing properties located in Wisconsin and some
located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan,
and in 1882 he purchased a hardware stock
in Florence, Wisconsin, which he operated in
connection with his mining operations. He
closed out his interests in 1889 and removed
to Minneapolis, where he entered the real
estate field and brokerage business. He han-
dled many big deals and bought prospective
realty, and when in 1893 the boom broke he
found himself owner of much real estate that
was unsalable. In 1892 he had become inter-
ested in the Crystal Falls Hardware Com-
pany, and in 1894 he moved to Crystal Falls,
Michigan. Mr. Webb gives most of his at-
tention to managing the hardware company.
He married in 1877 at Watertown, New York,
Miss Estelle J. Todd, and has five children.
Mr. Webb is a member of Waukegan Com-
mandery, No. 12, Knights Templar.
Michigan.

354
MEN OF PROGRESS.
HON. JAY ABEL HUBBELL.
HUBBELL, HON. JAY ABEL. Eight
years in Congress has made the name of Jay
Abel Hubbell a familiar one, not only in
Michigan alone, but throughout the country.
He is the so-called father of the Michigan
College of Mines, located at Houghton,
Michigan, and to his efforts in securing the
appropriation and locating the college, Hough-
ton is indebted for the presence of that struc-
ture today.
He was born in Avon, Michigan, Septem-
ber 15, 1829. His father, Samuel S. Hub-
bell, was one of the earlier settlers of Oakland
county, Michigan, locating there in 1820.
The family originally came from Connecti-
cut.
Young Hubbell attended
attended the district
schools near Avon, Mich., during the winter
terms until he reached his eighteenth year,
when he was sent to the Rochester Academy,
at Rochester, Michigan, for two years, and
later took two more years at the High School
of Romeo.
In the fall of 1850 he found himself in a
position financially to enter the literary de-
partment of the University of Michigan,
where he spent three years, graduating in
1853. He then went back to school teach-
ing in order to finish paying for his education
and in the meantime read law in the office of
Judge Manning, of Pontiac, Mich. Getting
a few dollars ahead he then entered as a stu-
dent into the law office of Howard, Bishop &
Holdbrook at Detroit, and in 1855 he was ad-
mitted for practice by the Supreme Court.
Having at last become an attorney, the young
man then started for the Upper Peninsula and
landed at Ontonagon, June 17, 1855, with as
much as $3 capital to supplement his educa-
tion and experience. He was even in debt to
the captain of the steamer which brought him
up from Sault Ste. Marie. Shortly after his
arrival in his new field, he went into partner-
ship with A. H. Hanscomb and for the next
three years his practice was exceedingly lim-
ited. In 1860 he moved to Houghton, Mich-
igan, where he now resides, and soon estab-
lished a paying practice. In 1857 he was
elected district attorney for the Upper Penin-
In 1861, a
sula, being re-elected in 1859.
year after his removal to Houghton, he was
elected prosecuting attorney for Houghton
county.
Mr. Hubbell was state commissioner to the
Centennial exposition. He made his first ap-
pearance in national politics as a member of
the Forty-third Congress, and was re-elected
to the succeeding four houses. He served on
the committee on ways and
means, and during
the larger part of the time was chairman of
the national Republican congressional com-
mittee. He was a delegate from Houghton
County and when he laid down the gavel of
the temporary chairman, figured prominently
He was
in the delegation and on the floor.
elected Circuit Judge of the twelfth judicial
circuit, and retired January 1, 1900. Judge
Hubbell married in 1861 Miss Florence Doo-.
little at Ontonagon, and has two children,
Florence, the wife of Lessing Karger, of
Houghton, and Blanche D., wife of Lieut. H.
E. Smith, U. S. A. Judge Hubbell is a Mason,
and a member of Montrose Commandery, K.
T., of Calumet. He also belongs to Saladin
Temple, A. A. O. S., and Grand Rapids Con-
sistory.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
355
BELL, GEORGE METHIAS. Dr. Bell
represents both English and German blood.
His father, Joseph Bell, came from England
and settled in Halton County, Ontario, in
1836, where the son was born September 19th,
1848. His mother, Mary Green Teetzel, was
of German descent. The family moved to St.
Joseph, Michigan, in 1862. The father died
in 1887 and the mother in 1896, at Benton
Harbor, Dr. Bell's present residence. The
son enjoyed ordinary school advantages both at
Milton, Canada, and at St. Joseph. At the age
of eighteen, a point at which young men com-
mence to feel the importance of a fixed pur-
pose in life and if left to their own choice,
usually choose well, by the law of natural
selection, Dr. Bell found his inspiration to-
ward the medical profession. He entered the
drug store of Gates & Bell, in Benton Har-
bor, where for four years he did the work of
both clerk and student during the summer
months, and pursued his studies in the medical
department of the University during the win-
ter, from which he graduated in 1870. He at
once opened an office in Benton Harbor but
took a winter course at the Chicago Medical
College, receiving its diploma in the spring
of 1871. The ensuing three years were de-
voted to his home practice, but with a view to
the best preparation possible for his life work,
he took a special course in anatomy and sur-
gery at Bellevue Hospital Medical College,
New York, graduating therefrom under the
distinguished surgeon, Dr. Hamilton, in 1875,
and has since pursued his home practice unin-
terruptedly. While Dr. Bell is not technically
a specialist, he has yet developed a special apt-
ness in the treatment of the diseases of chil-
dren. In his strictly professional work, he has
been for fourteen years U. S. examining sur-
geon for the pension district which embraces
his home, has been health officer of Benton
Harbor for years, is a surgeon for the Cincin-
nati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Company
and is medical examiner for the Knights of
Honor and the Home Forum.
As an all around, enterprising citizen, Dr.
Bell was one of the three who built the beau-
tiful opera house (known as the Bell Opera
GEORGE METHIAS BELL.
House) at Benton Harbor, costing about
$30,000, with a seating capacity of 1,500, and
which is strictly up to date in all its appoint-
ments. He is senior member of the drug firm
of George M. Bell & Co., is a stockholder in
the Wolverine Sugar Beet Company, a
director and stockholder in the Benton Har-
bor and St. Joseph Railway Company, and
also of the West Michigan Nursery Company,
all of Benton Harbor. Politically, Dr. Bell is
an independent, reserving the right at all
and measures, independently of party obliga-
times to use his best judgment both as to men
tion. His independence, however, has not
excluded him wholly from the public service,
he having served the city as an alderman. He
is a member of the Berrien County Medical
Society, of the International Association of
Railway Surgeons, and of the Big Four Sur-
geons Association. He is also a member of the
Masonic fraternity, including the Knights
Templar, of the Knights of Honor, the Macca-
bees and the Home Forum. A conservative
disposition and an affable temperament and
manner, help to make up the worthy gentle-
man in the person of Dr. Bell. Miss Anna
Nichols, daughter of Mr. Edgar Nichols of
Benton Harbor, became Mrs. Bell May 15,
1876. Their one son, John Bell Jr., was first
sergeant in Company I, Thirty-third Michi-
gan Infantry, during the Spanish-American
war, and saw service in Cuba.

356
MEN OF PROGRESS.

JULIUS SOLON BARBER.
BARBER, JULIUS SOLON. A native
of Vermont, born at Benson, April 6th, 1824,
Mr. Barber came to Michigan with his parents
in the fall of 1838. His father, Daniel Bar-
ber, became a member of a company or colony
of Congregationalists that purchased a large
tract of land in Eaton county and located the
hamlet of Vermontville, founding there a
church and school. His school training up to
the time of his leaving Vermont (fourteen
years of age) was limited. He attended the
winter school in Vermontville until twenty
years old, working on the farm during the
summer. As a reminiscence, Mr. Barber re-
lates having earned his first dollar, while in
Vermont, reading the "Scottish Chiefs" ro-
mance to some tailors while they stitched away
on their board. In 1845 he walked from Ver-
montville into Calhoun county, some forty
miles, to work in the harvest field, and in 1846
walked to Bellevue on a like mission, walking
home in each case. He taught a winter
school, 1846-7, near Vermontville, at $12 per
month and "board round." In the spring of
1847 with $150 saved he went to Whitehall,
N. Y., and clerked in a store until the winter
of 1849. He then joined a party of thirty-six
others in fitting out an expedition to go to
California. In January, 1849, they signed
articles of agreement, each contributing the
sum of $500 to a common fund. They bought
a bark which they loaded with provisions and
general supplies and sailed from New York
by way of Cape Horn January 25th, 1849.
Upon reaching Sacramento they made a
division of the cargo into two parts for 18 and
19 members of the party, respectively. Mr.
Barber was one of the 19, and with one other
had charge of the business interests at Sacra-
mento, the others going into the mines. The
said business was thus continued until a flood
overwhelmed the city. In 1854 he returned
east, married and spent some time prospecting
in Wisconsin, finally settling down in Cold-
water, Mich., in November, 1854, where his
home has since been. He opened a general
store there in 1855 and has been identified
almost continuously with that line of business,
and generally with the growth and prosperity
of the town. During his early residence in
Coldwater, he read law for two years in the
office of Charles Upson, with the object simply
of better fitting himself for a business career.
Mr. Barber has been a prominent figure in
political, business and social circles in Cold-
water during the almost half century of his
residence there. He represented his district
in the State Legislature in 1867 and also in
the Constitutional Convention of that year,
was postmaster at Coldwater eight years, un-
der Presidents Grant and Hayes, was Assessor
of Internal Revenue for the Second Michigan
District during President Grant's first term,
and served two terms as alderman of the city.
He is at present a member of the mercantile
firm of J. B. Branch & Co., of Coldwater, has
been a stockholder and director in the South-
ern Michigan National Bank since its organ-
ization and is a stockholder in two or three
manufacturing enterprises in Coldwater. Dur-
ing his residence in Whitehall, N. Y., and
Sacramento, Cal., Mr. Barber formed an
acquaintance with Mrs. Emeline Baker, who
became Mrs. Barber in 1854. They have two
daughters, Gertrude E., wife of Homer G.
Barber, a merchant and banker of Vermont-
ville, and Elena C., wife of Lester E. Rose,
president of the Southern Michigan National
Bank, Coldwater. Mr. Barber's hope for the
welfare of the country is in its churches and
schools.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
357
MAIN, JOHN T. One of the best known
physicians of Central Michigan is Dr. John T.
Main, of Jackson, who bears the same name
as the state from which he sprung, he having
been born at Albion, Kennebec county,
Maine, May 25th, 1831. The family were
early settlers in that state.
John Main, the
first of the family in America, was born in
England in 1618 and settled at York (then
called Agamentacus) in the present state of
Maine, in 1640. Part of the family still re-
sides upon the old homestead, which has been
continuously occupied by them since 1640,
without a single break, the present mansion
being not more than one hundred feet from
where the first house was built. Josiah Main,
father of Dr. John T., was born on the old
homestead in 1788. The mother of Dr. Main
was Mary Marble, a native of New Hamp-
shire, born in 1797, her father having been an
old sea captain.
The father of Dr. Main was a farmer and
to this occupation the son had his early train-
ing. The father, however, had been a teacher
in early life and the son by the law of heredity,
manifested an aptness for study, which re-
ceived due encouragement from the father,
who became his teacher, adding his careful
training to that of the public school, from
which Dr. Main entered the Academy at
China, Me. Dr. Main prosecuted his medical
studies at the Medical College at Castleton,
Vt., under Dr. Corydon L. Ford, who was
afterwards called to the chair of anatomy at
the University of Michigan. Dr. Ford was
conceded to have been one of the best teachers
in his special branch of medical science, that
the world has ever known. Dr. Main also
studied at Harvard, where he was a private
tutor not connected with the faculty but un-
JOHN T. MAIN.
der them, and was for some years a private
pupil of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes at Har-
vard, giving special attention to the study of
microscopy. Before studying medicine he had
been a teacher and had worked as a civil en-
gineer. Dr. Main rendered service to his state
as a member of the House of Representatives
early in the 1850 decade and again in the six-
ties. He also served the country as assistant
surgeon of the Second Maine Regiment during
the Civil War. He is at present a member of
the Board of Health of Jackson and a medical
director in the city hospital. For its scientific
value also, he is prosecuting systematically his
investigations in bacteriology. Dr. Main was
married in 1858 at Thomaston, Me., to Miss
Ferolin M. Williams, daughter of Peter Wil-
liams of that place. Their only son, Fred-
erick W., is associated in practice with his
father at Jackson. Dr. Main is a member of
the Masonic fraternity, in which he was at one
time quite active, and is also a member of the
G. A. R.

358
MEN OF PROGRESS.

REUBEN HATCH.
HATCH, REUBEN. Among the men
whom New England has furnished to the great
North West, is Judge Reuben Hatch, who
was born October 11th, 1847, in the town of
Alstead, New Hampshire. His ancestors
came to America from England in 1630 and
settled in Massachusetts. His father, also
named Reuben, was a learned and able divine
of the Congregational church, and during a
long and useful life ministered to congrega-
tions in Windom, Vt.; York, Ohio; Union
City, Mich., and other places. He was mar-
ried December 16th, 1846, at Hudson, Ohio,
to Miss Elmira Kilbourne, a native of Hud-
son, by whom he had six children, of whom
Reuben, Jr., was the eldest. After her death
in 1858, he married Miss Marion J. Pierce,
the fruit of this marriage being four children.
Mr. Hatch has reached the ripe age of eighty-
five years and makes his home in Oberlin,
Ohio, where he and his estimable wife
are widely and favorably known. He was
one of the leading spirits and founders
of Olivet College, Michigan, and also
assisted in planting a similar institution
at Benzonia, and notwithstanding his ad-
vanced age, still takes an active interest in re-
ligious and educational work. Reuben
Hatch, Jr., the leading facts in whose early
life connect themselves with his father's his-
tory, attended the schools in the different
places where his father held pastorates and
also received instruction in the higher
branches of learning, under his parent's im-
mediate tutelage. He began reading law at
Traverse City, Mich., at the age of twenty and
on May 12th, 1870, he was admitted to the
bar. He established a successful practice at
Traverse City, and in that brief time (1875)
had attained a position that gave him the nom-
ination for Circuit Judge, to which office he
was elected at the April election, 1875. He
continued on the bench during the regular
term of six years, and upon his retirement
therefrom resumed practice at Traverse City.
In 1888 he removed to Grand Rapids, where
he has since conducted a large and lucrative
practice in the State and Federal Courts. For
a short time he was associated in practice with
Hon. Harry P. Jewell, and later formed a co-
partnership with Hugh E. Wilson, which still
continues.
The professional career of Judge Hatch has
been highly creditable and he holds a con-
spicuous place among the leading attorneys,
in a city noted for the high order of its legal
talent. The honorable distinction acquired at
the bar, was not dimmed by his judicial career.
As a judge he presided with dignity and his
impartiality in dispensing justice made him
popular with both lawyers and litigants. But
few of his decisions were reversed by the
Supreme Court, and in one case that went
to the Supreme Court of the United States,
the decision of the Michigan Court was re-
versed and Judge Hatch's ruling affirmed.
Mr. Hatch was deputy collector of Internal
Revenue at Traverse City at the age of 21,
and was also township clerk of Traverse
Township. He was treasurer of the building
committee in charge of the construction and
furnishing of the Northern Michigan Asylum
at Traverse City, disbursing nearly $1,000,-
000 for that purpose. He is a member of both
the National and State Bar Associations, and
of the Hesperus Club of Grand Rapids. Politi-
cally he is a Republican, and in religion, an
attendant upon the Congregational church, of
which his wife, formerly Mrs. Esther H.
Sprague Day, to whom he was married in
1872, is a member.




HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
359
In
CURRY, SOLOMON S. Mr. Curry ranks
as one of the pioneers of the Lake Superior re-
gion. He was born in Canada, June 12th,
1840, and received his education there.
early manhood he came to Upper Michigan
and after a year spent in the copper country,
he went to Marquette and entered the employ
of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal Company.
After a year or more in this service he engaged
in mineral exploration, mining and contract-
ing and has ever since been identified with the
mining interests of the Upper Peninsula. He
came to Marquette when the boundaries of
the township were the same as those of the
present county of Marquette, and when the
city of that name was not yet in embryo.
With the county now crowding 40,000 in pop-
ulation, with sixteen organized townships
and three cities with an aggregate of over
25,000 population, some idea may be formed.
of the growth of the community in which Mr.
Curry has been an active member. He has
been a prime factor in the development of the
mining industry not only in Marquette but in
other counties. Removing to Ironwood, in
Gogebic county, his interests have centered
in that locality. He has been for many years
president of the Metropolitan Iron & Land
Company, which operated the Norrie group
of mines in the city of Ironwood, and it is
owing to his efforts almost entirely, that these
mines owe their present state of development,
and have become the largest producers and
shippers of iron ore of any mines in the world.
The city of Ironwood, which has become one
of the principal cities of the Upper Peninsula,
owes its growth largely to his characteristic
push, energy and enthusiasm. He is the
earnest promoter of all enterprises that affect
favorably the interests of the community in
which he resides, as well as the advocate and
promoter of all public and benevolent enter-
prises that affect the people generally, as will
be cheerfully testified to by the unanimous
voice of his neighbors. Mr. Curry's work and
influence are not confined to the Upper Penin-
sula, but extend to other states, where his repu-
tation as a mining expert is known and where
SOLOMON S. CURRY.
his counsel is sought. His knowledge and
aptness in this line is such that his favorable
judgment is an assurance of success in any
undertaking.
In politics, Mr. Curry is of the Democratic.
faith. In 1874 he was elected a representative
in the State Legislature, serving during the
session of 1875, and has held many local offices
of responsibility and trust, in all of which he
has acquitted himself with satisfaction to the
public and honor to himself. In 1896 he
was a candidate for Lieutenant Governor on
the Democratic ticket, headed by George L.
Yaple for Governor, and although he ran
largely ahead of his ticket in the Upper Penin-
sula, where he was so well and favorably
known, the ticket was unable to stem the Re-
publican current. In 1898 he was nominated
for representative in Congress from the
Twelfth Congressional district, which com-
prises the Upper Peninsula, but his candidacy
was of necessity hopeless, in a district having
an adverse partisan majority of over 10,000.
On November 13th, 1867, Mr. Curry was
united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Stoupe
of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and to them have
been born two sons and two daughters, George
A. and Anna Belle, who are living, and Libbie
May and John Carlisle, who have died.
360
MEN OF PROGRESS.

WILLIAM PAUL PRESTON.
PRESTON, WILLIAM PAUL. John
and Paul Preston settled in Maryland in
1670, and the Preston family in that beauti-
ful State owes its existence there to these two
early settlers. The family originally came
from England.
William Paul Preston is a descendant of
this family. He was born in the little town
of Chesterton, Maryland, January 19, 1845,
where, until his fifteenth year, he attended
the village school and was then sent to school
in Wilmington, Delaware. When the Civi!
War broke out, and with patriotic enthusiasm,
all the youths of the country were answering
President Lincoln's call for troops, a com-
pany of Zouaves was organized in Wilming
ton. The martial music and the attractive
uniforms, together with the military fever
that swept over the country, had its effect on
young Preston, and in August, 1861, al-
though only a school boy, he enlisted. The
recruits of the new company were sent on to
Staten Island, in New York bay, and the
company was
was organized as Company D,
Fifty-third New York, and mustered into the
service October 12, 1861, so at the age of 17
Mr. Preston was a soldier. The company was
sent to the front at once, and under General
Burnsides it participated in the expedition
against Hatteras Inlet, in North Carolina, see-
ing some sharp and severe service. March
25, 1862, after a year spent in the south, a
year fraught with battles and excitement, the
regiment was mustered out. Young Preston,
however, had become attached to the life of a
soldier, so he immediately re-enlisted, this time
in the Fourth Delaware Regiment, and he
served until the close of the war, participating
in many important battles. After the close
of the war he enlisted in the regular army at
Indianapolis, Indiana, and was assigned to the
Forty-third regiment. In 1867 he was made
first sergeant of Co. B, and remained as such
until the re-organization of the army in 1869.
His company was stationed at Mackinac
Island, where the regiment was finally mus-
tered out.
The year following his retirement from
the service he married Miss Mary Overall, at
Mackinac, and after the demise of his first
wife he again married in 1885, Miss Emma
Snell, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Today
Mr. Preston is one of the largest property-
owners on Mackinac Island, having several
large business stores, and conducting an ex-
tensive real estate business. He was presi-
dent of the village for 13 years, a member
of the Board of Supervisors, and for eight
years, 1879 to 1887, chairman of the Board of
Supervisors of Mackinac County. In 1891-92
he was the sergeant-at-arms of the House of
Representatives, and a delegate to the Na-
tional Democratic Convention of 1884. He
was also a member of the Democratic State
Central Committee from 1880 to 1884. He
represented his county at the State Board of
Equalization in 1891-96. He has been a can-
didate for the Legislature on the Democratic
ticket three times, but the district is largely
Republican, which readily accounts for his
non-election. He was a delegate to the Demo-
cratic National Convention in 1890. Mr.
Preston has five children: Henry W., aged
28, is with Hoyt & Company, wholesale gro-
cers, at Chicago; Joseph R., aged 18, attends
school in that city, and Cassius F., aged 15,
Susie R., aged 13, and Margarette, aged 10,
are living at home and attending school in
Mackinac Island.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
361
WESSELIUS, SYBRANT. Few names
are more familiar to the people of Michigan
today than that of the tall ex-senator from the
Sixteenth district. Born poor, he has by his
own energy and industry, gained prominence
in politics, and a lasting reputation as one of
the brainy and broad guaged citizens of West-
ern Michigan.
His parents came from the Netherlands in
1847 and settled in Grand Rapids, where
Sybrant was born on June 8, 1859. He was
given a common school education until 15
years old, when he went to work in a trunk
factory. He clung to his studies, however and
by a strict economizing of his funds he was
able to enter Kalamazoo College, where he
graduated with the degree of A. B.
After graduating he went to teaching
school, and continued at it while he quietly
but energetically studied law and fitted him-
self for the profession which has been so kind
to him. Endowed by nature with a mental
capacity in keeping with his great physique, he
was not satisfied with learning just enough to
enable him to pass the ordinary legal exami-
nation, and when he finally went to the circuit
court as a candidate for admission to the
bar, he passed with a standing most creditable,
entered at once upon the practice of his pro-
fession, and soon built up a large and remun-
erative practice, which has steadily increased.
In politics Mr. Wesselius has been promin-
ent in his part of the State for many years.
His prominence among the large Holland pop-
ulation of the city and district gave him a
large personal following, and his personal
qualifications, his oratory, and his marked
ability made him in great demand in the coun-
cils of the Republican party. In 1890, as the
Republican candidate for mayor of Grand
Rapids against heavy odds, he made a most
remarkable run and succeeded in holding the
vote down so close that several of the city
wards were saved in the aldermanic battles.
In 1889 he was elected a member of the State
Senate, and served as chairman of the com-
mittee on constitutional amendments and fed-
eral relations, and as member of the judiciary
committee, and was recognized as one of the
strong men of that session.
Mr. Wesselius took an active part in the
campaign which gave Hazen S. Pingree the
nomination for governor in 1896, and his rela-
tions with the governor were so intimate that
he was given the title of "Governor of West
Michigan." Immediately after the inaugura-
SYBRANT WESSELIUS.
tion of Governor Pingree, the office of rail-
road commissioner was tendered him, to accept
which he would not do without giving all his
attention to its duties, involving a sacrifice of
his private practice, which he could not well
afford. But he was induced to become a mem-
ber of the state's official family, and for two
years made one of the most aggressive com-
missioners of railroads the State ever had.
He not only personally outlined and designed
the system of taxation evolved in the Atkin-
son bill (Session 1897), but directed most of
the work of Governor Pingree himself for
equal taxation.
He resumed the practice of his profession at
the end of his term. One of the earliest sym-
pathizers in the cause of the Boers in South
Africa, he assisted in raising the large sums of
money sent from Western Michigan, helped
to awaken interest in many of the large cities,
helped to bring accredited representatives of
the South African republic to his own city,
and was personally responsible for the start-
ing of the League of Boer Sympathizers in
the United States.
Very happily married and with a happy
home, Mr. Wesselius enjoys life, enjoys his
friends and they enjoy him. He gives a por-
tion of his time to literary work, and is a mem-
ber of the Elks, Oddfellows and Knights of
Pythias.
362
MEN OF PROGRESS.

WELLINGTON R. BURT.
BURT, WELLINGTON R. Wellington
R. Burt is a descendant of Henry Burt, who
came from England to Massachusetts in 1838,
making his home in Springfield, where he
spent a long and useful life and raised a large
family. His descendants may be found in
Western Massachusetts, while many more fol-
lowed the course of empire and will be found
in the new States of the West.
Wellington R. Burt was born in the State
of New York in 1831; in 1838 his father,
Luther Burt, moved with his family on to a
farm in Jackson county, Michigan, where he
died five years later. Wellington R. Burt
lived on this farm until he was twenty years
old, receiving such education as could be
obtained at the district schools in that locality,
together with one year at Albion Seminary
and one year at the Michigan Central College,
which was located at Spring Arbor at that
time. He taught school two years in Indian-
apolis, Ind., and spent three years in a trip
around the world, stopping at Australia, New
Zealand, Van Diemans Land, Sandwich
Islands, South and Central America. On his
return he went into the pine woods on Pine
River, Gratiot county, at $13 per month. In
1860 he was married to Sarah Torrans and
settled in East Saginaw and engaged in the
lumber business, which he has continued until

now.
He has taken an active interest in the busi-
ness of the valley. Was elected mayor, both
parties endorsing him and receiving every vote
of the city. Ran for governor in 1888; was
elected State Senator in 1892; organized and
was president of the Home National Bank for
thirteen years; was president of the Michigan
Salt Association for fourteen years.
Wellington R. Burt has two sons and four
daughters; the sons are in active business and
the daughters' husbands are in high walks of
business and professional life.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
363
WILLIAM ALDEN SMITH.
was appointed State Game and Fish Warden,
holding the position four years, and resigning
on the incoming of the Democratic administra-
tion in 1891. In 1887 Mr. Smith was ap-
pointed General Attorney for the Chicago &
West Michigan and the Detroit, Grand Rapids
& Western Railroads. During the campaign
in 1886 he stumped the state in behalf of the
Republicans, doing efficient work. Congress-
man Smith is a self-made man and by taking
advantage of his opportunities has made him-
self what he is. In politics, he is a staunch
Republican. In 1894 he was elected a mem-
ber of the Fifty-fourth Congress of the United
States; was appointed by Speaker Thomas B.
Reed on the Committee of Foreign Affairs,
being placed fifth upon a committee of four-
He served on the same committee dur-
SMITH, WILLIAM ALDEN. William
Alden Smith, of Grand Rapids, Mich., was
born in Dowagiac, Cass county, Mich., May
12, 1859. Attended the public schools at that
place and at twelve years of age removed with
his parents in 1872 to Grand Rapids, where he
has since resided. As a boy he was engaged in
many youthful enterprises, selling newspapers
and being messenger in the Western Union
Telegraph Office. In 1879 he was appointed a
messenger in the House of Representatives of
the State Legislature by Hon. John T. Rich,
Speaker. He studied law and was admitted to
the bar in 1882 and has since been engaged in
the practice of his profession in Grand Rapids.
He was active and influential in securing the
nomination of Hon. Cyrus G. Luce for gov-
ernor in 1886 and during Governor Luce's
term, without solicitation on his own part, he ing the Fifty-fifth and Fifty-sixth Congresses.
teen.
364
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HENRY M. ROSE.
ROSE, HENRY M. Michigan newspaper
men find recognition at Washington. Mr.
Rose entered upon his duties as Chief Clerk of
the Senate April 1st, 1900, Dennis E. Alward
having been Reading Clerk of the House for
several years, both being newspaper men.
Mr. Rose's father was Rev. Henry A. Rose,
a Baptist minister, who was descended from
the Rose family of Massachusetts and Rhode
Island. His mother, Zaida A. Martin, was a
descendant of John Martin of Massachusetts.
The son was born in Hornellsville, N. Y.,
March 16th, 1858. The family located in St.
Johns, Mich., in 1865, where Henry M. en-
joyed the advantages of the public schools for
the next ten years. In 1875 he took a prepara-
tory course at the Fenton Seminary and in the
fall of 1876 entered the Baptist College at
Kalamazoo. His eyesight becoming impaired,
he left college in the junior year and was for a
time clerk in a store at Hasty, Gratiot county,
and also taught a district school. In 1879 he
bought a small job printing outfit and soon
after joined forces with Otis Fuller in the
publication of the Clinton Republican at St.
Johns. Selling out his interest in 1880 he
pur-
chased the Palladium at Benton Harbor,
which he managed for nearly four years. In
September, 1884, he became a reporter on the
Morning Telegram at Grand Rapids and five
months later became its city editor, so continu-
ing until 1887, when he accepted a like posi-
tion on the Evening Leader, which he held for
three years, and thereafter was assistant man-
aging editor of the Grand Rapids Democrat
for a year. Coming to Detroit, he was state
editor of the Detroit Journal for a year, at the
end of which time he returned to Grand Rap-
ids. During the legislative sessions of 1887
and 1889 he was engrossing clerk of the House
of Representatives at Lansing.
Mr. Rose was quite actively connected with
Republican politics in Grand Rapids and Kent
county during his residence there and was
chairman of the Republican county committee
during one campaign. His experience as a
newspaper worker and in his clerical capacity
at Lansing gave him a wide acquaintance in
the state and he can probably call as many of
the political workers by name as anyone in the
state. This fitted him peculiarly for the part
which he took in behalf of Mr. Burrows' elec-
tion to the U. S. Senate, he having had charge
of that gentleman's "literary bureau," so
called, and having otherwise actively assisted
his canvass, which commended him to the new
Senator as his confidential clerk and then as
clerk of his committee, from which he earned
his promotion as Chief Clerk of the Senate.
In his new position Mr. Rose receives a salary
of $3,000 a year. His duties consist in general
in keeping track of the thousand and one de-
tails of legislation that must be kept in order
and ready for presentation before the Senate
at the proper moment.
Mr. Rose is a member of the Masonic fra-
ternity, of the Knights of Pythias, and of the
Michigan (Republican) Club. It is said of
him that he "loves his friends," and while it is
not presumed that he has any enemies, yet if
he has, no doubt in obedience to the Golden
Rule, he loves them also. He married Miss
Gertrude Miley, daughter of John Miley of
Niles, Oct. 7, 1880. They have one son,
Willis S.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
365
Hamilton
WRIGHT, HAMILTON M.
M. Wright, the present Judge of Probate of
Bay county, was born in New Orleans, La.,
Oct. 26th, 1852. His father, Hamilton M.
Wright, was a native of Dutchess county, N.
Y., but went south when a young man and
became a cotton broker and merchant in New
Orleans. His mother, Virginia Huckins, was
a native of the State of Virginia. When the
Civil War broke out the mother and children
went to Geneva, Switzerland. The son had
some early school training in New Orleans and
he attended school in Geneva until he was
seventeen. He then went to Cheltenham,
England, where he pursued a preparatory
course for college. He graduated from the
literary department of Yale College in 1875,
taking third place in a class of 150. That same
year he entered the Yale law school and gradu-
ated from the law department with the class
of 1877, taking first rank in his class and re-
ceiving the Jewell gold medal for excellence
of scholarship. After graduation he looked
around for a favorable spot in which to settle
and was induced by favorable reports to come
to Bay City. He moved there in September,
1877, and practiced his profession for some
years. His wife having owned a tract of land
in the eastern part of Bay City, he interested
himself in its improvement, building a house
for a family residence in 1879 and selling city
lots to workingmen and others at low rates and
on long time, encouraging settlement. He
also built houses and sold them on easy terms.
In all he built thirty-six houses, which added
greatly to the valuation of the city. He never
had a law-suit with a tenant or foreclosed a
mortgage or contract. In April, 1881, he was
elected alderman and was re-elected for sev-
eral terms. In 1882 he was elected to the
State Legislature and re-elected in 1884. At
the expiration of his term as alderman in 1887
he was nominated for mayor and elected by a
plurality of 804 votes. He was again elected
mayor in 1895. In 1888 Mr. Wright was
elected Judge of Probate for Bay county, on
the Democratic ticket. When elected, Judge
Wright determined to fill the trust, to which
HAMILTON M. WRIGHT.
he has always given personal attention. His
aim has always been to have all matters
promptly attended to and large savings have
been effected to estates and to creditors, by so
doing. Judge Wright's administration of the
office during his first term was so satisfactory
that he was elected for a second term in 1892
and for a third term in 1896.
The wife of Judge Wright was formerly
Miss Anne Dana, daughter of Wm. D. and
Anne E. Fitzhugh of Livingstone county, N.
Y., to whom he was married Nov. 30th, 1871.
They have had eight children, seven living,
the oldest of whom, Anne Virginia, is the wife
of Dr. Thos. L. Kane (a nephew of Dr. Kane
of Arctic fame), residing in McKean county,
Pa. Hamilton, Jr., is an attorney at Los An-
geles, Cal. The others reside at home, except
one, Arch. V. R., who is a railroad employe.
Judge Wright is of Scotch-English descent
and Mrs. Wright is connected with the Car-
rolls of Maryland and the Van Rensselaers of
New York.
The congressional nomination for the Tenth
district on the Democratic ticket was tendered
Mr. Wright unanimously in 1888, but was
declined for personal reasons.
366
MEN OF PROGRESS.

GERRIT JOHN DIEKEMA.
DIEKEMA, GERRIT JOHN. Some time
in the 1840 decade, there came to Michigan a
gentleman from Holland known as the Rev.
A. C. Van Raalte. His mission was to select
a location on which to plant a colony of his
countrymen. He selected a place in Ottawa
county at a point then known as Black Lake,
where has since grown up, the city of Holland.
The emigrants who came with Rev. Van Raalte
and their descendants, through the proverbial
industry and frugality of that people, have
acquired competence and comparative wealth.
Through their virtues, also, their method, and
their love of learning, they hold a position of
influence in the social, political and business
affairs of western Michigan. Mr. Diekema
is a product of the stock planted by the Rev.
Van Raalte and it is no flattery to say that he
represents the highest type, intellectually,
socially and morally, of that worthy people.
His parents were natives of Holland, while Mr.
Diekema himself was born in the Michigan
Holland in 1859. His education was most
systematic and thorough, conformably to the
method of his people. A Holland colony
would not be such without its college, and
Hope College sprang up with the colony in
Michigan. To this college Mr. Diekema passed
from the primary schools, graduating in 1881.
He began reading law and in due course en-
tered the law department of the University,
from which he graduated in 1885 and was ad-
mitted to practice at Ann Arbor. He at once
opened an office in Holland, with every ele-
ment that invites success, which has come to
him abundantly. Self-reliant, he has never
formed a professional partnership and his law
practice has been interrupted only by the de-
mands that his fellow citizens have made upon
him for official service. In the year 1884 he
was elected a representative in the State Legis-
lature and was three times re-elected, serving
four terms in all. At the session of 1887 he
was chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and
in 1889, when but thirty years old, was chosen
Speaker of the house. In 1893 he was the
Republican candidate for Attorney-General of
the State, and although leading the head of his
ticket by fully one thousand votes, he suffered
defeat on account of the fusion of the Demo-
cratic and People's parties on Attorney-Gen-
eral at that election. In 1894 he was ap-
pointed a member of the commission with
Mark S. Brewer of Pontiac and Edwin F.
Conely of Detroit, charged with the work of
preparing the forms for acts designed as gen-
eral laws for the incorporation of cities and vil-
lages. The work of the commission, of which
he was president, was reported to the Legisla-
ture at the session of 1895 and is represented
by the present statutes on the subject. Mr.
Diekema was mayor of Holland in 1895 and
has been for many years a member of the city
Board of Education and one of the trustees of
Hope College, and is also a member of the
Board of Directors of the State Pioneer Soci-
ety. In his religious connection he is a mem-
ber of the Reformed Church in America (for-
merly Dutch Reformed). At the Republican
State Convention held in Detroit May 3rd
last, he was unanimously chosen to the respon-
sible position of Chairman of the State Central
Committee. Miss Mary E. Alcott, a graduate
of Hope College, became Mrs. Diekema in
1885. They have four children. Aside from
his legal business, Mr. Diekema has large bus-
iness and manufacturing interests at Holland.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
367
CHURCHILL, WORTHY L. Though a
resident of Alpena, Michigan, his enterprises
have not been confined to that locality. In
1874 Mr. Churchill became a resident of
Michigan, engaging in the manufacture of
lumber in Alpena, where he has since resided.
A Democrat in politics, he has twice been
honored by being elected mayor of the city,
and was chosen in 1875 to represent his dis-
trict in the State Legislature.
In 1894 he was unanimously chosen by the
Tenth Dictrict Democratic Congressional
Convention as its candidate for Congress, but
was defeated in the land-slide, it being the
year when "Donovan of Bay" was the sole
Michigan Democratic representative in state
or national affairs.
gen-
In December, 1898, Mr. Churchill, with a
few friends, organized the Bay City Sugar
Company and was chosen president and
eral manager.
With the usual energy and
determination that has won him success, he
pushed to completion an enormous factory and
was making sugar in ten months from the or-
ganization of the company, producing the first
campaign, seven million pounds white granu-
lated sugar, giving employment to untold
numbers of men, women and children culti-
vating the beet in the fields, and 250 men in
the factory. The plant is one of the most
complete and modern in the world.
He is also president of the Alpena Gas Com-
pany of Alpena and the senior in the lumber
firm of W. L. & H. D. Churchill. This firm,
besides their lumber mills at Alpena and ex-
tensive interests in that vicinity, are also large
owners of Canadian timber in the Georgian
Bay country.
Mr. Churchill comes of patriotic stock. He
is a direct descendant of Gen. Lovell of Revo-
lutionary fame, who was known in verse and
history as the Worthy Lovell from whom he
was named. His grandfather was Gen. W. L.
WORTHY L. CHURCHILL.
Churchill of Batavia, N. Y., well known as
an officer in the War of 1812.
His father, J. W. Churchill, a prominent
attorney in the early history of Illinois and
member of the first Legislature, practiced
law and rode the circuit with Lincoln, Doug-
las, Wentworth and other pioneers of Illinois.
Mr. Churchill's mother was Delia S. Wilson,
daughter of Judge I. G. Wilson of Western
New York, a lady loved by all who knew her.
She lived to the good old age of 90, passing
away less than two years ago.
Mr. Churchill married in Chicago Miss
Amelia Montgomery, who with their daughter
Florence, constitute their family.
He is a staunch Episcopalian, Knights of
Pythias and Elk, and a lover of good horses,
which he both raises and drives. He is a very
busy man, but I learned during my short visit
with him that he is one who believes it is bet-
ter to wear out than rust out. That when one
has been actively engaged in business all his
life, if blest with health at the age of 50 or
60, keep on, for if one quits and folds his
hands waiting for death, he will not wait long.
368
MEN OF PROGRESS.

GEORGE WILLIAM WEADOCK.
WEADOCK, GEORGE WILLIAM. The
parents of Mr. Weadock emigrated from Ire-
land, and settled in St. Mary's, Auglaize
county, Ohio, where George W. was born
November 6th, 1853. The Irish admittedly
The Irish admittedly
make the best of jurists and the Weadocks
have contributed their quota to the legal pro-
fession in Michigan, two brothers of George
W., Thomas A. E., now of Detroit, and John
C., of Bay City, being well known lawyers.
After passing through the primary and high
schools of his native town in the early seven-
ties, George W. began reading law with a local
attorney, which was continued under Hon.
Isaiah Pillars, Attorney-General of Ohio. He
then took a course in the law department of
the University of Michigan, defraying his ex-
penses by means earned by himself in teach-
ing. He pursued a further law reading in the
office of Wilson & Weadock, at Bay City, and
was admitted to the bar September 11th, 1876.
He began practice in Saginaw and a year later
became a partner with Hon. Timothy E.
Tarsney. While the latter represented the
Saginaw district in Congress (two terms) Mr.
Weadock had chief charge of the law business.
This co-partnership was continued until 1891,
a period of fourteen years. Mr. Weadock
continued the practice alone until 1893, when
Miles J. Purcell, who had been a student in
his office, became a partner under the firm
name of Weadock & Purcell, which is the
present style. Mr. Weadock is what may be
termed an all round lawyer, devoting his atten-
tion to general practice.. He has been presi-
dent of the Bar Association of his county and
State. With one exception to be noted, he has
never consented to stand for political office,
although repeatedly solicited by his party
friends to do so. He has frequently been
urged to run for Congress, but his firm con-
viction is that no man can serve two masters.
In his profession he is devoted to the interests
of his clients and feels that he could not do full
justice to them if aiming to fill the roles both
of lawyer and politician. This sentiment, how-
ever, does not bar him from contributing his
full quota toward the success of his party in its
campaigns both on the stump and in the way
of counsel, deeming this an obligation due to
good citizenship.
When the two cities of Saginaw and East
Saginaw were consolidated, Mr. Weadock was
elected Mayor, serving two terms of one year
each, 1890-1891. During his terms the duty
necessarily arose of adjusting the various in-
terests connected with the union, the successful
accomplishment of which was largely due to
solidation should be honorably carried out.
During his term, also, and upon his insistence,
an investigation of the affairs of the City
Clerk and Police Justice and Police Court
Clerk were ordered, and upon the wholesome
rule that "public office is a public trust," al-
though they were of his own party, he had
them tried and removed from office when their
misfeasance was established. In religious
opinion, Mr. Weadock is a Roman Catholic
and in politics a Democrat. In 1878 he was
joined in marriage with Miss Anna E. Tars-
ney, a sister of his then law partner. Nine
children were the fruit of the union, seven of
whom are living. The mother died in 1893,
and in 1896 Mr. Weadock was married to
Miss Grace M. McTavish, daughter of Archi-
bald McTavish of Saginaw. Two children are
the fruit of this union.
the fact that he insisted that the terms of con-



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
369
course.
Mr.
WEADOCK, JOHN CULLEN.
Weadock is the youngest of seven sons of
Louis and Mary Cullen Weadock, who
migrated from Ireland in 1860 and settled on
a farm near St. Marys, Ohio, where John C.
was born February 18, 1860.
18, 1860. Of the seven
brothers three of them chose the legal pro-
fession and have done honor to the bar in this
state. John C. obtained his early education
in the district schools at St. Marys, and after
his removal to Bay City in November, 1876,
he had the advantage of the Bay City High
School, from which he graduated in due
After graduation he spent some time
in teaching, when he determined to take up
the study of law, and with that end in view
he entered the office of his brother, Thos. A.
E. Weadock, then a successful practitioner at
Bay City. He was admitted to the bar in
1881 and in 1886 was married to Miss Helena
F. Bertch, daughter of Andrew Bertch of
Lansing. Shortly after his admission to the
bar he formed a partnership with his brother
and former preceptor, under the firm name of
T. A. E. & J. C. Weadock. The partnership
still continues, although the senior partner
has been for some years a practitioner in De-
troit. While still a resident of Bay City,
Thos. A. E. was elected to Congress (1890)
and again in 1892, and during his four years
of service in Washington, the business of the
firm largely devolved upon the junior partner.
With characteristic
energy and an oppor-
tunity to develop, he assumed the additional
labor thus thrown upon him and in the con-
duct of the affairs of the firm evinced those
qualities which have placed him in his present
standing at the bar, to which but a decade be-
fore he had been admitted. Personally, Mr.
Weadock is of strong physique and robust
physique and robust
health. Socially, while unassuming and re-
tiring in manner, he is an affable and com-
panionable gentleman, whose personality in-
vites the confidence and respect of those with
whom he comes in contact. In his home life
he is a good entertainer, is one of the best
whist players in the city and enjoys the society
JOHN CULLEN WEADOCK.
of a large circle of friends whom he has
worthily won. Politically he has always taken
an active interest in the political life of his
city and state. He is a skillful organizer, but
never stoops to the base in politics, and while
in partisan contests he never asks or gives
quarter, the campaigns in the Tenth Congres-
sional District which he has conducted have
been noted alike for their cleanness and
energy. While he has never been a candidate
for office, nor regarded favorably the many
requests of his party friends to allow the use
of his name, he was appointed to the office of
City Attorney in 1887, a position which he
filled for four years with equal credit to him-
self and advantage to the service.
Mr. Weadock his been president of the
Bay City Club, the leading social organization
of the city, and National Vice-President of
the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Michi-
gan branch of which possesses one of the best
insurance systems of the order, in the perfect-
ing of which he has borne an active part. He
has also served as president of the state or-
ganization. He is a member of the Elks, and
was Exalted Ruler of the Bay City lodge three
terms.
370
MEN OF PROGRESS.

CHARLES L. WILSON.
a
WILSON, CHARLES L. Charles L. Wil-
son was born at Warsaw, N. Y., February 1,
1843. His father, Samuel Wilson, was
farmer and of English ancestry. His mother's
maiden name was Sabrina E. Shaw, of Ver-
mont extraction. The family moved to Michi-
gan in 1845, first stopping in Oakland county,
near Rochester, where they rented a farm for
a season, then proceeded to Saranac, Ionia
county, locating on a farm where a portion of
the village was subsequently platted. The
father engaged in farming and hotel keeping
until about three years previous to his death in
1872. Mrs. Wilson, the mother, is now 89
years of age.
The early education of Charles L. was at
the village schools. He was subsequently em-
ployed portions of the time as cabin boy on
steamers then plying between Grand Rapids
and the upper country. From the fall of 1858
until 1860 he was clerk in a store. After an-
other winter term at school he obtained a
clerkship with H. Rich & Co., of Ionia, attend-
ing school during the less busy portion of the
year. In this way he attended one term at the
State Normal and one at the Ypsilanti Union
School. In 1863 he engaged as sutler's clerk
for D. F. Frazell, then sutler of the Veteran
Reserve Corps, stationed near Indianapolis,
where he superintended the business for sev-
eral months, until stricken with typhoid pneu-
monia. Recovering, he was soon after en-
gaged as teacher of a district school, using his
spare time in reading law. In 1865 he entered
the Law Department of the Michigan Univer-
sity and graduated with the class of 1867.
Then for a time he assisted his father in the
hotel business. In the spring of 1868 he
began practice in his home town, and was
elected justice of the peace. He drafted the
original charter for the incorporation of the
village, and was subsequently elected village
clerk, township clerk and president of the vil-
lage.
In the fall of 1872 he formed a co-part-
nership with Wm. L. Strickland, under the
firm name of Wilson & Strickland, which
continued until 1874, when he was elected
prosecuting attorney, but failed of re-election
in 1876, the entire Republican county ticket
being elected. While holding the office he
was in co-partnership with a former school-
mate, Benj. Vosper, under the firm name of
Vosper & Wilson, and soon after the expira-
tion of his term he again opened an office in
Saranac, where he has continued to reside.
In 1880 he became a partner with Hon. A.
B. Morse and the late Attorney-General S. V.
R. Trowbridge, under name and style of
Morse, Wilson & Trowbridge, which contin-
ued until the retirement of Mr. Morse,
the succeeding firm being Wilson & Trow-
bridge, which was mutually dissolved about a
year later, when Mr. Wilson invested quite
largely in Grand Rapids suburban and city
property. He moved to that city and engaged
principally in real estate business with his
brother, Geo. B. Wilson. He returned to Sar-
anac two years later, where he has since re-
sided, leaving his brother to look after the busi-
ness in the city.
He was elected Judge of Probate on the
Democratic-People's-Union Silver ticket, in
1896, over Grant M. Morse. Mr. Wilson be-
longs to the Masonic fraternity, being a Past
Master of the local lodge, a member of Ionia
Chapter, No. 14, and Commandery No. 11.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
371
BISHOP
EIS, RIGHT REVEREND
FREDERICK. The Right Reverend Bishop
Frederick Eis, bishop of the diocese of Sault
Ste. Marie and Marquette is a man of great
piety and a zealous worker in his sacred call-
ing. Under his charge the diocese has grown
and prospered, and Catholicism has advanced
in strength numerically and otherwise.
He was born in Germany and came to
America when he was 12 years of age, and
has since resided in the Upper Peninsula of
Michigan. As a youth, Bishop Eis com-
menced his studies with Father Fox, one of
the pioneers of the church in that part of
Michigan, then located at Rockland. Con-
tinuing his studies, he then attended the pro-
vincial seminary at Milwaukee, Wis., where
he remained for several years and then went
to Canada to finish his education.
His education completed, he returned to the
Upper Peninsula and in the fall of 1870 was
ordained priest by Bishop Mrak at Marquette.
Upon his ordination he was given St. Peter's
parish in that city, a remarkably important
charge for a young priest.
After his pastorate there he was given suc-
cessive charge of a number of important par-
ishes in the diocese, his longest connection
with any church being in Negaunee, where he
spent 10 fruitful years. He found the parish
in debt and left it free from incumbrance with
a good parsonage and a parochial school,
which had been built during his pastorate.
Upon the death of Bishop Vertin, Father
Eis took the position of administrator of the
diocese, previous to which he spent three
years at the parish of Crystal Falls, being ap-
pointed there after his return from a trip to
the far west for the benefit of his health.
While there he was dean of Gogebic, Iron
and Ontonagon counties and was one of
Bishop Vertin's consulters. For some years
he held the position of diocesan inspector of
parochial schools.
Bishop Eis is the fourth bishop of the dio-
cese of Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette. The
diocese was elevated to the bishopric in 1857
RIGHT REV. BISHOP FREDERICK EIS.
with Father Baraga as its first bishop. He
was succeeded by Bishop Mrak, who resigned
his holy office after some years service and
was spared to see two successors don the epis-
copal robes he laid aside. Upon the resigna-
tion of Bishop Mrak, Bishop Vertin was ap-
pointed to the office and held it to his death
almost 20 years later, when Bishop Eis was
appointed. His appointment was made in
Rome from two lists of three names each, sent
respectively by the priests of the Marquette
diocese and the prelates of the province of
Milwaukee.
Bishop Eis has shown a marked willingness
to assist all who seek to enter the churchly
callings, and has rendered assistance to a num-
ber of young men who aspired to the priest-
hood. He has also helped no less than ten
deserving young women to overcome the diffi-
culties in the road of their becoming mem-
bers of the Order of St. Joseph. Withal, he
is a man of modesty and reserve, yet affable
and easy to approach. These are the quali-
ties that have served to make him popular
wherever he has been stationed and the most
cordial relations exist between himself and
every priest under his charge.

372
MEN OF PROGRESS.

ALVA WINSLOW NICHOLS, M. D.
NICHOLS, ALVA WINSLOW, M. D.
Dr. Alva Winslow Nichols, Greenville, Mich.,
was born in Cannon township, Kent county,
this state, in 1848. His father was a school
teacher and teacher of penmanship, and his
grandfather, Dr. Jasen Winslow, was one of
the first physicians to locate in Grand Rapids.
The family is a Massachusetts family and the
name one of the oldest in that state.
Dr. Nichols' early education was received
in the district schools near his home and in the
public schools of Grand Rapids. His grand-
father being a physician, he chose the same
profession, and commenced reading medicine
when 15 years old. He also took up the trade
of a mason, and during the summer months he
worked as such, being considered a first-class
workman, especially in lath work and plaster-
ing. He became a district school teacher for
three winters, and in the fall of 1872 entered
the University of Michigan and graduated
from the Bellevue Hospital Medical College,
New York City, in 1874. Upon graduating
he immediately went to Greenville and opened
an office. Soon after locating there he
espoused the cause of the "greenbackers" and
later became a populist. He has been an active
worker in behalf of the principles of this party,
and a leading spirit in its organization.
Dr. Nichols has also engaged in journalism.
He managed and published the Greenville
Sentinel and Farmers' Voice from 1889 tc
1893, and for ten years, from 1874 to 1884,
was the Greenville correspondent for the De-
troit Evening News.
Good roads has always been his hobby. It
was through his efforts in this direction that for
twenty miles out from Greenville, excellent
gravel roads lead into the town, greatly bene-
fiting the farmers who drive in with their farm
produce, and the town itself which is the po-
tato center of Michigan. He commenced the
agitation for gravel roads in 1895, and was in-
strumental in raising $1,400 from the council
of Greenville and $4,000 from the farmers,
and the roads were built in 1895, two months
after beginning.
Dr. Nichols has been a member of the
Greenville school board since 1893 and is at
present secretary of that body. He has taken
a great interest in the affairs of the schools
under his care, and in '93 he commenced the
agitation for a commercial course in the public
schools, organizing a movement and estab-
lishing a system that has been adopted by
many of the leading cities throughout the
state of Michigan-the introduction of stenog-
raphy and typewriting.
In 1898, Dr. Nichols was a candidate for
Congress. In 1894 was candidate for gov-
ernor of the People's party, receiving 32,000
votes. This year he was elected member of the
People's party national committee. He has
been chairman of the State Central Committee
since 1892.

Dr. Nichols is a member of the Knights of
Pythias, the Royal Arcanum, the Prudent
Patricians of Pompeii and the Knights of the
Maccabees. He is a man of strong personality,
a tireless worker and progressive in every sense
of the word. He has absolute faith in the
principles of his political creed and sees in it
the nucleus of a faith that in the next century
will be a power in the land, stronger than that
of any political party today.
Dr. Nichols was appointed by Governor Be-
gole trustee of the Michigan Asylum for the
Insane at Kalamazoo in 1882, serving six
years, was four years member of Board of Pen-
sion Examining Surgeons for Montcalm
county, and has been supervisor of the second
ward of Greenville ten years.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
373
MORRILL, ROLAND. Fruit raising in
Michigan is an industry favored by the rich
quality of the soil and exceptional growing
conditions that has given the state a prom-
inent place amongst the apple, peach and grape
producing states of the United States. Such
associations as the National Association of
Nurserymen and the Michigan State Horti-
cultural Society bring growers into close con-
tact with each other in the exchange of views
resulting from the annual and semi-annual
meetings of the societies, vast benefit is de-
rived and much is done toward the scientific
methods best adapted for fruit raising and
care of orchards.
Roland Morrill, of Benton Harbor, is con-
sidered one of the highest authorities on mat-
ters relating to fruit culture as well as one
of the most successful fruit growers in the
State of Michigan. His farm near Benton
Harbor is of 300 acres, rich and productive
soil and of this he has 160 acres devoted to
the raising of fruit and a nursery of young
fruit trees. He is one of the largest fruit
growers in the section.
Roland Morrill was born in Branch County,
Michigan, November 9, 1852, and educated
in the High School of Grand Rapids. His
early life was full of hard knocks, as his father
died before he reached his fourteenth year.
The boy was left in charge of a guardian and
was sent to Missouri, where he spent three long
years splitting rails, cutting brushwood, dig-
ging stumps and other hard labor incidental to
clearing and getting in working condition a
farm in a new country. After this unprofit-
able employment he returned to Michigan and
entered the employ of Warren H. Pearl, work-
ing on the latter's farm near Benton Harbor.
By living economically a few years he was
able to buy a small farm and afterwards added
ROLAND MORRILL.
to the same until he now has the largest peach
farm in the fruit belt. Mr. Morrill is a rela-
tive of the late Senator Justin Morrill and of
Lot Morrill, the first Republican governor of
Maine.
Mr. Morrill married, August 25, 1874,
Miss Ella Pearl, daughter of Warren H. and
Minerva Pearl, upon whose fruit farm he
first learned his present business. He has two
children, the son, Warren Pearl Morrill, is
a graduate from Ann Arbor, class of '98, and
engaged in the fruit growing business with
his father.
Mr. Morrill is also a member of the firm
of Morrill & Morley, manufacturers of spray-
ing apparatuses and atomizers, and is at pres-
ent one of the heaviest stockholders in the
Twin City Telephone Company, of which he
is also one of the organizers. In 1896 he was
superintendent of the poor. He is a member
of the Knights of Honor and the National
Association of Nurserymen and the Michigan
State Horticultural Society, of which he was
president for seven years.
374
MEN OF PROGRESS.

LOYAL EDWIN KNAPPEN.
KNAPPEN, LOYAL EDWIN. Mr.
Knappen was born at Hastings, Michigan,
January 27, 1854. His father was Edwin
Knappen, a merchant of that place, who died
a few months after his son's birth; his mother,
whose maiden name was Sarah M. Nevins, is
still living at Hastings. Both his parents were
born in Vermont, his grandfather's family
coming to that state from Connecticut, where,
during the War of the Revolution, his grand-
father, Rev. Mason Knappen, was born a
member of Judea Society, which, with two
other societies in Litchfield county, were or-
ganized into the town of Washington in honor
of the then Commander-in-Chief of the Amer-
ican forces.
Mr. Knappen attended the Hastings schools
until fifteen years of age, when he entered the
University of Michigan, from which he was
graduated in 1873 with the degree of A. B.,
receiving the degree of M. A. in course three
years later.
After six months as assistant
principal of the High School at Hastings, he
entered the office of Hon. James A. Sweezey
at Hastings as a law student, and was admitted
to practice in August, 1875, becoming a part-
ner with Mr. Sweezey and so continuing until
1878. Upon the dissolution of this co-partner-
ship he formed a like connection with his
brother, Charles M. Knappen, which con-
tinued until 1883, when he associated with
Christopher H. Van Arman as Knappen &
Van Arman. Removing to Grand Rapids in
1888, he entered into association with William
J. Stuart, forming the law firm of Stuart,
Knappen & Van Arman, which conducted
offices both at Grand Rapids and Hastings un-
til Mr. Van Arman's death in 1890, soon after
which the Hastings office was closed. The
firm of Stuart & Knappen continued until
1893, when the latter became a member of
the firm of Taggart, Knappen & Denison,
which continued six years. In 1899 he en-
tered into partnership with Mr. George P.
Wanty, under the firm name of Wanty &
Knappen, this relation continuing until Mr.
Wanty's accession to the Federal bench, when
he associated with Jacob Kleinhans, under the
name of Knappen & Kleinhans.
His firm is one of the most prominent in
Western Michigan, its practice being largely
in the representation of more important busi-
ness interests and in the heavier litigation in
the Federal and higher State courts.
Politically, Mr. Knappen is a Republican,
but not a politician. He was prosecuting at-
torney for Barry county from 1878 to 1882,
U. S. Commissioner from 1880 to 1888, was
three years a member of the Hastings Board of
Education and its president for one year, and
after locating at Grand Rapids was assistant
prosecuting attorney from 1888 to 1891. He
is a member of the National and State Bar
Associations, of the Grand Rapids Board of
Education and of the Board of Trade of that
city. Fraternally and socially, he is a member
of the Masonic and Knights of Pythias soci-
eties, of the Psi Upsilon college fraternity,
Sons of the American Revolution, Peninsular
Club and Kent Country Club, and attends
the Episcopal church.
He was married in 1876 at Hastings to Miss
Amelia I. Kenyon of that place. They have
three children, Stuart E., practicing law with
his father, Fred M., connected with the Grand
Rapids Veneer Works, and Florence, a student
at Vassar College.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
375
GILKEY, PATRICK H. The father of
Mr. Gilkey, John F., came from Chester,
Vermont, and settled in Richland, Kalamazoo
county, Mich., in 1830. His mother, Mary
M. Lovell, a descendant of the Enos Lovell
family, of Vermont, came soon after and with
balance of family located at Climax, Kalama-
zoo county, Mich., where they were united in
marriage and returned to Richland, Kalama-
zoo county, where Patrick H. was born, Nov.
15, 1843. The father was one of the large
farmers and business men in his locality and
the son had the best educational advantages
that the locality then afforded, which were
confined to the district school and four years
at the Richland Seminary, which it may be
presumed was little, if any, in advance of the
average graded school of today. Before reach-
ing his majority he took a course at the East-
man Business College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y.
When twenty-one years of age, he struck out
on his own account and was a farmer until
1878, a period of fourteen years. He then
engaged in mercantile business at Richland
village, with George M. Evers, under the firm
name of Evers & Company, operating a gen-
eral store and buying and selling grain and
produce, also doing a private banking business.
The first year's business proved lucrative and
the firm then opened a branch concern at
Prairieville. Later the firm became Parker
& Gilkey, which continued until 1880, the
firm also operating a general store at Climax,
Mich. Since 1880 Mr. Gilkey has been alone
in business or associated with other partners
and is at the present time with J. R. Hogg,
conducting a general store at Richland, and
managing a four hundred acre farm near there.
For years Mr. Gilkey was the Republican
leader in the part of the county in which he
resides, but withdrew during the second Cleve-
land administration on account of its position
on the tariff question. He was not formally
identified with the Democratic party but dis-
approved of what he regarded as class legisla-
tion as advocated in the Republican platforms
and carried out in the legislation by that party.
He is well known throughout western Michi-
PATRICK H. GILKEY.
gan as a writer in opposition to the so-called
protective policy of the Republican party, hav-
ing contributed many convincing articles on
that subject and in the interests of the farmers.
Being a large stockholder in protected indus-
tries, he, with his
tries, he, with his pen, took up the interest of
the farmer, which brought replies from nearly
every State in the Union. In 1896 he was
nominated for Congress by the Democrats of
the Third Congressional District, but with-
drew in favor of Albert M. Todd, who was
elected.
Mr. Gilkey has extended business connec-
tions other than farming and mercantile, both
at home and further west. He is a stockholder
in the following named enterprises: Borden
Paper Co., Otsego, Kalamazoo National Bank,
Kalamazoo Paper Co., Union Bank of Rich-
land, Lovell State Bank, Monticello, Iowa;
City Bank of Lowell, Mich.; National Bank of
the Republic, Chicago, Ill. His lodge connec-
tions are Masonic including the Masonic de-
grees. Miss Della F. Parker of Richland be-
came Mrs. Gilkey in 1869. They have a
daughter and a son: Mary L., wife of Leon M.
Jones, of Spokane, Wash., and Harold P., at
home.
376
MEN OF PROGRESS.

MARK SPENCER BREWER.
BREWER, MARK SPENCER. The poet
has written "There is a divinity that shapes
our ends, rough-hew them as we may." It is
not venturing too much to say that Mr.
Brewer's preference would have been for a
quiet, domestic life, serving his neighbors and
fellow-citizens uprightly, in a business and
professional way. But the Fates seem to have
decreed otherwise. Mr. Brewer seems to have
been cut out for official service and the people
of Michigan will be equally glad and proud
that the pattern was not spoiled in the making.
In spite of himself, Mr. Brewer has been kept
almost continuously in the public service since
he reached the age of manhood. Born in the
township of Addison, Oakland county, Michi-
gan, on October 22, 1837, he worked his
father's farm until he was nineteen years of
age, receiving his early education at the local
receiving his early education at the local
upon
schools and at the academies at Romeo and
Oxford, before the development of the local
high schools in Michigan. He studied law at
Pontiac with the late Governor Moses Wisner
and the late Judge M. E. Crofoot, and was ad-
mitted to the bar in 1864 at Pontiac, where he
has since practiced his profession, except when
employed in the public service. In 1866 he
was elected Circuit Court Commissioner for
Oakland county, and re-elected in 1868, and
was at the same time city attorney of Pontiac.
In 1872 he was elected to the State Senate and
although one of the younger members, he held
leading position in that body, serving through
the regular session of 1873 and the special
session of 1874. In 1876 he was elected to
Congress and was re-elected in 1878. He
served four years as consul-general at Berlin,
Germany, 1881-1885. In 1886 he again en-
tered the Congressional race and was elected,
and re-elected in 1888, declining a renomina-
tion in 1890. Mr. Brewer's career in Congress
cannot here be sketched in detail. A Southern
member had this to say of him in 1888: "I
hear that Brewer is having a hard fight up in
Michigan and that he is running against a big
bank account. All I have to say is this, that as
the Republicans are to have the next House
anyway, the voters of his district will make a
big mistake if they do not return him." In
1898 Mr. Brewer, without solicitation on his
part, was appointed a member of the United
which require his attendance at Washington,
States Civil Service Commission, the duties of
although his residence proper is still at Pontiac,
Michigan. He was formerly a director of the
Pontiac National Bank and was treasurer of
the Building Commission having in charge the
erection of the Eastern Michigan Asylum for
the Insane. He was a delegate at large from
Michigan to the National Republican Conven-
tion in 1896, and as a member of the Commit-
tee on Resolutions he helped frame the plat-
form adopted at that convention. A local pa-
per, when Mr. Brewer was candidate for Con-
gress in 1886, said of him, "In Oakland
county, where Mr. Brewer has lived from
birth, he is held in the highest confidence and
esteem by men of all political parties. He has
been a staunch Republican and always deeply
interested in the affairs of the country and his
state. His record in Congress was such as to
commend him to his constituents as he labored
forcible, clear and logical public speaker, and
earnestly in their behalf." Mr. Brewer is a
has taken a prominent part upon the stump of
Michigan and other states in every political
campaign (save one, when he was abroad),
since 1862. Mr. Brewer's present wife, to
whom he was married December 26, 1889,
was formerly Miss Louise B. Parker, daughter
of Abiram Parker, president of the Com-
mercial Bank of Pontiac.
mercial Bank of Pontiac. They have no chil-
dren.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
377

FISHER, SPENCER O. Hillsdale county
although a strong Republican locality, yet
produces some Democrats, of which Mr.
Fisher is an example, with T. E. Tarsney, a
former colleague in Congress. Mr. Fisher
was born in Camden, Hillsdale county, Feb-
ruary 3rd, 1843. His primary school training
was supplemented by a year at Albion College
and a like term at Hillsdale College. He be-
gan his business career, peddling milk, was
next porter in a general store at $5 per week,
then partner in same line and next a railroad
contractor on the line between Hillsdale and
Ypsilanti, in which he credited up some
$30,000 to the good. This was practically his
start in life and he bought pine lands near Bay
City and built a sawmill and was thus the
founder of Fisherville. While a resident of
Hillsdale, though a young man of twenty-five,
he served a term as alderman. Becoming a
resident of West Bay City he has filled the
positions of alderman and mayor and has been
a member of the school board twenty- one
years and president of the Sage library board,
having been appointed by H. W. Sage, the
founder of said library, six years and trustee
sixteen years.
As mayor and alderman he
made a record by his efforts for retrenchment,
aiming to get the city departments on a basis
similar to that on which he conducted his own
business. In 1884 Mr. Fisher was elected to
Congress from the Tenth District, and was re-
elected in 1886, but defeated by about 100
votes for a third term in 1888, he not having
been able, through illness, to make a thorough
canvass of his district. Mr. Fisher applied
business methods in his Congressional career,
rather than oratory, although he has the fac-
ulty of presenting his views in a clear, concise
manner when occasion calls. He has been
spoken of as the best Congressman the Tenth
District ever had. During his service he se-
cured the erection of the new government
building at Bay City and also the holding of
terms of the United States Court there. In
1894 Mr. Fisher was the Democratic candidate
for Governor, but was unsuccessful. Al-
though having large banking interests and
having been president of the State Bankers'
Association, Mr. Fisher has been pronounced
in favor of the so-called free silver doctrine.
SPENCER O. FISHER.
He is a stockholder and director in the Lum-
bermen's State Bank of West Bay City,
which he organized and of which he was presi-
dent for 25 years.
Mr. Fisher was vice-president of the Michi-
gan Sugar Beet Company its first year and in
1899 closed out his interest and organized in
one day the West Bay City Sugar Company,
capitalized at $200,000, of which he became
president. The plant did not start until late
in the fall of 1899, but the company produced
that year 4,000,000 pounds of sugar. He was
an active promoter of the first coal company
at Sebewaing (of which he is secretary and a
director), which has developed the growing
coal mining interests of the Saginaw Valley.
He is president and general manager of the
Michigan Land & Lumber Company, and of
the Morgan Lumber Company, owners of
standing pine timber in the Georgian Bay Dis-
trict of Ontario, estimated to cut 150,000,000
feet of lumber.
Mr. Fisher, with his family, attends the
Presbyterian church. His wife, to whom he
was married at Hillsdale, Mich., in 1867, was
formerly Miss Kate H. Crane. Their family
consists of three daughters, the eldest of whom,
Grace, is the wife of Floyd A. Goodwin, pro-
prietor of the Frazer House at Bay City. The
other two daughters, Nellie and Kate, reside
at home.
378
MEN OF PROGRESS.

DANIEL HARVEY BALL.
BALL, DAN HARVEY. Although not
Michigan born, Mr. Ball escaped being a na-
tive of this state by only a few months, having
been born at Sempronius, N. Y., Jan. 15th,
1836, the family coming to Michigan in the
spring of that year. They settled on a farm
in the township of Webster, Washtenaw
county, where the life of Dan H. was passed
until his sixteenth year. The father died in
1852, the family removing to Albion to avail
themselves of the better educational facilities
there, than the country schools afforded.
After a year at Albion College, Mr. Ball took
up the profession of teacher, teaching during
the winter months and doing farm work in
summer for several years, the family in the
meantime having returned to the farm in
Webster. In 1856 he entered the literary de-
partment of the University, but lacking the
necessary means to complete the course, he
resumed the teacher's gown, teaching at Ham-
burg, Michigan, and for a year or two in
Illinois. In 1860 he entered the law depart-
ment of the University, but family and busi-
ness considerations compelled him to change
his plans the following spring. The family
resources were invested in a half interest in a
grocery and provision store at Marquette, un-
der the management of a brother, and by the
death of the brother, the necessity forced itself
upon Mr. Ball to go there and assume the
management, in order, if possible, to save the
family interests. He bought out the other
partner and after a year's hard work disposed
of the business with a ledger balance showing
but a small margin on the profit side. He had
already made a beginning in law practice and
it was his intention to open an office, but he
was lured into the newspaper field. For two
years he was part owner and editor of the Lake
Superior News and later the Lake Superior
Journal. He conducted his newspaper opera-
tions until 1864, when he sold out and com-
menced the practice of law. After two years
at Marquette he removed to Houghton, which
at that time seemed the more promising field.
He there entered into a partnership with
James B. Ross which continued until 1870,
where a good practice was established, when
Mr. Ball returned to Marquette, where he has
since resided, with all the business that he
could attend to. The present firm is Ball &
Ball, the junior member being a son, James
Everett Ball. The firm stands at the head of
a profession in a district, the large mining in-
terests of which demand the highest grade of
legal ability. Mr. Ball was Register of the
United States Land Office at Marquette from
1862 to 1865 and prosecuting attorney of
Marquette county, 1864-5. Miss Emma E.
Everett, daughter of Philo M. Everett, of
Marquette, became Mrs. Ball May 2, 1863.
They have five children, including the junior
partner of the law firm. Emily M. is the wife
of Attorney Clarence M. Smith at Redlands,
Cal., and Mabel E. is the wife of Attorney
Walter B. Hill, of East Liverpool, O.; George
E. is second lieutenant, Twenty-first Infantry,
U. S. A., at present engaged in the campaign
in the Philippines, and Helen Grace is the
wife of John G. Stone, a young lawyer of
Grand Rapids, son of Judge Stone, of Mar-
quette.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
379
MASON, RICHARD. The city of Glad-
stone, the Lake Michigan port of the Minne-
apolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie railway
(called for short the "Soo Line"), was founded
by Mr. Mason, whose energy and persistence
finally succeeded in spite of many difficulties,
in convincing those interested of the necessity
for this link of their enterprise. The father of
Mr. Mason came to America from England in
1828. He was a machinist by trade and was
employed in the construction of the second
steamboat built in this country, at some point
on the Connecticut river. He came to Spring
Lake, Michigan, in 1837, where he built the
second sawmill at the mouth of the Grand
River, the first having been built by the Rev.
Mr. Ferry, whose name is historically associ-
ated with the locality. The mills were steam
mills of about six-horse power. The younger
Mason was born in a log cabin at Spring Lake,
May 30, 1842, and his first schooling was in a
log school house in a school taught by his aunt.
The father having removed to Chicago in
1848, the son attended school there and in
1857 was sent to school at Evanston (near
Chicago) and in 1858 to a business school in
Chicago. The elder Mason having in 1852,
bought what was known as the "Steam Mill"
on Baie de Noquet (popularly Bay de Noc),
the son began the business of life there, as a
bookkeeper. In 1864 the father resumed busi-
ness in Chicago with the son as a partner, clos-
ing out in 1868 by reason of the son's illness.
The father died in 1870 and the son resumed
the manufacture of lumber at the mill (then
called Masonville) but closing out by reason of
the panic in 1873, which made the work un-
profitable. He then read law for several years
but never applied for admission to the bar.
When the Soo Line was built in 1887, Mr.
Mason resumed the lumber business in con-
nection with C. N. Davis of Chicago, at
Saunders' Point, the site of the present city of
Gladstone, continuing the manufacture until
the panic of 1893 once more interrupted the
business.
As the founder of the young city of Glad-
stone, Mr. Mason was elected Mayor in 1892
HON. RICHARD MASON.
and again in 1894. In November, 1894, he
was elected a member of the State Senate, by
a majority of some 2,500, in a district which
by an adroit territorial arrangement, a previ-
ous Democratic legislature had thought to
make solidly their way. He was re-elected in
1896 by about 1,000 better than his previous
majority,
majority, notwithstanding the cry raised
against him that he was a "corporation man"
and an enemy of the people, because he de-
manded justice for the pioneer railroads of the
Upper Peninsula as well as for everyone else.
As a senator, Mr. Mason was not among the
friends of the so-called Atkinson bill, which
he regarded as radical and unconstitutional, a
view which he believes the sincere men who
favored that measure will in time come to share
with him. He did, however, favor a commis-
sion similar to the present tax commission,
charged with the duty of enquiring into the
whole subject of taxation and reporting to a
subsequent legislature. He also favored the
repeal of special charters and placing all cor-
porations under general laws. Senator Mason
wishes particularly to be remembered as the
author of the amendment to the tax laws which
makes it impossible for a tax title shark to take
a man's home on a tax title.
380
MEN OF PROGRESS.

JAMES RUSSELL.
RUSSELL, JAMES. The first daily news-
paper in the Upper Peninsula owes its pater-
nity to Mr. James Russell. Born at Hartford,
Wis., January 23rd, 1849, the son of Francis
T. Russell, a farmer, his early education was
received in the public schools of Hartford
Village and at Mankato, Minn., to which his
parents removed. Here he received his first
introduction to the printer's art, beginning at
the bottom round of the ladder, as an appren-
tice. He returned to his school work, how-
ever, passing through the High School at Man-
kato, and after teaching a couple of years, en-
tered the State University at Madison, Wis.
His star of destiny, however, seemed to point
to the field of journalism, and in 1871 he left
the University before graduating, to take a
position on the Fond du Lac (Wis.) Journal,
of which his uncle was part owner. In 1873,
with T. F. Strong as partner, he purchased the
paper, which under the new management
started on a new career, trebling its business.
Mr. Russell continued this connection until
1880, when he disposed of his interest and
established the "North Star" at Marinette,
Wis. But he was adapted to a broader field,
and quite naturally the place did not suit him.
He sold out the following June and went to
Marquette to take charge of the Mining Jour-
nal, then a weekly and the oldest paper in the
Upper Peninsula, having been established by
A. P. Swineford, who was still its owner.
Within a year Mr. Russell purchased an in-
terest in the paper in connection with Mr. A.
Hornstein and two years later the Daily Min-
ing Journal was launched, with Mr. Russell as
managing editor. In 1885 Mr. Swineford was
appointed Governor of Alaska, and went to
that territory to assume the duties of the office.
In 1888 the Swineford interest was purchased
by Mr. J. M. Longyear and the "Mining Jour-
nal Company, Limited," was formed to carry
on the business, Mr. Russell continuing (as he
still continues) in charge of the paper, during
all these changes.
Mr. Russell held the office of postmaster at
Marquette during the first Cleveland adminis-
tration, and during his term the free delivery
system was instituted there, it being the first
city in the Upper Peninsula to be given the
service. Until 1898 he had affiliated with the
Democratic party, though not fully in sym-
pathy with its policies, but he now ranks as a
Republican, but one of pronounced inde-
pendence in his views, and a vigorous opponent
of machine rule and bossism. He was ap-
pointed Commissioner of Mineral Statistics by
Gov. Pingree in April, 1899. While at Fond
du Lac he was clerk in the Fond du Lac County
Court. He is now serving as member and
president of the Board of Light and Power
Commissioners of Marquette, in charge of the
city's lighting plant. He served as a member
of the Water Board for seven years, during
which the water system now in use
brought to its present state of perfection. He
His
official record, therefore, runs through ward,
also served as Supervisor of his ward.
city, county, state and national service.
was
Mr. Russell is connected with several fra-
ternal organizations and is Exalted Ruler of
Marquette Lodge, 405, B. P. O. E. (Elks).
Miss Katherine Riley, daughter of Mr. E.
and Mrs. Bessie Riley, of Fond du Lac, be-
came Mrs. Russell in 1878. Their children
are Frank, now in charge of the repertorial
work of the paper at Ishpeming and Negau-
nee, and Fannie, Edith and Mabel, at home.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
381
WINSOR, LOU B. Having been an en-
thusiastic member of the Masonic fraternity,
Mr. Winsor's record in that behalf commands
the greater prominence. Now an attorney-at-
law at Reed City, Mr. Winsor was born in
Providence, R. I., January 24, 1858, came
to Michigan in March, 1863, with his parents,
who located in Hillsdale, graduated from
Hillsdale College in June, 1877, went to the
University of Michigan in the fall of 1877,
taking a law course and graduating in 1879,
then went to Port Austin, Mich., and entered
the law office of Winsor & Snover as a clerk,
remaining there until November, 1880, when
he went to Reed City and formed a law part-
nership with Ransom Cooper under the firm
name of Cooper & Winsor, which continued
until 1888, since which time he has continued
in business there alone. He held the office of
City Attorney of Reed City from 1881 to
1892, twelve years; City Clerk, 1884 to 1892,
nine years; Judge of Probate of Osceola
county four years, from 1893 to '97. He was
married at Reed City, September 16, 1886, to
Miss Emma Adams, Carl Webb, an infant,
being their only offspring. Mr. Winsor re-
ceived the Blue Lodge Degrees (Masonic) in
Reed City Lodge, No. 361, in the summer of
1881, was made a Royal Arch Mason Febru-
ary 22, 1882, in Big Rapids Chapter, No. 52,
Royal and Select Master, February 26, 1889,
in King Solomon Council, No. 25; Royal and
Select Master at Big Rapids, Knights Templar
and Knight of Malta, April 11th, 1882, in
Pilgrim Commandery, No. 23, Big Rapids;
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, 32d De-
gree, February 12, 1885, in DeWitt Clinton
Consistory at Grand Rapids; Noble of the
Mystic Shrine, February 10, 1886, in Saladin
Temple, Grand Rapids. He received the 33d
Degree September 20, 1898, at Cincinnati,
Ohio. He has been the recipient of the high-
est official honors that the fraternity can be-
stow. Having passed the chairs of the local
bodies, he was in 1896 elected Grand High
Priest of the Grand Chapter of Michigan, and
a year later, Grand Master of the Grand
Lodge. He was one of the charter members of
Saladin Temple at Grand Rapids in 1886, was
elected First Ceremonial Master and pro-
moted each year up to the position of Poten-
LOU B. WINSOR.
tate in 1893 and in 1900 was elected Imperial
Potentate at Washington. Mr. Winsor's
Masonic record is one of which any man may
him are due to his excessive zeal in the order.
be proud and the honors which have come to
From the time of his first receiving light in
Masonry he became an active and enthusiastic
worker and his brethren, recognizing his abil-
ities, were lavish in showering upon him all
the official gifts in their
the official gifts in their power, and in every
position to which he has been called he has
displayed a remarkable ability that has con-
stantly won for him deserved promotion.
Mr. Winsor traces his descent back over
four hundred years, to Lord Edward Windsor
of Windsor Castle, England, whose great
grandson, Robert Windsor, was in 1520 hon-
ored by Henry VIII. His father, James W.
Winsor, and mother, Ann Chilson, were resi-
dents of Providence, the father being in direct
descent from Joshua Winsor (descended as
above), who came from England in 1637 and
settled in Providence. After coming to this
country the "d" was left out of the name.
Samuel Winsor, son of Joshua, married Mercy
Williams, a daughter of Roger Williams, and
Mr. Lou B. Winsor is seventh in descent from
this union.
In connection with his legal business, Mr.
Winsor conducts an insurance, real estate and
loan office at Reed City.
382
MEN OF PROGRESS.

ROBERT HUGH SHIELDS.
SHIELDS, ROBERT HUGH. Although
the name of Mr. Shields has an Irish flavor,
he is of Scotch parentage, his father, James
Shields, having come to the Michigan Copper
District in 1857, from Kilmarnock, Scotland.
The son, Robert H., was born at Hancock,
May 22nd, 1861. His early youth was passed
at the local schools and when eleven years old
he went to work washing copper at the Frank-
lin Stamp Mill at $12 per month, being there
employed for two years. He then resumed
his school studies until he was eighteen, when
he secured a first grade teacher's certificate
and taught at the Ripley school for five years.
During the summer vacations he attended the
Valparaiso, Ind., Normal School, and was one
summer at the Bryant & Stratton Business
College, Detroit, from which he graduated in
1883. With this thorough equipment for a
successful business career, he entered the field
of journalism and established the "Copper
Journal," of which he was editor and proprie-
tor. He was also correspondent of the Mar-
quette Mining Journal, being their first cor-
respondent in the copper country. After-
wards he became clerk of the Centennial Cop
per Mining Company, and in 1892, while thus
employed, he was elected County Clerk of
Houghton county on the Republican ticket,
entering upon the duties of the office January
1st, 1893. He was re-elected in 1894 and
again in 1896, and during his term was ten-
dered the position of clerk of the newly organ-
ized Arcadian Mine in Houghton county. Mr.
Shields enjoys the distinction of having re-
ceived the largest vote cast for any candidate
in Houghton county, and upon his retirement
from the office of County Clerk, the Repub
lican county convention held in August, 1898,
"in consideration of his long term of service
to the county and of his efficient and faithful
work" unanimously tendered to Mr. Shields
a hearty vote of thanks. He served out his
term as County Clerk, closing with January
1, 1899, when he at once entered upon his new
duties, giving his whole time and attention in
looking after the financial and office work of
the above named company.
Mr. Shields' fraternal connections are
Masonic, including the Knights Templar and
Mystic Shrine Degrees, Knights of Pythias
and Elks. Miss Carrie K. Merton, daughter
of James Merton, of Calumet, became Mrs.
Shields in 1893. They have three children,
two daughters and a son-Marion, Dorothy
and Nathan.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
383
BURROWS, HON. JULIUS C. Mr.
Burrows first came before the people of Michi-
gan in a public way as a young lawyer at Kal-
amazoo in 1861. The breaking out of the war
broke up his immediate plans as to practice
and he raised a company, of which he became
Captain, which was attached to the 17th Mich-
igan Infantry. Reared in the atmosphere of.
the Western Reserve in Ohio, which was
strongly anti-slavery in sentiment, Mr. Bur-
rows the more readily enlisted in a struggle
which by the logic of necessity (whether so
recognized at the time or not) involved the
opposites of freedom and slavery.
Mr. Burrows was born, of Connecticut par-
ents, in Erie county, Pa., January 9th, 1837,
the family removing in 1850 to Ashtabula
county, Ohio. He was the youngest of a fam-
ily of eight children, seven of whom were
boys. He began the battle of life as a teacher
at the age of sixteen. Later he attended the
Kingsville Academy, cooking his own food
and doing chores at the institution, to pay his
tuition. In the fall of 1856 he was made prin-
cipal of a female seminary at Madison, Ohio,
and at the age of nineteen found a wife in the
person of one of his pupils, Miss Jennie Hib-
bard. In the fall of 1858 he became principal
of the Union School at Jefferson, Ashtabula
county, and during his service there he took
up the study of law, which had been his am-
bition, and was admitted to practice in 1859.
In 1860 he came to Michigan with his wife
and infant daughter and took charge of a sem-
inary at Richland, Kalamazoo county, from
whence he removed to the then village of Kal-
amazoo.
Capt. Burrows was summoned from the
field in the fall of 1863 by the illness of his
wife, who died in August, 1864. His voice
and efforts were, however, effectively em-
ployed in home work in measures necessary in
the prosecution of the war. He resumed the
practice of law at Kalamazoo and was elected
Prosecuting Attorney in 1866 and again in
1868. He was a law partner with Henry F.
Severans, now U. S. Circuit Judge, from 1868
to 1872, the firm being the leading one in
Southwestern Michigan. In the last named
year Mr. Burrows was elected to Congress and
his subsequent history cannot be separated
from that of the state and nation. He was
defeated for re-election in 1874 and resumed
his professional relations with Judge Severans.
HON. JULIUS C. BURROWS.
At the
He was again elected in 1878 and 1880, but
defeated by a narrow margin in 1882. He was
again returned in 1884 and at each subsequent
election up to and including 1894, making six
consecutive elections, and in all nine terms in
Congress, resigning his last term, however, to
accept a seat in the U. S. Senate.
legislative session of 1895 he was elected to
the U. S. Senate in place of Senator Stock-
bridge, deceased, and again elected for the full
term in 1899. During the intervals of his
Congressional service Mr. Burrows was ten-
dered several flattering appointments, which
he declined.
During his service in the lower house of
Congress, Mr. Burrows was the acknowledged
parliamentarian of the body and was fre-
quently called temporarily to the chair, and
twice elected speaker pro tem. His rank as a
speaker, both on the stump and in the forum,
is the distinguishing fact in his public life.
His party has no more effective advocate in its
political campaigns and in behalf of its par-
tisan measures in Congress. It seems hardly
necessary to say that Mr. Burrows' politics is
of the stalwart Republican order. His relig-
ious connection is Congregational. In 1865
Mr. Burrows took a second wife in the person
of Miss Francis S. Peck, daughter of Horace
B. Peck, of Kalamazoo. No children have
been born to this marriage.
384
MEN OF PROGRESS.

JAMES WEBB LONG.
LONG, JAMES WEBB. Major Long is
at present inspector and store keeper at the
U. S. Signal Service headquarters at Washing-
ton, to which position he was appointed June
20th, 1898. If this position is a soft place,
Major Long his certainly earned it by a varied
and faithful service. The Longs were orig-
The Longs were orig-
inally of Scotch-Irish descent. The grand-
father of Major Long, Hon. John Long, was
a member of Congress during the Jacksonian
Presidency, 1827-35. His father was a gradu-
ate of the West Point Military Academy and
was a lieutenant in the regular army. His
mother, Phoebe Ann Fitch, was a descendant
of the Fitch family of Connecticut. Major
Long was born at Hillsborough, N. C., June
20th, 1840, and his early boyhood was passea
at different points to which his father was
assigned for duty. The father was stationed
at Detroit in 1844 until his death in 1846,
during which time the son attended school and
later at Buffalo, N. Y., until 1853. He then
returned to the home of his grandparents in
North Carolina, when he graduated from the
Ashboro Collegiate Institute in 1858. During
his collegiate course he had experience in
newspaper work and subsequently worked for
a year in a store. In 1859 he became city
editor of the Commercial Advertiser at Buf-
falo and accompanied the Prince of Wales
party in their tour of the country. He was ap-
pointed a second lieutenant in the army (regu-
lar) August 5, 1861 and served during the
Civil War, during the same time acting as cor-
respondent of a Buffalo paper. He saw a
varied military service. He was wounded
three times at the battle of Gaines Mill, the
most serious being a face wound, the effects
of which incapacitated him for active service,
although preferring this to detached service on
which he was mostly engaged when able to do
duty at all, up to the time of his resignation
December 31st, 1870. During his service he
rose to the rank of Major and was for a time in
command of his regiment. In 1869 he was
assigned to duty as Indian Agent at Detroit
and in this capacity he perfected the selection
of lands for the Indians of Michigan, thus
throwing open to settlement and taxation
vast tracts of land in Isabella, Oceana, Mason,
Grand Traverse, Leelanaw and Chippewa
counties.
After his retirement from the army, Major
Long removed to Mount Pleasant, Mich., and
engaged in the drug and newspaper business.
He was for thirteen years publisher of the
Mount Pleasant Times and also the Register
at Farwell. His journalistic record has been
recognized by his election as vice-president of
the West Michigan Press Association and
service on its executive committee. He is a
well known writer, as well as musical com-
poser. In 1885 he was assistant engrossing
and enrolling clerk in the House of Repre-
sentatives in Lansing.
In 1885 Major Long was appointed
Adjutant of the Soldiers' Home at Grand
Rapids, by Governor Alger and removed to
Grand Rapids, serving in that capacity until
he retired in 1898, for political reasons. He
is a charter member of G. A. R. Post No. 250,
of Mount Pleasant and of the U. V. U. (Union
Veterans' Union) No. 26, of Grand Rapids.
He was department commander of the Michi-
gan U. V. U., and first deputy national com-
mander of the same organization for one term.
He was married in 1867 to Miss Annie Graves,
a daughter of Judge Lorenzo Graves, of War-
saw, Ky. They have one child living, a
daughter, Miss Annie Fitch Long.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
385
MORGANS, WILLIAM H. One of Pon-
tiac's most successful and enterprising business
men and one that has the confidence of not
only the people of the place where he and his
estimable family for the past twenty years
have lived, but in nearly every city of im-
portance in the Union is the name of William
H. Morgans known and respected, both in a
business and social way. His career has been
one that anyone might feel proud of. Born of
inventive ancestors, his mother's father being
the inventor of the first scale beam ever used
in New York City. "Will," as everyone calls
him at home, was born in New York City
Oct. 5, 1844, and begun his rudimental educa-
tion, all he acquired, in public schools in New
York City. His mechanical education he be-
gan at the age
of eleven years as an apprentice.
to a sail maker. His loyalty to the Union took
him away from his home at the age of sixteen,
when he served in the First New York Inde-
pendent Battalion, or better known as the
"lost children." On his discharge he re-
enlisted in the Eighth New York Cavalry.
He belonged to the third division of the Army
of the Potomac and took part in the siege of
Yorktown and was in at the surrender. From
there under Gen. Foster in Gen. Keys' corps
he was active in the siege of Melburn, North
Carolina; from there to Hilton Head, South
Carolina, and joined Gen. Hunter the follow-
ing summer; under Gen. Gilmore participated
in the siege and capture of Morris Island; the
following winter, while holding rank of
Sergeant was discharged and gained more hon-
ors by the bravery he displayed at Kenasaw
Mountain and Atlanta with Gen. Sherman on
his march to the sea; he was captured at Mill-
edgeville, Georgia; was taken to Florence
Prison, from there to Richmond, where he was
paroled and was discharged in June '65. His
public life has been commendable to the peo-
ple who have supported him. He has repre-
sented the first ward as alderman two terms,
WILLIAM H. MORGANS.
been member of the fire department as assist-
ant chief so many years that no one can re-
member. He has been one of the most efficient
members of the board of public works. His
business affairs have been conducted on the
same lines. In 1880 he was made superin-
tendent of the Medbury Gas Company and in
1896 was made, without any solicitation on
his part, general manager, and he now by his
efforts owns the same. He is a Republican in
politics and his maiden order, Odd Fellows,
followed with Masons and a member of the
Oakland Chapter, No. 5, and Pontiac Com-
mandery, No. 2. Is Major 4th Battalion of
the Uniform Rank, K. of P.; is a Maccabee;
Past Commander Dick Richardson Post, G. A.
R.; has walked on the burning sands alongside
of his brother Shriners, and is also a Knight of
the Kohrassan; director State Home Acquatic
Club and a member of the Episcopal church.
No person could be more devoted to his
family and his wife, the daughter of James
A. Cole, of Detroit, has been his helpmate and
assisted him through all his business career.
Four children have blessed their union,
"Morgie" Morgan, Mrs. Ed. Morrill of Chi-
Florence E., his secretary, and Annie A.
cago,
386
MEN OF PROGRESS.

AMOS S. MUSSELMAN.
MUSSELMAN, AMOS S. Mr. Mussel-
man is of that good, sturdy stock known as
"Pennsylvania Dutch," whose ancestors fly-
ing from religious persecution some two hun-
dred years ago took refuge in the land of
William Penn. His parents, upon their mar-
riage, settled upon a farm eight miles from
Gettysburg, Pa., where Amos S. was born
Oct. 19th, 1857.
He attended common school until 15 years
of age, then entered Pennsylvania College at
Gettysburg, where he pursued the classical
course for three years. The death of his father
compelled him to return home and assume
management of the estate. After two years he
resumed his studies at college. He had aspired
to professional life, but the panic of 1873,
sweeping away all his inheritance from the
estate of his parents, which he had invested in
an enterprise at York, Pa., his plans were
perforce changed and he entered Eastman's
Business College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in
1875.
He took the entire commercial course
and was so proficient on graduating that he
was engaged to teach in the banking and busi-
ness departments of the institution. In
October, 1876, he came to Grand Rapids and
accepted a position with the firm of Graff &
McSkimmin, jobbers of teas, coffees and
spices, representing Mr. Peter Graff, whose
entire time was engrossed by his milling inter-
ests. The firm subsequently purchased the
wholesale grocery establishment of Samuel
Fox & Co., and Mr. Musselman remained with
the house until January, 1879, when he re-
signed to take the position of bookkeeper with
Hibbard & Graff, at that time the leading flour
millers of the city. On the failure of this firm
in February, 1881, Mr. Musselman decided to
embark in the wholesale grocery business and
in June of that year the firm of Fox, Mussel-
man & Loveridge, composed of James Fox,
Amos S. Musselman and L. L. Loveridge,
opened for business. This co-partnership con-
tinued for five years, when Mr. Musselman
purchased the interests of his partners and
formed a copartnership with Wm. Widdicomb,
under the style of Amos S. Musselman & Co.
Three years later the firm name was changed
to Musselman & Widdicomb. In February,
1893, Mr. Widdicomb retired from the busi-
ness and the firm was succeeded by a corpora-
tion with a paid in capital stock of $70,000, of
which Mr. Musselman was the president and
general manager.
Mr. Musselman is president of the Grand
Rapids Board of Trade, of which he was a
charter member. His other connections in-
clude banking, telephone and trust companies,
manufacturing, membership in state and
national wholesale grocers' associations, etc.
He was president of the Lincoln Club for some
time, president of the Kent County Sunday
School Association and of the Grand Rapids
Sunday School Union. As chairman of the
committee on Statistics of the Board of Trade,
he prepared the manufacturing statistics for
duty was discharged so acceptably as to win
the city for the general census of 1890. This
for him the encomiums of the Census Depart-
ment.
In religion Mr. Musselman is a Presbyter-
ian and a member of the Westminster Pres-
byterian Church of Grand Rapids. For four
years he was an elder and trustee in Immanuel
Presbyterian Church, of which he was prac-
tically the founder. He contributes one-tenth
of his income to religious and charitable pur-
poses. He is a Mason, a Knight of Pythias,
a member of the Royal Arcanum and of the
Peninsular and Kent County Golf Clubs.
Such is the career, briefly told, of a gentle-
man whose qualities of mind and heart and
whose judgment and perseverance have made
him respected and successful to a degree
which many an older man might envy.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
387
DODDS, PETER FABIAN. If similar-
ity of choice be deemed evidence, a tendency
to the law as a profession would seem to run
in the Dodds family, as Judge Dodds is one
of four brothers to adopt the legal profession,
the other three being F. H., in practice in
Mount Pleasant; Wm. L., who died in 1894,
and George E., a resident of Colorado. The
parents, John and Catherine (Hoy) Dodds,
were emigrants from Ireland, first settling in
St. Lawrence county, N. Y., where Peter F.
was born January 4th, 1849. Coming to
Michigan in 1866, they located in Isabella
county, the future judge being then seventeen
years of age. His education had been but
primary, but when nineteen he began teach-
ing a country school, being thus engaged most
of the time until 1874, his actual service agre-
gating 57 months. Being an earnest, ambiti-
ous young man, his leisure hours were devoted
to study so that he was enabled to enter the
State Normal School as an advanced student,
graduating therefrom with the full English
course in 1874. Not satisfied with the pres-
tige which the diploma from that institution
gave, he pursued higher collegiate studies
under the tutelage of the faculty of Olivet Col-
lege. He was a member of its graduating
class in 1882, receiving the degree of A. B.,
which was followed later by the degree of A.
M. His collegiate studies were pursued purely
as a mental discipline, he having previously
been admitted to the bar in active practice.
His industry is shown by the fact that his
legal studies were pursued concurrently with
his educational work so that he was admitted
to practice in Ithaca in 1875 and began his pro-
fessional career under very favorable circum-
stances. Hon. Isaac A. Fancher was a prac-
ticing attorney at Mt. Pleasant and a leading
member of the bar of Isabella county. He had
been a member of the House of Representa-
tives in 1873 and was elected to the State Sen-
ate in 1875, serving with distinction in both
bodies. Recognizing the ability of Mr. Dodds,
he proposed a partnership. Such a proposal
coming from a man of Mr. Fancher's standing
was equally complimentary and advantageous
PETER FABIAN DODDS.
and was readily accepted. The connection
brought Mr. Dodds into contact with a most
desirable class of clients and at once gave him
a standing before the public. On Mr. Fan-
cher's removal to Detroit in 1880, F. H. Dodds
took his place as a member of the firm.
Though not an office seeker, Judge Dodds
was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Isabella
county in 1880, serving one term and making
an enviable record, but declining re-election.
In 1893 he was elected Judge of the Twenty-
first Judicial Circuit, taking his place on the
bench on the first of January following. No
better testimony could be given as to the ac-
ceptable manner in which he discharged its
duties than the fact of his re-election in 1899,
for the further term of six years. He has been
a member of the county board of School Ex-
aminers and has always taken a lively interest
in the education of the rising generation. He
is a pleasant and social gentleman and is much
regarded in Masonic circles, in which he is
prominent. He is also a member of the
Knights of Pythias and Royal Arcanum. Soon
after his admission to the bar he was married
(April 20, 1876), to Miss Minnie E. Bouton,
daughter of Henry S. and Cornelia Bouton,
formerly of Homer, Calhoun county. They
have one son, Fabian Bouton Dodds.
388
MEN OF PROGRESS.

J. WIGHT GIDDINGS.
GIDDINGS, J. WIGHT. An ex-member
of the Senate and ex-Lieutenant Governor of
the State, Mr. Giddings at present fills the
several roles of attorney-at-law, judge, and
popular lecturer. He was born at Romeo,
Sept. 27, 1858, and received his education
there, up to the age of 17, when he took the
freshman year at Oberlin College (Ohio), and
in 1878 entered Amherst (Mass.) College for
the classical course. He left college in his
senior year, and in 1880 entered the legal de-
partment of the Chicago & Northwestern
Railroad at Chicago. He went in as a student
and read law, doing clerical work without sal-
ary in consideration of the advantages which
the situation offered. He continued in this
connection until 1882, when he removed to
Cadillac, his present residence, and bought the
Cadillac News, a Republican weekly paper, of
which he was editor and proprietor until 1887,
when he sold out the plant. He continued his
law studies and was admitted to practice in
1886 before Judge S. S. Fallass, judge of the
Twenty-eighth judicial circuit. After retiring
from his newspaper enterprise he began the
practice of law in company with S. J. Wall, of
Cadillac, and with him built up an extensive
practice in Northern Michigan. Two years
later he was in partnership with E. E. Haskins,
which continued until 1889, since which time.
he has been in practice alone. Mr. Giddings
was elected a member of the State Senate in
1886 and re-elected in 1888. In 1892 he was
elected Lieutenant-Governor of the State, be-
ing second on the ticket with John T. Rich,
who was then elected Governor for his first
term. In 1896 he was elected Judge of the
Recorder's Court of Cadillac for the term of
six years. He has served on the Board of Edu-
cation of Cadillac for seven years, and was
chairman of the Republican State Convention
in 1896.
Mr. Giddings is direct in descent from Rob-
ert Giddings, who came from England in
1637 and settled at Ipswich, Mass. His father
was M. A. Giddings, his grandfather bearing
the same name with himself. His mother,
Caroline Beekman, was of the Van Beekman
family of New York City.
He is a member of the Uniformed Rank,
Knights of Pythias, and was for a year Chan-
cellor Commander of Cadillac Lodge, No. 46,
of that order. He is also a member of the
Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity of Amherst
College. Miss Fidele Fitch, daughter of Hon.
Ferris S. Fitch, of Ingham county, became
Mrs. Giddings in 1883. Mr. Fitch was for
many years a prominent Democratic politician
in Central Michigan, was a member of the
Legislature in 1853 and 1855, and was once a
candidate for Governor.
Mr. Giddings has been on the lecture plat-
form a number of seasons under the auspices
of the Central Lyceum Bureau of Rochester,
N. Y. Three of his subjects are "The Evolu-
tion of the Demagogue," "Uncle Sam's Peo-
ple," and "Cardinal and King," the latter giv-
ing a picturesque view of the life and prom-
inent figures of the sixteenth century. His
lectures are commended by fully an hundred
testimonials from men of prominence, and by
the press, of which the following from the
chairman of the lecture committee, New Ha-
ven, Conn., is fairly representative: "Mr.
Giddings returns to us this year in compliance
with the unanimous desire of all who heard
him last year. Scores of people, even in this
much lectured city, declared it was the best
lecture they ever heard."


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
389
Jeremiah
FITZ GERALD, JOHN C.
FitzGerald, father of John C., was a native of
New York, although the name suggests a
Norman descent. He served his country as a
captain of volunteers in the war of 1812. The
mother, Sylvia Strickland, was of Puritan
stock. His parents resided in Huron county,
Ohio, at the time of the birth of John C., in
the year 1835, and removed to Michigan in
his early infancy, settling on a farm in Spring-
port, Jackson county. The son's early experi-
ences were those of most farmer boys at the
time. His labor was needed on the farm as
soon as he was able to gather brush or ply the
hoe, and the school facilities were meagre.
These the young lad made the most of, study-
ing his lessons by the light of the evening fire
in winter. By perseverance and application
he qualified himself for teaching and his first
available resources were earned in that call-
ing. With means thus secured he was enabled
to pursue a course of study at Albion College.
The profession of the law had been the magnet
that inspired his early efforts, and upon leav-
ing college he became a student in the office
of Austin Blair of Jackson, who had for some
years been a leading member of the bar in
Central Michigan. Mr. FitzGerald was admit-
ted to the bar in Jackson in 1858 and prac-
ticed there some two years, when he removed
to Marshall, where he built up a large and
lucrative practice. He was elected Prosecut-
ing Attorney of Calhoun county in 1860 and
re-elected in 1862 and in 1868 was elected a
member of the State Senate, serving during
that term, but declining a renomination. In
1873 he became a member of the law firm of
Champlin, Butterfield & FitzGerald at Grand
Rapids. His new location furnished a broader
and more active field than the place he had
left, and he at once took position among the
leading members of the Grand Rapids bar,
and has ever since retained the same. Upon
the dissolution of the partnership above men-
tioned, Mr. FitzGerald was alone in practice
JOHN C. FITZ GERALD.
until his son-in-law, Edmund D. Barry, be-
came associated with him under the present
firm name of FitzGerald & Barry. In 1884
Mr. FitzGerald was the Republican candidate
for Congress in the fifth district, but was de-
feated by Charles C. Comstock under the
Democratic-Greenback combination of that
year, which cut the usually decisive Republi-
can majority in the state down to some 3,300
votes. Miss Addie F. Taylor, daughter of
Reuben and Harriet Taylor, of Albion, be-
came Mrs. FitzGerald in 1859. Their only
offspring is Addie B., wife of Edmund D.
Barry, above mentioned. The memoranda
from which the brief sketch was written says
that the subject of it "wants no flattery." The
truth is not flattery and the simple record of a
good man's life is the highest eulogy. The
biographer is not interdicted from saying that
according to the memoranda before him, the
lady whom Mr. FitzGerald chose for his wife
has contributed largely to his business and
professional success and to the rounding out
of a character which commands universal re-
spect and esteem.
390
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. WILLIAM SUTHERLAND.
SUTHERLAND, HON. WILLIAM.
Hon. William Sutherland, "the original Pin-
gree man of Bay county, Michigan," was
born on a farm in Kawkawlin, Bay county,
March 8, 1863. He has lived there and been
a farmer in that county all his life, and only
in the past six years has he taken an active in-
terest in politics. His education was acquired
in the district schools of Kawkawlin, and later
he attended the public school of Bay City. He
comes from a family of Democrats, his father
at one time being a candidate on the Demo-
cratic ticket for the state senate. When young
Sutherland was about 13 years of age, though,
circumstances changed at least one member of
his family from the Democratic to the Repub-
lican party, and that member was young Will-
iam. He attended a Democratic campaign
meeting at that age, and lined up with the
other boys in the rear of the hall to listen to
the eloquence of the various speakers. Grad-
ually the room filled with the elder people,
and the boys were forced back against the
wall, and at last, as the crowd grew in size
they crowded the youngsters out of the room
altogether. Nettled at this, young Sutherland
forswore all allegiance to the political creed
and politics of his parent and determined that
when he became a voter he would become
identified with the Republican party, which
determination he has adhered to with rigid
tenacity, his fidelity to the Republican party
never having been questioned. He has worked
for the party tooth and nail and has acted as
Republican Senatorial Committeeman from
the Twenty-fourth District for six years, and
is at present chairman of the committee, and
also chairman of the Township Committee of
Monitor Township.
Mr. Sutherland still operates his farm, and
deals in real estate. He has a keen eye for in-
vestments, and for some years has been buy-
ing and selling large tracts of timber in the
Upper Peninsula of Michigan, having had
some experience as a lumberman in Upper
Michigan when he was a young man and thus
being acquainted with timber values.
Sutherland is a Scotch name, and one that
has been prominent in the history of Scotland.
The elder Sutherland came to this country
from Scotland when he was a lad of nine,
and located at Woodstock, Ontario, coming to
Michigan in 1852 and settling in Kawkawlin.
He was county commissioner of Bay county
for five years and supervisor of Kawkawlin
Township for eleven years, and for thirty-four
years a school director in his county. The
mother came from England when she was 12
years of age.
William Sutherland married Miss Ida Van
Alstine, daughter of C. A. Van Alstine, at
West Bay City, Michigan, August 28, 1885.
He has four children, Mabel, aged 13 years;
Ethel, aged 11 years; John, aged 9 years, and
Taylor, aged 1 year.
-
Mr. Sutherland belongs to the Masonic Fra-
ternity, the Elks, Foresters and Woodmen of
the World. He was elected to House of 1889-
1900 by a vote of 2,764, against John
Washer, Democratic People's - Union-Silver
candidate, who received 2,468 votes. He is
popular in Lansing, and recognized as an
honest, plain-spoken man, anxious to further
all measures for the benefit of the people of
his district and state.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
391
MCMILLAN, JAMES. James McMillan,
senior United States Senator from Michigan,
was born of Scotch parents in Hamilton,
Ontario, May 12, 1838. His father was a
Presbyterian elder, and a man of thrift, enter-
prise and intelligence. He gave his son a
grammar school education, supplemented by
an apprenticeship in a hardware store, and
when 17 years old started him for Detroit,
with letters of introduction to business men
there. The gift of handling men was born
in James McMillan; he has always been able
to work with others to accomplish results in
such a way as to have all those associated with
him participate in the rewards. He has gone
through life helping others at the same time
that he helped himself, and in hundreds of in-
stances he has started young men in business
or re-established men overtaken by misfor-
tune. From clerk in a hardware store, he
became purchasing agent for a railroad, then
he handled the work of extending the Detroit
& Milwaukee Railroad to Grand Haven, and
in the sixties he began building freight cars.
From small beginnings this grew to be the
largest industry in Detroit; and to this interest
Mr. McMillan added the Detroit & Cleveland
Navigation Company, the Detroit Dry Dock
Company, several lake transportation com-
panies, the building of the international bridge
at Sault Ste. Marie and the Duluth, South
Shore & Atlantic Railway across the Upper
Peninsula, and various other enterprises. En-
grossing as was his business, he was never at a
loss for time to devote to public interests; and
his gifts to public and private charities have
always been proportionate to his means.
gifts to the State University, the Agricultural
College, Albion College, and towards the
establishment of Grace Hospital, have been
notably large.
His
On the death of Zachariah Chandler, Mr.
McMillan was called to the leadership of the
Republican party in Michigan. His has been
a leadership maintained by the repeated choice
or calls of his party, which has recognized in
him a man easy to work with, and one who
tolerates the largest possible right to indi-
vidual opinion among those who are striving
for a common object.
On entering the United States Senate in
1889, Mr. McMillan left to his capable sons
the more active management of business af-
JAMES MCMILLAN.
fairs, although never ceasing to take a keen
personal interest in every branch of the
numerous activities with which his name was
associated. Given to action rather than
speech, and quick to see the salient points of
every plan proposed, Senator McMillan has
come to be one of the recognized powers of the
Senate. This is shown by the fact that for the
past six years he has served continuously on
those caucus committees that have the adjust-
ment of party matters. When he had been in
the Senate but two years he was called to suc-
ceed Senator Ingalls as chairman of the Com-
mittee on the District of Columbia, and with
that earnest devotion to duty that character-
izes all of his relations in life, he has already
accomplished many improvements for the
National Capital and has laid the foundations
for many others. The government of the
District being wholly in the hands of Con-
gress, the District Committee of the Senate is
the busiest continuously of any of the commit-
tees of that body. Less exacting as to time,
but not as to the problems presented, are the
Committees on Commerce, on Naval Affairs,
and on Relations with Cuba, of which Senator
McMillan also is a member.
In social life Senator and Mrs. McMillan
occupy the position that cultivation, wealth
and eminently social natures command. He
was married in 1860 to Miss Mary Wetmore.
392
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. ARCHIBALD JAMES SCOTT.
SCOTT, ARCHIBALD J. Archibald J.
Scott was born in Canada and came to the
States in infancy, and was raised in Water-
town, Wis. At an early age he enlisted in a
Wisconsin regiment and served to the close of
the war. In 1866 he went to Hancock, Mich.,
where for a year or two he found employment
in the saw mills of the locality. In 1867 he
obtained employment in a drug store, and for
two years was employed in the business in
Houghton and Marquette counties. In 1869
he opened a drug store on his own account in
Hancock, and has built up what is probably
the largest and most profitable drug business
in the Upper Peninsula.
Mr. Scott, or Archie Scott, as he is fami-
liarly called throughout the Upper Peninsula,
has always taken great interest in municipal
affairs, particularly in matters pertaining to
the fire department. The city of Hancock
today has a fire department built up under his
care, which in proportion to its size is second
to none in the State. He is the chief of the
department and has been for the past twenty-
five years, and as long as he remains at the
head of it, the people of Hancock feel that
they will enjoy an immunity from disastrous
fires or conflagrations. He has just resigned
the presidency of the Upper Peninsula Fire-
man's Association, which is one of the largest
and most successful associations of its kind
in the western States. He is also captain of
the Hancock hose team, and although he has
passed the half century post in life he is still
sprinting with his hose team in the tourna-
ments.
In politics Mr. Scott is a Democrat, and
although living in a Republican township has
for twenty consecutive years been elected
supervisor over his Republican opponent, and
was for years the only Democrat holding a
seat on the board of supervisors in the Republi-
can stronghold of Houghton county. Besides
being supervisor of the township and chief of
the fire department he is also serving his
fourth term as mayor of the city. Mr. Scott
is very popular with the masses, and in every
undertaking pertaining to public affairs he
can rely upon the support of the people by a
large majority with a certainty that his op-
ponents have learned not to combat him.
In 1880 Mr. Scott was married to Sallie
I. Clause, of Philadelphia. Five children have
been born to them, Archie J., Walter C., Flor-
ence L., Lillian and Jean Stuart. The boys
died in infancy.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
393
ALLEN, CHARLES TRYON. The fam-
ily of Allens of which Charles T. Allen is a
representative were emigrants from Vermont
to Saratoga county, New York (Winthrop
Allen the head). His father, Ovid Allen, as-
sisted in building the first salt sheds in Syra-
cuse. The family moved from Clyde, Wayne
county, N. Y., to Coldwater, Mich., in May,
1855. His father soon after assumed charge
of the bridge and warehouse construction for
the Michigan Southern railroad, which posi-
tion he held for several years.
Charles T. Allen was born in the town of
Galen, Wayne county, N. Y., June 23, 1847,
and came to Coldwater with his parents in
1855. At 12 years of age he earned his first
dollar piling wood for the railroad company
and shoveling wheat in an elevator. Mean-
time he picked up the art of telegraphy and
held positions during the civil war at Edger-
ton, Ohio, South Bend, Ind., Goshen, Ind.,
White Pigeon, Mich., and Elkhart, Ind. He
quit railroading in 1865. During the winter
of 1866 and 1867 he taught district school in
No. 8, called Camfield Fesk's district, near
Coldwater. He graduated in the scientific
course from the Coldwater High School in
1867. Soon after he engaged with Lawyer
Rose & Son, bankers, at Coldwater. After
two years with the bank he left and took
charge of his father's farm, three miles south-
west of Coldwater, for one year. He was then
invited to assist in starting the Southern
Michigan National bank at Coldwater, as as-
sistant cashier. He resigned this to take the
cashiership of the Union City National Bank
at Union City, Mich. This was in 1871. He
held the position until 1883, and resigned to
fill a similar position in the City Bank of Bat-
tle Creek. He resigned this position after
two years and made an extended trip through
the west, obtaining valuable experiences. In
1887 he engaged in the manufacturing busi-
ness, which he has since followed very success-
fully.
In the spring of 1889 he bought out the
controlling stock in the Battle Creek Machin-
ery Company, which had been a losing con-
CHARLES TRYON ALLEN.
cern for many years, and brought it up to a
dividend paying concern. It is here that Mr.
Allen showed his mechanical inventiveness,
having practically made the first successful
steam pump, and is considered the pioneer of
all the steam pumps made in Battle Creek at
this date. Mr. Allen appears to have inher-
ited a special gift for organization and sys-
tem, his organization of the steam pump busi-
ness of Battle Creek having given to that city
a world-wide renown in that particular line.
He still continues to manage his business, be-
ing at this time engaged in promoting the in-
terests of the Union Steam Pump Company
as its manager.
The enterprises which he has handled have
always been successful in the end, although
far from it in the beginning, his factory being
the only one in Battle Creek which turns its
wheels daily, never shutting down during the
panic of 1893.
Mr. Allen is a Republican in politics but
has always avoided office. He is a member of
the Knights of Pythias. In 1886 he married
Miss Carrie F. Fray, and has one daughter,
Beniti, who is in school.
394
MEN OF PROGRESS.

JAMES CHAMPION ESLOW.
ESLOW, JAMES CHAMPION. The
name Eslow was originally and remotely Ger-
man, but as the family became English the
name in England was spelled Islow. The
time of their emigration to America is not
definitely known. Champion Eslow, father
of James C., was a blacksmith by trade and re-
moved from Palmyra, N. Y., to Homer,
Mich., about 1835, where he plied the two
vocations of blacksmith and farmer. Milton
Milton
Barney, then driving a stage between Homer
and Detroit, suggested to Mr. Eslow that there
was some money in handling plows, receiving
them in parts and putting them together for
use. Barney got the stock for him on time,
and the profits on the venture enabled him to
buy enough timber in the rough to build a
house.
This timber he "scored and hewed"
during leisure time in the fall of 1836, and in
December of that year he hired six teams and
moved his house, material and family to Al-
bion. He there bought a lot, and within a
week had his house up and occupied. He
built a blacksmith's shop on the rear of his
lot and set up business, which he continued
until 1848, when he sunk his small means in
a mercantile venture. In 1852, with the son
as a partner, the firm of C. & J. C. Eslow be-
gan the manufacture of wagons, etc., doing a
successful business for 25 years. The father
died January 19, 1880, the mother having
died in August, 1871.
James Champion Eslow was born at Homer
June 14, 1836. His early education was lim-
ited, and was acquired up to the age of 20
during intervals of work at Albion schools,
with some time at Albion College. In 1862,
while still a partner with his father, he
branched out alone in the oil business, and
later severing his business relations with his
father, he dealt in lumber by retail, and estab-
lished a wholesale trade in oils, cheese and salt
meats, and acquired considerable real estate
interests. In 1867 he built a hotel which he
managed for four years in connection with his
other business. In 1879 and '80, by reason
of failing health, which had been evident for
some years, he passed some months at sani-
tariums at Dansville, N. Y., and at Battle
Creek. In 1885 he retired from active busi-
ness, confining himself to real estate and in-
surance.
Mr. Eslow has been a Republican since, at
the
age of 18, he attended the first Republican
convention "under the oaks" at Jackson, in
1854. He was a delegate to the state conven-
tion in Detroit, which nominated Gen. Alger
for governor in 1884, and attended the Repub-
lican national convention at Minneapolis when
Gen. Harrison was nominated for a second
term in 1892. He is a director in the First
National Bank of Albion, and is generally a
real estate owner and capitalist, and is an
ancient member of the Order of Oddfellows.
Miss Lottie Pierce, daughter of William
Pierce, of Burlington, near Albion, was a
student at Albion College, from which she
graduated June 13, 1860, and at 3 p. m. was
married to J. C. Eslow. She became a mem-
ber of the Alumni Association of the college,
and on the evening of the same day became
its president, remaining so until her death,
August 27, 1871. Mr. Eslow has two sons-
William C., connected with his father in busi-
ness at Albion, and J. Arthur, a resident of
Charlevoix, who is a contractor and has been
in government employ in connection with
works on the great lakes.
Mr. Eslow is desirous of tracing his ancestry
and would be glad to hear from anyone bear-
ing the name of Eslow or Islow. His moth-
er's ancestors bore the name of Myers, their
history running back to 1770. One of them,
James Myers, was a contractor on the Erie
canal, and later lieutenant-governor and a
judge in Ohio. Another, Samuel Myers, as
a member of the common council of Chicago,
was the first to suggest raising the grade of the
city with a view to drainage, and was thought
to be crazy, but his crazy idea is now the sal-
vation of the city.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
395

EVERARD, HERBERT HENSON. Mr.
Everard is a member of the firm of Ihling
Bros. & Everard, wholesale stationers, blank
book manufacturers and printers, of Kalama-
ZOO. He was born in that city December 6,
1858. His father, John H. Everard, died at
Kalamazoo in November, 1897. His mother,
Henrietta McBride, is still living. His edu-
cation was received in the public schools of
Kalamazoo and in Kalamazoo College. While
at school he felt an inspiration for the art and
mystery of printing, procured an amateur
outfit which he put up at home, mastered the
primary art of handling the type without in-
struction and published an amateur monthly
paper, setting the type and doing the printing
himself. He became so interested in his
juvenile enterprise and in the craft which was
a part of it, that he had little relish for study,
and at the age of seventeen he left college
and secured immediate employment in the of
fice of the Kalamazoo Daily Telegraph, where
he remained a year and a half. In 1879, with
his then knowledge of the business, he started
in for himself under the name of H. H. Ever-
ard & Co., doing a general job printing and
stationery business up to 1887. At that time
he combined his interests with those of Ihling
Bros., under the firm name as above, so that
he has been continuously in the line of busi-
ness to which he first felt the spirit moving
him for twenty-three out of his forty two years
of life, which may be fairly termed a case of
natural selection. While Mr. Everard is a
busy man, he has always found time to devote
to the welfare and advancement of the city's
interests, has been active in promoting busi-
ness industries and has assisted in organizing
HERBERT HENSON EVERARD.
many of these that have placed Kalamazoo in
rank with other cities of the State as a manu-
facturing and business center. He is a direc-
tor in the Kalamazoo National Bank and in
the Bryant Paper Company of Kalamazoo,
and has interests in several other commercial
and industrial enterprises. He served two
years, 1890-92, as a member of the Kalamazoo
City Council and was five years a member of
the School Board and two years its president.
He is a 32 degree member of the Masonic fra-
ternity, a Knights Templar, a member of the
order of Elks, and of the Knights of Pythias.
Miss Althea Vande Walker, daughter of
John Vande Walker, of Kalamazoo, became
Mrs. Everard May 18, 1880. They have six
children, Ethel, Alice, Henrietta, Eleanor,
Robert H., and Mary Ellen, the first being
sixteen years of age and the last an infant of
but a few months.
396
MEN OF PROGRESS.

JOHN M. C. SMITH.
SMITH, JOHN M. C. Mr. Smith is a son
of the Emerald Isle, having been born at
Greencastle, County Londonderry, Ireland,
February 6, 1853. His parents, Richard and
Barbara McMunn Smith, both of whom are
still living, came to America when the son
was two years old, locating in Plymouth, Ohio,
where the early boyhood of the younger Smith
was passed and where he enjoyed the usual
school advantages. In 1867 the family re-
moved to a farm in Benton township, Eaton
county, Mich., where the son passed the suc-
ceeding five years of his life at farm work, at-
tending school at Potterville during the win-
ters. The family then (1872) removed to
Charlotte, where the younger Smith employed
his time at mason work during the summer for
several seasons, attending the High School
during the winters. In 1877 he entered the
literary department of the University at Ann
Arbor, remaining there two years. He subse-
quently studied law in the offices of Barbour
& Rexford and C. J. O'Flynn at Detroit, and
was admitted to practice there in October,
1883, since which time he has been in active
practice in Charlotte, his home town.
His efforts, however, have not been wholly
confined to his legal practice, as he has been
an active promoter of all enterprises looking
to the growth and advancement of the city of
Charlotte, which in point of location is one of
the most beautiful in central Michigan. He
is president of the First National Bank of
Charlotte, which was established in 1869 by
Hon. E. S. Lacy, late Controller of the Cur-
rency of the United States, and now president
of the Bankers' National Bank of Chicago.
Mr. Smith has always been a Republican
in politics, is a member of all the fraternal or-
ders and was twice elected Eminent Comman-
der of Charlotte Commandery of Knights
Templar.
Miss Lena Parkhurst, daughter of Major
John D. Parkhurst, of Charlotte, became
Mrs. Smith in 1888. Their children are
Lucile, aged ten years, and Wm. P., three
years.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
397
HARISON, BEVERLY D., M. D. Born
at Canton, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., Dr.
Harison comes of sturdy old English and
Colonial stock, being descended from Francis
Harison, of Colonial days, who in turn was a
son of Sir Richard Harison, of Hurst House,
Hurst, Berkshire, England, and a member of
the Privy Chamber in Ordinary to King
Charles II. Francis Harison came to New
York in 1708, and from him the subject of this
sketch is directly descended. His father's
family, having removed to Canada, Dr. Hari-
son was educated at Bishop's College School,
Lennoxville, and at Trinity College School,
Port Hope, the "Rugby" and "Eton" of Can-
ada, and later at Trinity College, Toronto, and
Toronto University, from the latter of which
he graduated in medicine in 1882. He then
became assistant to Dr. James Thorburn, of
Toronto, and later to Dr. Chas. H. Bonnell,
of Bobcaygeon, Ont., with whom he remained
three years. From 1885 to 1888 he was sur-
geon and physician to the Spanish River Lum-
ber Company, at Spanish River, Ont., remov-
ing to Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., in 1888, where
he has since been in practice. While Dr.
Harison has made an enviable record as a phy-
sician, he has made a record with the several
schools of practice in the State by his agency
in procuring the passage of the Act by the
Legislature designed to elevate the standard
of the profession. Various efforts had been
made at successive sessions of the Legislature
to procure legislation on the subject, but with-
out success. In 1899, however, the State Med-
ical Society decided upon a further effort, and
appointed a committee on medical legislation
with Dr. Harison as chairman. He prepared
the bill which was finally passed into law,
after consultation with the representatives of
the three schools, the regular, the homeopathic
and the eclectic. The bill was known at the
time as the Chandler Medical bill, from Rep-
resentative Chandler, who introduced it in
the House, but Dr. Harison gave it his per-
sonal attention and paid all the expenses in
connection with its passage. The law estab-
lishes a State Board of Registration, before
BEVERLY D. HARISON, M. D.
which every person must pass an examination
before being allowed to practice medicine in
the State, the object being to weed out the
large number of so-called quacks, and those
imperfectly educated. The Board of State
Registration having become a fact, the efforts
of Dr. Harison received merited recognition
by his appointment as member and secretary
thereof; he is also member and president of
the Board of Trustees of the Upper Peninsula
Hospital for the Insane at Newberry. He is
also vice-president and chairman of the execu-
tive and member of the judiciary council of
the Michigan State Medical Society, and is a
member of the American Medical Association
and ex-president of the Upper Peninsula
Medical Society. He is health officer of the
city of Sault Ste. Marie, is coroner of Chip-
pewa county, and medical superintendent of
the Sault Ste. Marie General Hospital, chief
surgeon to the Michigan & Lake Superior
Power Company, of Sault Ste. Marie, and
local surgeon for several railroads, as well as
consulting surgeon for many of the larger in-
stitutions of the State. Dr. Harison was
married in 1889 to a daughter of Hon. Justice
Lister, of the Court of Appeals of Ontario.
Dr. and Mrs. Harison have but one child, a
daughter.
398
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HORATIO SAWYER EARLE.
EARLE, HORATIO SAWYER. Mr.
Earle is a Detroiter but a native of Vermont,
having been born at Mt. Holly, in that State,
February 14, 1855. He is the youngest of a
family of three sons and a daughter, offspring
of Nelson C. and Eliza A. (Sawyer) Earle.
He traces his genealogy back to the Earles in
England, who were prominent among the agi-
tators in demanding from Charles II. the
"Subjects Writ of Right," second only to
Magna Charta, leading to the permanent es-
tablishment of the right to the writ of habeas
corpus. He is eighth in descent from Ralph
and Joan Earle, who landed near Providence,
R. I., about 1636, after a two years' sojourn
in Holland. Mr. Earle followed the farm
until twenty-one years of age, his education
having been that of the district school, with a
course at Black River Academy, at Ludlow,
Vt. Later he attended a night drafting
school, which he alleges drafted him out of the
harder lines of labor into comparatively easy
life. He learned the trade of an iron moulder
and had charge of foundries at Bradford, Vt.,
and Chicopee Falls, Mass. This practical
knowledge, coupled with his knowledge of
drafting, led him into a line of invention, and
he has patents that are very productive. In
1886 he started out as a commercial traveler
for a Massachusetts house. He came to De-
troit in 1889 and has sold the entire product
of an edge tool manufactory in the State of
Maine, who manufacture goods invented and
patented by him, with large quantities of other
lines of hardware, always working on com-
mission. He has been in active business in
Detroit, two years as head of the Earle &
Scranton Company, Limited, and two years
with the Earle Cycle Company, Limited, be-
ing associated in these enterprises with other
citizens. The first was a success and was sold
out to Port Huron parties. The other was a
"gift enterprise," in that the money invested
was given away. As the fruit of his various
inventions and business enterprises he has ac-
cumulated quite a little of this world's goods.
Mr. Earle sets not a little by his record in
the moral realm. A few years ago he indited
the motto: "A happy man is he that causes
others to happy be," and then swore that sen-
timent should govern his future acts toward
his fellowmen. He early came to disfavor
severity in dealing with children, believing
that their will power should be cultivated
rather than broken, and that they should not
be punished for little transgressions until they
should promise never to do the like again or
plead sorry. He is a member of the Metho-
dist Church, but not of the ascetic order, but
one that loves all Nature and can see the good-
ness of the Creator in all good things. He
belongs to Ashlar Lodge (Masonic) of Detroit,
Peninsular Chapter and Damascus Comman-
dery K. T. Also to Michigan Lodge No. 1, I.
O. O. F. He is Chief Consul of the Michi-
gan Division League of American Wheelmen.
Is a Republican in politics, although voting
independently where the fitness of men is con-
cerned. He has always been a student of
economic subjects and has never lost his sym-
pathy with the farmer and laborer, and this is
one of the reasons that has led him to take
hold during the past few years of the labor,
highway and convict labor problems. He has
been a leading promoter of the good roads
movement in Michigan. In the several rela-
tions of life he has always preferred to lead
rather than to follow the lead of others. He is
an attractive speaker and began speaking in
lyceums when a boy of sixteen.
Mr. Earle has been twice married, Agnes L.,
daughter of Leonard H. and Jane Lincoln, of
Plymouth, Vt., to whom he was married in
1874 (died 1878), was the mother of two chil-
dren, Georgie Anna, died in infancy, and
Romeo H., a student in the Michigan College
of Medicine and Surgery. His second mar-
riage was in 1882 to Anna M., daughter of
George A. and Eliza J. Keyes, of Chicopee
Falls, Mass. Their one son, George L., is a
student in the Detroit High School.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
399
GLAVIN, HON. JOHN MAURICE.
John Maurice Glavin, of New Buffalo, Mich.,
is a native of the County of Limerick, Ireland,
where he was born March 25, 1833. He came
to this country in 1848, making up his mind.
to leave Ireland while waiting in Dublin to bid
one of his sisters and her family good-bye. At
the last moment he declined to part with them,
and came over on the same vessel. His first
year in America was spent in Chicago, Ill.,
and later he went to Indiana to help in the
construction of the Goshen Air Line Railroad.
He came to Michigan and located as a citizen
of Berrien county in 1857.
John M. Glavin, as a boy, was quiet and
studious. His education was commenced in
the common school near his native town, and
in Dublin, and when he came to this country
he took advantage of the fine educational op-
portunities presented by American institutions
and studied for a time in the University of
Notre Dame, Indiana. Mathematics was his
favorite study and he early acquired a pro-
ficiency in that branch of learning.
This gave him a good understanding of the
business in which he made such a success, that
of a railroad contractor, for he was able to
figure closely and see his way to a profitable
ending of any undertaking in which he was
about to embark.
He became a construction engineer, work-
ing first on the Goshen Air Line and later on
the Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad. He was
for a time constructing engineer on what is
now the Chicago & West Michigan Railroad,
and later on the Port Huron & Northwestern
Railroad, and then on the St. Joe Valley Rail-
road. He held large contracts for the con-
struction of these roads. In 1870 Mr. Glavin
went to Washington and with the help of
Senator Chandler and Representative Stogh-
ton, secured an appropriation of $60,000 for
the construction of a harbor at New Buffalo.
This was afterwards dropped from the ap-
propriation list, but with a perseverance that
has characterized his whole life, Mr. Glavin
in 1880 again visited the national capitol and
not only had the New Buffalo harbor appro-
HON. JOHN MAURICE GLAVIN.
priation added to the list again, but had $10,-
000 more tacked on to it. Mr. Glavin owns
a beautiful farm near New Buffalo and gives
most of his time in operating it. He raises a
fine quality of fruit and general produce.
He was supervisor of Chickaming township,
Berrien county, from 1861 to 1865, and
elected to the Legislature of 1866 by the
largest majority ever given in his district. He
was county surveyor of Berrien county, 1877-
1884; supervisor of New Buffalo, 1880, 1884,
1885, 1886, 1887, 1894, 1895 and 1896, dur-
ing which latter term he was on the commit-
tee of construction that built the Berrien
County Court House at St. Joe.
Mr. Glavin married Miss Helen Scanlon,
daughter of Dennis and Marguerite Scanlon,
Their children are Mary
Sept. 5, 1856.
H., Helen, Emma, Eva, John, Grace, Thomas
and Frederick Glavin. John is chief clerk
and cashier in the M. C. depot at South Bend,
Ind.
On his mother's side Mr. Glavin traces his
ancestry to the noted O'Keefe family, from
which the mother of the great Irish liberator,
Daniel O'Connor, sprang.
400
MEN OF PROGRESS.

DR. WILLIAM JAMES DUFF.
DUFF, DR. WILLIAM JAMES. Dr.
William James Duff, a respected citizen of
Port Huron, Michigan, was born in Pittsburg,
Pennsylvania, August 17, 1856. His public
school education was received in that city, in
Detroit and in Port Huron, Michigan, being
later supplemented by a course in the Medical
Department of the University of Michigan,
from which he graduated.
Dr. Duff was president for two terms of the
board of health in Port Huron and elected
to the State Legislature on the Republican
ticket, sessions of 1899-1900.
When the recent rupture with Spain oc-
curred, Dr. Duff, who had for some time
been a member of the Michigan National
Guard, and at different times was first and
second lieutenant and captain of Company F,
Third Michigan N. G., enlisted as a private
soldier in Co. F, Thirty-third Michigan Vol-
unteer Infantry, when his company was mus-
tered into the United States service.
Although he was ill most of the time that
his regiment was in Cuba, he managed to keep
out of the hospital and attend to his duties as a
soldier, but the campaign in the alternate
sun and rain of our new possessions caused him
to lose weight rapidly so that although he
weighed 176 pounds when he went away he
came home weighing 101 pounds. He was
confined to his bed from Sept. 4 to Nov.
28, after his return from
from Cuba, during
which time he was elected to the legislature,
thus escaping any severe campaign work in
the political battlefield.
This was a pleasant relief, for his regiment.
(the Thirty-third Michigan) had seen active
service in the heat of the Santiago campaign,
and he was not in a talkative condition, and
unfit for the warmth of a political fight. So
popular was the candidate offered by the Re-
publican party that the Democrats refused to
put up any man against him, so every vote
cast was for Dr. Duff.
While the regiment was in Cuba, all of the
surgeons, through sickness and other causes,
were detached from duty, leaving the regi-
ment wholly without medical attendance, so
in addition to his regular duties as a non-com-
missioned officer, to which rank he had been
promoted, Dr. Duff volunteered to care for the
men, and won for himself the esteem and love
of every man in the regiment.
The news of this reaching St. Clair county,
in appreciation of his services the citizens pre-.
sented Dr. Duff with a diamond studded gold
medal of appropriate emblematic character
inscribed, "To Corporal William J. Duff, M.
D., from the citizens of Port Huron, in appre-
ciation of his professional devotion to the mem-
bers of Co. F, 33rd Mich. Vol. Inf., during the
Santiago campaign of 1898."
Dr. Duff married Mrs. Minnie Finney,
daughter of Mr. Ross, of Hamilton, Ontario,
at Sedalia, Missouri, June 1, 1899.
Dr. Duff was recommended by the brigade
surgeon of his brigade to the United States
medical department, on account of his dis-
tinguished services, and could doubtless have
a commission in the regular service if he were
willing to accept it. He enjoys an extensive
practice in Port Huron, is a member of the
Congregational church of that city, belongs
to the Masons, Elks and Maccabee lodges in
Port Huron.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
401
VAN RIPER, JACOB J. The little
kingdom of Holland is the country that fur-
nished the prefix Van to the family name, as
other countries have their peculiar patrony-
mic. Mr. Van Riper's paternal ancestry,
therefore, is traced to Holland, a country to
which the west is so largely indebted for its
ideas of civil and religious liberty and its devo-
tion to education. His ancestors, half a dozen
generations back, were early settlers in New
York while under the Dutch sovereignty and
known as New Amsterdam. His father, John
Van Riper, was born in New Jersey in 1811
and was the inventor of a power loom for
weaving ingrain carpets His mother was
Leah Zabriskie, of Paterson, N. J., her father
having been a political refugee from Poland.
Mr. Van Riper was born at Haverstraw, Rock-
land county, N. Y., March 8, 1838. His
early education was received in the public
schools of New York City, being, however, of
a catchy or broken character after his twelfth
year.
At this age he began to work in a car-
pet factory at $4 per week, alternating his
work with school attendance for four
He then became clerk in a dry goods store in
New York, during his school vacations, de-
voting his evenings to study. In the fall of
1855 he became a student at Charlottsville In-
stitute, at Charlottsville, N. Y., and in 1860
began reading Blackstone and decided to
make law his profession. His father's family
having removed to LaGrange, Cass county,
Michigan, and his father having built a woolen
mill there, desired the son's assistance. The
latter therefore left school in 1857 and entered
the mill as bookkeeper and general assistant,
improving the two winters of 1858 and '59 by
teaching. In the fall of 1860 he entered the
Law Department of the University, remaining
through the college year, and in 1861 was en-
gaged in reading law in the office of James
M. Spencer at Dowagiac. When the internal
revenue system was organized as a necessity of
the then existing war, Mr. Van Riper was ap-
pointed deputy collector of the Fourth Michi-
gan District, and held the position for five
years, and was soon after appointed assistant
assessor of internal revenue for the same dis-
trict for the term of three years. He was ad-
JACOB J. VAN RIPER.
He
mitted to the bar before Judge Nathaniel Ba-
con, at Cassopolis, in 1863, and opened an
office at Dowagiac, but removed to Buchanan
in 1870, and in 1887 removed to Niles.
years.
was in active practice at his several places of
residence from the time of his admission to
the bar in 1863 until he assumed the duties
of judge of probate of Berrien county, Janu-
ary 1, 1893, a period of over thirty years.
Since his election as judge of probate his prac-
tice has been confined to the necessary atten-
tion to the business of old clients.
Judge Van Riper was among the younger
members of the Constitutional Convention of
1867 and was prosecuting attorney for Ber-
rien county two terms, 1877-80. In 1880 he
was elected attorney-general of the state and
re-elected in 1882. In 1880, also, he was
appointed by Gov. Croswell a regent of the
University, to fill a vacancy, serving in that
office six years. He is a member of the State
Association of Probate Judges, a member of
the Masonic Fraternity of the Royal Arch De-
gree and of the United Workmen. Mrs. Van
Riper, to whom he was married in 1858, at
Penn township, in Cass county, was formerly
Miss Emma E. Bronner, daughter of Jacob
Bronner, of York Mills, N. Y. Their chil-
dren are: Luella, wife of A. A. Worthington,
an attorney at Buchanan; Cassius M., attorney
and register of probate at St. Joseph, and
Adah, at home.


402
MEN OF PROGRESS.
HON. LAWTON THOMAS HEMANS.
HEMANS, HON. LAWTON THOMAS.
Hon. Lawton T. Hemans, mayor of Mason,
Michigan, was first elected to that office in
1891, when he was the youngest mayor in the
state. In 1892 he was again nominated to
that office; but in the fight for municipal own-
ership of the electric lighting plant of the
city he was defeated. In 1897 the young
Democrat was elected an alderman for the
second ward of his city and in the spring of
1899 he was again elected mayor, in which
position he is now serving. He is only 35
years of age, having been born on the 4th day
of November, 1864, at the village of Colla-
mer, Onondaga county, New York, where his
father carried on the trade of a blacksmith.
When he was 11 months old his family re-
moved to the township of Oneida, Eaton
county, this state, where the father took up
the business of farming. Three years later
the father resuming his trade, the family came
to the city of Mason; later moving to a large
farm which the father had previously pur-
chased, in the township of Onondaga, he soon
learned to know the life of a farmer's son.
Working on the farm during the busy plant-
ing and harvest season and attending the dis-
trict school was the recurring routine until his
sixteenth year, when he entered the public
schools at Eaton Rapids. Here his experience
was the experience of the average farmer boy.
Working for his board; walking the eight
miles to his home of a Friday night to spend
Saturday and Sunday with his parents and to
luxuriate in the home cooking and then walk
back again of a Sunday night or Monday
morning. In June, 1884, he graduated from
the High School and from thence until the
fall of 1887 his time was occupied as a teacher
in the district schools of Aurelius township
during the winter months and as a hand upon
the farm during the summer. In 1886 he
began to read law. Judge Huntington, of
Mason, kindly gave him access to his library,
from which he obtained books for perusal
when not otherwise employed. In the fall of
1887 he entered the Law Department of the
University of Michigan. At the close of his
course there he was elected one of the Circuit
Court commissioners of Ingham county and
opened an office at Mason. In the spring of
1889 he formed a copartnership with John M.
Corbin, of Eaton Rapids, and under the firm
name of Corbin & Hemans this firm continued
until the spring of 1890. Mr. Hemans then
returned to Mason, where he purchased the
library of Huntington & Henderson, which
had been the leading legal firm of Mason, and
has practiced his profession in that city ever
since.
Mr. Hemans married Miss Minnie P. Hill,
daughter of William J. Hill, at Onondaga,
Michigan, in 1889. They have one son,
Charles Sidney. Mr. Hemans is a member
of Lansing Lodge, B. P. O. E. John H. He-
mans, the father of Lawton T., came to
America in his childhood, from Banwell, Som-
ersetshire, England. His wife's maiden name
was Lovinia Sherwood.
Mayor Hemans has proven himself an ex-
cellent executive and his terms in the office he
now holds have been greatly beneficial to the
city. He is young, energetic and a strong be-
liever in progressiveness.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
403
DONOVAN, JOHN. Mr. Donovan boasts
an Irish parentage, his father, Patrick Dono-
van, having come to America at the age of 19
from Cork, Ireland. His mother was Julia
Scully, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The son
was born at Hamilton, Ontario, May 26, 1843,
the parents removing to Youngstown, N. Y.,
during his infancy and settling in the village.
Upon attaining school age, he attended the
public schools until he was 15, when he was
.apprenticed to learn the trade of a general
mason, to one John Carter, who agreed that
he would make the better mason if he began
at the bottom and learned everything, and to
make his practice consistent with his teaching,
young Donovan was instructed in the art of
carrying mortar and brick, breaking stone and
mixing mortar, at a compensation of 17 cents
per day. His father, who was a carpenter by
trade, left the farm and resumed work at his
trade. From 1860 to 1870 the elder Dono-
van was employed on the government works at
Fort Niagara, at Youngstown, N. Y., and was
superintendent of general work, and from
1863 to 1865 the son was a sub-foreman, com-
pleting his trade there. Work was dull in
1865, and in October the younger Donovan
came to Michigan, locating first at Holly,
where he worked that season, and then re-
moved to Fenton. After the first two win-
ters of his Michigan experiences he
turned to Youngstown and became a
teacher in the public school there. He
remained at Fenton until 1870, doing con-
tract work in that part of the state, and then
moved to Flint, to become superintendent of
the High School building. He continued his
occupation of contractor and builder here until
1879, but diversified his labors by teaching
three years, 1876-79, in the parochial school
at Flint. In 1879 he removed to West Bay
City and built the Lumberman's Bank build-
ing, and a year later moved to Bay City, where
he has since been an extensive contractor and
re-
builder, having built some of the more promi-
nent blocks in that city, the Crapo, Phoenix,
Rose, Ridotto, and the St. James Church.
Mr. Donovan is interested, as a stockholder,
JOHN DONOVAN.
in the Michigan Sugar Company of Bay City,
and is a large holder of real estate and owner
of several business blocks in the city. He is
a member of the Catholic Mutual Benevolent
Association, of the Ancient Order of Hiber-
nians and of the Knights of Columbus. He
came to the Roman Catholic faith by inherit-
ance and adheres to it from conviction. Miss
Sarah Isham, of Kennedy, N. Y., became
Mrs. Donovan on November 11, 1873. They
have no children.
Mr. Donovan was elected to the lower house
of the legislature in 1894 and enjoyed the
distinction of being the only Democrat in that
body at the session of 1895. The vicissitudes
of politics are illustrated by the fact that from
having controlled the legislature in 1891, the
Democrats had but a single representative
there, four years later. The novelty of the
situation in which Mr. Donovan was placed
gave him special prominence, but no member
of the body stood higher in the estimation of
his associates than did he. While he had noth-
ing to ask politically, his wish had only to be
made known regarding any matter of legisla-
tion to secure for it the most respectful and
favorable consideration.
404
MEN OF PROGRESS.

ALFRED JAMES DOHERTY.
DOHERTY, ALFRED JAMES. There
is a clear suggestion of a Celtic origin in the
name that heads this sketch, and some experi-
ences in the early life of Mr. Doherty show
him possessed of a large percentage of the
spirit of independence and self-reliance that
is characteristic of the Irish people. His
grandfather, John Doherty, was for years cap-
tain of an ocean line steamer, and came to
America from the north of Ireland. His
father, Michael Doherty, was associated with
the Chesebrew-Bissell Company, lumber deal-
ers on the East river, in New York City, where
Alfred J. was born May 1, 1856, and where
his early boyhood was passed, alternating the
ordinary home duties with school attendance.
Later the family removed to Belfast, New
York, where the father engaged in farming.
Alfred J. there attended the Genesee Valley
Seminary, from which he graduated in 1874.
He started out for himself in 1876 and his star
led him to Clare, Michigan, the
possessor of
a
capital of $10. He found work in a sawmill,
where he worked in all departments, from
piling lumber to scaling logs. In the fall of
1878 he became clerk in a dry goods store and
a year later was granted a state teacher's cer-
tificate, and in connection with Dennis E.
Alward, had charge of the public schools of
Clare during the then ensuing three years,
and while teaching opened an insurance office.
In 1881 he started a hardware store on a small
scale and has conducted a prosperous business
in that line ever since. In 1892 he became
interested in the Clare Woodenware Com-
pany, of which he was general manager. He
has built several business blocks and the new
brick opera house at Clare, and owns a farm
of 640 acres in Vernon township, near Clare,
on which he spends his summers, and being a
farmer as well as a man of affairs, he has held
the position of president of the Farmer's In-
stitute of Clare county. He is president of
the Clare Electric Light Company and local
manager for the Michigan Bell Telephone
Company.
Company. His society connections are the
Knights of Pythias and Elks.
In politics Mr. Doherty has always been a
staunch Republican, energetically furthering
the interests of his party and never failing in
liberal contributions of time and money to
every campaign. As chairman of the Re-
publican committee of Clare county and in
other positions of trust he has displayed abili-
ties which, in his case, as always, win success.
In 1876 Mr. Doherty was married to Miss
Alice B. Gleason at Belfast, New York. Two
sons, Floyd and Frank, are associated with
their father in his business affairs, the daugh-
ter Lida is a student at Albion College, and
the youngest son, Fred, is a schoolboy at
home.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
405
CHAMBERLAIN,
WILLIAM. The
Chamberlains were first represented in Amer-
ica by Jacob Chamberlain, who was a resident
of Roxbury, Massachusetts, about 1690. From
him sprang Samuel, thence Moses, and again
Moses, father of the present William Cham-
berlain, the latter having been born at Pem-
broke, N. H., Feb. 7th, 1834. The Chamber-
lains after Jacob were residents successively of
Roxbury, Chelsea and Hopkinton, Mass., and
Loudon, N. H. The mother of Mr. Chamber-
lain was Mary Foster, of Canterbury, N. Y.,
a direct descendant of Reginald Foster, who
settled at Ipswich, Mass., in 1636. Mr. Cham-
berlain, with some early schooling at Concord
and some experience in selling newspapers,
came with his parents to New Buffalo, Mich-
igan, when he was nine
years of age. Two
years later (1845), the parents purchased a
tract of land of 800 acres, in what is now the
township of Three Oaks, in Berrien county.
At the age of eleven, the son carried the mail
on horseback from New Buffalo to Michigan
City, and one year drove a horse on the tow-
path. In 1847 a school was opened near the
Chamberlain residence, which the son at-
tended during the winter months. The family
library was largely contained within the lids
of the Bible, from which it was the son's duty
and pleasure to read every morning. He was
a good reader and became well posted in the
sacred volume. From the age of eighteen
until twenty-eight his vocation was that of
farming. In 1864 he moved to the village of
Three Oaks and became partner in a general
store, handling also grain, wool, and general
produce. The business firms were successively
Chamberlain, McKee & Co., Chamberlain &
Co., Chamberlain & Churchill, Chamberlain
& Hatfield, and Chamberlain, Warren & Hat-
field, banking also having been a feature of the
business from 1864 to 1890.
Few men have filled so many official posi-
tions and filled them so well as Mr. Chamber-
lain has done. He has held every township
office in his township, except Justice of the
Peace and Treasurer. He was one of the
County Superintendents of the Poor, 1861-80,
and postmaster at Three Oaks, 1870-72. He
WILLIAM CHAMBERLAIN.
was elected to the lower house of the Legisla-
ture in 1872 and again in 1874, and in 1876
and again in 1878 was elected to the Senate
and was president pro tem of that body in
1879. In 1881 he was appointed a member of
the commission to prepare a revision of the
tax laws. He was a member of the Board of
Control of the State Prison, 1885-91, and on
April 6th, 1893 was appointed warden of the
prison, and is known throughout the United
States as the model executive officer of penal
institutions. He is a member of the National
Prison Congress and of the National Confer-
ence of Corrections and Charities, was a mem-
ber and president of the State Association of
Superintendents of the Poor, was for twelve
years a member of the executive committee of
the State Agricultural Society and was for two
years its president. Mr. Chamberlain has
been a promoter of business enterprises at
Three Oaks, especially the Warren Feather-
bone Whip Co., and the Warren-Featherbone
Corset Co. He is a member of and assisted in
organizing the First Congregational Church
at Three Oaks, and was superintendent of the
first Sunday school in the village. He cast his
first vote for Governor Bingham in 1854 and
has been a Republican ever since and is a
member of the Michigan Club. Miss Caroline
S. Chamberlain of Canterbury, N. H., became
Mrs. Chamberlain in 1857. The family con-
sists of four married daughters and two sons.

406
MEN OF PROGRESS.
WILLIAM FABIAN MCKNIGHT.
MCKNIGHT, WILLIAM FABIAN. One
of the best known of the energetic attorneys of
western Michigan, and one who has established
himself in a very extensive practice, is Wm. F.
McKnight of Grand Rapids, whose voice has
been heard in the court rooms, upon the stump
and at numerous other gatherings in all parts.
of the state. Essentially a self made man,
his
career is one well worthy of emulation and
because of his ability, energy and ambitious
devotion to his profession, his subsequent
career will be watched with a keen interest.
William F. McKnight was born upon the
old family homestead in Cascade township, in
Kent county, on July 23, 1863. His early
days were spent in hard work upon the farm
and his evenings in study. His early educa-
tion was obtained at the country schools and at
the
age of seventeen he was himself the holder
of a teachers' certificate and a teacher in a
country school. In the fall of 1880 he entered
upon a four years' course in the college at Val-
paraiso, Ind., from which he received a degree.
During the last two years in College, his sum-
mers were occupied with the country superin-
tendent of schools at Valparaiso in summer
school work, holding teachers' reviews. In
1884-5 he was superintendent of schools at
Kankakee, Ill., and during all this time he was
fitting himself for the profession of law.
Entering the law department of the University
of Michigan he was graduated in '87, and after
a short period in the office of Turner & Carroll
in Grand Rapids, he opened an office for him-
self. Six months later he entered into the firm
of Godwin, Adsit & McKnight, which con-
tinued until the death of Mr. Godwin and
the election of Mr. Adsit as circuit judge and
of Mr. McKnight as prosecuting attorney of
Kent county. His next legal connection was
with Thomas F. McGarry and Congressman
M. H. Ford, under the firm name of McGarry,
McKnight & Ford. Upon the death of Mr.
Ford in '92, Judge Allen B. Morse, formerly
chief justice of the Michigan supreme court
and later United States consul at Glasgow,
succeeded to the firm and remained until his
departure for his foreign service. In '97 L.
Frank McKnight became his associate and
this firm continued for three years, when
James McAllister entered the partnership
under the firm name of McKnight & McAl-
lister.
In politics Mr. McKnight is well known to
the Michigan Democracy, having been an hon-
ored and active worker in party conventions
and councils, county, state and national. He
was permanent chairman of the state conven-
tion in '92, and a delegate and active partici-
pant in the national convention in Chicago in
'96, which nominated Mr. Bryan for the presi-
dency, and also witnessed his second nomina-
tion at Kansas City. He has been repeatedly
mentioned for higher political honors.
By years of tireless work, early and late,
which a vigorous constitution and native en-
ergy has enabled him to perform, and by a
consequent success in his profession, Mr. Mc-
Knight is now interested in a number of busi-
ness enterprises in his home city. His social
connections are high, and in addition to mem-
bership in the clubs of Grand Rapids, he be-
longs to a number of secret societies,

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
407
Hon.
CHANDLER, HON. WILLIAM.
William Chandler, of Sault Ste. Marie, is a
native of Michigan, having been born in Rai-
sin, Lenawee county, April 27, 1846. His
parents were Hicksite Quakers, his father,
Thomas Chandler, who came to this state in
1828, having been an Abolitionist and one of
those kindly men who helped in the under-
ground railroad system, by means of which
many slaves were conducted to freedom.
Young Chandler's early life was spent on a
farm and his education was received at the
Raisin Valley Seminary, a Quaker institution
near his home. In 1862 he left home and
went to Indianapolis to learn a trade, but be-
fore he had served his apprenticeship he was
in the wholesale paper business on his own
account and as this business brought him in
contact with the newspaper fraternity, the
year 1870 found him publishing a Republi-
can paper in Muncie, Indiana. He returned
to Michigan in 1872 and became editor of the
newly established Adrian Press, and when the
paper became Democratic he joined the Ad-
rian Times and remained with that paper until
1875, when he established the Cheboygan
Tribune. In 1877 he was appointed by Gov.
Croswell collector of tolls of the St. Mary's
Falls Ship Canal, and in 1878 he established
the Sault Ste. Marie News. When the canal
passed into the control of the United States,
in 1881, he was made superintendent, which
position he held until 1885, when he resigned
to give his entire attention to his various busi-
ness enterprises.
Mr. Chandler organized the Sault Savings
Bank in 1886 and became its first cashier and
manager. He was instrumental in the organ-
ization of one of the earliest electric light
plants in the country, which has made the
Sault one of the best lighted cities in the
United States. In 1892 he organized the
Chandler-Dunbar Water Power Co., and he is
now managing both plants. In 1875-76 he
conceived the idea of improving the navigation
of the inland lakes between Cheboygan and
Petoskey, and the famous "Inland Route" is
the result. He is president of the company
and has been one of the chief promoters of the
projected St. Ignace & Sault Ste. Marie rail-
road.
Mr. Chandler in 1886 married Miss Cata
Oren, daughter of Charles and Sarah Oren,
formerly of Clinton county, Ohio. They
have two children, Thomas, aged 13 years,
and Paulina, aged 9. Mr. Chandler is a
HON. WILLIAM CHANDLER.
staunch Republican, and was a member of
the Republican State Central Committee in
1876.
In 1885 Mr. Chandler disposed of his news-
paper interests and retired from the newspa-
per business, as well as the active participation
in political affairs. Although repeatedly urged
to do so, it was not until 1898, when he was
nominated as a candidate for the legislature,
that he consented to accept a political posi-
tion. As a member of the lower house, his
abilities as a legislator were soon recognized
and he was given charge of two of the most
important pieces of legislation of the session.
The "Chandler Medical Bill," which became
a law in spite of the fiercest opposition of the
clandestine medical practitioners, made his
name known throughout the state and beyond.
The passage of the state tax commission law,
which is carrying into effect the platform of
the Republican party, pledging equal taxa-
tion, was due to Mr. Chandler's careful and
adroit management.
With a single excep-
tion, every bill, both local and public, that he
fathered, became laws.
There have been few business enterprises,
especially those of a public nature, in Sault
Ste. Marie, during Mr. Chandler's residence
there, that do not bear the impress of his ef-
forts, advice and counsel, and it is through
these that he will be longest remembered.

408
MEN OF PROGRESS.
EDMUND C. MORRIS.
MORRIS, EDMUND C. Mr. Morris was
one of a family of twelve children and early
began the struggle of life, which, having its
many ups and downs, has helped to make his
life the success he has attained. His parents,
Elisha E. and Margaret (Baker) Morris lived.
on a farm in Niagara county, New York,
county, New York,
where Edmund C. was born, February 18,
1847. His early years were divided between
farm work in summer and the district school
in winter. When less than 16 years old
(1862) he tried to enlist as a soldier in the
civil war but was rejected. Later on, how-
ever, he was accepted as of sufficient age, and
enlisted in the 151st N. Y. Infantry. He par-
ticipated in the battles of the Wilderness, Cold
Harbor, Spottsylvania and Monocacy Junc-
tion, and many others. At Monocacy Junc-
tion he was wounded and left on the field, and
after walking forty miles to a hospital, it was
six days before his wounded arm was dressed.
He had just rejoined his regiment when Lee
surrendered. After his discharge from the
army in 1866 he tried his fortune in the Cana-
dian oil fields and in partnership with his
brother he took a contract for putting down a
test well, but failing to get oil, they disposed
of their contract to other parties, paid up all
indebtedness and left the oil country. He
then became clerk in a store in Lockport at a
salary of $100 for the first year, but his faith-
fulness being appreciated, he was constantly
advanced in salary and position. In 1870 he
came to Michigan and became a salesman in a
hardware store at Big Rapids, remaining there
two years. He then worked for his brother at
the lumber business in Montcalm county. In
1872 he secured a half interest in a mill at
Maple Valley, in partnership with L. H. Col-
well, Mr. Morris putting in no capital, except
his knowledge of the business, of which he had
entire charge. At the end of eighteen months
he closed out the deal with $11,000 to the
good for himself. The next eight years he
carried on a prosperous dry goods trade at
Greenville, when he sold out and built a saw-
mill at Belvidere, near Lakeview, and was
heavily interested in timber lands and lumber.
A disastrous decline in the price of lumber
compelled him to close out everything at a
sacrifice, leaving him some $2,300. With this
capital and his former good standing with the
wholesale trade, he was able to procure a full
stock, and again opened up in the dry goods.
trade at Big Rapids, doing business alone
until 1893, when A. A. Crane became a part-
ner. Mr. Morris has ever had the interest of
Big Rapids at heart from his first locating
there and has become prominent in many
lines outside of dry goods. He is president of
The Citizens' Bank, which he helped to organ-
ize in 1897, being the only bank in the city. He
is also president of The Parlor Furnace Co.
(manufacturers of heating stoves and fur-
naces), president and principal stockholder in
The Crapo Toll Road Co., director and treas-
urer in The Big Rapids Permanent Building &
Loan Association, director and treasurer in
The Big Rapids Board of Trade, and a direc-
tor in The Crescent Furniture Co. He has
always been a Republican and is a member of
the Republican State Central Committee. He
has been tendered nominations by his party at
different times but has always declined, his
only official position being as a member of the
school board, which he has held for the past
five years.
He has the higher Masonic de-
grees (Knights Templar and Mystic Shrine),
and is a member of the Knights of Pythias.
He was married in 1875 at Greenville to Miss
Minnie A. Crane, daughter of Rufus C. Crane,
of Greenville, now at Big Rapids. Of their
three children, Lucille is a graduate of the
State University and a teacher in the public
schools at Escanaba. Wilifred is a graduate
of the Big Rapids High School, and Frank C.
(15 years old) is still at home.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
409
MICHELSON, NELS. This name is un-
mistakably Norse, and comes direct from Den-
mark, Mr. Michelson having been born in that
country November 25, 1840. He attended the
government schools until fifteen years of age,
when he was bound out to a farmer, under
whom he served three years, receiving for the
first year $5 and the second year $10 for his
services, besides his board. He worked as a
farm hand until 1864, when he entered the
Danish army in the war between Denmark and
Prussia, and was taken prisoner at the battle
of Debbel, March 17, 1864. The Prussians
put the prisoners to work, first making powder
bags, but they made such long stitches that the
bags would not hold powder, and not liking
that style of work, the Prussians set them to
wheeling sand for the fortifications. When the
war closed he returned home and worked as a
farm hand until 1866, when he came to Amer-
ica. Cholera broke out on shipboard and the
vessel was held two months in quarantine at
New York, over 200 of the passengers dying of
the disease. The detention left him penniless
and he went direct to his brothers at Racine,
Wis. Remaining there only a short time, he
went to Manistee, Mich., and went to work in
a lumber camp at $1 per day. He worked here
two years as swamper, driving team, etc. He
then bought a team and took contracts, hauling
supplies to lumber camps. In 1869 he joined
with R. Hanson, they having together some
$1,500, buying an outfit and taking a contract
for getting out logs. Hard luck of various
sorts, culminating with the failure of a bank at
Manistee with $1,000 of their money, left
them stranded at the end of two years. They
started again on credit, with better success, and
after a year began buying small tracts of pine
land, the timber on which they cut and sold, in-
creasing their operations each year, and after a
time joining with E. N. Salling, of Manistee,
Mich., the co-partnership of Salling, Hanson
& Co., of Grayling, Mich., was formed. In
1889 the Michelson & Hanson Lumber Com-
pany was organized with Mr. Michelson as
President, and in 1892 a large mill was erected
at Lewiston, Mich. The two concerns, the
Michelson & Hanson Lumber Company and
NELS MICHELSON.
In 1895 Mr.
Salling, Hanson & Co. own over 50,000 acres
of standing timber in Northern Michigan, and
have cut some 60,000 acres.
Michelson purchased some 7,000 acres of land
in Roscommon county, near Houghton Lake,
which he is making into a stock farm, having
at present nearly 600 head of cattle, to which
he has recently added 200 sheep as the nucleus
of a sheep herd. He is president of the Craw-
ford County Exchange Bank of Grayling, has
beet sugar interests at Bay City and is a direc-
tor in the J. A. Jamieson Lumber Company
of St. Ignace, Mich. Mr. Michelson's society
connections are Masonic, including the higher
degrees, is a member of the National and State
Lumbermen's Associations, and of the Michi-
gan (Republican) Club. He was married at
Racine, Wis., in the year 1870 to Miss Mar-
grethe Jenson, daughter of Lars Jenson. Their
children are: Bessie, wife of E. E. Hartwick,
lumber dealer at Mason, Mich.; Frank L., with
Salling, Hanson & Co., of Grayling; Axel, a
student at the Michigan Mining School of
Houghton; Olaf N., assistant cashier Crawford
County Exchange Bank, Grayling, and Fred-
erick, at home. Mr. Michelson's present resi-
dence is at Grayling.

410
MEN OF PROGRESS.
EDWARD H. GREEN.
GREEN, EDWARD H. Mr. Green
earned the title of Major by service in the
Civil War. He is a native of Lancaster
county, Pa., born Oct. 31, 1834. His father,
Joseph Green, was a native of Rhode Island
and of Puritan stock. His mother, Susan
Sloat, was born and passed her life in Lan-
caster county. The son's education was
rounded out at the State Normal School at
Millersville, Pa., upon leaving which he be-
came a teacher, in which profession he was
engaged when the Civil War burst upon the
country in 1861. He enlisted in the first
three months' call, re-enlisted for three years,
and subsequently again enlisted for service
during the war, his regiments being the Tenth
and One Hundred and Seventh Pennsylvania,
attached to the Fifth Army Corps, when Gen-
eral Grant took personal command of the
Army of the Potomac. He was wounded at
the Battle of Bull Run, Aug. 30, 1862, and
after lying six days on the field, was picked up
with others and conveyed to Lincoln Hospital,
Washington, where he was confined four
months. Upon rejoining his regiment he was
promoted (Jan. 21, 1863,) from sergeant to
second lieutenant, and seven days later to first
lieutenant, and November 23rd, 1863, was
commissioned a captain. At the battle of
Spottsylvania, May 21, 1864, he was made
prisoner and was held as such for nine months,
successively in Libby Prison at Richmond, at
Macon and Savannah, Georgia, and Charles-
ton, S. C., and other points, and was paroled
near Wilmington, N. C., Feb. 24, 1865. He
was made a major by brevet March 13, for
meritorious services during the war and was
mustered out of the service at its close, July
13, 1865.
In 1866 Maj. Green entered the law depart-
ment of the University at Ann Arbor and
graduated therefrom with the class of 1868.
His ideal star had beckoned him to the west,
but his practical monitor led him to northern
Michigan, where, under the advice of Judge
Ramsdell of Traverse City, he cast his lot in
Charlevoix, where he has since resided. He
filled the offices of Prosecuting Attorney and
Circuit Court Commissioner of Charlevoix on
its organization in 1869 (the former until
1873), was twice elected to the Legislature
(1872 and 1874), and served two terms as
County Treasurer. He is in politics a Repub-
lican, is a member of the Masonic fraternity,
including the Knights Templar, and an Epis-
copalian in his religious connection. He is a
member of the G. A. R. and of the military
order of the Loyal Legion, and his war mem-
ories are dear to him. He has been com-
mander of the Grand Traverse Soldiers' and
Sailors' Association.
Sailors' Association. When he located at
Charlevoix he had $50, of which he paid $25
toward the purchase of two town lots, on which
he subsequently built an office and home. His
first week was cheered by a client and a re-
tainer of $20. He was the first editor of the
Charlevoix Sentinel. The "Charlevoix Sum-
mer Home" at Charlevoix, which calls to that
place five to six thousand people each summer,
owes its establishment and growth largely to
Maj. Green's efforts.
Maj. Green has been twice married. Miss
Luena A. Mathews of Ann Arbor, to whom he
was married in 1868, and who died in 1886,
bore him five children, Fred M., Margaret,
Irma, Edna and Guy. The two first named
are engaged in professional work, the first as
a mechanical engineer and the second as a
teacher in vocal and instrumental music. The
others are pursuing professional studies. In
1888 Mrs. Genevra (Barnes) Guyles, of Mani-
towoc, Wis., became Mrs. Green.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
411

SAVIDGE, WILLIAM. Mr. Savidge is a
resident of Spring Lake, Ottawa county, at
which place he was born Sept. 30, 1863. His
father, Hunter Savidge, was a native of Penn-
sylvania, his parents having come from New
Jersey, and being of English extraction. Hun-
ter Savidge was the fifth of thirteen children.
After some business experiences in Illinois he
came to Spring Lake (then known as Mill
Point) in the spring of 1856, to buy lumber,
and there organized the firm of Young,
Savidge & Montague, the firm engaging in
lumber manufacture. Its failure left Mr.
Savidge to take care of its indebtedness from
his personal means, which he did. In 1858 he
became associated with Dwight Cutler in the
lumber business, resulting in the incorpora-
tion in 1874 of the Cutler & Savidge Lumber
Company, capitalized at $500,000. Of this
company Mr. Savidge was president until his
death in 1881. During his lifetime Mr.
Savidge was the moving spirit in his locality.
He was one of the organizers of the Ottawa
County Boom Company and a director in the
Grand River Boom Company and in the
Grand Haven National Bank. He built the
Spring Lake House, and was active in the
municipal and social affairs of the place. The
wife of Mr. Savidge was formerly Miss Sarah
C. Patten, of Grand Rapids, to whom he was
married in 1857, and who is still living. Aside
from the son William, Mr. and Mrs. Savidge
were the parents of George P. and a daughter,
Esther, now the wife of N. Robbins, Jr., of
Grand Haven. Mr. Savidge built a fine resi-
dence at Spring Lake in 1871, and there his
widow and children now reside.
William Savidge succeeded to his father's
place in the Cutler-Savidge Lumber Com-
pany, becoming its vice-president. He gra-
duated from the literary department of the
University in the class of 1884 and subse-
quently spent one year in the law department
WILLIAM SAVIDGE.
at Harvard. His history up to the present
time connects itself mainly with the large
business interests with which he is associated.
The firm of Cutler & Savidge, of which Mr.
S. is a member, have a large lumber mill at
Cutler, Ontario, which turns out 150,000 feet
of lumber per day, and own timber rights cov-
ering 72,000 acres in the province. Mr.
Savidge is a director in the Grand Haven Na-
tional Bank and the Challenge Corn Planter
Co., of Grand Haven, and the Grand Rapids
Fire Insurance Company. He was elected a
member of the State Senate on the Republi-
can ticket in 1896, serving during the session
of 1897 and 1898. From 1894 to 1896 he
served on the Republican State Central Com-
mittee as member from the Fifth Congres-
sional District. He was president of the
Alumni Association of the University in 1892.
He is a member of the order of Elks, of the
Michigan (Republican) Club, of the Chicago
Yacht Club and of the Alpha Delta Phi (lit-
erary) and is not married.


412
MEN OF PROGRESS.

ERNEST NELSON SALLING.
SALLING, ERNEST NELSON. Mr.
Salling is a native of Denmark, having been
born in Viborg, March 15, 1843. His father,
Christian A. Salling, for many years was a con-
tractor at Viborg. His mother, Else C. Dyer-
berg, died in 1880 at the age of seventy-four
years. There were nine children in the fam-
ily, of whom three were boys, Ernest being
the youngest. Until his thirteenth year he
attended the common schools of his native
place, when he became a clerk in his brother's
In
store, where he remained until 1862.
May, 1862, Mr. Salling, bent on seeking his
fortune in the New World, left his home and
sailed for America. After a short stay in
New York he came west and found employ-
ment in a dry goods store in Chicago, as clerk.
He then went to Detroit and shortly after-
ward made his way to Manistee, arriving there
April 3, 1863. His first employment was in
the mill of Michael Engelmann, in whose store
the following September he went to work as
clerk. In the spring of 1864 he was promoted
to the position of outside foreman at the Engel-
mann mill, in which capacity he served two
Until 1868 he continued in the em-
ploy of Mr. Engelmann, in the winter months
years.
as superintendent of the lumber camps and in
the summer as outside foreman at the mill.
From 1868 till 1871 he had charge of the En-
gelmann vessel property, which included five
steamers carrying passengers and freight.
In 1867 Mr. Salling became a partner with
Mr. R. Hansen under the firm name of R.
Hansen & Co., in the buying and selling of
pine lands, which was continued until 1878.
In 1871 in conjunction with Mr. Engelmann,
he purchased the Waterman & Wing saw
mill, in Maxwelltown, which they operated'
under the firm name of Engelmann & Salling.
A year later Mr. S. Babcock purchased an
interest and the firm name was changed to
Engelmann, Babcock & Salling. In 1879
Mr. Salling disposed of his business interests
and returned to Denmark, where he spent a
year visiting his old home, and in traveling on
the continent. On his return to Manistee he
became a partner in the firm of Salling, Han-
sen & Co., organized for carrying on a gen-
eral lumbering and logging business. The in-
terests of this firm include valuable holdings
in pine lands in Crawford, Kalkaska, Mont-
morency and Presque Isle countries. Mr.
Salling's individual interests in timber lands
Mason counties in the Upper Peninsula, and
extend from Manistee county to Lake and
to the State of Washington. He is owner of
valuable real estate in Manistee, including a
number of business blocks, one of which bears
his name.
Mr. Salling is a member of the Congrega-
Republican, but never held any office. He is
tional Church of Manistee and in politics is a
a thirty-second degree Mason, having taken
the Knights Templar, Scottish Rite and Mys-
tic Shrine degrees. On October 25, 1867, he
was united in marriage to Miss Marion L.
Johnston, of Mackinac Island, who died Au-
gust 26, 1882, leaving a family of five chil-
dren, one son and four daughters. The daugh-
ters are all married, and the wives of prosper-
ous business men. On April 2, 1884, he was
married to Miss Lotta A. Wheeler, daughter
of the late Abram Wheeler, of Joliet, Ill.
One of the pioneers of Northern Michigan,
when Manistee was scarcely more than a
rough lumber camp, and with no equipment
save that of rugged determination and wil-
lingness to work, Mr. Salling has risen to a
place among the prominent and wealthy lum
bermen of the State.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
413

LARKE, HON. FREDERIC DENNY.
While the people of Michigan are considering
the matter of a bi-centennary memorial com-
memorative of the establishment of the first
civil government under Cadillac, a brief
record of some of those who have led the way
in developing some of the lesser civil divisions
of the state seems appropriate. In this rank
Mr. Larke deserves to be placed as the founder
and organizer of the county of Presque Isle.
Mr. Larke was born in Warwickshire, Eng-
land, September 7, 1845. His father, Richard
Denny Larke, graduated from and was at-
tached to Guys Hospital in London, and is still
practicing as consulting physician. It was his
desire that the son should follow the same pro-
fession, and his education was mapped out by
a regular course of hospital practice and study
with that end in view, but the medical profes-
sion did not appeal to him as his ambition was
to secure a commission in the British army.
In this he failed and in 1865 he left home and
came to Quebec. A year after his arrival
in the new world he joined a party of trad-
ers at St. Paul, and in company with them
penetrated the wild territory west of Hud-
son's Bay. Here he remained for nearly a
year, trading with the friendly disposed In-
dians and securing a large stock of valuable
furs, but some of the more northerly Indians,
in the interest of other fur trading parties, be-
came unfriendly and his party was forced
southward. Selling out his interest in the ven-
ture, Mr. Larke went to Detroit and engaged
with a government party in the lake coast
survey.
The next year presented the opportunity of
his life, through which he has made his im-
press upon northern Michigan. He was en-
gaged to locate land for the Molitor-Rogers
Company in Presque Isle county, and it was
while in their employ that he selected the site
and laid out the village of Rogers City.
He returned to Detroit (winter 1868-9),
and prepared for the settlement of this new
territory. Early in the spring he piloted a
large party of German and Polish emigrants
north into Presque Isle county. Here he
worked with them to locate a town, cutting
down the first tree upon the spot selected for
the site of Rogers City, and cutting holes in the
ice in order to get soundings and build a dock
for vessels.
In 1876 he established the first newspaper
in Presque Isle County, the Presque Isle
County Advance, in which he still owns one-
half interest.
HON. FREDERICK DENNY LARKE.
Mr. Larke's services have been recognized
by the people of Presque Isle county, and he
has held almost every office in the gift of the
people. He was county clerk for 14 years,
and supervisor eight years. He is a Republi-
can and has been chairman of the county
committee since it first sent delegates to the
State convention. He is a Roman Catholic in
religion. His present business is dealing in
hardwood lumber, cedar and hemlock bark,
and real estate, in connection with which he
has also a drug and general store. Mr. Larke
built the telephone line between Alpena and
Rogers City, which was purchased by the
Michigan-Bell Company in 1893. He is the
postmaster at Rogers City. In 1875 Mr.
Larke married Miss Augusta Streich at Rogers
City. They have eight children, six sons,
Frederick, on the force of the Presque Isle
Advance, Basil, Roland, Laurence, Cyril and
Marmaduke, and two daughters, Blanche (now
Mrs. John Jay Burns) and Isabel.
Mr. Larke is directly descended from Sir
Anthony Denny, Earl of Norwich, whom
Shakespeare makes one of his dramatis per-
sonæ in his play of King Henry VIII., and
who history records as being the only one of
the courtiers of that uxorious and irascible ty-
rant who dared inform him of his approaching
fate. Mr. Larke has today some valuable heir-
looms, being presents given by King Henry to
the ancestor above named.


414
MEN OF PROGRESS.
UBALD R. LORANGER.
LORANGER, UBALD R. The subject of
this sketch sprang from one of the oldest
French families of Canada, who came from
France in 1640, settling at the now town of
Three Rivers, near Montreal. His father,
Joshua F. Loranger, was a business man at
L'Avenir, a small town in the province of
Quebec, where the son was born May 11th,
1863. His mother's maiden name was Her-
mine Daigle. The parents moved to Muske-
gon, Mich., in 1866, the father engaging in
the mercantile business, and subsequently in
lumbering. He went down with the panic of
1873, and in 1875 the family moved to Bay
City, the son having some school advantages
both at Muskegon and at Bay City. In 1876
he engaged as cash boy in the dry goods store
of Cook & Co., at $2.50 per week, in the
morning peddling the Detroit Evening News
in West Bay City, finally becoming agent for
the paper at that place, improving his even-
ings by attending night school. He remained
with Cook & Co. five years, having been pro-
moted to the position of clerk. The family
having in the meantime returned to Canada.
the father later held a position in the interna!
revenue service at Montreal. In 1881 the son
joined his parents at Montreal, where he spent
six years in studying French, the classics, and
in preparing for the University. He returned
to Michigan in the fall of 1885, and entered
the law department of the University, taking
at the same time the course in political science,
graduating with the class of 1887. In June,
1887, he located at Bay City, and in July of
that year formed a co-partnership with Hon.
Archibald McDonell, which continued for
two years, the receipts from the practice af-
fording a comfortable living, with a small
balance to the good. Since October, 1889, he
has practiced alone.
Mr. Loranger has always been a Republi-
can, making his early debut in politics during
the Blaine campaign of 1884, when he
stumped Bay county in behalf of the party.
In 1893 he was appointed city attorney of
Bay City, serving in that position two terms;
and in 1897 he served temporarily as assistant
prosecuting attorney of Bay county. He has
been active in partisan work-was
was three years
chairman of the Republican City Committee,
was a delegate to several Republican State
Conventions and in 1896 chairman of the Bay
County delegation. He was a Pingree hustler
at that gathering, and represented the 10th
district on the committee to whom the matter
of the contesting delegations from St. Clair
county was referred.
He has been twice married, first in 1889 to
Miss Bettie A. Dayton, of Lansing, who died
May 17, 1891, leaving an infant daughter,
Bettie D. In October, 1895, Miss Marie
Frank, daughter of Ernst Frank, of Bay City,
became Mrs. Loranger. They have two chil-
dren, Hubert R. and Marie N.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
415

OSBORN, JAMES WHITCHILL. James
W. Osborn, now an attorney of Kalamazoo,
was born in Sherman, Chautauqua Co., N. Y.,
Feb. 10, 1843. His father was a tanner at that
place, under whom the son learned the trade
most thoroughly, at the same time attending
the local schools. When eighteen years of age
he went to Franklin, Pa., and took up the
study of law and was admitted to the bar in
April, 1864, and at once entered into partner-
ship with Hon. S. P. McCalmont, of that place,
with whom he remained for twenty years. In
December, 1884, the health of Mrs. Osborn,
to whom he was married in May, 1874, was
such that they concluded to come west, which
they did, locating at Kalamazoo. Mr. Osborn
began practice there, and in 1887 became
senior in the present firm of Osborn & Mills.
Mr. Osborn is a Republican in politics, but has
done very little active partisan work other
than to give the party his hearty support. His
official service is limited to two terms as Mayor
of Kalamazoo, 1894-5. He is a 33rd degree
Mason, a Knights Templar and a member of
the Consistory and of the Mystic Shrine. He is
largely identified with the material interests of
Kalamazoo, having extensive real estate, bank-
ing and other manufacturing interests, being
vice-president of the First National Bank and
a director of the C. H. Dutton Company and
the Upjohn Pill & Granule Company of Kala-
and is president of the Charlevoix Sum-
mer House Association of Charlevoix. Mr.
and Mrs. Osborn have one daughter and one
son. Edith M. is at home and Donald C. a law
student at Ann Arbor. The father of Mrs.
Osborn, Caleb Cornell, formerly of Plattsburg,
N. Y., died in Clinton, N. Y., in 1850.
mazoo,
The family of Mr. Osborn has contributed
its portion toward the dramatic and martial
history of the country. His great grandfather,
with his family, together with two other fami-
lies (Harris and Platt) lived on Long Island in
the time of the Revolutionary War, when the
British took possession. They were given
twenty-four hours in which to take the oath of
allegiance to King George, or to leave the
island. They left, going together to Glen
JAMES WITCHILL OSBORN.
Falls, N. Y., where they built a block house
which they occupied. The elder male mem-
bers of the three families then joined the Con-
tinental Army, leaving their new home in
charge of two of the younger men. After
peace was declared, Mr. Osborn's grandfather,
David Osborn, married one of the Harris girls,
and in course of time his father married a
daughter of the Platts, so that the blood of the
three exiled Long Island families is united in
the subject of the present sketch. Mr. Osborn's
father, Platt Smith Osborn, was a soldier in
the war of 1812, and at its close settled in
Chautauqua county, N. Y. His mother, Mary
Ann Platt, was a daughter of Nehemiah
Platt, of Erie county, Pa., and died at Sher-
man, N. Y., in 1845, where his father also died
April 30, 1881. Mr. Osborn had three broth-
ers in the Civil War. David C. (Rev.) was in
the hospital corps, Platt S. was a private in
the New York State troops, and Harris B. first
enlisted as a private in the volunteer service,
but having previously studied medicine,
passed an examination, was promoted to as-
sistant surgeon, and after the fall of Vicks-
burg was made post surgeon of the hospital
there.



416
MEN OF PROGRESS.
DR. JOSEPH MARSHALL.
of
pur-
MARSHALL, DR. JOSEPH. Dr. Mar-
shall, now of Durand, is beyond doubt one of
the most thoroughly equipped practitioners in
Michigan. His first scientific training was re-
ceived in the office of Dr. F. M. Garlick at Ar-
mada, Macomb county, with whom he studied
one year. He then took a four years' course in
the Detroit Medical College, graduating there-
from in 1878. He then went to Gaines, Mich.,
and established a practice there which he
sued successfully until 1892, when he turned
his practice over to a successor and went to Chi-
cago,
where he took two post-graduate courses
in the hospital there. He then established a
practice at Durand, which he followed stead-
ily for five years, when he went to New York
and took a full post-graduate course in the
New York Post-graduate Medical School,
when he resumed his practice at Durand,
which he has continued successfully up to the
present time.
Somewhat after the method of the play of
Troilus and Cressida, this sketch of Dr. Mar-
shall skips his earlier career, "beginning in the
middle," as the prologue has it, and that must
be amended. He was born in the township of
Warwick, Ontario, June 22, 1848, his parents
removing to Port Huron, Mich., when he was
quite young. Farm work and the district
school occupied his time until 1864, when like
many another Michigan boy, he went to the
front to fight the battles of the Union, having
enlisted as a private in the Thirtieth Michigan
Infantry. At the close of the war in 1865 he
returned to Armada and took the advanced
course in the High School there, after which
he entered upon the study of medicine as
stated foregoing.
Dr. Marshall is of mixed Irish and Scotch
blood, but more Irish than Scotch. His father,
Thomas G. Marshall, was a native of Ireland,
and died in 1898 near Mattawa, Ontario. His
mother, Isabella Carr, was a native of Scot-
land, her father, however, having been Irish.
She died in Port Huron in 1855. Mrs. Mar-
shall, to whom Dr. M. was married June 14,
1879, was formerly Miss Hester Ogden,
daughter of Pendleton Ogden, of Armada,
who came with his parents from London, Eng-
land, in 1819 and first settled in the State of
New York. He died in Saginaw in August,
1864. The mother of Mrs. Marshall died in
Armada in 1891. Dr. and Mrs. Marshall have
one daughter, Nellie H., aged nineteen, and
living at home. Mrs. Marshall is a cousin to
Ann Eliza Young, formerly one of the
"sealed" wives of Brigham Young, and who
for some years was known as a lecturer
throughout the United States against Mormon-
ism. Mrs. Young was a daughter of the late
Chauncey Webb, formerly of the State of
Illinois. She was married a short time since
to A. L. Dunning, of Manistee, Mich.
Dr. Marshall is a member of the Masonic
Fraternity, including the Knights Templar
and the Mystic Shrine, and also of the Elks.
He was Surgeon-General of the Union Veter-
ans' Union, Department of Michigan, 1893.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
417

ROOS, ELBERT S. The name of Mr. Roos
implies a Holland descent, which is traced to
an ancestral family, settling near what is now
New York City, about the year 1600. Mr.
Roos' father was a farmer at New Hurley, N.
Y., where the son was born October 26, 1850.
Leaving the primary schools at the age of
seventeen he took a preparatory course at Fort
Edward, N. Y., paying his expenses with
money earned by work as a farm hand. He
then entered Union College at Schenectady,
his only resources being such as he was enabled
to earn by teaching and working nights and
Saturdays at whatever presented itself, keep-
ing his expenses down to the minimum by
clubbing with other students. His circum-
stances compelled him to leave college at the
end of his junior year, but with a considerable
degree of progress in the Latin and scientific
courses. After leaving college he resumed
teaching, but in the summer of 1873 he de-
cided to go west, and landed in Kalamazoo
with $40 in his pocket. He very soon secured
a position in the office of Arthur Brown, then a
prominent lawyer of Kalamazoo, and later U.
S. Senator from Utah, at $2 per week for ser-
vices, with the privilege of reading law. The
second year
he was salaried at $1,500, and the
third year at $2,000. He was admitted to the
bar November 12, 1875, before Judge Josiah
E. Hawes, at Kalamazoo, and on April 1st,
1878, became junior in the law firm of Brown,
Howard & Roos. Mr. Brown withdrew from
the firm on his removal to Utah, in 1879, when
the firm became Howard & Roos, which con-
tinued until January 1st, 1898, when by an
admission of the son of the senior partner, it
became Howard, Roos & Howard. Mr. Roos
has made a specialty of corporation law and
has an extensive practice throughout the
United States in that department.
Mr. Roos has extended business connections
aside from his law practice. He is a director
in the Kalamazoo National Bank, a director,
secretary and treasurer of the Dunklee Celery
& Preserving Company of Kalamazoo and
South Haven, secretary and treasurer of the
Kalamazoo Ice Company, a director and vice-
ELBERT S. ROOS.
president of the Kalamazoo Corset Company,
secretary and treasurer of the Kalamazoo Rail-
way Supply Company, director in the Hender-
son-Ames Company, the Kalamazoo Box Com-
pany and a large stockholder in the Kalama-
zoo Sugar Beet Company, attorney for and
stockholder in the Bardeen Paper Company
of Otsego, director in the South Side Improve-
ment Company of Kalamazoo, and general
counsel for the Round Oak Stove Works of
Dowagiac. He organized the Kalamazoo Cor-
set Company (mentioned foregoing) in 1894,
first with a capital of $75,000, which has since
been increased to $100,000. The plant was
formerly located at Three Oaks and was re-
moved to Kalamazoo in 1894, and today gives
employment to 450 people. Mr. Roos is a
member of the Elks, the Knights of Pythias,
and the Psi Upsilon (Literary), and also of the
Michigan Club, which defines his politics as
Republican. Although he never smelt powder
in actual warfare, he became a member of
Company C, Second Regiment, Michigan Na-
tional Guard, of Kalamazoo, and was commis-
sioned a second lieutenant in 1882 and adju-
tant of the regiment in 1883. He was never
married.

418
MEN OF PROGRESS.

WALTER I. LILLIE.
LILLIE, WALTER I. Mr. Lillie's father,
Joel B. Lillie, was a farmer in Talmade Town-
ship, Ottawa county, where Mr. Lillie was
born October 9, 1856. His mother, Sarah C.
Augur, was a sister of the late Gen. C. C.
Augur, of Worthington, D. T. His early his-
tory was that of most Michigan farm boys-
attending the local school, and when old
enough to work enjoying school advantages
only during the winter months. His father
had contracts for getting out timber and logs
for the Grand Haven and Muskegon sawmills,
and when old enough to drive a team the son
assisted him in this work. When he was
twenty-one years of age his father offered
him forty acres of land if he would stay at
home and work the farm, but he had made
his mind to aspire to something higher, some-
thing at least in which there was less of man-
ual drudgery. A more advanced education
being a necessity he entered the Agricultural
College at Lansing, from which he graduated
in 1881. Upon leaving college, Mr. Lillie be-
gan teaching a district school near Grand
up
Haven, and at the same time took up
the study
of law. He was admitted to the bar before
Judge Daniel J. Arnold, at Grand Haven, in
1884, and entered upon the practice of the
profession there, which he has since pursued
with a degree of success of which he has no
cause to complain. A Republican in politics,
Mr. Lillie springs from Democratic stock, his
father and other relatives having been prom-
inent in local Democratic circles. He was
elected Circuit Court Commissioner of Ot-
tawa county in 1884, and in 1886 was elected
Prosecuting Attorney, and again in 1888. He
has served several terms as city attorney of
Grand Haven, and was again appointed to
that place in May, 1900. He is interested as
a stockholder in and officer of the Bliss Furni-
ture Company of Grand Haven. His society
connections are United Workmen and Macca-
bees. He was married in 1886 to Miss Ella
H. McGrath, daughter of Michael McGrath,
of Dennison, Ottawa county. They have four
children, Harold I., Leo C., W. Ivan and
Hugh E., all at home.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
419

PALMER, AMBROSE E. Whether the
idea holds in all cases that educated men make
the best farmers, it is well supported in the
case of Mr. Palmer. He was born at Pleas-
antville, Westchester county, N. Y., August
5, 1849, and had the local school advantages
up to the age of 14. He then attended Will-
braham Academy, at Willbraham, Mass., re-
maining there nearly three years in prepara-
tion for college. He graduated from Wes-
leyan College, at Middletown, Conn., in 1869,
and subsequently took a special chemical
course there, but on account of poor health he
could not follow that profession. He taught
school during his college course, to pay his
way, except the last term, when he borrowed
money enough to carry him through. Find-
ing no opening in the east for a young man
of his qualifications, he acted upon Horace
Greeley's advice and came west. He first
went to Milwaukee, where he remained a few
months and then came to Michigan. His
first job was acting as foreman of a gang of
hands engaged in building a saw mill at Torch
Lake, Antrim county. From this he entered.
the general store and lumber office of J. H.
Silkman, of that place, and soon became man-
ager of the mercantile department, continu-
ing in this employ until the spring of 1876,
when he removed to Kalkaska, which has
since been his home, and started in the mer-
cantile business on his own account. The
place at that time had a population of only 90
persons, all told, and Mr. Palmer was one of
the first to plant a business house there. He
conducted a prosperous business for ten years,
when he withdrew from its active manage-
ment, the business, however, being still con-
tinued under the firm name of Palmer &
Hobbs. Since 1886 Mr. Palmer has devoted
himself to farming and is one of the most
successful farmers in northern Michigan,
having a dairy farm of 640 acres and a herd of
60 Jersey cows. He is identified with the
associate work of the farmers, having been a
delegate from Michigan to the Farmers' Na-
tional Congress at Boston in 1899 and to the
same body at its meeting at Denver in 1900.
AMBROSE E. PALMER.
Has been a member of the State Agricultural
Society for years and for years a member of
the executive committee of the Michigan
State Grange and is a member also of the
State Dairymen's Association.
Mr. Palmer has been identified with the
growth of Kalkaska from a hamlet of 90 per-
sons to a village of 1,500, and has had per-
sonal relations with nearly all the manufac-
turing interests of the place. He has also
contributed to its social and civil life, having
served as supervisor several times and being
at present chairman of the Kalkaska county
road commission and was for six years a mem-
ber of the local school board. He is in poli-
tics a Republican and has been chairman of
the county committee of that party for ten
years and was a delegate alternate to the Re-
publican National Convention at Chicago in
1892. He is a member of the Masonic fra-
ternity and of Ivanhoe Commandery, Knights
Templar, of Petoskey. His parents, Stephen
and Sarah (Hobby) Palmer, were in direct
descent from Harvey Palmer, first of Had-
ham, Mass. Miss Hattie Knight, daughter
of Richard Knight, of Atwood, Mich., became
Mrs. Palmer in 1875. Their two older chil-
dren, Wilbur and Jessie K., are students
at the Agricultural College. The two
younger, Everett and Eva, are attending local
schools.



420
MEN OF PROGRESS.
EMORY TOWNSEND.
TOWNSEND, EMORY. The father of
the subject of the present sketch, Ransom
Townsend, has been a well known resident of
Washtenaw county for 65 years.
Born in
Genesee county, N. Y., in 1828, he came with
his parents to Michigan in 1835, they locating
in the township of Superior. In 1848 he
married Juliaette Leland, daughter of Hon.
Joshua G. Leland, of the town of Northfield,
same county. Mr. Leland enjoyed the dis-
tinction of being the only Whig elected to the
Legislature from Washtenaw county (then
having six members elected on general ticket),
in 1844. Mr. and Mrs. Townsend are still
living in Superior, upon the same farm where
he first settled 65 years ago.
Emory Townsend was born October 18th,
1858. He passed from the local schools at
home to the high school at Ann Arbor and
thence to the University, taking courses in
both literary and law departments, teaching
to defray his expenses in the University.
Completing his education at the University
in 1883, he spent nearly two years in the west
and south, mining a portion of said period.
He located in Saginaw in 1885, began the
practice of law and at once took front rank
as a successful attorney and has won for him-
self an enviable position, both as a lawyer, a
citizen and a man of business. While he is
engaged in a general practice, his more special
lines are real estate, corporation and probate
law.
In 1894 he was elected to the State Senate
on the Republican ticket from the Saginaw
district, by a majority of 865, being the only
Republican returned from that district in 12
preceding years. Since the close of his terms
all his successors have been Democrats, leav-
ing Mr. Townsend the distinction of being the
only Republican senator from Saginaw dis-
trict in 18 years. He withdrew from politics
at the close of his senatorial term, devoting
himself to his law practice and such other
lines of business as by natural selection came
in the way of a successful attorney. He has
frequently been solicited to stand as the can-
didate of his party for official positions, in-
cluding member of Congress, circuit judge
and mayor of his city, but has uniformly de-
clined all such nominations.
Mr. Townsend has extensive lodge connec-
tions, being a member of the Masonic frater-
nity, the Maccabees, Foresters, Modern Wood-
men of America, and other societies. He is
past high priest of Saginaw Valley Chapter,
No. 31, Royal Arch Masons. He enjoys a
marked popularity and distinction in the In-
dependent Order of Foresters, having been
high counselor and high vice-chief ranger of
Michigan; in 1895 he was elected a delegate
and attended the International Supreme
Court meeting of said order held in London,
England, and while in attendance there took
a prominent part in the deliberations of said
meeting. He has been both local and state
counsel of the order of the Modern Woodmen
of America; and for the last three years he
has been chairman of the national board of
auditors of that society. At the National
Convention in Dubuque in 1897 there were
three auditors to be chosen, and of the five
candidates, Mr. Townsend received 203 votes
out of a total of 231. At the National Con-
vention in Kansas City in 1899 there were
five auditors to be chosen, and of the ten can-
didates, Mr. Townsend received 297 votes out
of a total of 351. By reason of his fraternal
affiliations and general affability, Mr. Towns-
end enjoys a very extensive and desirable ac-
quaintance throughout the United States,
which has brought him much legal work; an
indefatigable worker, doing an almost incred-
ible amount of work accurately and with dis-
patch has contributed largely to place him in
the very prominent legal and social position
that he now occupies.
Miss Anna L. Fairman, of Plymouth, be-
came Mrs. Townsend October 20, 1885. Their
children are: Katherine H., Juliaette L. and
Richard Emory, aged respectively nine, six
and three years.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
421

SHARPE, HON. NELSON. Hon. Nel-
son Sharpe, of West Branch, Ogemaw county,
judge of the Thirty-fourth judicial circuit,
although born in Canada, is of American an-
cestry, his paternal ancestors having been for
several generations residents of St. Lawrence
county, N. Y. They were of Scotch and
Irish extraction. His parents were Nelson
and Eunice (McColl) Sharpe. The son was
born on a farm in Northumberland county,
Ontario, October 25, 1858. His early educa-
tion was received in the district school, from
which he was enabled to secure a second grade
teacher's certificate at the age of 16. He
secured a district school the same year and
was a successful teacher for five years. His
early inclination was toward the medical pro-
fession, but by reason of his association with
a young lawyer he decided to take up the
study of law. In 1879 he took a preparatory
course and the same fall entered Albert Col-
lege, at Belleville, taking a literary course for
two years.
To be admitted to practice it was
necessary for him to spend five years in a law
office, or if a graduate, three years, and on
the advice of friends he concluded to spend
the entire time of preparation in an office, and
entered that of Clute & Williams, of Belle-
ville. He remained there a year and then
went into the office of John W. Kerr, of Co-
burg, as student and assistant, receiving for
his service $25 per month the first year and
$35 per month the second year. In 1885 he
went to West Branch, where a brother had
preceded him, and soon become impressed
with the fact that Michigan offered better
opportunities than those to be found every
day in Canada. He went into the office of
Markey & Hall, of West Branch, then the
leading law firm in that part of the state, and
three months later (May, 1885) was examined
and admitted to practice before Judge J. B.
Tuttle, at Tawas City. He opened an office
but became interested with his brother in a
newspaper enterprise, the West
West Branch
Times, and divided his attention between law
and literature, interspersed with some practi-
cal lessons in running a country newspaper,
HON. NELSON SHARPE.
involving the work of editor, reporter, adver-
tising solicitor, pressman, etc., and at the end
of three years, his law practice, by the side of
other well known attorneys, having become
remunerative, he withdrew from active news-
paper work, though retaining his interest until
1890.
Mr. Sharpe was president of the village of
West Branch in 1889, was president of the
school board two years and chairman of the
Republican county committee six
years. He
was elected prosecuting attorney in 1890 and
re-elected in 1892, serving until he was ap-
pointed judge of the newly formed Thirty-
fourth judicial circuit, in 1893. He was
elected to the seat at the November election
in 1894 and re-elected without opposition for
the full term at the spring election in 1899.
Judge Sharpe is a Republican in politics, is a
member of the Michigan Club, of the Ma-
sonic fraternity, including the Knights Tem-
plar, of the Oddfellows and Knights of
Pythias. His wife, to whom he was married
in 1884, was formerly Miss Francis Lean,
daughter of Wm. Lean,
daughter of Wm. Lean, of Grafton, Ont.
They have two sons, Leo N. and Donald B.


422
MEN OF PROGRESS.

GEN. GEORGE A. HART.
HART, GEORGE A., GEN. Gen. Hart,
of Manistee, was born in Lapeer, Mich. His
great-grandfather, Deacon Stephen Hart, was
a native of Essex county, England, and located
at Newton, Mass. Oliver B. Hart, grand-
father of George A., removed to Lapeer in
1837, and with him came his son Joseph B.,
the father of Gen. Hart. Gen. Hart received
his early education in the public schools of
Lapeer, but at the age of fourteen he left to
enter the army, taking a place in the commis-
sary and quartermaster's department of the
Fifth Michigan Cavalry, commanded by Col.
Alger. In the spring of 1863 he enlisted in
the ranks and participated in all the battles
of the Army of the Potomac, fifty-four in all.
At the close of the war he went west with the
Custer Cavalry Brigade and during two years
was engaged in fifteen Indian skirmishes.
March, 1866, Mr. Hart received his discharge
from the army at Salt Lake City, and imme-
diately went to work for Wells, Fargo & Co.,
with whom he remained until the fall of 1867,
when he returned to Lapeer. Until 1870 he
engaged in farming, then selling his farm to
go to Fenton, where he engaged in the fur-
In
nishing goods business. He closed out at
Fenton in 1872 with resources barely suffi-
cient to meet liabilities, and accepted an
offered position in the store of John Egan at
Manistee at $50 per month, reaching there
without a cent. In 1876 he started in the
real estate business in a small way, mostly
commission sales, and has built up an exten-
sive business which at the present time com-
prises land, timber, loans and abstracts of
title. He is of the firm of Wallace & Hart,
insurance, and Hart & Swigert, real estate; is
president and general manager of the Manis-
tee, Filer City & Eastlake Electric Railway, a
director in the First National Bank and is an
extensive owner of city and farm property.
Upon the election of Gen. Alger to the office
of governor, Mr. Hart was appointed to the
position of quartermaster-general of the state
troops, a position which he filled with credit
to himself, and for the duties of which he
manifested marked ability. He was a mem-
ber of the board of trustees of the Traverse
City Insane Asylum, 1892-96, but resigned
on the election of Mr. Pingree as governor.
Gen. Hart, while an ardent Republican in
politics, has never sought public office,
although his name has been mentioned in con-
nection with nominations to offices of import-
ance, including those of governor and secre-
tary of state. Gen. Hart has been prominent
in affairs connected with the G. A. R. and was
a delegate to the national convention of 1888.
He was aide on the staff of Gen. Alger when
department commander of the Michigan G.
A. R., and likewise on the staff of Col. A. T.
Bliss. He has served two terms as president
of the Soldiers and Sailors' Association of
Northwestern Michigan, and during 1894-95
served the city as mayor, being the only Re-
publican ever elected to that office up to that
time. Gen. Hart has been twice married, first
in 1868, to Miss Ella J. Hammond, daughter
of John R. Hammond, of Lapeer, who died
in 1878, leaving one daughter, Amy A., now
the wife of Geo. W. Swigert, of Manistee.
His second marriage was in 1880, to Miss
Mattie Dexter, daughter of Samuel Dexter, of
Manistee. To this marriage have been born
Sabra, Pearl M., Grace F. and Golden A., all
at home.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
423

WAIT, FRANK WADSWORTH. Mr.
Wait is a native, and "to the manner born,"
having first seen the light at the village of
Sturgis, December 22, 1858. His father,
Jonathan G. Wait, was a man of marked per-
sonality and came to Sturgis from Livingstone
county, New York, where he was a furni-
ture manufacturer and railroad contrac-
tor. He built the first furniture manufactur-
ing plant in Sturgis. He was also a journalist
in later life, having published the Sturgis
Journal for about a dozen years (1858-1870).
He was a member of the legislature (repre-
sentative) in 1851, before the Republican
party was formed, and was senator three
terms (1863-7), during the war and recon-
struction days, and was a Republican of the
Zach. Chandler type. He died in 1893.
Mrs. Wait was, before her marriage, Susan
S. Buck, daughter of George Buck, who built
the first house in Sturgis, about the
year 1828.
She still lives in vigorous health, at the age general interest in and attention to public
of 78.
Frank W. Wait went from the local schools
of Sturgis to Hillsdale College, where he
closed his educational career in 1876. He
then spent nine years as a traveling salesman
in the western states, for the output of his
father's furniture manufactory, for which he
built up a good trade. In 1885 he succeeded
his father in the business, which had a success-
ful run until burned out in 1888, with a total
loss. He rebuilt and replaced the plant in
1889 and continued the business until the fall
of 1896, when he withdrew to devote his ener-
gies to contracting and manufacturing hard-
wood lumber, ties and timbers. He also owns
and operates a general farm of some 700 acres
near Sturgis, making the raising of pepper-
mint, spearant and wormwood for their essen-
tial oils a specialty. Also raising cattle, sheep
and poultry of all kinds. He has always been
a promoter of different manufacturing inter-
ests in Sturgis.
While Mr. Wait does not mix business with
politics, he seems to have a sufficiency of mo-
tive power to push both along, though on dif-
ferent tracks, and they both go, when he is the
propelling force. And politics, in this con-
nection, means not alone party politics, but a
FRANK WADSWORTH WAIT.
affairs. His Republicanism is no less pro-
nounced than was that of his father, and he
has attended every state convention of his
He was a
party for the past twenty years.
delegate to the National Republican Conven-
tion at St. Louis in 1876, and a member of
the committee on permanent organization.
He has been a member of the Republican
state central committee for twelve years, and
is the ranking member in point of length of
service and has been on the executive commit-
tee of the State League of Republican Clubs
since the organization, and has been treasurer
for the past six years. He is also a member
of the Michigan Club. In 1889 he was ap-
pointed by the attorney-general of the United
States a special attorney for the Court of
Claims, which holds its sessions in Washing-
ton. He was appointed by Gov. Rich a mem-
School for Girls, at Adrian, in 1895, resign-
ber of the board of guardians of the Industrial
ing in 1897, not being able to give it suffi-
cient time. Mr. Wait is no less a society man
than a politician, his connections being Ma-
sonic, Oddfellows, Maccabees, United Work-
men and Knights of Pythias. Mrs. Wait,
before her marriage January 13, 1883, was
Miss Ellen M. Fishback, daughter of Rev. A.
J. Fishback. Two daughters comprise the
family, Isabelle M. and Helen G. Wait.


424
MEN OF PROGRESS.
LYMAN HAKES MCCALL.
McCALL, LYMAN HAKES. Mr. McCall
is of Irish extraction, his father, Joseph G. Mc-
Call, having been born in County Armagh,
Ireland.
The father came to America with
his family when young, early in the 1840 de-
cade, settling in the state of New York. He
found in some portions of this state a condition
of "landlordism" similar to that which existed
in Ireland. Under the Dutch sovereignty,
titles to immense areas of the soil had been ac-
quired from the Indians by the Holland Com-
pany and some of the favored ones became
possessed of large tracts which they held in
perpetuity. These lands were not sold to the
settlers but were leased for long terms at a
rental which, in many cases, was little more
than nominal. The settlers, however, in
course of time, began to chafe under the ar-
rangement, feeling that they had paid in rent
much more than the original value of the land.
Hence arose what was called the "anti-rent
war" in some of the counties. It assumed
menacing proportions at one time and became
an element in New York politics. It involved
much of lawlessness and violence, as civil dis-
turbances usually do, in which some barns.
were said to have been burned, from which the
anti-renters and their partisans were character-
ized by their opponents as "Barnburners," and
this term was applied to those who represented
the more popular or ultra democratical ele-
ment in our politics, not alone in New York
but elsewhere, especially in Michigan. The
elder McCall through the association of ideas
naturally enough sympathized with the anti-
rent sentiment and was identified with it. The
mother of our Mr. McCall, whose maiden
name was Caroline Hakes, was a New York
lady. Joseph G. McCall died June 25, 1900.
The mother is still living.
Lyman Hakes McCall was born in Delaware
county, N. Y., August 31, 1860, where he
lived with his parents until 1870, when the
family moved to Petersburg, Va. The son
attended the local schools in New York and
subsequently at Petersburg. In 1878 he en-
tered Olivet (Mich.) College, graduating there-
from in 1880. Coming to Charlotte, his pres-
ent residence, he studied law in the office of
Edward A. Foote and was admitted to the bar
before Judge F. A. Hooker in July, 1883. He
became a partner with his former preceptor
(Foote) which continued four years. He then
Dean, so continuing until 1890, since which
became associated professionally with F. A.
time he has been alone in practice.
In politics Mr. McCall has always been a
staunch Republican. He was elected prose-
cuting attorney of Eaton county in 1892,
serving one term, and has been city attorney
of Charlotte several times. In 1898 he was
elected a member of the Legislature and dur-
ing the session of 1899 was chairman of the
House committee on private corporations and
a member of the important committees on rail-
roads and insurance. Miss Jennie M. Fouts,
daughter of Dr. Jesse T. Fouts, became Mrs.
McCall in November, 1885. They have two
children, Harry T. and Hattie, aged respect-
ively thirteen and eleven years.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
425

HANNAH, HON. PERRY. The name
of Mr. Hannah is synonymous with the Grand
Traverse region and with Traverse City,
where he resides. He was born in Erie
county, Pennsylvania, Sept. 22, 1824, the
second son of Elihu L. and Anna (McCann)
Hannah, the father a native of Connecticut.
and the mother of Pennsylvania, both being
remotely of Scotch descent. They were farm-
ers, and on the death of the mother in 1827
the father came to Port Huron, and after-
wards removed to St. Clair, where he died in
1862. The son remained in Pennsylvania
until he was 13 years old, enjoying the school
advantages there, when he joined his father
in Michigan, assisting him in lumbering and
rafting operations, in which he was engaged.
From his eighteenth to his twenty-first year he
was in the employ of John Wells, in the dry
goods trade, at Port Huron. In 1846 he
went to Chicago and was in the employ of
lumber firms there for some four years, when
through the aid of his then employer, Jacob
Beidler, he became senior in the firm of Han-
nah, Lay & Co., composed of himself, A. T.
Lay and James Morgan, of which William
Morgan, after a time, became a special part-
ner.
The firm of Hannah, Lay & Co. forms
an inseparable part of northern Michigan.
The firm built a mill and began manufactur-
ing lumber in a small way at a point on Grand
Traverse Bay that has since become Traverse
City, in 1851. From their small beginnings,
handling pine only, the capacity of the firm
reached 20,000,000 feet annually, including
both pine and hardwood, before the sale of
the mills and timber lands to John Torrent,
of Muskegon, in 1887. During the earlier
years of their manufacturing, Mr. Hannah
alternated with his partner, Mr. Lay, six
months turn about, between Chicago and their
mills, but in 1855 Mr. Hannah became per-
manently a resident of Traverse City.
The beautiful town of Traverse City, with
its nearly 10,000 of population, may be said
to be almost an outgrowth of the firm of Han-
nah, Lay & Co. The firm have other ex-
tended commercial interests, aside from the
lumber manufacture, from which they have
retired. They conduct a large mercantile
HON. PERRY HANNAH.
establishment, employing sixty men, with
sales reaching nearly $500,000 annually.
They have a large flouring mill with a capa-
city of 150 barrels per day. They own the
Chamber of Commerce Building in Chicago,
valued at $3,000,000. Up to 1892, when the
Traverse City State Bank was organized, the
firm did the entire banking business of the
locality.
Of Mr. Hannah's personal efforts in promot-
ing the welfare of his town, his fellow citizens
will bear testimony. He was president of
the city council on its organization and for
many years afterwards, and has been for
nearly thirty years a member of its school
board. Politically, Mr. Hannah is a Repub-
lican.
In 1857 he represented his county in
the lower house of the legislature. In 1864
he was one of the electors who cast the vote
of the state for President Lincoln for his sec-
ond term. He is president of the Traverse
City State Bank, of the Hannah & Lay Mer-
cantile Company, of the Chamber of Com-
merce Safety Vault Co. of Chicago, and a
director in the Traverse City Railroad Com-
pany.
Miss Annie Flinn, of New York city, be-
came Mrs. Hannah in 1852. She died in
1898, leaving two daughters and a son; Hattie
A., wife of J. F. Keeney, of Chicago; Julius
T., cashier of the bank at Traverse City, and
Claribel, at home.




426
MEN OF PROGRESS.
THOMAS BIRKETT.
BIRKETT, THOMAS. Mr. Birkett was
born in the parish of Isel, Comberland
county, England, January 10, 1833, where
his parents, Thomas and Eleanor (McLean)
Birkett resided. His education was received
at the parish school. At the age of fourteen
he was apprenticed to a miller. Five years
later he came to America, first locating at
Dresden, Yates county, N. Y., where he re-
mained one year. In 1853 he came to Michi-
gan, reaching the village of Dexter in August
of that year, with less than five dollars in his
pocket.
He obtained a situation as third miller in
the Dover Mills (Dover is a hamlet five miles
north of Dexter on the Huron river) then
owned by D. D. Sloan & Co., shortly after-
ward being made foreman. He bought Mr.
Sloan's half interest in 1861-on the death of
that gentleman-later buying the other half
interest.
In 1867 he bought the Hudson Mills, sit-
uated one mile farther down the river. He
operated these mills until 1882, when he or-
ganized the Birkett Manufacturing Co. for
the purpose of manufacturing wood pulp,
selling the two mills to that company and re-
tiring from the active management, but re-
taining one-third of the stock.
In 1888 the Dexter Mills came into his
hands by assisting a friend. At the same time
he bought the Peninsular mills, both of which
he still owns, and more recently bought the
Pinckney mills. In 1885 he built a pulp mill
at Petoskey, Mich., on Bear Creek, one of the
best water powers in the state, since changed
to a woodenware manufactory.
In 1893 Mr. Birkett assisted in organizing
the Dexter Savings Bank, capitalized at
$20,000.00, of which he has been president
since its organization. He is interested in
pine lands in Alabama and Mississippi. He
lives on a farm five miles north of Dexter,
located on the banks of the Huron river and
Portage lake. For many years a postoffice was
kept at his place, known as "Birkett." He
was postmaster for over twenty years, but
now gets his mail at Dexter.
He has recently purchased the homestead
of the late Judge S. W. Dexter, with its fine
old mansion. Judge Dexter gave his name to
the village, and his residence, standing on an
eminence a little to the west, has been for
years a prominent landmark.
Portage lake also suggests another reminis-
cence. About sixty years ago one G. R. Lilli-
bridge, who owned the land now comprising
part of Mr. Birkett's farm, "discovered" a
mineral spring, platted a "city" which he
called "New Saratoga," which name can be
found on some of the early maps of the state.
A small one-story building which he called the
"White Cottage" composed the "city." He
was sixty years too soon, as the place is now
getting to be quite a resort--and the visionary
scheme of Lillibridge may some day become
a reality.
May 1st, 1855, Mr. Birkett married Mrs.
Wood, Manchester, England. Their
S. A. Grundon (nee Wood) daughter of James
child, Eleanor J., is the wife of the Hon. H.
only
W. Newkirk, present Judge of Probate of
Washtenaw county. Mrs. Birkett died in
1892.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
427

RAMSDELL, JONATHAN GANNETT,
No name is better known in Michigan than is
that which heads this sketch. Judge Rams-
dell is of New England stock by his father,
Gannett Ramsdell, and his mother, Anna
Perin, both natives of Massachusetts. They
settled in Plymouth, Michigan, in 1827, and
the son, J. G., the third of four sons, was born
there January 10, 1830. His early life was
divided between work on the farm and at-
tendance at school. He entered the village
academy of Northville and the academy at
Plymouth, from which he went to Albion
College. On returning home he learned the
trade of a moulder and finisher. He then took
a course in a commercial college, and after
graduating became bookkeeper for a Cincin-
nati commission house, and later in banking
houses in Detroit and Adrian. While at Ad-
rian he commenced the study of law with the
late Congressman, Hon. Fernando C. Bae-
man. Close study and confinement, however,
undermined his health, and he spent a winter
in the lumber woods, cutting and skidding
logs. In the spring he helped run the river
and through the summer was tail sawyer. The
next winter he acted as head sawyer, and in
the following spring, having regained his
health, resumed the study of law with Judge
Longyear, of Lansing. In 1857 he was ad-
mitted to the bar and was the same year ap-
pointed circuit court commissioner for Ing-
ham county, by Gov. Bingham. He was
school inspector and chairman of the board
in the township of Lansing, and was elected
first city clerk, holding the office one month,
when he resigned upon his appointment as
clerk of the Supreme Court at Lansing. This
position he held until 1861, when he re-
signed to enter the Agricultural College as
special lecturer on commercial customs and
commercial law and double entry bookkeep-
ing. On the completion of that course he
removed to Traverse City. Mr. Ramsdell
had married February 3rd, 1861, Mrs. Clara
A. Phillips, of Lansing, and in the fall of
1861 they came on horseback down the lake
shore to Frankfort and across the trail (there
were no roads in northern Michigan then) to
what is now Traverse City, arriving there in
October of that year. A tract of land was
bought adjoining what is now the city of
Traverse City, and which under Judge Rams-
dell's cultivation has since developed into the
famous Ramsdell fruit farm.
JONATHAN GANNETT RAMSDELL.
On the organization of the Thirteenth Judi-
cial Circuit Mr. Ramsdell was elected Circuit
Judge, and was re-elected at the next succeed-
ing election. On the expiration of the second
term he declined a renomination, and entered
into practice.
into practice. At the next judicial election.
he was again elected Circuit Judge and was
again re-elected.
Judge Ramsdell has been president of the
Grand Traverse Union Agricultural Society,
of the State Pomological Society, and of the
West Michigan Agricultural and Industrial
Society, of which latter he was a director;
commissioner for Michigan to the American
Pomological Society at Chicago in 1875, and
at Boston in 1879, and a member of the Colum-
bian Fair Committee for Michigan Fruits.
For
many years he has been chairman of the
executive committee of the State Grange.
He was originally an Abolitionist and subse-
quently a Republican, but became known as
a Silver Republican in 1896, when he was
the Democratic-Combination candidate for
Congress in his district, and was chairman of
the Michigan delegation to the Silver Repub-
lican convention at Kansas City in 1900.
Under the new order of things he is politically
classified as a Democrat, and was nominated
for Lieutenant Governor by the Democratic
convention held in Detroit, July 25, 1900.



428
MEN OF PROGRESS.
HORACE TUPPER, M. D.
TUPPER, HORACE, M. D. Dr. Tupper
came to his profession by inheritance, his
father, Archilius Tupper, having been a phy-
sician at Pine Plains, Columbia county, N. Y.,
near which place the son was born October 2,
1830. His mother, Leah Strever, was of the
same locality (Columbia county). He studied
with his father until twenty years old, when
he went to Buffalo and entered Dr. Frank
Hamilton's office as a student. He had full
access to the "Sisters' General Hospital," re-
maining there through the whole term of
Prof. Hameton's charge of the surgical side
of the hospital. He then entered the Ed-
wards Street Female Hospital in Buffalo,
where he combined study and practice for two
years. When the War of the Rebellion broke
out he attached himself to the Fourteenth
Regulars and was soon changed to the Sec-
ond Brigade, Sixth Division, and was as-
signed to service in the batteries of the Sixth
Division, Army of the Tennessee, as surgeon,
with the rank of major. He remained with
his battery until reaching Corinth, Miss., and
saw service at the battles of Pittsburg Land-
ing, Farmington, Corinth, and a number of
minor engagements. He became interested
with Samuel Bolton in building a salt block
in connection with a sawmill that they pur-
chased. The plan of the salt block was to use
exhaust steam from the mill. Also to use the
slabs and sawdust to make live steam to keep
up the required amount of heat to crystalize
the salt. The plan proved successful and was
quickly adopted by others, and is still used by
the salt blocks in the valley.
The doctor soon found that he was the only
surgeon in the locality, and his services were
in great demand at the then village of Bay
City and nearby points. In fact, he was the
only surgeon in that part of the valley for
fifteen years, and up to the present time he is
very busy in his professional work. The
doctor is a member of the G. A. R. and has
been commander of H. P. Merrill Post of
Bay City. Miss Elizabeth Trinder, an Eng-
lish lady, daughter of Wm. Trinder, of Chad-
wington, Oxfordshire, England, became Mrs.
Tupper, at Buffalo, December 24, 1862.
Their one son, Horace, Jr., is an attorney at
Bay City.
In politics the doctor is a Republican,
worked energetically for the re-election of
Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln. He never could be in-
duced to accept any political office.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
429

DEMPSEY, JAMES. Mr. Dempsey was
born in Roscommon county, Ireland, April
10, 1832. His father was a farmer who emi-
grated to this country in 1847, settling at
Scranton, Pa., where he died in 1857; his
first wife, the mother of James, having died
in Ireland. A young man of 22, James
Dempsey went to Manistee in August, 1854,
with no equipment but his own brain and
brawn. The next winter he went to the
woods in the logging camps of the Canfield
Brothers, a year later taking charge of one
of their camps, and during summer deliver-
ing logs at the mill booms. He continued
in their service until 1871. In 1869 he
formed a partnership with A. E. Cartier and
they together undertook the work of boom-
ing and assorting the logs on the Manistee
river, which at that time aggregated about
1,000,000 feet per year. In 1873 the firm
of Dempsey & Cartier bought the Green &
Milmoe property on Manistee lake and for
ten years engaged in the manufacture of
lumber, in 1883 incorporating the business
under the name of the Manistee Lumber Com-
pany, of which Mr. Dempsey was made presi-
dent, Mr. Cartier and Wm. Wente being the
other two stockholders originally, although
several other parties have since become inter-
ested in the plant. The capital stock is $402,-
500, all of which is paid in. The concern has
been very successful in all of its operations
and has acquired valuable mill holdings and
timber lands, making it one of the most sub-
stantial institutions of this character in the
state. This company has recently acquired
the ownership of the Eureka mill and salt
block. The two plants of the company cover
about fifty acres of ground, and the company
has a dockage on Manistee lake, of about a
mile and a half, including slips. The capa-
city of the company's dock is about 12,000,-
000 feet, the entire output of the mills being
shipped by water. The Manistee mill has a
capacity of 30,000,000 feet of lumber and
10,000,000 lath annually, and the Eureka
mill a daily capacity of 120,000 feet of lum-
ber, 30,000 lath, 20,000 staves and 900 bar-
rels of salt. One hundred men are employed
in the Manistee plant and 180 in the Eureka.
The timber lands of the company are situated
in Kalkaska and Crawford counties and
sent about six years cut. The company has
constructed a narrow guage railroad, incor-
repre-
JAMES DEMPSEY.
porated under the name of the Crawford &
Manistee River Railroad, thirteen miles in
length. While the foregoing statistics are
not, strictly speaking, a part of Mr. Demp-
sey's personal biography, they are insepar-
able from it. In addition to his large hold-
ings in Michigan, Mr. Dempsey owns about
10,000 acres of long leaf yellow pine timber
in the Pearl River section of the Mississippi,
also about 25,000 acres of timber lands in
the state of Washington.
Politically, Mr. Dempsey is a Democrat of
the gold standard faith. He was postmaster
at Manistee under President Buchanan and
under the first Cleveland regime, and served
one term as mayor of the city of Manistee,
but has generally declined public office. His
religious connection is Roman Catholic.
Miss Mary Mullen, daughter of Michael Mul-
len of Racine, Wis., became Mrs. Dempsey
June 30, 1861. Twelve children have been
the fruit of the union, eleven of whom are
living. Lawrence T. and James W., super-
intendent and cashier respectively of the
Manistee Lumber Co.; John, civil engineer
in the employ of the United States govern-
ment in Central America; Louis, lumberman
at Williams, Arizona; Frank, bookkeeper at
the Manistee Lumber Co.; Nellie, wife of
John F. Clancy, Racine, Wis.; Cecelia, wife
of James W. Duncan, Milwaukee, Wis.;
Emma, Henrietta, Neal and Estelle, at home.



430
MEN OF PROGRESS.
ANTOINE E. CARTIER.
CARTIER, ANTOINE E. Mr. Cartier
is at present a resident of Ludington. He is
of French-Canadian origin, the name being
prominent in political circles in the province
of Quebec. He was born at Three Rivers,
Canada, May 16, 1836. His parents, Joh,
Baptiste and Rozelle (Counquene) Cartier,
were farmers. He had school privileges only
during winters by a walk of three miles from
home, and at 12 years of age became a farnier
boy at meagre wages. When 18 years old
he took a contract getting out square timber
on the Ottawa river, for the Quebec market.
In the fall of 1854, giving his parents $50 of
his small resources, reserving $75 for himself,
he went to Chicago and the next year took a
sailboat to Manistee. He here went to work
a
in sawmill operated by Joseph Smith,
where he worked two years, taking Smith's
note for his pay, and when Smith failed, his
note failed with him. He then went to work
He then went to work
for D. L. Filer, working in his mill during
the summer and as foreman of logging camps
in winter, being thus employed four years.
In July, 1862, he struck out on his own ac-
count, looking up and estimating standing
timber, and made $16,000 that year. In
1863, in connection with James Dempsey, he
took a five-year contract sorting and deliver-
ing the logs that came down the Manistee
river, continuing in this work fifteen years
and employing fifty men and two tugs, and
while so engaged he organized the Manistee
Tug Co. In 1877 Cartier and Dempsey took
a five-year contract from the boom company
at Ludington, and Mr. Cartier's removal to
that place followed. In 1879 he bought
Dempsey's interest at Ludington, and in con-
nection with Frank Filer, started the Cartier
& Filer Lumber Co., which was sold in 1882
to the present Butters & Peters Lumber Co.
In 1882 Mr. Cartier purchased a one-third
interest in the Goodsell & Allen Lumber Co.,
of Ludington, and the next year bought out
his partners and organized the Cartier Lum-
ber Co. The plant was burned in 1894 but
rebuilt the same year. It employs 125 hands
and turns out 15,000,000 to 18,000,000 feet
of lumber per year.
The energy, industry, probity and business
acumen with which Mr. Cartier started out
in life as his only capital, are now represented
by holdings of which he is equally unwilling
to boast or to complain. He is president of
the Cartier Lumber Co. of Ludington, a
director in the Manistee Lumber Co. of Man-
istee, of which he was vice-president for a
number of years, vice-president of the North-
ern Michigan Transportation Co., a steam-
boat line operating between Chicago, Ill., and
Cheboygan, Mich., and president of the Car-
tier Enameling Co. of Ludington, making
turned and enameled wooden appliances. Mr.
Cartier is a Democrat, politically, and served
as alderman and mayor of Ludington, two
years in each office, and while at Manistee
served also two years as alderman. His reli-
gious connections are Roman Catholic, and he
is a member of the order of Elks. Miss Liza
tier in 1859.
Ayers, of Vermont state, became Mrs. Car-
They have eight children:
Rose, wife of C. W. Spear, Westfield, Mass. ;
Louis A., in the towing business at Ashland,
Wis.; Warren A., secretary-treasurer Cartier
Lumber Co., Ludington; Ida S., wife of W.
president Cartier Lumber Co., Ludington;
S. Taylor, Brunswick, Ga.; George R., vice-
Dezera E., grocer, Ashland, Wis.; Wm. E.,
mining expert, Chicago, Ill.; Chas. E., man-
ager Cartier Enameling Co., Ludington.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
431

He was
After at-
BAART, REV. PETER A. Rev. Peter
A. Baart, S. T. L., LL. D., at present is
rector of St. Mary's Catholic church, in Mar-
shall. He is probably the best known Ro-
man Catholic priest in Michigan.
born at Coldwater July 28, 1858.
tending public and private schools, he was
sent to St. Vincent's College, Latrobe, Pa.,
at an early age and afterward to Mt. St.
Mary's, at Cincinnati, in both of which col-
leges he took the class prizes year after year,
finishing his philosophical course with highest
honors. After nearly completing his theo-
logical course in Cincinnati, he went to St.
Mary's University in Baltimore, where, after
two years, in 1880, he obtained the degree
of licentiate of sacred theology. While still
a deacon (too young for the priesthood), he
acted as secretary, temporarily, to Bishop
Borgess, of Detroit. He was ordained to the
priesthood June 29, 1881, and made assistant
of Holy Trinity Church in Detroit. Eight
months later he went to Marshall, at the
urgent request of Bishop Borgess and took
charge of a parish then badly disorganized.
His untiring zeal and hard labor, coupled
with an unswerving will and a tact that har-
monizes discordant elements in a quiet way,
built up St. Mary's parish spiritually and
materially, so that now it boasts of one of the
handsomest churches and parish properties in
the state.
Dr. Baart is an authority on church law,
several important matters having been re-
ferred to him from Rome for report or settle-
ment, and he is likewise consulted by bishops
and priests from all parts of the United States.
He has written a number of works besides
contributing to encyclopedias, magazines and
newspapers, including a synopsis of Catholic
belief for general circulation. In 1886 he
prepared a history of all the Catholic orphan
asylums and charitable institutions in the
United States. His works, "The Roman
Court," a treatise on the Cardinals and Sacred
Congregations, and his "Legal Formulary,"
embracing forms and a synopsis of law for
diocesan and parish work, received special
commendation from the Pope of Rome. In
1899 he prepared a paper on "Church and
REV. PETER A. BAART.
State in the United States" for the Australa-
sian Catholic Congress held in Sydney, and
in 1900 a paper on the "Tenure of Catholic
Property in the United States" for the Inter-
national Congress of Scientists held in Mu-
nich, Bavaria. Dr. Baart was a member and
secretary of the diocesan school board and the
first fiscal procurator, or legal officer, of De-
troit diocese. In 1890 Bishop Foley declared
him one of the four irremovable rectors of
the diocese and he was also chosen one of the
examiners of the clergy. In 1900 the board
of trustees and the faculty of Notre Dame Uni-
versity unanimously conferred upon Rev. Dr.
Baart the degree of Doctor of Laws. Rev. Dr.
Baart, while liberal-minded, is still quite con-
servative. He is not an extremist, but politic
and a good business man. As a public speaker
he is clear, logical and concise. Socially, he
is very entertaining and there is a merry
twinkle in his eyes, which tells of his good
nature, while his face suggests the student
and the leader. He is recognized as one of
the most liberal and public-spirited citizens of
Marshall, being always ready to assist in move-
ments for the public good. On his return
home from Europe some years ago he was
given the most imposing public reception ever
tendered a resident of Marshall, all classes of
citizens, non-Catholic as well as Catholic,
turning out to welcome him.



432
MEN OF PROGRESS.
CHARLES T. HILLS.
HILLS, CHARLES T. Mr. Hills is a
retired business man of Muskegon. He was
born at Bennington, Vermont, Nov. 14, 1821,
the son of Turner and Adelia (Hubbel) Hills.
In 1834 the family removed to Pittstown, N.
Y., and in 1838 to Grand Rapids, Mich.
Charles T. attended the district schools at
Bennington until 13 years of age, when he
secured a clerkship in a store at Troy, N. Y.,
and on the removal of the family to Michigan,
accompanied them there. In December,
1838, the family removed to Konkle's Mill, in
Alpine township, in Kent county, and in the
spring of 1839 bought forty acres of govern-
ment land on which they erected a two-room
shanty, of which they took possession in No-
vember, 1840, their nearest neighbor being
three miles distant. The father died in 1842
and the care of the family devolved largely
upon the son, who built a house about 1846
into which the family removed. The first in-
troduction of Charles T. to the lumber indus-
try was in riving shingles, which were then
all made by hand, the fruit of his labor con-
tributing towards the support of the family. In
May, 1852, Charles, with a younger brother,
went to Muskegon and building a shanty on
Black creek, engaged in shingle weaving. In
September, 1853, Charles engaged as clerk
with the sawmill firm of Ryerson & Morris,
and continued with them until 1859, when he
took charge of the books of the firm. In 1865
he became a partner in the newly-formed firm
of Ryerson, Hills & Co., and in connection
with Mr. Getty, another partner, had the
management of the then large and increas-
ing business, and in 1887 the active manage
ment fell entirely into his hands, the other
partners having removed to Chicago. Mr.
Hills was for more than forty years the ruling
spirit in an immense business, the various
changes in which and improvements in plant
it would be impracticable to trace in this con-
nection.
In his earlier life Mr. Hills held the office
of supervisor of Alpine township and in 1876
was elected treasurer of Muskegon county,
which are the only public offices he ever held.
From 1876 to 1887 he was president of the
Muskegon National Bank. He was one of the
incorporators of the Oceana County Savings
Bank at Hart, and was largely interested in
the Muskegon Booming Co., of which he was
for many years president, serving also in other
official capacities. It goes without saying that
he has at all times borne an important part in
all enterprises tending to the material, social
and moral advancement of Muskegon. This
is exemplified in his having built and donated
to the Masonic fraternity of Muskegon a tem-
ple costing $50,000, which was dedicated
Sept. 12, 1900, being the second largest in
Michigan. He is an enthusiastic Mason and
has published a leaflet giving in brief his Ma-
sonic record. He has the higher degrees in
the various orders of Masonry and has filled
for fourteen consecutive years eminent com-
the chairs in most of the local bodies, and was
81, and was elected to a fifteenth term in 1886.
mander of the Muskegon Commandery, 1868-
Mr. Hills has been twice married. By his
first wife, Miss Jane M. Wheeler, of Wauke-
gan, Ill., to whom he was married in 1854, he
had six children, two of whom only are living,
C. Hubbell, private secretary to his father,
and Julia L., wife of T. D. Whitney, of Chi-
cago. Mrs. Hills died in 1876, and in 1878
Mr. Hills married Miss Margaret McIntyre,
of Kewaunee, Ill.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
433

MCDONELL, ARCHIBALD. The grand-
father of Mr. McDonell came from Inverness,
Scotland, in 1810, and settled in Nova Scotia,
and during the ocean voyage, a son, father of
the present, was born. A branch of the fam-
ily were, however, earlier settlers in Canada.
Archibald McDonell was born at St. Andrews,
Nova Scotia, January 1, 1833.
After pass-
ing the grammar school at his home, he fol-
lowed teaching for several years, but decided
to locate in the United States, and choose the
law as his profession. He came to Michigan
and took the then two-year law course at the
University, graduating in 1861. He located
at what is now Bay City, then a village of
about 700 people, and called Lower Saginaw.
He was for three months a partner with A.
C. Maxwell (still a resident there and late cir-
cuit judge) and was subsequently for eleven.
years a partner with the late Judge Theo. C.
Grier, and later with George P. Cobb. For
eight years immediately prior to September,
1899, he was a partner of DeVere Hall, the
firm name being McDonell & Hall.
present partner is James E. Duffy, a graduate
of Michigan University, the firm being Mc-
Donell & Duffy. During his thirty-nine
years' residence in Bay City, he has seen the
population of about 700 grow to over 35,000
with a town of 15,000 across the Saginaw
river, and a corresponding increase in the
other towns of the valley, so that his city may
be said to have grown up under his personal
observation, which is largely true also of the
neighborhood towns.
His
In his early life he was
engaged in business enterprises and his re-
sources have never failed to reward his capa-
city for business. He has for many years had
liberal investments in banking, real estate and
in a mercantile house in Bay City, the Mc-
Donell Hardware Co., of which his sons by a
first marriage are managers. Mr. McDonell
is a Democrat in politics and while not having
sought public office, he has served at different
times as Circuit Court commissioner and was
for two terms mayor of the city, his service in
this office covering the centennial year 1876.
ARCHIBALD MCDONELL.
He was one of the first trustees of the Bay
City public library and is still a trustee, a
continuous service of twenty-six years. He is
president of the McDonell Hardware Co.,
chairman of the Crapo Building Co., director
and attorney of the Bay City bank and vice-
president of the Michigan Mining & Coal Co.,
operating in the valley. He was a member of
the Democratic state central committee 1874-
76, a delegate to the Chicago convention in
1896 and candidate for elector-at-large that
year. He has operated a farm of about 176
acres near Bay City for thirty-five years, his
having been among the first cleared farms in
Bay county. He is a member of the Elks.
Mr. McDonell was married in Bay City in
1863 to Miss Mary J. Day, daughter of Joel
L. Day, of St. Lawrence county, N. Y. She
died in February, 1896. In July, 1898, Mrs.
Henry P. Parsons, of Ann Arbor, became
Mrs. McDonell. He has five daughters,
Mary, Louise, Jessie and Genevieve, who
were educated in the Sacred Heart Convent,
and Winnifred, who is attending the Bay City
public school. They are all at home, save
when absent at school.
434
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HENRY DAVID CAMPBELL.
CAMPBELL, HENRY DAVID. It goes
without saying that a Campbell springs from
a Scotch ancestry. David Campbeli came
from Scotland in 1628 and settled in New
Hampshire, and from him Henry David is
descended. The parents of Henry D., Robert
A. and Harriet E. (Hitchcock) Campbell were
farmers near Hogansburgh, Franklin county,
N. Y., where Henry D. was born March 11,
1831. He attended the local schools, but
when large enough to work, only during the
winter months. During the last two winters
at school he acted as assistant teacher, the
school being a large one (nearly 100 pupils),
and Campbell being one of the older boys,
taught several classes. He remained with his
father until he was of age, without fixed com-
pensation. The last year the father gave the
use of the farm to him and his brother, giving
them all they could make from it for the
year,
and they each cleared $600. Henry D. then
became clerk in a store for two or three years
and in 1852 came west in quest of a position
and whatever the fates might have in store
for him. At Chicago he met a friend who
was going to Traverse City to work for the
well-known firm of Hannah, Lay & Co., and
together they embarked on the first propeller
that stopped at Traverse City, then but a small
lumber hamlet. Finding that Mr. Campbell
had business experience, the firm gave him a
position and after the first season he was put
in charge of their inside work as cashier. He
continued in their employ for eight years,
when he left to devote his whole time to a
stage line in which he was interested, center-
ing at Traverse City and running to Big Rap-
ids and Cheboygan, and was thus employed.
until 1874. In 1873 he built the Campbell
House at Traverse City (now the Park Place
Hotel), which he managed until 1878, when
he sold out on account of the ill-health of his
wife. In 1881, under a franchise from the
then village of Traverse City, he built and in-
stalled a water works plant, one of the most
modern in Michigan, having twelve miles of
mains, which he sold to the city in May, 1900.
In 1889 he built the electric lighting plant,
which he sold in May, 1900, to the Boardman
River Electric Light & Power Co. Freed
from other activity, Mr. Campbell is content
to call himself a farmer, in the declining years
of a useful and well-spent life.
Mr. Campbell has served as Judge of Pro-
bate of Grand Traverse county for twelve
years. He was County Treasurer 1857-9,
when the county embraced the whole north-
western part of the lower peninsula. He re-
quired three weeks to make the journey to
Lansing to settle his accounts, and being the
first County Treasurer he had to make several
trips in the interests of the new county, and its
largely extended territory. Mr. Campbell is
a Republican in politics and a member of the
Masonic fraternity, including the Knights
Templar. Miss Catherine A. Carmichael,
who from her name may also be supposed to be
of Scotch descent, became Mrs. Campbell at
Traverse City in 1862. Mr. and Mrs. Camp-
bell have four sons and a daughter, Donald F.,
an electrician, Flora A., wife of W. J. Hobbs,
Willard H., electrical engineer, David R., far-
mer (Grawn), and Wallie G., with the city
electric light department, all of Traverse City.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
435

WADE, CHARLES FREDERICK. Mr.
Wade is one of the comparatively few in our
American life who find a field worthy of their
activities at home. Born at Jonesville, Mich.,
May 9, 1860, he has been prospered and hon-
ored in the place of his birth, and has contrib-
uted in a corresponding degree to its growth
and prosperity. The father of Mr. Wade is
the well-known secretary of the State Uni-
versity at Ann Arbor, James H. Wade. His
mother was Elizabeth A. Sibbald, of Jones-
ville. Mr. Wade graduated from the Jones-
ville schools in 1880 and at once entered upon
active life as bookkeeper in the general store
of John A. Sibbald & Co., of Jonesville. Two
years later he was made cashier of Grosvenor
& Co.'s Exchange Bank of the same place,
holding this position for eighteen years.
Early in the fall of 1898 the pushing element
of Jonesville began agitating the establish-
ment of a Portland cement works in the town.
The project took definite proportions early in
1899, and the company was formally organ-
ized as the Omega Portland Cement Co. in
February of that year. Mr. Wade took an
active interest in the project from the first, sev-
ering his connection with the bank in order to
give it his undivided attention. He was one
of a committee of six that placed the stock of
$300,000, all of which was subscribed. The
company, as organized, was officered as fol-
lows: President, Frank M. Stewart, Hills-
dale; vice-president, Israel Wickes, Jones-
ville; secretary and treasurer, Charles F.
Wade, Jonesville; chemical superintendent,
Prof. E. D. Campbell, of the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor; mechanical superin-
tendent, Geo. H. Sharpe, of Jonesville. The
company began building operations in July,
1899, putting up what is known as a five-rotary
plant, with a capacity of 625 barrels in 24
hours, containing machinery strictly up to
date in every particular, as attested by the
best judges. The buildings are of brick, with
steel roofs.
The site comprises two hundred
acres of marl land with 40 acres additional, on
which the company is erecting cottages and a
large boarding house for employes. The plant
CHARLES FREDERICK WADE.
is reached by the company's own siding, which
taps the main line of the Lake Shore & Michi- .
gan Southern Railway, and the Fort Wayne,
Jackson & Lansing branch, three and one-half
miles from Jonesville. The company has ex-
tensive storage rooms, the controlling thought
being to store their product until it is in the
best condition for market. The company
will employ about one hundred men.
Mr. Wade has served the municipality of
Jonesville as a member of the village council
for several terms, and as president of the vil-
lage one term. In the last-named capacity he
bent every energy toward the building of the
water works and electric light plant and the
construction of the cement walks and improve-
ments generally. He is a stockholder in the
Grosvenor Savings Bank and is connected in
the real estate business with Hon. E. O. Gros-
venor, who has for half a century been one of
the foremost men of southern Michigan, and
has held many responsible public trusts, in-
cluding those of state treasurer and lieutenant-
governor.
Mr. Wade is a member of the
order of the Knights of Pythias and the United
Workmen. Miss Minnie A. Curtiss, daughter
of William S. Curtiss, of Jonesville, became
Mrs. Wade October 20, 1882. They have no
children.
436
MEN OF PROGRESS.

THOMAS HUME.
HUME, THOMAS. Mr. Hume was born
in County Down, Ireland, June 15, 1848.
His parents, William and Mary Ann (Bailie)
Hume, were farmers, and reared a family of
eight children, of whom four were sons,
Thomas being the oldest son and second child.
He attended the Royal Belfast Academical
Institution at Belfast, and when fourteen
years of age was apprenticed to a wholesale
and retail hardware and grocery merchant
named John Stevenson, at Dungannon, for
six years, with no salary other than his sub-
sistence. At the end of two years he was put
into the office as cashier, and later was made
buyer and stock keeper. After serving his
six years he served the same house two years
more at salaries of $250 and $350 per year
respectively. Finding no business opening at
home, in May, 1870, he took passage for
America, and landed at Quebec on the seven-
teenth of the same month. Having some rela-
tives at Marshall, Michigan, he headed for
that point, and under their advice that men
were in demand at Muskegon, he went there,
where he has since resided. He found em-
ployment there as tallyman for George R.
Selkirk, and in the fall went into the woods
and engaged in scaling logs for O. P. Pills-
bury & Co. The following summer he en-
gaged with Montague & Hamilton, lumber
inspectors of Muskegon, as an inspector, and
remained with them until the fall of 1872.
He then entered the employ of Hackley &
McGordon as bookkeeper, in which service he
remained nearly nine years, or until June,
1881. He then purchased the interest of Mr.
McGordon in the firms of Hackley & McGor-
don and C. H. Hackley & Co. The firm of
Hackley & Hume succeeded the first named
firm, and on the death of Porter Hackley, of
C. H. Hackley & Co., the business of both
firms was consolidated under the name of
Hackley & Hume and has so continued up to
the present time. Their interests embrace
300,000 acres of southern timber lands in the
States of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and
South Carolina, in addition to their home
plant. They are large stockholders in the
Itasca Lumber Company and the H. C. Ake-
ley Lumber Company, both of Minneapolis.
Mr. Hume has held various offices in both
companies, and is at present vice-president of
the Itasca Lumber Company and treasurer
of the H. C. Akeley Lumber Company He
is secretary and treasurer of the Amazon Knit-
ley Piano Company, the Standard Malleable
ting Company, treasurer of the Chase-Hack-
Iron Company and of the Alaska Refrigera-
tor Company, president of the Sergeant Man-
ufacturing Company, vice-president of the
Shaw Electric Crane Company, of the Na-
ley National Bank, all of Muskegon.
tional Lumberman's Bank, and of the Hack-
Miss Margaret A. Banks, daughter of Maj..
Banks, of Marshall, became Mrs. Hume Jan-
uary 22nd, 1873. To them have been born
seven children-Margaret B., born December
E., March 29, 1877; George Alexander, July
11, 1873; Helen M., August 29, 1875; Annie
20, 1881; Florence V., November 11, 1884;
Constance, November 25, 1886, and Thomas
Hackley Hume, July 2, 1888. As may be
judged from Mr. Hume's extensive business
connections, he has acquired a worldly for-
tune that may be described as fairly inde-
early business training, clear perceptions in
pendent, the fruit of his native energy, his
business ventures, and above all, fidelity to
his earlier trusts and upright and honorable
dealing in his later enterprises.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
437

HACKLEY, CHARLES H. The name
of Charles H. Hackley is impressed in so many
forms upon the city of Muskegon that the
name of the man and the place are insepara-
ble. Mr. Hackley was born at Michigan City,
Ind., Jan. 3, 1837. At the age of fifteen he
left school to assist his father, who was a con-
tractor, engaged in railroad and plank road
building, and at the age of seventeen was given
a foreman's position in charge of a gang of
men. The executive ability thus early mani-
fested was but prophetic of what was to come
after in a multiplied ratio. In April, 1856,
Mr. Hackley came to Muskegon and entered
the employ of Durkee, Truesdell & Co., lum-
ber manufacturers, as a common laborer, but
was soon promoted to the position of scaler and
further advanced to that of foreman of all
lumber hamlet. Finding that Mr. Campbell
1858 he became the firm's bookkeeper. In
the spring of 1859 he laid the foundation for
one of those magnificent fortunes that have in
so many cases rewarded the enterprise of those
engaged in the lumber industry in Michigan.
As a member of the firm of J. H. Hackley &
Co., including his father, J. H. Hackley, and
Gideon Truesdell, he was the active spirit in
its work. They purchased the lumber plant
of Pomeroy & Holmes, of Muskegon, and in
1860 the Wing Mill property. On the death
of Mr. Hackley's father, in 1874, and the
subsequent death of two brothers, who had
been associated in the business, the firm was
reorganized as C. H. Hackley & Co., with
James McGordon as partner, which continued
until the death of the latter fourteen years
later (1880), when his interests were acquired
by Thomas Hume, since which time the firm
has been Hackley & Hume. The firm has ex-
tensive timber land and lumbering interests in
Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Louisiana
and Arkansas, and Mr. Hackley holds the posi-
tion of president or director in a dozen or more
manufacturing and banking institutions.
Mr. Hackley's enduring monument, how-
ever, will consist not in what he holds, but in
what he has given away for public and bene-
volent uses, of which the city of Muskegon
will bear testimony as follows: Hackley
CHARLES H. HACKLEY.
Public Library, $125,000, endowed the same
for $75,000; Hackley Square, $45,000; Sol-
diers' and Sailors' Monument, $27,000, en-
dowed the same for $10,000; Hackley Man-
ual Training School, $105,000 for building
and equipment, also annual contribution for
its support, $12,000, and $100,000 for en-
dowments; statues of Lincoln, Grant, Sherman
and Farragut, $28,000; a total of $527,000,
not to mention many minor benevolences.
Mr. Hackley is a Republican and was a
delegate to the Minneapolis convention in 1892
He
and the St. Louis convention in 1896.
has served as county treasurer of Muskegon
county, as a member of the common council
and board of public works of Muskegon city,
school board, and was its president in 1892.
and for a number of years as a member of the
At the spring election in 1895 he was elected
a regent of the University, but did not serve,
having simply qualified and resigned on the
second day of the term, Jan. 2, 1896.
In 1864 Mr. Hackley was united in mar-
riage to Miss Julia E. Moore, of Centreville,
N. Y., who now shares not only the good for-
tune of her husband, but also enjoys with him
its beneficent disposal. Mr. and Mrs. Hackley
have no children. Mr. Hackley is in direct
descent from Peter Hackley, who lived at
New London, Conn., in 1693.
438
MEN OF PROGRESS.
RASMUS HANSON.
HANSON, RASMUS, of the firm of Sall-
ing, Hanson & Co., Grayling, Mich., was born
at Vester Kipping, Falster, Denmark, Oct.
14, 1846. He attended the common schools
until he was 14 years old, and was then
confirmed in the Lutheran church. He
worked on his father's farm until the fall of
1863, when the war broke out between Den-
mark and the German confederacy, when, in
connection with another party, he started
out as an army sutler, but circumstances
were unfavorable, and the venture yielded
no profits. He returned to his father's
farm, but found farm life too slow for his
energies, and he finally agreed with his father
to emigrate to America. He left home May
3, 1865, and landed in New York the 15th.
He decided to make for the interior, and
located at Racine, Wis., where he hired out
on a farm and worked four months. He
then went to Manistee, Mich., where he met
Mr. B. Sweet on the wharf and hired out at
$20 per month. In a very short time he
worked himself up to the position of fore-
man for the firm, for whom he continued to
work until 1867. Having accumulated a
little money, he became associated with Ern-
est N. Salling in buying timber and lumber-
ing it and selling the logs, and also getting
out logs for other parties. In the fall of
1871 he sold out to Engelman, Bab-
cock & Salling, and was engaged as woods'
manager by this firm, with
this firm, with whom he
continued for two years. In the meantime
he had associated himself with Nels Michel-
son in jobbing and logging, and after leaving
the employ of the former firm he organized
the firm of Michelson, Hanson & Co., which
in 1873 was merged in the new firm of R.
Hanson & Co. This firm continued to oper-
ate until the
the spring of 1878, when
the name was changed to Salling, Han-
son & Co., Mr. Salling having joined
the new firm. This firm began operations at
Grayling, putting logs into the Manistee
river and selling them to parties at Manistee.
In 1882 the firm commenced to manufacture
lumber of its own, and bought out a small
sawmill, which, in 1899, was superseded by
a new mill with a capacity of 20,000,000
a year. In 1892 a band mill and planing mill
were added. The firm own a large amount of
pine, and have hardwood timber covering
about 60,000 acres. In 1900 the firm began
the erection of a hardwood mill at Johannes-
burg, a place which the company has just
started. Mr. Hanson is also a member of
the Michelson & Hanson Lumber Co., of
Lewiston, Mich., having mills at Lewiston and
at Sallings. He is a director of this company
and general manager of his own company.
He also helped to organize the Michigan
Sugar Company, the first sugar company or-
ganized in Michigan, and also the Bay City
Sugar Co., in both of which he is a director,
and is interested in the Crawford County Ex-
change Bank and other commercial and finan-
cial enterprises.
Mr. Hanson is a Republican, but disagrees
with the party as to the treatment
of the new possessions. He was an
alternate to the Minneapolis convention in
1892 and a member of the Michigan Electoral
College in 1896. He was elected the first
county treasurer of Crawford county in 1880
and received the entire vote of his township.
He has been a member of the local school
board for 15 years, is a 32nd degree Mason,
and is a member of the National and State
Lumbermen's Associations, of the Michigan
Club, the Hoo Hoos, etc.
Mr. Hanson was married Sept. 17, 1867, to
Miss Margrethe Hanson, and their five chil-
dren are: Matilda, wife of H. A. Bauman,
cashier of bank; Margrethe, at home; Thor-
wald, manager of the company's business at
Johannesburg; Espern, manager of mercan-
tile business at Johannesburg, and Oscar,
now employed as clerk in his father's store.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
439

NEWKIRK, DR. CHARLES T. Dr.
Newkirk's paternal ancestors were from Ger-
many, first settling in the region of the
Catskill Mountains, N. Y. His grandfather,
Peter Newkirk, removed to Canada and was
an active partisan of Mackenzie in the re-
bellion of '37-8. His father, Reverend Moses
Newkirk, was born at Simcoe, Ontario, where
the son was also born December 10, 1842.
His mother, Catherine Topping, was of Irish
parentage. Dr. Newkirk had early educa-
tional advantages, was a graduate of the Uni-
versity of Toronto, and in 1863 was graduated
as doctor of medicine from Victoria College
of that city. He practiced for a short time
in Canada and then with his family went to
Buenos Ayres, S. A. Devoting some nine
months to the study of the language, he re-
ceived an appointment as "Doctor of the
Province of Corrientes," and was also made
surgeon of the Argentine Hospital, but re-
signed after four months to enter the service
of the Brazilian army as first surgeon of a
division, with the rank of Major. After four
years' service, at the close of the Brazil-Para-
guyan war, he opened a drug store in connec-
tion with the practice of his profession, at
Assumption, Paraguay.
Paraguay. His wife's health
His wife's health
failing, he started on his return to the north,
but as the yellow fever was then raging at
Buenos Ayres, sending his family on to their
USV
DR. CHARLES T. NEWKIRK.
pital there. After a few weeks' service, he
was advanced to the position of brigade sur-
geon with the rank of Major, on the recom-
mendation of General Shafter and the de-
partment surgeon. He remained at his post
until his services were no longer needed, doing
service in the hospitals in and around San-
tiago and Siboney, despite greatly impaired
health, and returned to Bay City in October.
Dr. Newkirk is a large contributor to Ameri-
can Medical literature. He is a member of the
American Medical Association, and of the
State Medical Society, has served as vice-
president of the latter, and was one of the or-
ganizers of the Bay County Society. He
served 10 years as county physician of Bay
County and is local surgeon for several rail-
roads. He was 12 years a member of the
Board of Education and part of the time its
president. Is a member of the Masonic Fra-
ternity, and a Republican in politics. Miss
Mary J. Anderson became Mrs. Newkirk at
Simcoe, September 10, 1863. Her father,
John Anderson, late of Cleveland, O., was
from Ireland and was a partisan of Macken-
zie in the Canadian Rebellion of '37-8.
Dr. and Mrs. Newkirk have two children-
Dolores, a graduate of the Leggett School in
Detroit and of Vassar College, now living in
New York, and Harry N., surgeon for the
American Steel Wire Co., of Chicago, with
works at Ironwood, Mich.
destination, he remained there. His pro-
fessional services were accepted by the gov-
ernment, and he remained there, fighting the
disease for four months, or until the epidemic
had exhausted itself, the virulence of which
may be judged by the fact that the record
showed 26,000 deaths in 35 days. His ser-
vices were highly applauded by the local
press. Coming north in the fall of 1871, after
visiting New York and Chicago, he decided
to settle in Bay City. His knowledge of the
Spanish language and his experience in army
and yellow fever practice, pointed him out as
most fit for service in the Spanish-American
war, and yielding to the solicitations both of
his friends and the government he accepted
an appointment and left for Santiago July
12, 1898, and entered the yellow fever hos-
440
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HENRY W. CAREY.
CAREY, HENRY W. Mr. Carey is a
resident of East Lake, a suburb of the city of
Manistee, and is a prominent factor in the
business enterprises of the locality. He is
secretary and treasurer of the R. G. Peters
Salt and Lumber Company, of the Manistee
& Luther Railroad, and of the Batchelor
Cyprus Lumber Company, with mills at
Panasoffkee, Fla., is vice-president and treas-
urer of the Peters Lumber and Shingle Com-
pany of Benton Harbor, president of the Wol-
verine Oil Company of Manistee, president of
the Michigan Manufacturing Company
(shingles and lath) of Elk Rapids, and direc-
tor of the News Publishing Company of Man-
istee, and editor of the Manistee Times-
Sentinel.
Mr. Carey is a native of New York City,
born in 1850. His educational course was
completed at the college of the city of New
York. Served his time in the 22nd N. Y.
state troops, and at the time of his coming
to Michigan held the rank of Captain in the
Veteran Corps of that regiment. He came
to Michigan in 1881 and entered the employ
of R. G. Peters as private secretary. His in-
tegrity, character and systematic business
habits gave him rapid advancement, until
there are few men now in Michigan having
an equal number of responsible business con-
nections. Although never having held a po-
litical office, he is prominent in the councils
of the Republican party, of which he is a
member, and is recognized as a leader in his
part of the state. He was made a member
of the State Central Committee in 1888 and
since 1890 has been a member of its executive
committee. He served six years as chairman
of the Manistee County Committee, an equal
length of time as secretary of the Con-
gressional District Committee of the Ninth
District, and was one year a vice-president of
the National League of Republican Clubs.
He has been a trustee of the school board of
Eastlake for 18 years. In February, 1893, he
was appointed by Governor Rich, Paymaster-
General of Michigan State Troops, which po-
sition he held four years, and from which he
derived the title of Colonel.
Col. Carey is a leading and somewhat en-
thusiastic member of the order of the Mac-
cabees. He became a member of the order
in December, 1889, when he assisted in or-
ganizing Linten Tent No. 17, of Eastlake, of
which he was elected Commander, and under
his administration the Tent grew rapidly in
membership, and in 1891 took the prize for
the largest per cent of gain, having increased
nearly 200 during the year.
nearly 200 during the year. He has admin-
istered the office of Deputy Great Com-
mander, Great Chaplain, First Great Master
of the Guard, and Great Lieutenant-Com-
mander, to which latter he was elected at the
Great Camp of the State in 1894. Colonel
Carey is thoroughly posted on all matters per-
taining to the workings of the order and has
always been ready to respond and contribute
to all of its gatherings.
Miss May M. Ransom, daughter of Jona-
than H. Ransom, of New York City, became
Mrs. Carey in 1879. Three children, Mabel
M., now traveling in Europe, and Archibald
E. and Eleanor J., at school, are the fruit of
the union.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
441

MERRIMAN, GEORGE W. Mr. Mer-
riman's first introduction to Michigan was in
a business way, he having come to Plainwell
to accept a position in a bank in which his
uncle had an interest. He is of English
lineage, his grandfather, Elisha Merriman,
was a resident of Connecticut, and some of
the older residents of the country may recall
having seen or handled the wooden clocks, of
which he was a well known manufacturer.
His father, Elijah, was a resident of Savan-
nah, N. Y., where the son was born Feb-
ruary 4, 1851. His mother was Maria E.
Winegar, of Springport, N. Y. The son
attended the primary schools up to the age
of 17, when he entered the High School of
Clyde, N. Y., from which he graduated after
a two-years' course. He then engaged in
teaching and was principal of the Union
School at South Butler, N. Y., where he
earned the first money he could call his own.
He gave up an engagement for a second year
at this place, to accept the situation at Plain-
well, which had been tendered him. Com-
mencing in a subordinate position at $50 per
month, he remained in the bank until 1880, a
period of about nine years, during which time
he was promoted to the position of assistant
and acting cashier. He then entered the law
department of the University, graduating
with the class of 1882. . Locating at Hart-
ford, an enterprising village of Van Buren
County, he soon established a good practice,
which he has maintained with a steady in-
crease, up to the present time.
In 1894 Mr. Merriman was elected to the
State Senate from the Eighth Senatorial Dis-
trict, composed of the counties of Allegan and
Van Buren and was re-elected in 1896, serv-
ing through the regular sessions of '95 and
'97, and the special session of '98. As chair-
man of the important Committee on Finance
and Appropriations of the Senate during his
second term, he won a merited prominence
by his careful scrutiny of the demands of the
GEORGE W. MERRIMAN.
many state institutions in the way of ap-
propriations, and while not refusing what
seemed just and reasonable, yet keeping the
state tax levy, within the average limits of
former years. He was also the father of the
"Merriman" railroad taxation law, which has
been so prominently before the public of late.
Some years ago Mr. Merriman became
identified with the manufacture of hardwood
lumber, and has operated several sawmills in
southwestern Michigan, with headquarters at
Hartford, where he also has a mill in opera-
tion. He is one of the leading Republicans
in his part of the State, and was a delegate
to the National Republican Convention at
way
Minneapolis in 1892. In a commercial
also, he is a banker and dealer in and large
holder of real estate, besides having farming
interests to which he gives personal attention.
He is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of
the Oddfellows fraternity, of the Elks and
Maccabees. He has been twice married, first
in 1882, to Miss Jennie Sherman of Plain-
well, who died in 1888, leaving one son, Harry
J., and in 1894 to Mrs. Jennie Smiley Phelps,
of Grand Rapids.
442
MEN OF PROGRESS.

FRANK ADAMS PEAVEY.
PEAVEY, FRANK ADAMS. Mr.
Peavey represents the element of which the
population of Michigan was almost wholly
composed up to the middle of the present
century, those of English extraction (remotely
in most cases), with a contingent of Irish,
forming the bulk of the population. His
father, Charles C. Peavey, was descended
from English stock and was born at Wolf-
boro, N. H., coming from there to Marshall,
Mich., in 1855, and removing to Battle Creek
in 1865. His mother, Mary Adams, was a
daughter of John Adams of Boston, one of
the Adams family of Massachusetts. Frank
A. Peavey was born in Marshall June 22,
1860. He attended the public schools of
Battle Creek and the Adventist College at
that place, and in 1880 entered the employ of
his grandfather, Colonel John Peavey, who
kept a hide and leather store in Battle Creek,
with whom he remained about three years.
In 1883 he accepted a position with the Battle
Creek Metal Back Album Company, repre-
senting them on the road, and after about six
months' service with them he entered the em-
ploy of the Upton Manufacturing Company
of Battle Creek, as bookkeeper. In 1884 this
concern moved their plant to Port Huron,
Mr. Peavey continuing with them. In 1890
the Upton Manufacturing Company was
merged into the Port Huron Engine &
Thresher Company, and Mr. Peavey was made
general manager of the business. The com-
pany is now capitalized at $500,000, with
branches at Peoria, Ill.; Cedar Rapids, Ia.;
Manitowoc, Wis., and Wichita, Kan. The
concern makes threshing machinery, traction
engines, road rollers, power corn shellers and
portable sawmills. The present year (1900)
the company is introducing a special feature
of the manufacture of road wagons, which,
when attached to a traction engine, can be
used as a regular train, in the hauling over-
land of beets, chicory, road materials, coal,
etc. The Port Huron Engine & Thresher
Company finds a ready sale for its output in
the middle west. The healthy growth of the
concern is shown by comparing the sales of
1890, $100,000, with 1899, $1,000,000.
Very much of this increase is due to judicious
management under Mr. Peavey's administra-
tion. The concern gives employment to about
400 men.
Aside from his connection with the Port
Huron Engine & Thresher Company, of
which he is secretary, treasurer and general
manager, Mr. Peavey is a director in the Port
Huron Manufacturing Company, and is in-
terested in the Factory Land Company, the
Threshermen's Review Publishing Company,
and the Road Maker Publishing Company,
all of Port Huron. He is a member of the
Fellowcraft Club of Detroit, and of the Port
Huron Club. Miss Alma Walker, daughter
of Maciah Walker of Port Huron, became
Mrs. Peavey in 1891. Mrs. Peavey's father
was a Canadian by birth, his father (with his
family), however, having been one of Port
Huron's earliest settlers. Her mother, Mary
Innis, was of St. Clair. Mr. and Mrs. Peavey
have no children.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
443

BOUDEMAN, DALLAS. Mr. Boude-
man stands at the head of the bar in Western
Michigan, being a resident of Kalamazoo,
where he has been in active practice for 28
years. He was born at Danville, Montour
county, Pa., January 20, 1846, and his first
name indicates that his parents, William and
Margaret G. Boudeman, were admirers of
the then Vice-President of the United States,
George M. Dallas, who was a Pennsylvanian.
Mr. Boudeman's parents were pioneers of St.
Joseph county, this state, coming from their
Pennsylvania home in 1850, by the then
approved mode of land conveyance, a covered
wagon and team of horses, although in many
cases other than the one under notice, a yoke
of oxen served in place of the horses. They
settled on a farm in St. Joseph County, where
the son (an only child) was brought up. The
son's early education was received in the pub-
lic schools of Flowerfield and Three Rivers, in
St. Joseph county. After teaching two win-
ters in the primary schools of the county, he
pursued a four years' course at Hillsdale Col-
lege, and immediately after graduation, be-
gan the study of law in the office of Severens
& Burrows, of Kalamazoo, the former now
Judge of the U. S. District Court for the
Western Michigan District, and the latter, one
of the United States Senators from Michigan.
After being admitted to the bar, Mr. Boude-
man became a partner with Judge Severens in
practice and was thus connected for six years.
Mr. Boudeman's standing in the legal pro-
fession may be judged by the character of
his early preceptors, and by the fact that he
is now a non-resident lecturer in the Law De-
partment of the State University. He has
handled successfully many important cases in
the Supreme Court and in the United States
Courts, notably the case of the Duplex Print-
DALLAS BOUDEMAN.
ing Press Company, recently decided by the
U. S. Court of Appeals in favor of the com-
pany for whom Mr. Boudeman was attorney.
Mr. Boudeman is a Republican in politics,
but is not and has never been an officeseeker,
the only official position which he ever held,
having been as a member of the Kalamazoo
School Board. At the Republican Judicial
Convention in 1899, Mr. Boudeman yielded
to the earnest request of many attorneys in
southwestern Michigan, in permitting his
name to be presented as a candidate for Judge
of the Supreme Court. Judge Grant was,
however, nominated, and Mr. Boudeman is
still endeavoring to be a lawyer and to con-
vince the courts, including Judge Grant, that
his clients are always right, in which he is in
most cases successful. Mr. Boudeman was
married November 15, 1871, to Miss Mary
J. Oernst of Mendon. Their children are
Donald O., and Dallas, Jr., the former 20
years of age and in college, the latter 2 years
old and at home.
444
MEN OF PROGRESS.

SHEARER, G. HENRY.
G. HENRY SHEARER.
Mr. Shearer
is a native of Michigan, born in Detroit, Jan-
His father, Hon. James
uary 3, 1853.
Shearer, was for many years and until his
death on October 15, 1895, one of the most
honored and trusted citizens of the state. He
was born in Albany, N. Y., and came to De-
troit in 1837, removing to Bay City in 1865.
He was a contractor and builder while in
Detroit. The mother of G. Henry Shearer,
Margaret Hutchinson, daughter of Henry
Hutchinson of Detroit, died in Bay City
February 20, 1899.
The subject of this sketch received his
early education in the public schools of De-
troit and Bay City and in private and select
schools, and thereafter until 1872 at the
Pennsylvania Military Academy at Chester,
Pa. In preparation for a life work he seems
to have realized the fitness of beginning at
the bottom. After leaving school he secured
a position as common yard man in a lumber
yard in Bay City, and gradually worked his
way up until he became bookkeeper and con-
fidential man. In 1877, in connection with
his father and brother, he branched out in the
real estate business, they having heavy land
investments in Michigan and other western
states.
Mr. Shearer honors the menory of his
father by his faith and fidelity in public trusts.
He has been a member of the Bay City Water
Board for 18 years, and a member of the Fire
Commission ever since its organization, and
is president of both boards. He is secretary
of the Elm Lawn Cemetery Company, a trus-
tee of the First Presbyterian Church, and a
stockholder and director in and vice-president
of the Bay County Savings Bank. He is a
32 degree Mason, a member of the Mystic
Shrine, of the Maccabees, the Royal Ar-
canum, the Oddfellows, and of the Bay City
Club (social). His landed interests are largely
in connection with Shearer Bros., Colt,
Mulholland, and Bay county land companies.
(limited), all of Bay City. Miss Elva D.
Culver, daughter of Descum Culver, a former
lumberman of Bay City, became Mrs. Shearer
August 22, 1876. They have no children.
Mr. Shearer is a Republican in politics, has
never sought any political office, although of-
fered many difficult offices, and held many
positions of trust in the party.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
445

The
CALLAGHAN, MILES MORRIS.
senior member of the firm of Callaghan &
Richardson of Reed City, was born at Port-
land, Mich., October 7, 1868. His paternal
ancestry, as may be readily inferred from the
name, was Irish. His grandfather, Patrick
Callaghan, who was a lineal descendant of
King Kollunkill, was an Irish leader, and
was forced to leave Ireland in 1850, for po-
litical reasons. His parents, Charles and
Margurette (Morris) Callaghan, were resi-
dents of Portland, but removed to Reed City
when the son was 7
age.
The son
years of
had the advantages of the local schools until
the age of 15, when he became errand boy
and delivery clerk for Stoddard Bros., a hard-
ware firm at Reed City, beginning at a com-
pensation of $10 per month. He was in the
employ of this firm for 15 years, during the
last seven of which he was buyer and manager.
In 1897 he started in business for himself, as
agent for manufacturing firms, and in Feb-
ruary, 1899, became a member of the firm
of Callaghan & Richardson, retail dealers in
paints, oils and wall paper. The firm are also
manufacturers' agents in that part of the
state, for handling pump and well supplies,
heavy hardware, bicycles, sporting goods, etc.
Mr. Callaghan is a Republican in politics
and is the only one of that political faith in
the Callaghan family. He has been president
of the Young Men's Republican Club, of Reed
City, for the past eight years, and is secretary
of the Osceola County Republican commit-
tee. He holds the office of postmaster at Reed
City, to which he was appointed by President
McKinley June 15, 1897. He has congres-
sional aspirations, being ambitious to repre-
sent the Eleventh district in Congress.
Mr. Callaghan's society connections and
MILES MORRIS CALLAGHAN.
services are extensive. He joined Osceola
Court Independent Order of Foresters at Reed
City in 1889, and in 1892 was appointed high
messenger of the court. In 1896 he was
elected vice-high chief ranger at Lansing, and
in 1897, at Port Huron, was elected high chief
ranger and re-elected in 1898 at the Detroit
meeting of the High Court. When the state
was divided by the erection of two High
Courts in 1899, he was appointed high secre-
tary of the High Court of the Western dis-
trict, which position he still holds. He is serv-
ing his second term as chancellor commander
of Osceola Lodge Knights of Pythias, of Reed
City, and is a member of the Maccabees, Mod-
ern Woodmen of America, Royal Circle, Mys-
tic Circle, etc.
Received the vote of his county for 17 bal-
lots at the Republican congressional conven-
tion for the Eleventh district at Traverse City
in July, 1900.

446
MEN OF PROGRESS.

US
CAPT. HARRY HILL BANDHOLTZ.
BANDHOLTZ, CAPT. HARRY HILL.
Among our young Michigan men of progress,
Capt. Bandholtz must certainly take rank, as
he is now introducing American progress into
an extensive district in Cuba, in the native
nomenclature, being styled "Khaki King of
Sagua." He was assigned to the command of
this district of Sagua, comprising about 2,400
square miles, with headquarters at the city
of Sagua la Grande. His duties consist of
building roads, enforcing sanitary regulations,
inspecting hospitals, etc.-a position of respon-
sibility certainly flattering to a young man
in his thirty-sixth year.
Capt. Bandholtz is part German, his
father, Christopher Bandholtz, after serving
in the Danish-German war, came to America
from Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, in 1847.
His mother, whose maiden name was Eliza-
beth Hill, is of Puritan descent, and traces
her lineage back to the Perrys, represented by
Commodore Perry of Lake Erie fame. The
father and mother were married in Constan-
tine, N. Y., where the present Capt. Band-
holtz was born September 18, 1864. Grad-
uating from the local schools there in 1881,
he passed the next four years as a bookkeeper
in Chicago, and in 1885 won his way to the
West Point Military Academy upon a compet-
itive examination at Kalamazoo. He grad-
uated from West Point in 1890, and was com-
missioned a second lieutenant and assigned to
the Sixth United States Infantry; was mar-
ried the same year to Miss May, daughter of
L. E. Cleveland, of Chicago, and has one
child, a son, Cleveland Nill Bandholtz. In
1892 he was transferred to Fort Thomas, Ky.,
and a year later to Mt. Vernon Barracks, Ala.,
where he was attached to the Twelfth Infan-
try, then on duty in charge of Appache pris-
oners of war. He returned the same year to
Fort Thomas, and in September, 1896, was
assigned to duty as professor of military
science and tactics at the Michigan Agricul-
tural College, and while on duty there he was
promoted to first lieutenant, and assigned to
the Seventh Infantry. The war with Spain
summoned him to active service, and on
February 12, 1898, he joined his regiment at
Tampa, Fla., and went to Cuba with Shafter's
expedition. At El Caney, July 1, 1898, he
was promoted for gallantry, and when Adju-
tant Gisard was wounded, Bandholtz was ap-
pointed adjutant, which position he held until
he left Cuba. His superior officer at El Caney,
in a letter to the governor of Michigan, speak-
ing of his conduct at the battle, said, "His
conduct was conspicuous for bravery and fear-
lessness under heavy fire. He is an officer
qualified to fill any position required of him."
Before going to Cuba, Lieut. Bandholtz was
offered a major's commission in the Thirty-
fifth Michigan Infantry, which he accepted
after the surrender of Santiago. Arriving at
Island Lake, Mich., August 6, 1898, he was
mustered in as senior major of the regiment.
When the regiment went south, Major Band-
holtz was left at Island Lake as chief muster-
ing officer for Michigan, and furloughed the
Thirty-second, Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth
regiments, later joining the Thirty-fifth at
Camp Meade, Pa., proceeding thence with the
regiment to Augusta, Ga. During his stay
there, Major Bandholtz was provost marshal
of the First Division, Second Army Corps.
At the time of the mutiny of the Fifteenth
Minnesota regiment, his prompt action pre-
vented serious trouble. He has received
many
letters complimenting him on his work at
Augusta. When his regiment was mustered
out, Major Bandholtz went on recruiting duty
at Grand Rapids, but was for a brief time pre-
viously, in charge of the Michigan Military
Academy at Orchard Lake. He was made
captain in the Regular Army, November 15,
1899. The captain is a member of the Masonic
Fraternity, including the Knights Templar,
Consistory and the Mystic Shrine, and belongs
also to the Elks.


HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
447

GEORGE REED.
REED, GEORGE. George Reed, a prom-
inent attorney of Mt. Pleasant, was born in
Devonshire, England, January 19, 1852. Ilis
father was a farmer and breeder of horses. He
attended the government schools until thir-
teen years old, when he became page and of-
fice boy in a law office, acting in the capacity
of janitor, caretaker and copyist. He re-
mained in this position two years, during
which he improved his time by reading Black-
stone. At the age of fifteen his father died
and he returned home. Circumstances were
such that he could not resume his place in the
law office and he was apprenticed to a saddler,
working the first year without any compensa-
tion and living with his mother. He worked
at the trade of a saddler until his was twenty
years old, when, having a friend who had
done well in America, he was urged to come
to the land of promise. He left England in
November, 1873, and came to Michigan. His
first experience in the State was at Hadley, appointed by the Comptroller of the Currency
Lapeer county, where he worked three months
at his trade. The next two years he worked at
Owosso and St. Louis. During the lumbering
season of 1875-6 he was in the employ of
Whitney & Stinchfield, who were lumbering
in Montcalm county, working as harness-
maker and repair man for their several log-
ging camps, and during the summer months
working on the drive and sorting gap. He
then worked for Whitney & Remick, who
operated in Isabella county, with whom Mr.
Reed remained six years, acting as bookkeeper
for their logging operations in Isabella county.
In 1882 he started in business for himself, and
opened a harness shop at Dushville, Isabella
county, where he remained until 1890. While
there he was elected township clerk and ap-
pointed postmaster. At the November elec-
tion in 1890 he was elected county clerk of
Isabella county, and moved to Mount Pleas-
ant, the county seat. He was elected for a
second term in 1892. While county clerk he
resumed the study of law and was admitted to
practice before Judge P. F. Dodds. After the
expiration of his official term he entered upon
the practice of law, and in the fall of 1896 was
as receiver of the First National Bank of
Ithaca, which was capitalized at $50,000. He
closed up the affairs of the bank in July, 1900,
paying the depositors one hundred cents on
the dollar and interest. In January, 1899,
he was appointed receiver of the First Na-
tional Bank of Mount Pleasant, which had
gone into liquidation, and he is now engaged
in settling with its depositors and creditors,
having declared, so far, a 75 per cent. divi-
dend.
Mr. Reed is a man of affairs, being largely
interested in real estate and a stockholder in
the Union Telephone Company, which oper-
ates in northern Michigan. He is interested
in 1,400 acres of marl beds in Antrim, Char-
levoix and Isabella counties, and a Portland
cement company is being projected for their
working. Mr. Reed is a Democrat in politics
and has been a member of the State centra!
committee and chairman for four years of the
Isabella county committee. He is a member
of the Masonic fraternity and of the Oddfel-
lows, Elks, Maccabees and Modern Woodmen.
Miss Elva Earl, of Leslie, Michigan, became
Mrs. Reed in 1884. They have two children,
George H. and Grover C.
448
MEN OF PROGRESS.

PATRICK NOUD.
NOUD, PATRICK. The biography of
Patrick Noud of Manistee, the president of
the State Lumber Company, and a prominent
lumberman of northern Michigan, is one of
more than ordinary interest. It is another
striking illustration of what persevering
energy and pluck will accomplish for the
young man with but meager opportunities.
Mr. Noud is of Irish lineage, but is a
Canadian by birth, having been born in the
town of Arnprior, Ontario, January 19, 1845.
His mother died when he was 9 years old,
and his father three years later, from which
time he lived at the home of his grandfather
until he was 20 years of age. He went to
work at the age of 13 as porter in a public
house, near the home of his grandparents, at
$4.00 per month, and later was errand boy for
contractors on government works on Mada-
waska River. He went into the lumber woods
at the age of 17, making square timber. He
remained as a support to his grandparents
until 1865, and then started out for himself,
coming to Michigan. Having favorable in-
formation of northern Michigan he decided
to try his fortune there, and had just money
enough to pay his fare from Detroit to North-
port.
From there he worked his way on a
sailing vessel, down Grand Traverse Bay to
Elk Rapids. Not finding work there he
walked to a point on Manistee River, 20
miles above Manistee, where he worked until
spring, when the contractors failed and did
not pay their employes. He worked in the
woods until 1867, and then engaged with R.
G. Peters as superintendent of logging opera-
tions, and was so employed until 1873. That
fall he took a contract from R. G. Peters for
logging 25,000,000 feet of pine timber, and
borrowed $10,000 for outfit. He completed
the contract in three and one-half years, with
$16,000 to the good. He then resumed work
for Peters as superintendent of logging opera-
tions, serving in that capacity until 1881.
In 1879 Mr. Noud associated himself with
Thomas Kenney in the log booming business,
in which they were very successful. He had
also in 1879 become a partner with Davies,
Blacker & Co., which, in 1887, became the
State Lumber Company, of which Mr. Noud
has been president from the first. At that
time Mr. Davies sold out his interest to the
Manistee Lumber Company, which in turn
sold out to the present company in 1898. Mr.
Noud is also operating the J. C. Pomeroy
Company of Manistee, manufacturers of lum-
ber, and running a planing mill and retail
yards.
Mr. Noud is a Democrat and, while not ac-
tively engaged in political affairs, he has
given considerable time to matters of a public
nature, having served his ward for several
terms as alderman, and the city of Manistee
for one year as mayor. He is a member of the
Catholic Mutual Benevolent Association, of
the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and the
Elks. Miss Susan A. McCurdy of Manistee,
became Mrs. Noud in 1870. Their children
are: Mary G., bookkeeper with the J. C. Pom-
eroy Company; Thos. J., vice-president and
cashier, State Lumber Company; John F.,
foreman of Pomeroy's mill; Bernard D., in
charge of J. C. Pomeroy retail yards; Maud
A., in Manistee High School; Walter A. and
Reuben P., in parochial school, Manistee.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
449

MANN, ALEXANDER V. Mr. Mann
is one of the pioneers in the lumber industry
in Muskegon, being located there in 1857.
He was born in Somerset county, N. J., July
18, 1834, his father, John W. Mann, having
been a lawyer. The son passed his early
years up to the age of 21 on a farm, with but
limited educational advantages, and in 1855
came to Michigan and found employment in
a dry goods store in Grand Rapids, going from
there, two years later, to Muskegon. His first
venture there was the purchase of a small
tract of timber land on Cedar Creek, north of
Muskegon, from which he cut the timber and
hired it sawed at a local mill, marketing the
product in Chicago. He continued to operate
in this way for some 10 years, making a spe-
cialty also of hewed timber for bridge and
railroad work, for which a ready market was
found in the growing states of the west. In
1868 Mr. Mann formed a partnership with
John W. Moon and Henry Bourdon, and the
firm purchased a mill property at Lakeside
(now a part of the city of Muskegon), which
they continued to operate until the death of
Bourdon in 1871, when the surviving part-
ners formed the firm of A. V. Mann & Co.
In 1872 the mill was burned, but was rebuilt
on a larger scale with all modern appliances
and was sold to the lumber firm of Hovey &
McCracken in 1890. During Mr. Mann's
career in the lumber business either alone or
in connection with his business associates, he
handled between 700,000,000 and 800,000,-
000 feet of timber and lumber, giving his
personal attention to the manufacture as well
as to the financial details of the business. For
many years the firm carried on a car lot trade
direct with retailers at interior points through-
out the country, while the greater distribu-
tion has been by lake craft, of which they
own two steam barges and a number of sail-
ing vessels. After closing out their sawmill
in 1890, the firm made large purchases of
pine and hardwood timber lands in Arkansas
and are also interested in large tracts of red
cedar and Douglas fir lands on the Columbia
River in British Columbia.
Mr. Mann early became interested in the
ALEXANDER V. MANN.
banking business at Muskegon, and in 1872
he organized the National Lumberman's
Bank of that city, of which he was for 10
years vice-president, and has since and up to
the present time been the president. He is
also president of the Alaska Refrigerator
Company, the Muskegon Manufacturing
of Muskegon, and the Michigan Fire Ladder
Company, the Stafford Desk Company, all
Company of Grand Rapids, Mich., and of the
Muskegon Lumber Company of Little Rock,
Ark., and is a director in 13 business corpora-
tions in Muskegon.
Mr. Mann is a Democrat of the gold
standard class, and was a delegate to the Na-
tional Conventions in 1884 and 1888, the
first at Chicago and the other at St. Louis.
The only public office he ever held was that
of Supervisor for one year. He is a member
of the Masonic Fraternity, including the
Knights Templar, Shrine and Consistory De-
grees. Miss Sarah Rand of Muskegon, be-
came Mrs. Mann in 1860. One son, William
H., secretary to his father, and one daughter,
Eliza B., at home, are the fruit of the mar-
riage.
As a lumberman, a banker and a public
spirited citizen, Mr. Mann holds a deservedly
high place, in the estimation of his immediate
fellow citizens, as well as of his numerous
correspondents elsewhere.

450
MEN OF PROGRESS.
SILAS WILLIAM GLASGOW.
GLASGOW, SILAS WILLIAM. The
name of Glasgow at once associates the bearer
with the land of which the city of that name
is the commercial capital. The grandparents
of the present Mr. Glasgow were from Scot-
land, but emigrated to the north of Ireland
in 1750. His parents, William and Eliza
Glasgow, were born in County Tyrone, Ire-
land, coming from there to Auburn, N. Y., in
1833, and from thence to Michigan in 1837,
settling on a farm near Jonesville in Fayette
township, Hillsdale county, where the son,
Silas W., was born October 2, 1844. The
parents both died in Jonesville, the mother
February 4, 1887, and the father November
25, 1897. The son attended the neighbor
hood school and the Jonesville schools, round-
ing out his education at Hillsdale College. He
then spent some five years in teaching in his
own neighborhood, which he gave up in 1873
to co-operate with his father in his farming
interests. Mr. Glasgow was married Septem-
ber 7, 1870, to Miss Emma L. Mitchell,
daughter of James F. Mitchell of Jonesville,
and with a growing family, he some years ago
moved into that village in order that his chil-
dren might have better school advantages than
the country afforded, as well as for business
reasons. Mr. Glasgow's, father was a very
extensive and successful farmer, and the son
has proved no less so, combining also with
farming at the present time, a real estate and
money loaning business. Mr. Glasgow was
elected President of the Village in March
last (1900) and has been a member of the
local school board for a number of
pres-
years. He
is an active Republican in politics and is pres-
ident of the McKinley Club in the organiza-
tion of which he took an active part, a local
political agency designed for work in the
idential campaign of 1900. He is a member
of the Masonic Fraternity and the Knights
of Pythias, and is a member and has been for
several years an elder in the Presbyterian
Church. Mr. and Mrs. Glasgow have three
children, Amarette, wife of Prof. W. D.
Hill, Crystal Falls, Mich.; Eva L., wife of
Benjamin F. Merchant of Jonesville, and
William Mitchell, 13 years old, at home.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Glasgow take great inter-
est in religious work, Mrs. G. being at the pres-
ent time (as well as for some years past),
president of both the Missionary Society and
the Ladies' Aid Society. She also taught in
the Jonesville schools in 1867, '68 and '69.
Her family
Her family are of English origin, coming
first from England to Vermont, thence to
Erie County, N. Y., and to Jonesville in 1861,
where her father died January 9, 1877. Her
mother still lives in Jonesville.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
451

FORSYTHE, LEE KERN. There is an
expression sometimes heard in political circles
when choosing candidates for public office,
"Give the young men a chance." But if it be
wise to give the young men a chance in politi-
cal life, the young men are not always slow
to make their own way in the business world,
as shown in the case of the gentleman whose
name heads this sketch, who has the honor
of having been the father of an important
industry in Michigan. Mr. Forsythe is a
native Pennsylvanian, having been born at
Pittsburg April 1, 1869, his father, Wm.
Forsythe, having been a foundryman in Pitts-
burg. His mother, Emma Faulkner, was of
Erie, Pa. The father having died when the
son was but 3 years of age, the latter came
to Detroit, and under the care of an uncle
and aunt, attended the public schools there
until the age of 14. He then went to White
Sulphur Springs in Montana, working there
in the mines during the summer months, in
order to procure means to pay for a special
course in chemistry during winters at the In-
diana State University, at Bloomington, Ind.,
from which he graduated in 1889. He then
opened an office as a chemical assayist at
White Sulphur Springs, remaining there one
year. In 1890 he entered the employ of the
Yellowstone Mining Company, of Castle,
Mont., as assayist, remaining with them one
year. He then went to Niehart, Mont., where
he opened an office for himself doing special
assay work for miners from all parts of the
state. In 1894 he returned to Michigan on
the way to Mexico, in behalf of a company, of
which the Hon. Wm. C. Maybury, at present
Mayor of Detroit, was one of the chief owners,
to make a report upon a mining venture there
in which they were interested. While in
Mexico his stepfather in Battle Creek died,
necessitating his return to Michigan. Going
to Battle Creek he became connected with the
Michigan Foundry Company, as his step-
father left an interest at death, with which
concern he remained until it was absorbed by
the Advance Thresher Company in 1896. He
LEE KERN FORSYTHE.
then conceived the idea of manufacturing
cement, and organized and incorporated a
company under the name of the Peerless Port-
land Cement Company, of which he was sec-
retary-treasurer and manager. The company
built a plant at Union City with a capacity
of 20 barrels per day, employing eight men,
which gradually increased to a daily output
of 1,200 barrels, with a payroll of about 200
men.
This plant is the pioneer cement com-
pany of Michigan. Mr. Forsythe never saw
a cement factory previous to this venture, but
being an expert chemist, he made the venture
a success from the start, and from this has
grown the cement industry of the state. Mr.
Forsythe closed his connection with the com-
pany in 1899, previous to which it had been
capitalized at $250,000. Returning to Battle
Creek in 1899, he organized the Durable
Cement Post Company at that place, of which
he is at present the manager. Mr. Forsythe
is a member of the Masonic Fraternity. Miss
Lulu A. North, daughter of E. L. North, of
Battle Creek, became Mrs. Forsythe in 1896.
They have one daughter, Helen Dorothy.


452
MEN OF PROGRESS.

SUMNER O. BUSH.
BUSH, SUMNER O. Like many an-
other representative Michigan man, Mr. Bush
is a graduate from the farm. Born near
Sandstone in Jackson county, May 7, 1847,
his parents moved into Calhoun county seven
years later. From the farm and local schools,
he graduated from the scientific course at
Olivet College in 1870. Still adhering to the
farm, his first outside business venture was in
live stock. With small savings, supplemented
by a loan, he bought his first load of cattle
when 23 years old. He was subsequently
associated with Charles Roe of Detroit in buy-
ing stock for the Eastern market. He further
pursued the live stock business on his own
account, and also engaged in buying wool
and fruit, while still working the farm. En-
gaged also in buying and fattening sheep for
the market, some winters feeding over 1,000
sheep.
In 1889 Mr. Bush's business reputation had
become such that he was made a director and
vice-president of the Advance Thresher Com-
pany, and he removed to Battle Creek. A
little later the duties of general manager were
added to those of vice-president. The Ad-
vance Thresher Company is one of the newer
plants for the manufacture of threshers and
engines, but under judicious management
now stands in the front rank. The first year
Mr. Bush was connected with the company
they turned out only 45 machines. The
product in 1899 represented a cash value of
over $2,000,000. It is one of the leading
establishments in Battle Creek and is a credit
to that enterprising and go ahead central
city, and to the State of Michigan.
Mr. Bush has other and varied business in-
terests. He is owner and manager of a farm
of 417 acres, which is made a profit-paying
investment. He is a director in and vice-
president of the Peerless Portland Cement
Company of Union City, and an equal part-
ner in the Howes & Bush Co., who do an ex-
tensive business in fruit, beans, coal, etc. He
was president of the Board of Public Works
of Battle Creek for six years, and was an ac-
tive agent in developing the sewer system and
extending the water works system of the city.
He has been a trustee of Olivet College for
12 years and has been identified with the
growth and improvement of that institution,
which, within the past few years, has made
such marked progress.
Mr. Bush may be characterized in modern.
phrase, as a pusher in whatever he under-
takes, but with a judicious conservatism in his
undertakings. He does not rush blindly into
schemes, but having once determined upon
an enterprise, he may be relied upon to work
it for all it is worth. He is of an even balance
in temperament that assures success in life.
sidering a proposal with candor, he can de-
He is of pleasing personality, and, while con-
cline it without offense. He was an active
member of the State Agricultural Society
for a number of years, but has no special sec-
retarial connections. He is Republican in
politics. His father was Frederick E. Bush,
and his mother Cynthia Willard, a direct de-
scendant of the Wellard family of Vermont.
Miss Vernellie Daley, daughter of Elijah
Daley of LeRoy, Calhoun county, and a
graduate of Mt. Holyoke Seminary, Kalama-
zoo, became Mrs. Bush in 1877. They have
three children: Vernon E., and Charles S.,
students of the University of Michigan, the
former having graduated from the literary
department in 1900, and Bertha, attending
the Battle Creek High School.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
453

WOLCOTT, FRANK TURNER. Frank
Mr.
T. Wolcott, of Port Huron, the present Judge
of Probate of St. Clair county, was born at
Perry, N. Y., January 1, 1861. Through his
parents, Oscar M. and Emily (Thompson)
Wolcott, he is connected with an ancestry
prominently associated with the colonial his-
tory of Maine. His father was a Methodist
minister and served four years in a New York
regiment in the war of the rebellion.
Wolcott graduated from the academy at
Perry, N. Y., in 1880, and early in 1881 went
to Buffalo and spent some time in the office of
an uncle, who was a lawyer there, in which
experience he contracted an appetite for legal
study. He came to Port Huron in the fall of
1881 and began the systematic study of law in
the office of Stevens & Thomas, of that place,
and applying himself diligently to his studies
was admitted to the bar before Judge H. W.
Stevens July 18, 1882. He at once opened an
office and as a young attorney, practicing alone,
was favored with a gratifying clientage for
four years.
In 1886 he became a member of
the law firm of Atkinson, Vance & Wolcott
(O'Brien J. Atkinson and S. W. Vance). This
connection continued until Mr. Vance was
elected Circuit Judge in 1892, when the firm
became Atkinson & Wolcott. Mr. Wolcott's
partnership relations were a second time in-
terrupted by a similar cause, when in June,
1899, Mr. Atkinson was appointed to a circuit
judgeship, the Legislature of that year having
provided for an additional judge for the cir-
cuit. George G. Moore then became asso-
ciated with Mr. Wolcott under the firm name
of Wolcott & Moore, which is the present
style of the firm.
FRANK TURNER WOLCOTT.
Being but a young man Mr. Wolcott has
his life's history yet to make, but so far as
official service is concerned he has already
made a worthy commencement. He served
two terms as City Attorney of Port Huron
and had a like service (four years) as Circuit
Court Commissioner. In 1896 he was elected
to the responsible position of Judge of Pro-
bate. He is a Republican in politics and was
for six years, preceding the opening of the
campaign of 1900, chairman of the congres-
sional district committee of the seventh dis-
trict. He is local attorney for the Chicago &
Grand Trunk and the Flint & Pere Marquette
railways. His society connections are Knights
of Pythias, Maccabees and I. O. F. Miss
Francis H. Holbert, daughter of G. H. Hol-
bert, of Elmira, N. Y., became Mrs. Wolcott
at St. Clair, Feb. 23, 1896.
454
MEN OF PROGRESS.

THOMAS MUNROE.
MUNROE, THOMAS. Mr. Munroe is a
leading business man and manufacturer of
Muskegon. He is the oldest of a family of six
children born to Dr. Thomas and Mrs. Annis
(Hinman) Munroe. Dr. Munroe was a native
of Baltimore, Md., and settled in Rushville,
Schuyler county, Illinois, in 1837, where the
son Thomas was born October 26, 1844. Mrs.
Munroe, mother of Thomas, was a native of
Herkimer county, N. Y., and a daughter of
Benjamin Hinman, who held a major's com-
mission in the colonial army in the War of the
Revolution. Mrs. Munroe is one of the real
Daughters of the American Revolution, and is
still living at Rushville, Ill., at the age of 85
years. The son Thomas attended the district
schools as a boy, and at the age of eighteen
entered the Illinois Wesleyan Seminary at
Bloomington, where he remained about two
years. Subsequently he spent six years as a
clerk in a general store at Rushville, and in
1870 he resigned that position and came to
Muskegon, where he has since continued to
reside. He immediately entered the employ of
L. G. Mason & Co., with whom he remained
eight years. For a time he had charge of the
books and other office work and subsequently
was manager of the outside work. On the or-
ganization of the Thayer Lumber Company in
1878 Mr. Munroe was appointed superinten-
dent of its workings and business, which have
since been under his management. The com-
pany is operating two saw mills, with a yearly
output of about fifty million feet of lumber,
and employing over three hundred men. Their
product is handled largely by rail and finds a
market chiefly in the east and southeast. The
company was incorporated in 1880, Mr. Mun-
roe having been superintendent from the first,
and now combined the double function of su-
perintendent, secretary and treasurer. In ad-
dition to the mills the company has over seven
hundred feet of lake frontage as part of its
plant in Muskegon, and is also a large holder
of pine lands in Kalkaska and Missaukee
counties.
Mr. Munroe is president of the Common-
wealth Lumber Company of Frazee, Minn., of
the Indiana Box Company, of Anderson, Ind.,
is vice-president of the Hackley National Bank
of Muskegon, and a director in the Muskegon
Savings Bank. He is a Republican in politics,
but has never held political office, devoting his
entire time to his numerous business interests.
The only official position ever held by him was
as a member of the local school board.
Mr. Munroe is prominently associated with
the Masonic fraternity, being a Past Master of
Lovel Moore Lodge 182, of Muskegon, Past
High Priest of Muskegon Chapter Royal Arch
Masons, Past Eminent Commander of Muske-
gon Commandery 47, Knights Templar, first
Lieutenant Commander of Dewitt Clinton
Consistory of Grand Rapids, and became a
33 Degree Mason in 1898. Mr. Munroe was
married June 19, 1872, to Miss Katherine A.
Jones, daughter of John R. Jones, of Remsen,
N. Y., who as a resident of Muskegon has en-
deared herself to its people by her many es-
timable qualities and as an active participant
in church and other charitable work.



HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
455
Mr.
CHASE, CHARLES
CHARLES HENRY.
Chase was born at Cato, N. Y., Dec. 19, 1852.
From New York his parents, Daniel B. and
Catherine (Switzer) Chase, moved in 1862 to
Michigan, settling on a farm near the village
of Maple Rapids, in Clinton county. The
Chases are direct descendants of William
Chase, who came from England with Gover-
nor Winthrop in 1630. Charles Henry Chase
was one of a family of eight children. He had
the advantages of the district schools until he
was fifteen, followed by a couple of terms at
the Maple Rapids Union school. At the age of
sixteen he secured a third grade teacher's cer-
tificate and began teaching school, his first
engagement paying him one hundred dollars
for one hundred days school in Lebanon, Clin-
ton county. He began a preparatory course
for college, working at home on the farm dur-
ing vacations, and entered Albion College in
February of 1875, graduating therefrom in
1878, with the degree of Ph. B. During his
vacations, while at Albion College, he acted as
tutor and as assistant to Prof. Geo. B. Merri-
man, who was employed by the United States
government to compute the positions of the
standard stars for the Nautical Almanac, and
in this service he earned means to pay his way
through college. After leaving Albion he be-
came assistant principal of the St. Johns High
School, year 1878-9. The next year he was
principal of the Zeeland public school, and
during 1881, 1882 and 1883 was principal of
the high school at Lansing, and the next two
years was in charge of the public schools at
Leslie. He then abandoned pedagogy for the
road, and during four years was traveling sales-
man in the western states, the last year for the
Nonotuck Silk Company. Quitting the road,
he, with his brother, purchased the Herald
newspaper at Anderson, Ind., which they pub-
lished in 1889-90 during the natural gas boom.
They then sold out and purchased from Robert
Smith, in June, 1890, the Gratiot (Mich.)
County Journal. In 1893 three of the Gratiot
county papers (the Gratiot County Journal,
Alma Record and St. Louis Republican
CHARLES HENRY CHASE.
Leader) were combined under one manage-
ment and under the name of the Gratiot
County Printing Company, and as secretary
and treasurer of this company, Mr. Chase
lived at St. Louis from 1893 until 1896, when
the corporation was dissolved. He continued
to manage the Gratiot County Journal until
1896, still retaining his connection with it in
company with his brother, A. E. Chase. The
Journal was started in 1856 as the Gratiot
County News, and re-named the Journal in
1866.
Mr. Chase is a well-known writer on econ-
omic questions and is author of the work, "Ele-
mentary Principles of Economics," which is
recognized as a standard work in the colleges
and schools of the country. He was a Repub-
lican until after the St. Louis (Mo.) conven-
tion in 1896, when he became known as a sil-
ver Republican. He was that year nominated
on the combination ticket for Judge of Pro-
bate, and was elected by 395 majority. He is
a member of the Masonic fraternity, of the
Order of Oddfellows, of the Royal Arcanum
and of the Delta Tau Delta (literary). Miss
Mary E. Church, daughter of M. M. Church,
of Albion, became Mrs. Chase in 1879.


456
MEN OF PROGRESS.
0
COL. FRANK DWIGHT BALDWIN.
BALDWIN, COL. FRANK DWIGHT.
Col. Baldwin is a representative type of Michi-
gan citizen soldiery. His father, Francis L.
D. Baldwin, was a farmer, descended from
Massachusetts and Connecticut stock. His
mother, Betsey Richards, was a native of the
state of New York. The parents were early
residents of Manchester, Mich., where Frank
D. was born June 26, 1842, they removing to
Nottawa township, St. Joseph county, while
the son was a small child. He attended the
local school until fourteen years old, the last
three years only during the winter months.
In 1856 the family removed to Constantine,
where the son had the advantage of the graded
school, graduating from the High School in
1860. He had just begun a preparatory course
when the capture of Fort Sumpter sounded
the key note of the great Civil War. He at
once began organizing a company, which was
first mustered into the service as the Chandler
Horse Guards, in which he held the commis-
sion of second lieutenant.
In November,
1861, this company was merged with the
Nineteenth Michigan Infantry, Lieutenant
Baldwin taking rank as first lieutenant of
Company B, in which he served until the close
of the war, holding, when mustered out, the
rank of captain, and has been commissioned
as lieutenant-colonel, though not sworn as
such. During his service he participated in
the battles of Thompson's Station, Resaca,
Cassville, Atlanta and during Sherman's
march to the sea, and was wounded once. He
resumed his studies at Constantine after the
war was over, and entered Hillsdale College,
but was called therefrom in February, 1866,
to accept a lieutenancy in the Nineteenth reg-
ular infantry, being promoted from second to
first lieutenant, transferred to Thirty-Seventh
Infantry Sept. 21, 1866 and to the Fifth In-
fantry May 19, 1869, promoted to the rank of
captain March 20, 1879. He was breveted.
major Feb. 27, 1890, for gallant services in
actions against the Indians, on the Salt Fork
of the Red River, Texas, Aug. 30, 1874, on
McLellan's Creek, Texas, Nov. 8, 1874, for
gallant and successful attack on Sitting Bull's
camp of Indians on Red Water River, Mont.,
Dec. 18, 1876, and conspicuous gallantry in
action against Indians at Wolf Mountain,
Mont., Jan. 8, 1877. He was commissioned
major of the Fifth Infantry April 23rd, 1898,
and transferred to the Third Infantry Nov. 3,
1899. He was commissioned lieutenant-col-
onel and inspector-general of volunteers, serv-
ing from May 9, 1898, to May 12, 1899, and
on Dec. 18, 1899, was made lieutenant-colonel
of the Third Regular Infantry, and is now
serving as such in the Philippines.
Col. Baldwin has twice been voted medals
of honor by Congress: for distinguished brav-
ery at the Battle of Peach Tree Creek, Ga.,
July 20, 1864, and for most distinguished
gallantry in action against hostile Indians near
McLellan's Creek, Texas, Nov. 8, 1874, attack-
ing them with two companies, forcing them
from their strong position, and pursuing them.
until they were utterly routed. Most of the
facts of Col. Baldwin's military record above
are kindly supplied by L. R. Hammersly of
New York, publisher of the U. S. Army List,
soon to be issued.
Col. Baldwin is a close friend of Maj.-Gen.
Miles. His society connections are Loyal Le-
gion, Society of Indian Wars, G. A. R. and
Masonic. He was married Jan. 10, 1867, to
Miss Alice Blackwood, daughter of Dr. C. D.
Blackwood, of Northville. They have one
daughter, Juniata, wife of A. C. G. Williams-
Foote, First Lieutenant Thirty-second U. S.
Infantry, now on duty in the Philippines.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
457

BUCKLEY, EDWARD. Edward Buck-
ley, president of the Buckley & Douglas Lum-
ber Company, of Manistee. He is of English
ancestry of the yeomanry class, his father own-
ing and tilling his own land. He was born at
Biddleford, Devonshire, August 8, 1842. In
1847 his parents, Robert and Mary (Selden)
Buckley, moved to Montreal, where the
father died, leaving two children, Edward, and
a daughter, two years his junior. Shortly
after the death of his father, Edward's mother
went with her two children to Toronto, where
the son received his first school training.
When he was twelve years old he began work
on a farm for his board and clothing, where he
remained three years. In 1855 the mother,
with her family, removed to Cheboygan, Wis.,
where the son learned the trade of a tinsmith.
Later, when the family moved to Milwaukee,
he started out for himself. He was not con-
fined to one line, however, but had worked at
a variety of vocations for a young man, in-
cluding one season on a river steamer, plying
between St. Paul, Minn., and St. Louis, Mo.
While in Milwaukee he realized the import-
ance of a better educational equipment and
took a six months' course in a commercial
college, attending both day and evening ses-
sions as a necessary measure of financial econ-
omy. On August 5, 1862, he enlisted in the
Twenty-fourth Wisconsin Infantry, with
which he joined Buell's Army of the Cum-
berland, participating in the battles of Perry-
ville, Stone River, Chickamauga, Mission
Ridge and all of the battles of the Atlanta
campaign. Upon his discharge in August,
1865, Mr. Buckley returned to Milwaukee,
where he entered the employ of the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company, in
the capacity of a tinsmith. In 1867 he came
to Manistee and took charge of a tinshop for a
local hardware firm, and six months later
opened a hardware and tinsmith business for
himself under the name of Edward. Buckley
& Co., having H. V. Marchant, of Milwaukee,
as his business associate. In 1874 he closed
out his hardware business and together with
Mr. Ruggles carried on a general land business
EDWARD BUCKLEY.
for several years. In 1880 Mr. Buckley en-
tered into a partnership with William Doug-
las for the purpose of carrying on a logging
and lumber manufacturing business, in which
they were very successful, six years later pur-
chasing the Ruddock, Nuttal & Co. timber
lands and mill property, and beginning the
extensive improvements which have made
their plant one of the most complete of its
kind in the Northwest. Mr. Buckley is a
member of the Republican party and is one
of the candidates on the Republican electoral
ticket at the pending election (1900). He is
president and treasurer of the Buckley &
Douglas Lumber Company and president and
general manager of the Manistee & North-
eastern Railroad Co., running between Manis-
tee and Traverse City. He is a 32nd degree
Mason and has held all of the important offi-
ces of the several lodges to which he belongs,
including the office of Eminent Commander of
Manistee Commandery, No. 32 Knights
Templar. He is also a member of Saladin
Temple of Grand Rapids and of the Grand
Rapids Consistory. In 1869 Mr. Buckley was
married to Miss Mary D. Ruggles, who died in
1886. In 1894 he was united in marriage to
Miss Jonnie Sloan, daughter of Hon. John
Sloan, of Savannah, Georgia, by whom he has
one daughter.




458
MEN OF PROGRESS.
EUGENE T. SAWYER.
He was
SAWYER, EUGENE T. The oldest law
practitioner in the county of Wexford bears
the well-known name foregoing.
born at Grand Rapids, May 8, 1848, his father,
James Sawyer, having come from England in
1834 and located at Grand Rapids. Under
contract the father removed the stumps from
what is now the principal street of the second
city, and later was connected with the first
company that opened the plaster beds at Grand
Rapids, and for years burned the stucco that
supplied all of western Michigan. The mother
of the present Mr. Sawyer was Susan C. Mar-
din, of a French Huguenot family, that came
to the French settlement at Grand Rapids in
1838. Mr. Sawyer's primary education was
received in the neighborhood schools and in
the Grand Rapids high school, from the latter
of which he graduated in 1868. His first re-
sources were secured by work as a farm hand
and teaching a district school, he having been
employed as a teacher near Grand Rapids for
two years, his ambition having been to save
money enough to defray his expenses in a col-
lege course. He entered the law department
of the University in the fall of 1870 and
graduated therefrom in 1873. He borrowed
$200 to complete his course, following which
he located at Cadillac. Having taken a com-
mercial course at Grand Rapids in 1869 he im-
proved the knowledge there acquired by keep-
ing books for a couple of business firms in
Cadillac to meet his current expenses. He
opened a law office in the same building with
the "Cadillac News," and for two years acted
as reporter, solicitor and collector for the pa-
per, attending to his bookkeeping at night,
while building up a law practice. At the end
of the second year he was elected Justice of the
Peace, which gave him a start and an extended
acquaintance. He was a law partner with S.
S. Fallass for two years, and in 1878 became
associated with his present partner, James R.
Bishop.
Mr. Sawyer has contributed very largely to
the material development of the city of Cadil-
lac. He was for years secretary of the Cadil-
lac Improvement Board, which was organized
to promote the manufacturing interests of the
city, and was the means of securing several
new industries, notably the Cadillac Handle
Company, Cadillac Stave & Heading Com-
pany and the C. M. Oviatt Manufacturing
Company, besides many smaller concerns. He
was one of the promoters of the western divis-
ion of the now Toledo & Ann Arbor railroad,
and was for years its local attorney. To Mr.
Sawyer is given the credit of having secured
for Cadillac its handsome brick and stone
school buildings. A majority of the school
board favored wooden buildings, but during
an all night session, closing at 4 o'clock in the
morning, Mr. Sawyer converted them to the
solid plan.
Politically, Mr. Sawyer is an independent,
not affiliating with any party and never having
voted a straight party ticket. Because of this
he has held public office very little, except
where politics did not enter. He was eight
years a member of the local school board, was
for four years its president and two years its
secretary, serving one year in the double capa-
city. Mr. Sawyer and his family are affiliated
with the Congregational church. Miss Kate
M. Sipley, daughter of John F. Sipley, of
Ann Arbor, became Mrs. Sawyer in 1875.
of the University and a teacher in the Cadil-
Of the two daughters, Christobel is a graduate
lac high school, and Olive is a student at the-
University.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
459

APLIN, HENRY H. One of the most
popular of Michigan's sons, wherever he is
known, is Henry H. Aplin, of West Bay City.
His parents, Thomas and Elvira (Metcalf)
Aplin, came to Michigan in 1835, settling in
Shetford township, Genesee county, where
Henry H. was born April 15, 1841, the fam-
ily removing to Flint in 1848. The son's edu-
cation was received in the public schools of
Flint. The family returned to the farm in
1856, where the son remained until the out-
break of the Civil War, when he enlisted on
July 3, 1861, in Company C, Sixteenth Mich-
igan Infantry, which was attached to the First
Division, Third Brigade, Fifth Army Corps,
Army of the Potomac, serving until the close
of the war and leaving the service July 16,
1865, with the rank of second lieutenant. Re-
turning to Michigan, he engaged in mercantile
business at Wenona, now West Bay City,
where he has since resided. He was postmas-
ter at West Bay City from November, 1869,
to June, 1886, and was again appointed to the
same office Oct. 1, 1898. At the November
At the November
election in 1886 he was elected Auditor Gen-
eral of the State. His personal popularity is
shown by his having led his party ticket (the
Republican) by over 10,000 votes in the State
and nearly 2,000 in his own county. He was
re-elected to the same office in 1888. After
the expiration of his term he, with others, un-
dertook the construction of a system of elec-
tric street railways in West Bay City, of which
he was the general manager until he closed
out his interest in the enterprise in 1891. In
1894 Mr. Aplin was elected to the lower house
of the State Legislature from the second dis-
trict of Bay county, serving during the ses-
sion of 1895. He has represented his party
in local and state convention for many years
and was a delegate to the national convention
that nominated Blaine and Logan in 1884.
HENRY H. ALPIN.
He was a member of the Republican state
central committee 1888-92 and has been chair-
man of every local committee, congressional,
senatorial, representative, county, township
and ward. The Republicans have been suc-
cessful only when he was at the helm, and he
never lost but one (county) campaign. He
served as Township Clerk and Township
Treasurer, each three years, and was never
defeated but once, when he was a candidate
for Village Trustee.
On his father's side Mr. Aplin is of Scotch
descent. He is a member of the Masonic fra-
ternity, of the Knights of Pythias, the Na-
tional Union, the Royal Arcanum, the Order
of Foresters, and the G. A. R., and has been
commander of Ralph Cummings Post of West
Bay City several terms. Mr. Aplin was mar-
ried at Maumee City, Ohio, in 1879, to Miss
Frances L. Patchen, daughter of Malcolm B.
Patchen, of Maumee City. Their one daugh-
ter, Daisy A., is the wife of Charles B. Cone,
a traveling salesman of Chicago.

460
MEN OF PROGRESS.

BRAKIE J. ORR.
ORR, BRAKIE J. Mr. Orr was born May
15, 1860, and received his education at the
public schools of Saginaw. After leaving
school he learned the trade of a stone cutter
with Woodruff & Caswell, of Saginaw, after
which he spent about two and one-half years
in various places in the United States and
Canada, improving himself in his trade. Re-
turning to Saginaw, he entered the employ of
Woodruff & Caswell as a traveling salesman,
and while thus employed came into competi-
tion with Mr. Edwin Pryor, since deceased, of
the Bay City Stone Co. Mr. Pryor was so
favorably impressed with his manner and style
of doing business that he offered him the posi-
tion of manager of the marble and granite de-
partment of the Bay City Stone Co., which
he accepted, and where he remained until he
laid down the mallet and chisel to take up the
practice of law. The law was the profession
to which Mr. Orr aspired, and his hope was to
earn sufficient money at his trade to enable him
to pursue his law studies without interruption.
Shortly after taking up his residence in Bay
City, he met with the young lady (Miss
Euphemia Augusta Calvin) who is now his
wife, to whom he was married in 1883. A
fast increasing family did not bring his cher-
ished plans any nearer; he therefore deter-
mined to pursue his studies while working at
his trade. Under the tutelage of Curtis E.
Pierce, of Bay City, he pursued the study of
law for several years, and was admitted to
practice in March, 1894. On the same day of
his admission he was nominated for justice of
the peace, on the Republican ticket, and was
elected by 329 majority, the Democratic ma-
jority the year before having ranged from 200
to 600. While filling this position he was ten-
dered and accepted the position of assistant
prosecuting attorney, in which capacity he
made the remarkable record of fifty-two con-
victions in one term of court, surprising not
only the members of the bar, but the most san-
guine of his friends. In April, 1897, Mr.
Orr's name was presented to the common coun-
cil for the appointment of city attorney, but
the Democratic candidate was successful. Two
years later he received the entire twenty-two
votes of the council for the same position
(which he now occupies), although several
prominent Republican attorneys of the city.
were aspirants for the place. As a lawyer he
is careful, painstaking and thorough, fair and
courteous to his opponents, almost disregard-
ing technicalities, but taking advantage of
everything of merit advantageous to his
clients. His rapid advancement is but a just
tribute to his studiousness and energy. This
was said of him by a gentleman of his city,
"Why shouldn't he succeed? He not only
hasn't an enemy in the world, but everybody is
his friend; he's a gentleman at all times, to all
persons, under all circumstances, and is the
same common everyday Brake now that he
was when a stonecutter.
Mr. Orr is well known throughout the
United States and Canada from his contribu-
tions to trade journals. He is fair and just in
his treatment of labor questions, his sympa-
thies being with labor and labor organizations,
and believes that organization and education
are the only solutions to the many labor prob-
lems. In politics he has always been a Repub-
lican. He is a member of the Oddfellows,
Masons, Maccabees and Modern Woodmen.
On his father's side of the house Mr. Orr is
descended from the Irish of County Cavan,
Ireland, there being among his ancestors such
names as Cavendish, Breakey and Courtenay.
His mother's people are Dutch Quakers.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
461

BROWN, MICHAEL. Many a man
prominent in civil life at the present day re-
ceived his baptism in the Civil War, and Judge
Michael Brown, of Big Rapids, is one of them.
The Brown family, of which he is a represen-
tative, came from the Netherlands and were
sailors by profession. The parents of Judge
Brown were farmers in Pulaski county, In-
diana, where the son was born April 20th,
1841. His earlier years were passed in con-
nection with home duties and the district
school. At the age of seventeen he went to
Logansport, twenty-four miles from the home
of his parents, to attend the county seminary
there. He boarded himself, his parents bring-
ing him supplies every second week, but when
the roads were bad he made the trip home and
back on foot, to procure the necessary supplies.
In the fall of 1859 he entered Franklin Col-
lege at Franklin, Ind., boarding himself as be-
fore, where he remained until the first of the
year 1860, when he entered Wabash College at
Crawfordsville, from which in May, 1862, he
enlisted as a private in Company B, Second
Indiana Cavalry, for service in the Civil War
and remained in the service until the close of
the war in 1865. His service in the army
entitled him to promotion, which was offered
him, but he declined, preferring to do his duty
in the ranks till the end. He was made pris-
oner during the advance on Atlanta, May 9,
1864, was sent to Andersonville, where he was
confined until October 16, when he was sent to
Florence, Alabama, and paroled, that is, the
ninety-four pounds of him that remained. He
was furloughed, but returned to the service as
soon as he was able to do so. Returning home
after the close of the war, the young soldier
took a course in a business college at Chicago,
and in the fall of 1866 entered the University
of Michigan, taking a mixed law and literary
course, and graduated from the law depart-
ment in March, 1868. He located in Big Rap-
ids, then an isolated lumber town forty miles
from any railroad, and hung out his sign as
attorney at law. Clients were slow in coming
and he became county superintendent of
schools for two years, and also worked as sup-
and also worked as sup-
MICHAEL BROWN.
ply clerk in a lumber office, packing supplies
to be sent to the camps. As the beginning of
the second year the law business began to
brighten up, since which time Judge Brown
has had no scarcity of clients. He was elected
mayor of Big Rapids in 1873 and served one
term. In 1876 he was appointed Circuit
Judge by the Governor in case of a vacancy, to
which office he was elected at the next general
election. His judicial service was highly satis-
factory, but he resigned in 1881, preferring
the active practice of his profession in which
he is still engaged. He was appointed a mem-
ber of the first board of managers of the Sol-
diers' Home at Grand Rapids and was its sec-
retary for five years. He has been a member
of the G. A. R. since 1868. Was judge advo-
cate of the department in 1887 and department
commander in 1889. He has the higher de-
grees in the Masonic fraternity, including the
Templar and Mystic Shrine degrees.
Miss Mary Alice Osburn, daughter of Levi
J. Osburn, of Big Rapids, became Mrs. Brown
in 1870. They have four children now living,
Carrie, wife of Samuel G. Reynolds, of Bil-
lings, Montana; Lillian H., Clarence F., and
Mary Alice, at school and college.

462
MEN OF PROGRESS.
ROSWELL P. BISHOP.
age
BISHOP, ROSWELL P. Mr. Bishop is a
direct descendant of the Bishops who came
from England and settled in Connecticut very
early in the history of the State. His father,
Edward Bishop, was a farmer and local Metho-
dist preacher, living in Delaware county, New
York, where he married Miss Anna Andrews,
who was also a native of Delaware county,
New York. Mr. Bishop was born at Sidney,
Delaware county, New York, Jan. 6, 1843,
being one of seven children. He was early
called to provide for himself, and at the of
ten years went out from his home to earn a
livelihood for himself, which he has done from
that date, spending many of his early years
with one Henry Wickham, at Oneonta, New
York. His first effort at gaining a livelihood
was working on a farm for $1.50 per month,
and at the breaking out of the Rebellion he
was earning $13.00 per month. His education
was received in the local schools up to his tenth
year, with a few months at school subse-
quently. July 28th, 1861, he enlisted in Com-
pany C, Forty-third N. Y. Infantry Volun-
teers, for service in the Civil War. He par-
ticipated in the battles of Yorktown, Williams-
burgh, Antietam and first Fredericksburgh,
and was with McClellan during the Peninsular
campaign. Was wounded at the battle of Lee's
Mill, Va., April 28th, 1862, and lost his right
arm. He was sent home for treatment, but
soon rejoined his regiment, where he remained
until the last of December, 1862, when he
was mustered out of service. Returning to
his former home, the next six years were
passed alternately in teaching and in prepara-
tory studies at Unadilla, Cooperstown Semin-
ary, and at Walton, N. Y. He entered the
University of Michigan in the fall of 1868,
taking a special course in the literary depart-
ment, and then entered the law department,
from which he graduated in 1872. While at
Ann Arbor he spent one year as superinten-
dent of the graded schools at Brooklyn, Jack-
son county, Michigan, where he saved suffi-
ciently from his wages to complete his course
at the University. After graduating, he held
a position under the sergeant-at-arms of the
House and Senate, and in the postoffice at the
national capital. In the spring of 1875 he
was elected alderman of one of the wards at
Ann Arbor, Mich. In June, 1875, he took up
a homestead of 160 acres in Mason county,
near Ludington, but in 1876 removed to Lud-
ington, where he has since practiced his profes-
sion of law.
tional, and a just recognition of his abilities
Mr. Bishop's official career has been excep-
and of his sacrifices in the cause of the Union.
He has served three terms as prosecuting at-
torney of Mason county, elected in 1876, 1878
and 1884. He served two terms as represen-
tative in the Legislature of Michigan, being
elected in 1882 and again in 1892. He is now
Congress from the Ninth Michigan District,
serving his third term as Representative in
first elected in 1894, and is now in nomination
for a fourth term. His plurality in 1894 was
about 8,300, his majority in 1896 about 5,500,
his majority in 1898 about 6,500.
ond on the House Committee on private land
claims and third on the committee on rivers
and harbors. Mr. Bishop is a member of the
G. A. R., Oddfellows, Knights of Pythias
and Elks. He married Miss Louisa Gaunt,
daughter of John Gaunt, of Ann Arbor, in
1872. He has one son, Roswell F., who grad-
University of Michigan in 1899, and is now
uated from the literary department of the
assistant librarian of the House of Representa-
tives at Washington.
He is sec-

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
463

BUCK, HOMER E. The Saginaw Valley
is famous for its men who have forged their
way to the front from the smallest beginnings,
and of this class Mr. Homer E. Buck, of Bay
City, is among the notable ones. Born at
Bath, Mich., Oct. 4, 1859, his parents removed
to Bay City, where his father died when he was
twelve years old, leaving the family, consist-
ing of the son, his mother and a sister, with but
small means. The son at once rose to the sit-
uation. He became practically the head of the
family and its support. He managed the cir-
culation of the Detroit Evening News at Bay
City, giving his evenings to the work, and real-
izing therefrom $30 to $35 per month, which
supported the family and paid his own ex-
penses. He attended school during the day,
and being bright and apt to learn, secured a
good common school education. Push and
energy and a natural aptness to please, made
him friends, and he has the confidence and
respect of all who know him, as well for his
business qualities as for his known probity.
When sixteen years old he entered the employ
of L. F. Miller & Co., where during a five
years' service he acquired a thorough knowl-
edge of the wholesale trade. He then engaged
in the wholesale produce business on his own
account, and later as a member of the firm of
Buck & Leighton, conducting a successful bus-
iness for fourteen years, when he sold out to
his partner and engaged in his present busi-
ness, that of a commercial broker, importers'
and manufacturers' agent, and car lot shipper.
His present business brings him in touch with
all the markets of the world and he handles
some very large deals, both at home and
abroad. He has been a member of the Board
of Trade of Bay City for a number of years,
and through his efforts while on the board
many large business enterprises have been
brought to the city. He is a stockholder in
and president of the E. P. Roe Company of
Bad Axe, and one of the directors of the Ar-
genteuil Gold Mining Company, of Jackfish
Bay, Canada, with large interests. He was a
member of the board of fire commissioners of
Bay City for three years and one year its presi-
dent, and is now a member of the water board.
He was one of the organizers of the Elm Lawn
Cemetery Company, and is one of its directors.
He is a Republican in politics, his first vote
having been for James G. Blaine for president
in 1884. He has been a member of the ward
committee of his ward for fifteen years, has
been treasurer of the county committee for a
number of years and is at present a member
of the advisory board of the State League of

HOMER E. BUCK.
Republican Clubs. He is a Mason and a mem-
ber of the Knights of the Loyal Guard. He is
a member and one of the deacons of the First
Presbyterian Church of Bay City, his paternal
ancestors having been for many years of that
faith. Miss Margaret A. Lewis, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. D. M. Lewis, of Saginaw, be-
came Mrs. Buck April 23rd, 1884. Seven chil-
dren are the, fruit of the union-Homer Clif-
ford, Mary A., David Justice, Alma Blanche,
Harold Lewis, Edna Marguerita and Helen
Ester. Mr. Buck never fails to speak of his
amiable wife as a true type of American
womanhood and a loving and dutiful wife and
mother.
Mr. Buck is not a little proud of his family
history, tracing it back in an unbroken line on
the paternal side to the year 640. The family
were originally from Holland, going from
thence to England about the year 1500, and
from Norfolk County, England, to Boston, in
1647. From there the family went to New
York, settling upon the Harlem river, and be-
ing among the founders of New Amsterdam
(now New York City). The family has been
a prolific one, and the name is now found in
all parts of the country. The family boast of
having been a family of civil engineers and
surveyors, and were also great farmers. Mr.
Buck's mother, whose family name was Hen-
derson, was of English and Scotch descent, and
a native of the State of New York. The
mother and sister are still living, to feel a
just pride in the prosperity of the son and
brother, whose early efforts contributed so
materially to their support and comfort.



464
MEN OF PROGRESS.
RICH RD G. PETERS.
PETERS, RICHARD G. Mr. Peters
was born July 2, 1832, in Delaware county,
N. Y., upon the farm of his parents, James H.
and Susan (Squires) Peters. The family re-
moved to Syracuse, N. Y., and later to Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, where, as well as at Syracuse,
they were engaged at hotel keeping. In 1847
the mother died, and the son, now fifteen
years of age, went to live with his grand-
parents at Tully, N. Y., where he worked
upon the farm, and employed his winters in
completing his education in the district
schools. For a year he was employed by his
uncle as gate-keeper on a toll road, and in this
school of "human nature" he learned much
which in his subsequent career has enabled
him to estimate man at their proper value. At
the
age of eighteen years he returned to Cin-
cinnati, and in 1850 went to Monroe, Mich.,
where he worked on a farm belonging to a
cousin, leaving in the fall to enter the employ
of the Michigan Southern Railroad Company,
in the engineering department. He was soon
placed in charge of a division of the road, in
the capacity of assistant civil engineer, a posi-
tion which he occupied for five years. In 1855
Mr. Peters' star beckoned him northward,
where he took charge of the lumber and mill
interests of the late Charles Mears at Big Point
Au Sable, being thus employed for five years.
He then went to Ludington, where he pur-
chased a small tract of government land, and
proceeded to get out timber on his own ac-
count, giving up this enterprise, however, to
accept a position with James Ludington, as
superintendent of his mill and lumber opera-
tions at the mouth of the Pere Marquette
river (now the city of Ludington), where he
remained two years. In 1866 Mr. Peters, to-
gether with M. S. Tyson and G.W. Robinson,
of Milwaukee, purchased the mill and timber
property of Filer & Tyson, at Manistee, com-
prising the sawmills on Manistee lake and a
large portion of the site of the city of Man-
istee, for which the sum of $250,000 was paid.
His connection with this firm continued for
two years, since which time Mr. Peters has
been practically alone in his business affairs,
which have been mainly conducted under the
style of "The R. G. Peters Salt & Lumber
Company." In 1869 Mr. Peters bought the
Wheeler & Hopkins mill on Manistee Lake,
which he operated until it was destroyed by
fire thirteen years later. His next step was
the purchase of forty acres of land, and a mill
at East Lake, the site of the present Peters
plant. This mill was rebuilt and a second mill
added and upon the discovery of salt in this
vicinity, a well was struck at the Peters plant
and salt struck, adding this industry to that of
the manufacture of Lumber. The Manistee &
Luther railroad, extending from East Lake
to near Le Roy, Osceola county, eighty miles,
is part of the Peters plant. In the last named
year also, Mr. Peters, in connection with Hor-
ace Butters, purchased two large tracts of land,
twenty-eight miles south of Manistee, on the
F. & P. M. R. R., containing 130,000,000 feet
of pine, and laid out the town of Tallman.
This firm acquired mill property and a salt
block at Ludington, together with thirty miles
of Logging road. Mr. Peters' timber holdings
in Michigan and Wisconsin have been esti-
mated at 150,000 acres, with 100,000 acres in
the south, and he has been styled the "King
among lumbermen." Mr. Peters is president
of the R. G. Peters Salt & Lumber Company,
of the Manistee & Luther Railroad, of the
Peters Lumber and Shingle Company of Ben-
ton Harbor, is vice-president of the Butters
& Peters Salt & Lumber Company of Lud-
ington, and the Batchelor Cyprus Lumber
Company with mills at Panasoffkee, Florida,
a director in the Manistee National Bank, in
the Michigan Salt Association, and in the
Manistee (Furniture) Manufacturing Com-
His religious connection is Congrega-
tional. He is Republican in politics and a
member of the Michigan Club. Mr. Peters
has been twice married, but has no children.
First to Miss Evelyn N. Tibbits, at Oberlin,
Ohio, April 6, 1862, who died Feb. 14, 1879.
Again June 15, 1898 to Miss Jeanet Telford,
of Onekama, Mich.

pany.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
465

HIRAM J. HOYT. In the first years of
the 1840 decade there came to Michigan two
brothers named Hoyt. One was a physician
and the other a lawyer. They came from the
State of New York, and their mission was to
find a location in Michigan suitable for the
practice of their respective professions. The
physician, Dr. James W. Hoyt, settled at the
little hamlet known as Walled Lake, in the
town of Commerce, Oakland county, and the
lawyer, Wm. C. Hoyt, settled in the village
of Milford, in the same county, but subse-
quently removed to Detroit, where he died
many years ago. That two young men should
have chosen places comparatively retired
may be regarded as indicating their preference
for a quiet neighborhood life, in which they
might enjoy the confidence, the respect and
the love of their neighbors, rather than the
bustling, shifting scenes of the commercial
centers, where one man scarcely knows his
neighbor. The life of Dr. Hoyt is confirma-
tory of this thought. He lived to a ripe age,
the skilled physician, the village practitioner,
honored and beloved by a wide circle, the
lapsing of the waters of the lake, near the
banks of which he lived, singing his matin
song and his vesper hymn, until at last they
his requiem. For a number of years
sang
before his death Dr. Hoyt was totally blind,
but continued his practice. His wife was
Margaret Barrett, daughter of Hiram Barrett,
a prominent citizen of Oakland County sixty
years ago, and a most estimable lady. Chil-
dren born of such parentage and with such
surroundings may be supposed to be tempera-
mentally influenced by them. Dr. and Mrs.
Hoyt were the parents of ten children, of
whom Hiram J. was the oldest. He was born
at Walled Lake, March 23, 1843. His
primary school education was supplemented
by attendance at Aurora Academy at East
Aurora, N. Y., from which he graduated in
1863. He at once took up the study of law
in the office of the late Judge M. E. Crofoot,
of Pontiac, and after three years' study was
admitted to practice before Judge Sanford M.
HIRAM J. HOYT.
Green, then presiding in Oakland Circuit.
He located in Muskegon in 1867, and pursued
and
a successful practice alone for seven years,
in 1874 became a member of the well known
law firm of Smith, Nims, Hoyt & Erwin.
This firm has continued uninterruptedly in
business at Muskegon for over a quarter of a
century. Mr. Hoyt has found an ample field
for his efforts in his professional work, and has
held no public office, although practically he
is a Democrat both from inheritance and
choice. He is a Thirty-Second Degree Mason
and a member of the Muskegon Commandery
Knights Templar. He was for many years
an officer and active member of the Universal-
ist Church. He was married February 26,
1867, to Miss Ada E. Smith, daughter of
Benjamin
His Benjamin Smith, a farmer of Oakland
county. One son, Wilbur S., a graduate of
the Orchard Lake Military Academy, and now
engaged as a packer and shipper of dried fruits
and raisins at Fresno, California, is the fruit
of the union. The Hoyts are direct descend-
ants from Simon Hoyt, who came from Eng-
land in 1638, and settled near Hartford, Conn.


466
MEN OF PROGRESS.
CHARLES J. CANFIELD.
CHARLES J. CANFIELD.
Mr. Can-
field was born at Manistee, April 1st, 1868,
the son of John and Frances V. (Wheeler)
Canfield, his mother having been from Berk-
shire county, Mass. He received his educa-
tion in the public schools of Manistee, and
at the age of eighteen became an assistant to
his father in his extensive lumbering opera-
tions, beginning at the bottom and learning
all the varied branches of the business. His
business interests at present are represented
as follows: He is executor, with his mother,
of his father's estate, secretary and treasurer
of the Canfield Salt & Lumber Company,
vice-president of the Canfield & Wheeler
Company (Manistee), secretary and treasurer
of the Union Lumber & Salt Company of
Stronach, president of the Manistee & Grand
Rapids Railroad Company.
In the spring of 1900 Mr. Canfield was
nominated for mayor of Manistee by the
Republicans, and elected by a majority of
1,200, being the second Republican mayor
elected in that city since its incorporation.
Personally Mr. Canfield is modest and unas-
suming, but is, in current phrase, a hustling
young business man, having the confidence
and respect of everybody. He was married
in 1889 to Miss Belle Gardner, daughter of
C. D. Gardner, of Manistee. One daughter,
Doris, is the fruit of the marriage.
The biography of a young man of two and
thirty is necessarily brief in itself. But, like
most descendants of New England stock, Mr.
Canfield boasts an ancestry in which he feels
not a little pride. He is eighth in descent
from Thomas Canfield, who came from Eng-
land early in the seventeenth century, set-
tling at Milford, Conn., where his name
appears as early as 1646, and was one of the
commission who obtained a charter for the
colony of Connecticut. The grandfather of
Charles J., Roswell Canfield, was a native of
Massachusetts, but became a lumber dealer
in Racine, Wis., in 1842. He built a mill
and became interested in the lumber trade
at Manistee in 1848, and his son, John Can-
field, father of Charles J., became a resident
there and partner with his father in 1849.
John Canfield was born at Sandisfield,
Mass., in 1830, and attended school at Sandis-
field, at Homer, New York, and at Racine,
Wis. When he was fourteen years of age
he left school, and for three years worked
as a clerk in a mercantile establishment at
Racine. He then spent a year in his father's
lumber yard at Racine piling and selling
lumber, and at the end of the year, his father
placed the bookkeeping of the firm in his
hands. Roswell Canfield died in 1860, and
the Manistee interests then comprising two
mills, passed into the hands of his two sons,
Edmund and John, under the firm name of
E. & J. Canfield until the death of Edmund
in 1868, when E. D. Wheeler acquired his
interest under the firm name of Canfield &
Wheeler. In 1865 John Canfield became a
partner with James Shrigley, under the firm
name of Shrigley & Canfield, in the erec-
tion of a mill since known as the East Lake
Mill of the Canfield Salt & Lumber Com-
pany. Mr. Canfield became one of the most
widely known and extensive operators in
Northern Michigan, and had extensive hold-
ings of timber lands both in Michigan and
Wisconsin. He was a man of the strictest
probity and enjoyed the confidence of his fel-
low citizens, both at home and abroad. Mr.
Canfield died in 1889. His widow is still
living at Manistee.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
467

YOUNGQUIST, M. D., OTIS E. Delta
County Hospital in Escanaba, Michigan, is
under the charge of Dr. Otis E. Youngquist,
a physician of only 31 years of age, yet skilled
and learned in the Hippocratic art.
The hospital has 50 beds and during the
year of 1898 as many as 510 patients were
treated there for the county.
Andrew J. Youngquist, the father of the
subject of this sketch, came from Sweden to
America in 1852 and located on a farm near
Plymouth, Michigan, where he lived for ten
years, and then, in 1862, moved to Lisbon,
Kent County, Michigan, where, December 28,
1868, Otis E. Youngquist was born.
The son of a farmer, and born on a farm,
the boy helped all he could in the cultivation
of the fields, but until he was 11 years of age
he was given the benefits of the district school
during the full terms, and after that during
the winter terms only, until he reached 13.
He then attended the public schools of Lisbon
until 1884, when he found a position in the
drug store of Dr. S. J. Koon, of that place,
where he commenced work and studied phar-
macy. One year was given to this work and
study and at the end of the year he took the
examination before the State Board of Phar-
macists at Lansing, Michigan, and was given
a certificate as a registered pharmacist. Mr.
Youngquist then returned to Dr. Koon's drug
store in Lisbon, where he had learned his pro-
fession, and entering his employ remained.
with him for three years, during which time
he commenced the study of medicine. In the
fall of 1888 he entered the medical depart
ment of the Rush Medical College at Chicago,
Illinois, and by working during vacations he
managed to pay his way through that college.
He became a nurse, and assistant nurse in the
hospital and earned a little money in this way,
and one summer he went to Casnovia, Michi-
gan, and became an assistant to Dr. C. E.
Kook and came back to college in the fall with
$160 in his pocket, the result of his sum-
mer's work. The following summer, after
the death of his former employer, Dr. S. J.
Koon, Mr. Youngquist returned to Lisbon and
OTIS E. YOUNGQUIST, M. D.
practiced there for a short time. In March,
1892, he was graduated from the Rush Med-
ical College. He traveled about the country,
seeking a place where he could hang up the
diploma and a shingle, visiting several of the
large and small cities of the Northwest, and
at last, on July 11, 1892, landing in Escanaba,
Michigan, without a cent.
He rented a building three days later, and
the first day netted him one dollar in cash.
The next day brought him seven dollars, and
since that time he has built up an extensive
and remunerative practice.
Dr. Youngquist is a Republican. At this
writing he is city physician and health officer,
and also a member of the school board of Es-
canaba. He was on the building committee
during the erection of the new Washington
street school, a brick structure which was a
new departure in schools at Escanaba. Dr.
Youngquist married in 1893 Miss S. Willhel-
menia Gustafson at Ishpeming, Michigan. He
has one child, Otis G., aged two. Dr. Young-
quist is a member of the North Star Swedish
Society, the R. A. M., B. P. O. E., I. O. O.
F., A. O. U. W. and the K. O. T. M.


468
MEN OF PROGRESS.
HON. NATHAN MYRON KAUFMAN.
MY-
KAUFMAN, HON. NATHAN
RON. Marquette, Michigan, is the birth-
place of Nathan Myron Kaufman, and in that
city he was educated and spent most of his
life.
His father, Samuel Kaufman, came
from Germany in 1849, and removed to Mar-
quette in 1852, and was one of the first and
most successful merchants in that town.
Nathan Myron Kaufman was born July 4,
1862, and until he was 16 years of age he at-
tended the public and high school of Mar-
quette, working when old enough during his
vacations and on Saturdays in his father's
store. When he became 16
years of
he
age
secured the position of traveling man with the
firm of Wilson Bros., of Chicago, selling a
line of gentlemen's furnishing goods through-
out northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Min-
nesota. He was employed on a salary and
commission basis and saved enough money in
two years to enable him to open an establish-
ment in the same line at Negaunee, and later
to open a general store in the same place. In
1883 he sold out and became associated with
his father at Marquette, and it was while he
was engaged in business with his father that
he commenced operating in iron and mineral
lands with much success.
In 1885 Mr. Kaufman secured an option
on the Blue Mine, which he opened into one
of the best iron producers in this state and
later sold at an excellent profit. He enlarged
in his dealings, making a feature of opening
and developing the valuable mining properties
of the Upper Peninsula, until in 1888, when
he was appointed general manager of the
Brietung estate, which was one of the largest
holders of mineral lands in the Upper Penin-
sula. He conducted the affairs of the estate,
handling and disposing of their property in a
most able manner until 1892.
Mr. Kaufman is a Republican, and in
1893-94 he was mayor of his native city, giv-
ing Marquette an excellent and progressive
administration during his term of office.
Mr. Kaufman still operates in mining prop-
erty and has an interest in many enterprises
of that nature. He is the president of the
Washington iron mine in Marquette, a valu-
able property; a director in the Republic mine
of Negaunee, secretary of the Negaunee Iron
Mining Company, and a director in the Arc-
tic Mining Company. He is also the presi-
dent of the Marquette County Savings Bank.
June 30, 1893, Mr. Kaufman married Mrs.
Mary Brietung, widow of Edward Breitung,
at Marquette.
Mr. Kaufman is a man with a wide range
of friends and acquaintances throughout the
state, and highly esteemed in the community
in which he lives. He has taken all the Ma-
sonic degrees, including the Knights Templar
and both the Scottish and York Rite Consis-
tory. He has also wandered over the sands
to the Shrine, being a member of Saladin
Temple at Grand Rapids. Besides the Ma-
sonic order, he belongs to that flourishing and
charitable organization, the Benevolent Pro-
tective Order of Elks, the Marquette Lodge.
always willing to further any scheme for the
He owns a fine home in Marquette and is-
betterment of his native city, and the interests
of his fellow citizens, by whom he is looked
upon as a representative capitalist and man of
progress.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
469

SEARL, KELLY S. Mr. Searl was born
Feb. 1st, 1862, at Fairfield, Shiawassee Co.,
Mich., his parents having emigrated from
Ohio to that place in the early fifties. His
father, Chauncey D. Searl, is a native of Ver-
mont, and is still living on his farm in Shia-
wassee county. His mother was Harriet E.
Kelly, a native of Ohio, but now deceased. Mr.
Searl attended the district school until about
sixteen years of age, and then attended the
village school at Elsie and Ovid, finishing his
literary education at the Indiana Normal
School at Valparaiso, after which he taught
school for several years in order to earn enough
money to defray his expenses in taking a
course of law at Ann Arbor, and in 1884 en-
tered the law department of the University,
from which he was graduated in 1886. In
March, 1887, he opened a law office at Ashley,
where he engaged in practice during the fol-
lowing three years, and in April, 1890, he set-
tled in Ithaca, where he has since been en-
gaged in active practice, having justly earned
the reputation of being the leading lawyer of
Gratiot county. He is at present the senior
partner in the law firm of Searl & Kress. Mr.
Searl is an ardent Republican, and foremost
in the councils of his party, and has several
times declined to allow his name to be pre-
sented for office for the reason that he desires
to devote his entire time to his chosen profes-
sion. However, when the people of his county
insisted that he should allow his name to be
presented for Circuit Judge in the spring of
1898 he gave his consent and was the candi-
date of his county in the Republican judicial
convention held at St. Johns. Judge S. B.
Daboll, who had occupied the bench in that
circuit for a period of about ten years, was
the choice of the Republicans of Clinton
county, and each county having twelve dele-
gates, a deadlock ensued, which lasted about
two weeks, and the convention being unable
to make a choice, it was adjourned sine die,
and no nomination being made, the candidate
upon the silver ticket, George P. Stone, of
Ithaca, was elected without opposition. In the
summer of 1900 Mr. Searl was urgently re-
KELLY S. SEARL.
quested to allow his name to be presented as a
candidate for Congress in the Eleventh Dis-
trict, but declined on the ground that the Hon.
A. B. Darragh was entitled to the place, and
immediately interested himself in the nomina-
tion of Mr. Darragh, and had the gratification
of assisting to make the nomination of that
gentleman unanimous at Traverse City for
the canvass of 1900.
Among the important cases Mr. Searl has
managed may be mentioned the Portsmouth
Savings Bank vs. The Village of Ashley (91
Mich., 670). The question involved was
whether or not the president and clerk of a
village had the legal right to deliver water-
works bonds without authority of the council,
and whether or not the innocent purchaser of
such bonds could hold the village for payment.
The Supreme Court decided the village was
not liable and declared the bonds void.
Searl was attorney for the defendant and pre-
vailing party. Mr. Searl is a member of the
M. E. Church and of the Masonic order, the
Oddfellows, Knights of Pythias and Macca-
bees.
Mr.
Miss Maggie A. Smith, daughter of
Wm. W. Smith, of Mason, Mich., became Mrs.
Searl Sept. 30, 1885. Their children are
Ethel Maud, Hazel Belle and. Willie Chaun-
cey, aged respectively nine, seven and five
years.


470
MEN OF PROGRESS.
WILLIAM H. C. MITCHELL.
MITCHELL, WILLIAM H. C. A sketch
of Mr. Mitchell's active life overcaps the half
century mark. Born at Mount Perry,
Born at Mount Perry, Ohio,
May 30th, 1825, his education was received in
the district schools in Lima, O. He is in direct
descent from George Mitchell, who came
from Scotland in 1759 and settled in York
county, Pa. His mother, Maria D. Bentley,
was from Winchester, Va. His parents moved
to Lima, O., in 1831, being the second family
to settle there. In 1843 he was sent to Ur-
bana, O., to learn the trade of a tinsmith, and
served three years, working the first year for
his board, and receiving $4 and $6 per month
respectively for the second and third years.
In the spring of 1846 he started out as a jour-
neyman tinner and was in New Orleans when
the Mexican war was in progress, and tried to
enlist in an Ohio regiment when in that city,
on its
way to the front. In the spring of 1849
he joined the procession that marched across
the plains to California, led there by the gold
discoveries, being the first of the memorable
migration from the States to the Pacific coast.
He arrived in Sacramento August 17th, 1849,
and worked at mining and at his trade until
1851 in Coloma, when he began buying cattle
and hogs.
He bought his hogs in Ore-
gon and shipped them to Sacramento and
drove them from there to Placerville (then
called Hangtown), where he had his head-
quarters. He was successful in the venture,
and in June, 1853, he returned to Ohio by the
Central American route. He built a grist mill
at Lima, and soon after became engaged in
the manufacture of sash, blinds and furniture.
In 1866 he removed to Traverse City, which
has since been his residence, and engaged in
the manufacture of lumber, with his partner,
Morris Mahan, who died in 1883, and who
had been associated with him since they went
across the plains in 1849. In 1893 the busi-
ness was merged into a company incorporated
as the East Bay Lumber Company, of which
Mr. Mitchell has been secretary and treasurer
from its organization. Since the death of
Morris Mahan his children are interested in
the business.
Mr. Mitchell's political career will be a rem-
iniscence to a few persons now living who were
in active life during the 1850 decade. His
first public office was that of village trustee at
Lima, 1847. He was candidate for township
clerk in 1857 on the American or Know Noth-
ing ticket, which party has mention on page
73 of this work. He was a delegate to the
national convention of that party at Philadel-
phia, February 22, 1856, which nominated
ex-President Fillmore for President, and An-
drew J. Donelson, of Tennessee, for Vice-
President. He has since been a Republican.
He was a delegate to the national convention
in 1876 which nominated Rutherford B.
Hayes for President, and again in 1900,
which nominated McKinley and Roosevelt,
and has attended every convention since 1876.
He was receiver of the U. S. Land Office at
Reed City, 1878-87, when it was consolidated
with the office at Grayling. He served two
terms as representative in the Legislature,
1869-70 and in 1871-2, and two terms as sen-
ator, 1873-4 and 1875-6. He has held various
local offices, including justice of the peace (14
years), school inspector, member of the board
of review and township treasurer.
Mr. Mitchell was married in 1852 at Lima,
O., to Miss Isabella Milligan, daughter of
Thomas Milligan. Two daughters and two
sons are the fruit of the union, Arahmenta,
wife of John H. Bean, Traverse City; Alviso
L., wife of Gordon Land, Denver, Col. ; Thorn-
ton a railway engineer, and William, vice-
president of the East Bay Lumber Company.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
471

DANAHER, MICHAEL B. Mr. Dana-
her's father came from near Limerick, Ireland,
where his family had resided for over a cen-
tury and settled on a farm near Kenosha,
Wis., where the son, Michael B., was born
Sept. 28, 1855. He first attended school at
Brighton, Wis., up to the age of ten years,
when his parents moved to Kenosha. There
he attended the public schools up to the eighth
grade. His parents subsequently removed to
Ludington, Mich., where he had the advan-
tages of the local schools up to the age of sev-
enteen. He then passed a couple of years as
clerk in a law office, and in 1874 entered the
University, graduating from the literary de-
partment four years later. He then entered
the law office of C. G. Wing at Ludington,
and read law until 1882, when he was admitted
to practice before Judge S. D. Haight, at Lud-
ington. He opened an office and practiced his
profession with the thorough preparation of a
four-year literary course and a subsequent
four-years' reading. They are usually am-
bitious and impatient to begin work, and too
many of them get there like the Duke of Glou-
cester (Richard III.), "Scarce half made up."
Mr. Danaher's thorough preparation has en-
sured him a standard practice from the first.
He is local attorney for the Pere Marquette
railway system at Ludington, and also attor-
ney for the First National Bank. While do-
ing an all round law business his practice runs
largely to corporation cases. Outside of his
professional business, he is one of the mana-
gers of the Danaher & Melendy Company,
who are extensive owners of real estate, includ-
ing platted additions to the city of Ludington.
He is vice-president of the Danaher & Melendy
MICHAEL B. DANAHER.
Mr.
Company, one of the largest lumbering con-
cerns in Ludington, and now operating a plant
at Dollarville, in the Upper Peninsula.
Danaher's father was originally the senior in
the firm of Danaher & Melendy, but by reason
of the panic of 1873 he became financially em-
barrassed, and the sons, James E., Cornelius
D. and Michael B., pooled their savings and
took the father's place in the firm, which was
continued under the same name.
Mr. Danaher is a Democrat politically, and
of the gold standard kind under the later clas-
sification. He was elected prosecuting attor-
ney of Mason county in 1886 and re-elected
in 1888, serving four years. He has been
city attorney for several years and a member
of the board of education of Ludington five
years. He is unmarried and has no secret
society connections.


472
MEN OF PROGRESS.
MARK WELLINGTON STEVENS.
WELLINGTON.
STEVENS, MARK
Mark W. Stevens is of Scotch-Irish descent,
his parents having been among the early set-
tlers of Genesee county, Michigan. Mr.
Stevens' father, after a period spent laboring
on the farm of ex-Governor Kingsley S. Bing-
ham, in Livingston county, purchased a piece
of land for himself in Genesee county, and it
was on this little farm, in Argentine township,
that the subject of this sketch was born, April
1st, 1849. The lad's early life was spent as a
farmer's boy, he securing what little education
he could from the neighboring district school,
working on the farm in the summer time in
order to obtain sufficient means to enable him
to attend the union schools at Byron and later
at Fenton. He prepared for a course at the
University, but finances were too low to en-
able him to gratify this ambition. At the age
of nineteen he commenced teaching a district
school, continuing for three years, when he
was made principal of the schools at Linden,
Mich. Two years later he engaged as a sales-
man of carriages at that and other places.
Meanwhile he had been reading law, and con-
cluding to make that his profession he went
to Flint, entering the law offices of Lee &
Aitken in January, 1882. He was admitted to
the bar in March of the same year, before
Judge William Newton, of Flint, and in May
formed a co-partnership with one John H.
Hickok, under the firm name of Hickok &
Stevens, commencing practice in the offices
now occupied by Mr. Stevens.
In politics Mr. Stevens has always been a
Democrat and for a great many years has been
actively identified with that party and its can-
didates. He has stumped the state in the in-
terest of his party's candidates in every cam-
paign since 1884 and has also been engaged
in political work for the national committee in
other states. He was elected president of the
first Cleveland and Hendricks Club at Flint
in 1884, also secretary of the county commit-
tee, and made an active campaign for the ticket
in the sixth congressional district.
In September, 1885, Mr. Stevens' ability
was recognized by the Cleveland administra-
tion and he was appointed Indian agent for
Michigan, holding the office for four years.
He had full charge of the twelve Indian
schools in the state, and in such official capa-
city obtained considerable prominence be-
cause of the vigorous prosecutions he insti-
tuted and pushed in the United States courts
against lumbermen who had cut timber il-
legally from Indian lands, resulting in thou-
sands of dollars being recovered for the gov-
ernment. In August, 1891, he was appointed
secretary of the Board of World's Fair Com-
missioners by Gov. Winans and held that posi-
tion for two and one-half years. As such he
practically had charge of Michigan's interests
during the World's Fair. He was nominated
for Congress in the Sixth District in 1894, but
declined the honor. He has served as chair-
man of the Democratic county committee of
Genesee county, and in 1888 was clerk of the
city of Flint. Fraternally, Mr. Stevens has
Masonic relations and is also a member of the
Maccabees. He was one of the incorporators
of the Knights of the Loyal Guard, and is the
legal advisor of that order. He was one of the
delegates from Michigan to the Democratic
national convention at Kansas City on July
4th, 1900.
Mr. Stevens married Miss Mary L. Beach at
Linden, Mich., in August, 1874.
One son,
Fred J. Stevens, a first tenor in the Castle
Square Opera Company, has been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Stevens.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
473

CROUTER, GEORGE W. The parents
of Mr. Crouter, Stephen S. and Martha (Fen-
nell) Crouter, were farmers near Whitby,
Ont., where a son, the subject of this sketch,
was born Jan. 8, 1853. The son attended the
neighborhood school and subsequently a
graded school, at Strathroy. At the age of
fourteen he was apprenticed to the drug busi-
ness with Chamberlain and Gibbard, of Strath-
roy, with whom he remained four years, serv-
ing the first year without compensation, and
the fourth year receiving but $5 per week. He
took an examination at the Ontario College
of Pharmacy at Toronto, and received the re-
quisite certificate as a registered pharmacist.
He came to Michigan in 1871 and passed a
year in the employ of E. B. Escott, a druggist
of Grand Rapids. He then decided to locate at
Charlevoix, where he started in the drug busi-
ness with a capital of $195, and such credit as
a good character and a thorough mastery of his
profession assured him. He conducted a suc-
cessful business for twenty years, having in
1875-6 taken a course in dentistry thus ply-
ing the two professions of druggist and dentist
during the building up of the town.
Mr. Crouter was a director and one of the
promoters of the Detroit, Charlevoix & Es-
canaba railroad in 1889, which is now a part
of the Flint & Pere Marquette system. He is
manager of the Michigan Bell Telephone
Company at Charlevoix and is senior mem-
ber of the Shepard Hardware Company and
senior partner in the firm of M. V. Cook &
Co., pharmacists, of Charlevoix. His ma-
terial interests are closely identified with the
town, he being the owner of several business
blocks and an extensive owner of real estate,
having thirty-five acres platted inside the vil-
lage. Politically he is a Democrat and has
been chairman of the Democratic county com-
mittee for sixteen years. He was deputy col-
lector of United States customs at Charlevoix
under the Cleveland administrations, serving
in all eight years, and was a member of the
village council six years, and is at present a
member of the board of education. He was an
GEORGE W. CROUTER.
alternate delegate to the Democratic national
convention at Chicago in 1896.
When the State Pharmaceutical Association
was organized, Mr. Crouter was elected chair-
man of the executive committee and the sec-
ond year (1886-7) was elected president of the
association. It was during his presidency that
the bill for the organization of a State Board
of Pharmacy was passed by the Legislature.
He represented the Association officially at
Lansing and was influential in procuring the
passage of the bill, but declined an appoint-
ment on the board created by it. He became
a member of the order of Oddfellows at
Grand Rapids in 1871 and in 1879 became a
member of the grand lodge of the state. He
has filled all the chairs in the grand lodge and
was Grand Master in 1889 and 1890. He rep-
resented the Michigan Grand Lodge as Grand
Representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge
at its meeting in St. Louis, Mo., in 1891. He
was captain and aid under Col. O. A. Janes, of
the First Regiment Michigan Patriarchs Mili-
tant (I. O. O. F.) in 1888, and in 1890 was
colonel and aid on the staff of Gen. F. C. Un-

derwood.
Mr. Crouter was married to his present wife
March 10, 1891, and has one child, George
Auld Crouter, eight years of age.


474
MEN OF PROGRESS.
JAMES K. FLOOD.
FLOOD, JAMES K. Mr. Flood was born
at Sweaburg, Ont., July 24, 1846, his par-
ents, however, Noah and Joanna (Lewis)
Flood, having been American born, the father
a native of Vermont and the mother of New
York. His father died when he was three
years old, but the mother kept the family to-
gether, the son attending the local schools un-
til twelve years of age. He then began work
for a farmer near Woodstock and worked as a
farm hand until the age of seventeen, con-
tributing his income toward the support of the
family. In 1864 he came to Michigan, where
an uncle and an older brother had preceded
him. He went first to Grand Haven by train,
and thence by lake to Pentwater, reaching
there with $1.50 as his financial resources.
He found work in the saw mill of Hart &
Maxwell, where he worked that summer,
working in the woods the ensuing fall and
winter. In the spring he secured a position as
clerk in the Corlett House and later in the
Bryant House at Pentwater. Hotel life is
not usually conducive to study and mental
culture, but Mr. Flood grappled with the task
of improving his education, and one of the
proprietors heard his recitations and acted as
an all round pedagogue. While in the hotel
he made the acquaintance of J. G. Gray, of
Pentwater, who conceived a liking for him
and tendered him a position in his drug store.
He accepted the offer and in the fall of 1869
Mr. Gray proposed a partnership, which re-
sulted in the opening of a drug store at the
village of Hart, to which Mr. Flood contrib-
uted some $500, which he had saved, he hav-
ing charge of the business. The venture was
successful and the next year Mr. Flood pur-
chased the interest of Mr. Gray and continued
the business until 1878, when he sold out and
engaged in the manufacturing and handling
of lumber, which he has since successfully
followed. He has continued to reside at Hart,
with whose commercial and financial inter-
ests he is largely identified. In 1874, with
others, he organized the Citizens' Exchange.
Bank of Hart, a private bank of which the co-
partners are F. J. Russell, A. S. White, and
himself. He is secretary and manager of the
Hart Cedar & Lumber Company and owns a
fruit farm of sixty acres adjoining the vil-
lage. He was one of the original stockholders
of the Oceana County Agricultural Society.
Mr. Flood has served the people of his lo-
cality in useful and responsible official posi-
tions. He has been a member of the local
school board ten years, was postmaster at Hart
four years, 1881-6, and has served three terms
in the Legislature. He was elected to the
House in 1894 and to the Senate from the
Twenty-sixth district, comprising the coun-
ties of Lake, Manistee, Mason and Oceana, in
1896, and re-elected in 1898, having in each
case received the nomination unanimously
and by acclamation. He is now (1900) filling
the position of supervisor of the twelfth
United States census. He is a Republican in
politics and a member of the Michigan (Re-
publican) club. He is a Mason, including the
Knights Templar and Consistory degrees.
Miss Julia C. Lewis, daughter of Leonard
Lewis, of Westminister, Ont., became Mrs.
Flood in 1875. The one son, Carl L., is as-
sistant cashier of the Citizens' Exchange
Bank of Hart.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
475

FILER, E. GOLDEN. The name of Filer
became a familiar one in the early history of
northern Michigan, and is localized by the
name of a township in Manistee county and by
a hamlet known as Filer City, now a suburb of
the city of Manistee. The family is of Scotch
descent, Delos L. Filer, father of E. Golden,
having been born of Scotch parents in Her-
kimer county, N. Y., in 1817. He was a man
of marked capabilities, filling betimes the
various offices of farmer, teacher, merchant
and lumberman, and after his removal to
Manistee, ministering to the sick as a physi-
cian, in the absence of men of that profession.
The elder Filer was three times married, the
second time, in 1840, to Miss Juliet Golden,
the mother of E. G., whose family name is
borne by him. Mr. Filer, with his family,
removed to Racine, Wis., in 1850, and while
there entered the employ of Roswell Canfield,
which led to his removal to Manistee in 1853,
where the Canfields were already established.
A man of middle life at the time and with but
limited means he grasped the opportunity that
presented itself, and acquired milling and lum-
ber interests which in a few years grew to be
an ample fortune. He was at one time owner
of much of the land on which the city of
Manistee is built, was an active agent in build-
ing up the city and made liberal donations
both in land and money, toward the erection
of churches and public buildings. His Man-
istee interests were chiefly represented by the
firm of D. L. Filer & Sons (E. G. and D. W.),
and leaving their management to the sons, he
in 1868 acquired interests at Ludington, to
which place he removed and died there July
26th, 1879, mourned by a community which
felt the loss of a good and useful man.
E. Golden Filer was born in Jefferson
county, N. Y., Dec. 4, 1840, and came west
with his parents when nine years of age. His
education was mainly received at the public
schools of Racine and at Racine College.
While living at Manistee in 1857 he accom-
panied Hon. T. J. Ramsdell to Lansing and
was there tendered and accepted a clerkship
in the Auditor General's office, which he held
E. GOLDEN FILER.
until 1862, when the Civil War was at full
tide. He then enlisted in Company A, Twen-
tieth Michigan Infantry, and served two years
with the Army of the Potomac. Honorably
discharged, in 1864 he returned to Manistee
and was associated with his father's work un-
til the formation of the firm of D. L. Filer
& Sons (see preceding) in 1866. His life work
has since been with that connection. He is
resident member of the firm (still continued
under the same name) at Filer City. He is
vice-president of the Manistee County Sav-
ings Bank, a director in and treasurer of the
Manistee & Grand Rapids Railroad Company,
and a director in the Michigan Trust Company
of Grand Rapids, the Pere Marquette Lumber
Company of Ludington, the Michigan Salt
Association, the New York Land Company
and the Manistee Boom Company, of the lat-
ter of which he was president for twelve
years. In his public spirit, in his business en-
terprises and probity, Mr. Filer worthily
sustains the reputation which his father es-
tablished. Mr. Filer is a Republican in poli-
tics but has never held any political office.
Miss Julia Filer, daughter of Alanson Filer,
of Racine, became Mrs. Filer in 1865, but
there are no children in the family.

476
MEN OF PROGRESS.

GEORGE P. HUMMER.
HUMMER, GEORGE P. Mr. Hummer
is one of the leading spirits of Holland and
western Michigan, and his name corresponds
with the person, as he is an all round hummer
in the affairs of life. He is a native of New
Jersey, born in 1856, and is an adopted son of
an uncle, George Hummer, of Grandville,
Mich., who came to the State in 1852 from
Easton, Pa. Mr. Hummer's education was
rounded out at the Northern Indiana Normal
School and Business Institute, from which he
graduated in 1882, going direct to Holland to
assume the superintendancy of the schools
there, which position he held until 1889. That
he should have been chosen for such a posi-
tion in a community in which Dutch educa-
tional methods may be supposed to prevail,
may be regarded as evidence of a marked fit-
ness for the place. And usually a young man
who has passed the first years of his active
life in pedagoguey does not readier make up
into the hustling business man. But Mr.
Hummer broke through the bars on closing
his school connection in 1889 and established
the West Michigan Furniture Company of
Holland, of which he is secretary and mana-
ger, a concern now employing 500 men, with
an output the past year of $750,000. The
company was first organized with a capital of
$20,000 and the works started up with about
100 employes. They have never seen an idle
day, nor the shadow of a strike, from the be-
ginning to the present time. Mr. Hummer's
business connections are varied and exten-
sive. Aside from his connection with the
West Michigan Furniture Company, he is a
director in the Holland & Chicago Transpor-
tation Company, operating a line of passen-
ger steamers between Holland and Chicago, is
president of the Buss Machine Company of
Holland, a member of the executive commit-
tee of the Holland Beet Sugar Company, a
director in the Grand Rapids Publishing
Company, publishers of the Daily and Weekly
Democrat, a director in the Holland Improve-
ment Company, and a stockholder in the First
State Bank of Holland. He was president of
the State Association of Furniture Manufac-
turers, 1897-99, and was made president of the
national association at its organization in Chi-
cago in June, 1899.
Politically, Mr. Hummer is a Democrat,
with a Populistic and Silver setting. He was
elected Mayor of Holland in 1893 and again
in 1894, and was a member of the school
board 1890-93. In 1896 he was the candidate
of his party for Congress, and ran 300 votes
ahead of the national or Bryan ticket. He is
a member of the Order of Elks, of the Knights
of Pythias and Foresters. Mr. Hummer was
married in 1885 to Miss Maggie Plugger, a
beautiful and talented young lady of Hol-
land, who, with three charming daughters,
graces one of the most hospitable homes in
the city.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
477

BLACKER, ROBERT R. Mr. Blacker
is the present secretary-treasurer and general
manager of the State Lumber Company of
Manistee. He is a native of Canada, having
been born at Brantford, October 31, 1845, at
which place his early education was received.
While but a young man of nineteen years of
age he left his home at Brantford, and came
to Michigan, passing a couple of years at
Buchanan, and later taking up his residence in
Manistee, where for a number of years he
followed the vocation of a lumber inspector,
in this way becoming thoroughly acquainted
with the details connected with the manufac-
ture and sale of lumber. During his residence.
in Manistee he has been a prominent figure
not only in affairs pertaining to the lumber
industry, but in political and social circles as
well.
In 1875 Mr. Blacker associated himself
with R. G. Peters in a business partnership
which took the name of R. R. Blacker & Co.,
the purpose being the operation of a shingle
mill which they had erected.
Four years
later Mr. Blacker formed a partnership with
E. T. Davies and Patrick Noud, under the
firm name of Davies, Blacker & Co., the first
undertaking of which was the building and
operation of a saw and shingle mill plant, to
which in 1887 they added a salt block. The
business of this company was carried on unin-
terruptedly until the organization of the State
Lumber Company, which took its place, and
of which Mr. Blacker and Mr. Noud are the
present owners.
Mr. Blacker has not only been engaged in
lumber enterprises, but has found time to de-
vote himself to business matters of a general
character, and has given considerable atten-
tion to politics. He is a member of the direc-
torate of several local institutions, in all of
which he takes an active interest. Among
them are the Manistee, East Lake & Filer
City Railway, the Manistee County Savings
Bank, and the First National Bank of Mani-
ROBERT R. BLACKER.
stee, of which he was one of the organizers and
a director, the A. H. Lyman Wholesale Drug
Company, and the Manistee water works. In
the spring of 1882 he was elected alderman,
and in November of the same year he was
elected a member of the State Legislature,
and re-elected in 1884, serving through the
sessions of 1883 and 1885. Beginning with
the year 1888 he held the office of Mayor of
Manistee for four successive terms. He was
a delegate to the Democratic national conven-
tion of 1884, an alternate to the convention of
1892, and a delegate at large to the Chicago
convention of 1896. He was appointed to the
office of Secretary of State by Gov. Winans
Dec. 24, 1891, upon the resignation of the
then incumbent, and administered the office
with equal credit to himself and to his party
until the close of the term, Dec. 31, 1892.
Politically he has always been a Democrat.
Mr. Blacker has been twice married, but
has no children. His first wife died in 1896.
His second marriage was on Feb. 22, 1900, to
Miss Nellie Canfield, daughter of the late
John Canfield, of Manistee.

478
MEN OF PROGRESS.
AUGUST SPIES.
SPIES, AUGUST. The city of Menominee
is fortunate in numbering among its citizens
Mr. August Spies. Born in Hesse-Darmstadt,
Germany, October 23, 1836, he came with
parents to America in 1850, they settling in
Winnebago county, Wisconsin, where they
made for themselves a home and reared their
family of eight children. The son, August,
improved such educational advantages as were
obtainable in his native place and in his
western home, and at the age of thirteen en-
tered
upon work as a farm hand, and worked
on a farm and in a nursery until he was twenty
years old. He then rented a farm for two
years, after which, with his savings, he bought
160 acres of land in Winnebago county, which
by energy and industry he developed into a
farm, on which he resided for eight years, ex-
cept during one year of the time, which he
passed at an advanced school at Appleton,
Wis. When thirty years old he rented his
farm and went to Menominee, where he has
since resided. For twelve years after locating
there he conducted a meat market and general
supply store, during which opportunities for
adding to his legitimate gains did not escape
his clear business perceptions. He purchased
tracts of timber lands as occasion presented, a
class of deal in which there is an ample for-
tune for the judicious operator, and thus be-
came one of the lumber magnates of the Up-
per Peninsula. In 1880, in company with
Henry Martin, the two built the lumber mill
known as the Spies Mill, which Mr. Spies has
operated alone for many years past. He was
one of the organizers of the Stephenson Bank-
ing Company, of Marinette, Wisconsin, which
eventually became a national bank, of which
he was one of the directors. He helped organ-
ize the First National Bank of Menominee, of
which he is vice-president. He is president
of the Marinette & Menominee Paper Com-
pany, of the Menominee Electric Light, Rail-
way & Power Company, and of the August
Spies Lumber Company of Menominee, and
a director of the Gruhl Sash & Door Manu-
facturing Company, of Milwaukee, Wis. Is
also chairman of the board of trustees of the
Menominee cemetery. Mr. Spies is a Repub-
lican in politics, and was four years a mem-
ber of the city council, and was for a num-
ber of years a member of the local school
board, and its treasurer. He built the first
brick block in Menominee, and his was the
first brick residence there. Mr. Spies' relig-
ious connection is Presbyterian. Miss Ger-
trude Prince, a native of Hesse-Darmstadt,
became Mrs. Spies at Fond du Lac, Wis., in
1860. She came with her parents to Onon-
daga county, New York, in 1850. Her educa-
tion was received in her native country and in
the high school at Horicon, Wis. Nine chil-
dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Spies:
Adella, wife of Hon. Frank W. Humphrey,
a banker at Sharvano, Wis.; Charles A., real
estate dealer, Menominee; Frank A., con-
nected with his father's lumber interests; Ame-
lie, wife of David Bothwell, lumberman, of
Menominee; Harriet, wife of Dr. Charles
Ellwood, of Menominee; Alice, wife of Geo.
Peaks, an attorney of Chicago; Elizabeth, Nel-
lie and Arthur, at home.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
479

WHITE, WILLIAM H. William H.
White was born at Owen Sound, Ont., April
12, 1859. His father, William White, was of
Scotch-Irish descent. He was a cattle buyer
and shipper, and combined these interests with
farming. His mother, Arabell Clement, was
of Scotch-Irish descent. His education was
received in the public schools near Owen
Sound.
When 16
of he became actively
years age,
engaged in assisting in his father's business.
When about 20 years old, he moved to Essex,
Ont., and bought a small piece of timber land.
He lumbered the timber to the adjoining mills,
and some of the best was shipped to Liverpool.
He accumulated a little out of this enterprise,
and entered into a contract to get out stave-
bolts for William Edgar of Hamilton, Ont.
Lack of snow and frequent rains made the
work very expensive, as the product had to be
delivered, and ended in a loss.
He then engaged as woods foreman with
John Miline in the winter of '79 and '80. In
the spring he was made superintendent of one
of his mills. He then became associated in the
same capacity with John Monroe & Co., at
Maid Stone, in the fall. In 1881 he was sent
to South Arm, Mich., to take charge of the
interests of the company. In the fall of 1882
the company failed. He was then employed
by the assignee to help close up the company's
affairs.
In 1883 Mr. White moved to Boyne City,
which has since been his place of residence.
He formed a co-partnership with R. E. New-
ville. They rented a small mill and began
the manufacture of broom handles. When
they started in the stock was worth $14 per
thousand, but when they got ready to market
it had fallen to $8 per thousand, making a
loss of $2 per thousand handles. They went
out of this business $800 in debt.
In the fall of 1884 Mr. White went to De-
troit and secured a contract to supply hard-
wood lumber, but had no money to start with.
Finally made arrangements with C. J. Lloyd
to furnish the capital at a royalty of $2.00 per
thousand on all the lumber cut. He opened a
mill and sawed six hundred thousand feet.
Made enough to pay off the old debt and
Lloyd in full except $85.00. Mr. Newville
retired from the business. The next year's
contract gave Mr. White a margin of $1,200.
He then took a partner, Mr. R. R. Perkins,
and this year realized a profit of $3,000, of
which he received $1,500 on a cut of 2,700,000
feet. He then bought out Mr. Perkins and
pay
WILLIAM H. WHITE.
the next year cleared $4,000. He then bought
the old Sheboygan mills at Boyne City and
secured a two years' contract with the Cheboy-
gan Chair Co., of Sheboygan, Wis. In two
years he was out of debt and had paid for the
mill and timber.
Subsequently his three brothers, James,
George and Thomas, associated with him un-
der the present name of the firm. In 1900
they cut 40,000,000 feet.
In 1893 the B. C. & S. E. R. R. Co. was or-
ganized and the railroad built from Boyne
City to Boyne Falls, connecting with the G.
R. & I. R. R. at Boyne Falls. It was opened
for business on the 28th day of August. Mr.
White owns and operates the above road, now
about 40 miles long. He is also interested in
mercantile and other manufacturing enter-
prises, but mostly in lumbering.
He is third vice-president of the National
Hardwood Association, elected at the national
convention held in Cincinnati in May, 1900.
Mr. White is a Republican in politics, but has
never held office. He is a member of the
Oddfellows order.
He was married in 1889 to Miss Abigal
Wigle of Kingsville, Ont. She died in 1890,
leaving two children. In 1899 he was married
to Miss Mary Louis Reader of Lake City.
The railroad, lumber and merchandising
business of which he has charge is making a
steady growth each year. His hardwood lum-
ber interest is one of the largest in the state.



480
MEN OF PROGRESS.
GERRIT J. KOLLEN.
KOLLEN, GERRIT J. Dr. Kollen in a
native of the Netherlands, having been born
August 9, 1843. After the death of his
father, his mother in 1851 moved to this coun-
try, settling on a farm in Allegan county,
this state, where she still lives at the advanced
age of 97 years. The local schools and a
course in the graded schools at Allegan pre-
pared him for admission to Hope College at
Holland, which he entered in 1862, and from
which he graduated in 1868.
Like many
another young man,
his expenses were met by
work during vacations, sometimes as farm-
hand and at other times at mechanical labor.
After leaving college he taught a public
school at Overisel, and was otherwise em-
ployed in teaching. In 1871 he was tendered
the position of assistant professor of mathe-
matics at Hope College, which position he
accepted and filled until 1878, when he was
appointed professor of pure and applied math-
ematics in the same institution. In 1885 he
was made professor of political economy, and
in 1893 was elected president of the college,
which position he still holds. When Dr.
Kollen became a student at Hope College, in
1862, the faculty consisted of one professor
and two assistants, while its catalogue con-
tained the names of only about forty students.
The college today has a faculty of thirteen
professors and nearly two hundred students.
Much of the prosperity of the college, espe-
cially in a financial way, is due to the efforts
of Dr. Kollen. In 1892 he went east and
raised a fund of $40,000, with which the
present beautiful library building was erected,
and at the same time secured a valuable pri-
vate library, consisting of 8,000 volumes. In
1897-8, on a further mission to the east, he
secured the sum of $100,000 as an endow-
ment fund for the college. His work in the
college and otherwise in its behalf was recog-
nized by the Board of Trustees of Rutgen
College, New Brunswick, N. J., by whom, in
1894, the honorary degree of LL. D. was
conferred upon him.
Hope College is the educational center in
Michigan of the Reformed Church in Amer-
ica, sometimes called the Dutch Reformed
Church. In its doctrine and polity it differs
but little from that of the Presbyterian de-
nomination. Dr. Kollen is an elder in the
Reformed Church, and has held many im-
portant representative positions in its coun-
sels, especially as delegate at different times.
to the General Synods, and was a delegate
from Michigan to the International Pan-
Presbyterian
Presbyterian Alliance, which met at Wash-
ington in 1899.
Dr. Kollen does not confine his labors to
educational and ecclesiastical matters, but in-
terests himself as well in the current affairs
of life. He was one of the sixteen citizens of
Holland who organized the Holland Improve-
ment Company, the purpose of which was to
induce manufacturers to locate there. The
influence of the movement is seen in the fact
that the city of Holland now takes front rank
as a manufacturing center in western Michi-
gan. Dr. Kollen is a director in the State
Bank of Holland, and has been for a number
of years a member of the local School Board.
Though a Republican in politics, he is not a
politician. In 1879 Miss Mary W. Van
the founder of the Holland colony of which
Raalte, daughter of Rev. A. C. Van Raalte,
the city of Holland is the center, became Mrs.
Kollen. They have one daughter, Estelle
Marie, a student at Hope College.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
481

CHAMBERLAIN, GEORGE LAFAY-
ETTE, M. D. Dr. Chamberlain is the pres-
ent medical superintendent of the Upper
Peninsula for the Insane, at Newberry. He
comes to Michigan from Wisconsin, having
been born at Eureka, Wis., July 14, 1869,
where his father, John H. Chamberlain, was
a furniture dealer. The Chamberlains mi-
grated from Bangor, Maine, to Wisconsin.
His mother, Mary Loope, was of a family of
professional men (physicians), so that he may
be said to have inherited an aptness for the
profession which he has chosen. He attended
the public schools of Eureka until he was 14
years old, when he went to live with his
grandfather, Dr. R. A. Loope, at Black Creek,
Wis., where he combined medical reading
with his ordinary school studies for two or
three years, when he became clerk in a drug
store, without salary, in order to learn phar-
macy. At the age of 18 he started out for
himself and went to Bessemer, Mich., with
his uncle, Dr. G. L. Loope, and became a
nurse in the Gogebic Hospital, earning $25
per month, including subsistence. The Go-
gebic Hospital was owned by Dr. Loope
at that time. In the fall of 1888 he entered
as a student at Rush Medical College in Chi-
cago, but on the ensuing vacation he returned
to the hospital at Bessemer, as house physi-
cian. He thus alternated his time between
scientific study and hospital work, until he
received his degree as Doctor of Medicine in
March, 1891, his pay for hospital services
partly covering his college expenses during
the time. His scientific education had thus
a completeness such as is best achieved by the
concurrence of both theory and practice.
During the summer of 1891 he relieved Dr.
Powers, the physician at the Montreal Mine,
near Hurley, Wis., during the latter's sum-
mer vacation and then opened an office at the
prospective mining town of Upson, Wis.
After a practice there of eighteen months, the
mines were abandoned and the inhabitants
moved to other localities. Dr. Chamberlain
then became a member of the staff at Gogebic
GEORGE LAFAYETTE CHAMBERLAIN, M. D.
Hospital at Bessemer, where he remained
until the summer of 1893, when, owing to
the depression in the iron industry and the
closing of the mines, the entire medical staff
was temporarily discharged. Early in the
year 1894 he opened an office at Trout Creek,
Mich., a small lumbering town, where he
continued in practice until June, 1895, when
he went to Chicago and took a post-graduate
course at Rush Medical College in pathology,
surgery and nervous diseases. While there
he was tendered and accepted the position of
assistant medical superintendent of the
Upper Peninsula Hospital for the Insane at
Newberry. Upon the resignation of the then
medical superintendent, Dr. Samuel Bell, Dr.
Chamberlain was appointed (April 1, 1899)
to the position thus made vacant.
Dr, Chamberlain is a member of the Amer-
ican Medical Association and of the State and
Upper Peninsula Medical Societies. He is a
member of the Masonic fraternity, including
the Knights Templar Commandery at Sault
Ste. Marie, Ahmed Temple at Marquette, and
the Consistory at Detroit, and is also a mem-
ber of the order of Elks at Marquette. He is
unmarried.

482
MEN OF PROGRESS.
DANIEL E. SOPER.
SOPER, DANIEL E. Mr. Soper is one
of those who, beginning life in orphanage
and poverty, has achieved business promi-
nence and comparative independence by his
own energy and industry. Born at Saratoga
Springs, N. Y., June 3, 1843, his father died
in January following, and the widowed mother
was left with three children. When Daniel
was six years old, his mother removed to
Oneida county, N. Y., and placed him in the
care of a farmer. In 1854 the mother brought
her little family to Michigan and located in
Lenawee county. Here Daniel obtained em-
ployment in a woolen factory, where he
worked twelve hours per day and attended a
night school. When the war broke out he
immediately announced his intention to enlist
in the first Michigan regiment that was sent
to the front, but yielded to the pleadings of
his mother and returned to his work. He
subsequently enlisted in the Fourth Regiment
but being under age, his mother interposed
her maternal authority and forbade his ac-
ceptance by the mustering officer. He then
went to Hillsdale to commence life for him-
self, and arrived at that village the possessor
of twenty-five cents. He worked in a dye
He worked in a dye
house until his cash capital had swelled to two
dollars, when feeling that he was destined for
commercial life rather than as a simple em-
ploye, he acted upon the poet's suggestion
that "there is a tide in the affairs of man,
which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune."
The war had created an eager demand for
newspapers and young Soper, estimating the
market and the probable returns, was the first
of the genus that the then little town of Hills-
dale had known. From a street vendor of
news, his enterprise developed into a news
depot, which proved profitable. In 1865 he
married Mary A. Howell, a daughter of Hon.
Wm. T. Howell, a pioneer of the state and a
prominent Democratic politician of southern
Michigan. Mr. Howell has been a member
of both houses of the State Legislature, was
president pro tem. of the Senate in 1845, and
was one of the Presidential Electors who cast
the vote of the state for Gen. Lewis Cass for
the Presidency in 1848, but had taken up his
residence in Newaygo. Mr. Soper sold out
his news business in Hillsdale and also re-
moved to Newaygo, where he engaged in the
drug business, subsequently, about 1876, en-
gaging in the real estate and insurance busi-
ness. Whether his marriage into a Demo-
cratic family had anything to do in shaping
his politics, is unessential, but he has always
been a Democrat, having cast his first vote
for George B. McClellan for President, in
1864. He was on the Democratic Electoral
ticket in 1884 and was appointed postmaster
at Newaygo by President Cleveland. He
has served as a member of the village
council of Newaygo and also as a member of
the school board. At the Democratic State
Convention held at Grand Rapids, Sept. 10,
1890, he was an aspirant for the nomination.
for Auditor-General, but gave way to George
W. Stone, who received the nomination, and
Mr. Soper was then given the nomination
unanimously and by acclamation, for Secre-
tary of State, and was elected with the rest of
the Democratic ticket that year, headed by
Gov. Winans, the only clean sweep the Demo-
crats have made in the state since their defeat
in 1854, scoring a plurality of between 3,000
and 4,000 votes over the Republicans.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
483

HARVEY, DR. HARRIE TRALEE.
The Harvey family are of English descent
and trace their lineage to the celebrated sur-
geon of that name, who, in the time of
Charles I., discovered and demonstrated the
fact of the circulation of the blood in the
human system. The present Dr. Harvey was
born at Holly, Michigan, February 4, 1867.
His father, Charles David Harvey, died at
Ann Arbor in 1882, his mother, Eliza L.
Eisenbrey, being still living. The family re-
moved to Ovid, Clinton county, where, at the
age of nine years, he left school and went to
work on a farm. He continued on the farm
until 15 years of age, when he went to Battle
Creek and obtained employment in the Sana-
tarium. After a year of service there he
went to Toledo and took up the study of den-
tistry with Dr. L. T. Canfield, with whom he
remained three years. He then took a two-
year course in the Philadelphia Dental Col-
lege, going from there to Detroit, where he
practiced for a year. In 1889 he went to
Battle Creek, his present residence, where he
practiced his profession steadily and success-
fully until January, 1900, since which time
other business engagements (his connection
with the Portland cement industry) have en-
grossed most of his attention. Dr. Harvey
has been devoted to his profession, and is the
author of numerous papers on dental science
and practice, eight of which he read before as
many
state dental societies in 1898. He was
a delegate to the International Dental Con-
gress held in connection with the Paris Expo-
sition in August, 1890. He is a member of
the National Dental Association and of the
Michigan and South Western Michigan As-
sociations and an ex-member of the board of
directors of the latter, and an honorary mem-
ber of the Northwestern Ohio Dental Asso-
ciation, of Toledo. He was appointed by
Gov. Pingree, April 1, 1899, a member of
the State Board of Examiners in Dentistry,
for three years, and is a member of the Board
of Public Works of Battle Creek, appointed
in May, 1900, for five years. He was mar-
ried in February, 1886, to Miss Annie Bell,
DR. HARRIE TRALEE HARVEY.
of Holly. They have one son, Raymond,
aged 13 years. Dr. Harvey is secretary of
the Monolith Portland Cement Co., Limited,
organized in January, 1900, of which he was
one of the promoters, with offices in New York
city, Chicago, Bristol, Ind., and Battle Creek,
the duties of which position demand most of
his time and energy. This company has a
large tract of fine marl lands at Bristol, where
they are building a plant for the manufacture
of Portland cement, with a daily capacity of
3,000 barrels, working 340 days each year,
which they expect to have in operation by
April 1, 1901. The plant will have the latest
equipment in every feature and will be run
continuously, with no shutting down on ac-
count of cold weather. It will be operated
by electrical transmission generated from
water-power, the company owning one of the
largest dams in existence, being 660 feet long.
Gen. James S. Clarkson, of New York, form-
erly chairman of the National Republican
Committee and First Assistant Postmaster-
General under President Harrison, is presi-
dent of the company, with the following
staff: Vice-president, L. C. McCoy, Battle
Creek; M. Henry Lane, Kalamazoo; treas-
urer, George B. Tompkins, Sturgis; secretary,
Harrie T. Harvey; counsel, Burritt Hamil-
ton; manager, W. O. Palmer, the last three
of Battle Creek,

484
MEN OF PROGRESS.

M. HENRY LANE.
LANE, M. HENRY, the president of the
Michigan Buggy Co. at Kalamazoo, comes to
his position by right of inheritance and suc-
cession, through his early training. His
father was a wagonmaker at Genoa, Cayuga
county, and Trumansburg, N. Y., and with
the purpose that the son should be associated
with him in the business, he insisted that he
should learn the business in all of its
branches. He therefore began at the bot-
tom, working successively in the paint, black-
smithing and wood shops, also accompanying
his father in the buying and selecting of lum-
ber for the factory. In this last-named work
the younger Lane manifested a special inter-
est, and a marked aptness, which served him
to good purpose at a later time. When 21
years of
age, he struck out for himself, secur-
ing first work as a farmhand. In 1872 he
came to Michigan, working as a farmhand in
Calhoun and Allegan counties. Having saved
about $500, he returned home in 1875, but
soon entered the employ of a large carriage
and wagon manufacturing company at Tru-
mansburg, N. Y. While thus employed he
was offered and accepted a place on the road
with the Courtland Wagon Co., of Court-
land, N. Y. His salary as traveling sales-
man was $75 per month, but on account of his
knowledge and experience in selecting and
purchasing lumber, he was put in charge of
the purchasing department instead, at $100
per month. He severed his connection with
this company January 1, 1881, and came to
Kalamazoo, where he organized the Kalama-
zoo Wagon Co. After two years he with-
drew from this concern and organized the
Michigan Buggy Co., capitalized at $100,000,
in connection with F. B. Lay and Geo. T.
Lay as co-corporators. The new company
turned out 1,100 cutters and 800 carriages the
first year, while their output in 1899 was
14,000 vehicles. The Michigan Buggy Co.
is considered one of the largest and most
complete establishments of its kind in the
United States. The Chicago branch at 341-
345 Wabash avenue, was established in 1887,
and the output of the factory goes to all parts
of the country. As a
As a business man, Mr.
Lane is clear-headed, energetic and up-to-date
and is known throughout the Union as a
pusher in his line.
Mr. Lane first saw the light at Genoa, N.
Y., January 21, 1849. On his father's side
he is of New England extraction, tracing
through his father, Wm. S. Lane, and grand-
His mother was Mary
father, Peter Lane.
Miss Ida
Smith, of Tomkins county, N. Y.
Lay, daughter of George T. Lay, of Allegan,
became Mrs. Lane in 1878. They have one
child, a daughter.
Mr. Lane's energy and business ability
have brought him a fair measure of material
prosperity. He is an extensive owner of real
estate in Kalamazoo, is president of the Belt
Line Railway Co. and a director in the Port-
land Cement Co. and the Mutual Telephone
Co., all of Kalamazoo, and a director in the
American Cash Register Co., of Chicago and
Kalamazoo, and the Comstock Manufactur-
ing Co., of Comstock, Mich. Though a Re-
publican in politics, he has never held politi-
cal office. In 1892 he was appointed by Gov.
Luce one of the three Michigan commission-
ers to the Columbian Exhibition at Chicago,
and served with distinction and credit to the
state. He is a member of the National Car-
riage Builders' Association and was its vice-
president for two years. He is also a mem-
ber of the Michigan (Republican) Club, and
the Elks.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
485

VAN KLEECK, JAMES. Mr. Van
Kleeck is a native of Michigan, having been
born at Exeter, Monroe county, Sept. 26,
1846. On his father's side he is of Dutch
extraction, being descended from Baltus Van
Kleeck, who came from Holland in 1610, set-
tling in New York. His mother was Cather-
ine McMannis, of a family who came from
Ireland early in the present century. His
father, Robert Van Kleeck, was born in Can-
ada, to which the family had removed, but
settled in Exeter in 1832. He, however, re-
turned to Canada and took part in the so-
called Patriot war, 1837-8, but returned to
Exeter and made it his home. James Van
Kleeck attended the local schools until 15
years of age, when he entered the high school
at Monroe, which he left at the age of 16, to
enter the army, enlisting as a private in the
17th Michigan Infantry. The regiment was
hurried to the front, and at the battle of An-
tietam young Van Kleeck was wounded by a
rifle ball in his left side, which he still carries,
and which sometimes causes him great pain.
From the hospital he was discharged from the
service because of physical disability, and
came home to die, but lived through it, though
eighteen months on crutches. He again en-
tered the high school at Monroe, and after a
year's study began reading law in the office
of Baldwin & Rafter, of Monroe. In the
fall of 1868 he entered the law department of
the University, and graduated therefrom in
June, 1870, and was admitted to the bar at
Monroe. After a short experience at prac-
tice there he removed to Midland City, and
hung out his sign, his personal resources be-
ing comprised in the sum total of four dollars.
He had a client the first week, as the begin-
ning of a successful career. He was city at-
torney of Midland City two years, and prose-
cuting attorney of Midland county three
terms. In 1882 he was elected to represent
the Midland district in the lower house of the
State Legislature, serving on the two import-
ant committees of judiciary and the State
University. It was at this session (1883)
that the protracted struggle over the election
JAMES VAN KLEECK.
of a United States Senator occurred, finally
resulting in the election of Hon. Thos. W.
Palmer. In 1885 he removed to Bay City
and formed a law partnership with George
W. Mann. He was appointed Commissioner
though the office was soon after abolished.
of Immigration by Gov. Alger in 1885, al-
In 1886 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney
of Bay county and served one term. His
intelligent interest in schools and the cause
of education led to his election as a member
of the Board of Education, of which he was
four years a member, and its president two
years. A Republican in politics, his position
in the party indicated him as an eligible can-
didate for Congress, for which he was nomi-
nated in 1890, but being an off year he suf-
fered defeat at the hands of his Democratic
competitor, Hon. Thos. A. E. Weadock.
Central Committee and of local committees.
has served his party as member of the State
He
Mr. Van Kleeck attends the Methodist
Episcopal Church, is a Royal Arch Mason, a
member of the Order of United Workmen,
and of the G. A. R., Miss Juliette C. Car-
penter, daughter of Thos. F. Carpenter, a
capitalist of Midland, became Mrs. Van
Kleeck in 1872. Their children are Edith
A., a graduate of the literary department of
the University, James C. and Delia, all at
home.

486
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HENRY MILLER MARVIN.
MARVIN, HENRY MILLER. Henry
M. Marvin, a prominent business man of
Augusta, Kalamazoo county, is essentially a
Michigan product, having been born in Bed-
ford, Calhoun county, May 3, 1859. The
Marvin family, as here represented, came
originally from Massachusetts, the ancestors
of Henry M., moving from the state to Erie
county, N. Y., by ox teams, in the early days.
The father of Henry M., Huntington M.
Marvin, was born in Aurora, N. Y., Novem-
ber 17, 1817, and came to Michigan in 1843,
settling on a farm in Johnstown, Barry
county, but moving to Bedford in 1855,
where he built a flour mill, which he operated
until 1877, when he removed to Augusta.
Here he branched out in business on a larger
scale, including milling, banking and real
estate, continuing actively in touch with his
several ventures until his death, October 23,
1896. While in Barry county (1844) he
operated the first threshing machine in that
part of the state, run by horse-power, which
was then the only motor. The mother of the
present Mr. Marvin was Lucinda E. Riley,
the daughter of Elijah Riley, of Elba, Gene-
see county, N. Y., born December 31, 1825,
and still living in good health in Augusta.
The parents were married in 1844.
Henry Miller Marvin received his early
education in the local schools and afterwards
attended Olivet College for two years, return-
ing home in 1876, and after a year in the
house at Bedford, he removed with his par-
ents to Augusta. He at once became associ-
ated with his father in his business enter-
prises, they buying a mill site and erecting a
flour mill thereon. This they operated to-
gether until 1880, when the father estab-
lished a bank, to which he gave his personal
attention until the time of his death, the son
attending to the milling branch of the busi-
ness.
Upon the death of his father, Mr. Mar-
vin succeeded to the management of all the
business interests. He is the only grain ship-
per in Augusta, his grain shipments mostly
going to the Toledo market, while his flour
product goes to New England. He ranks
with the pioneer grain dealers and flour man-
ufacturers of Kalamazoo county. He is
banker, miller, grain buyer, farmer and real
estate dealer, having business interests at Bat-
tle Creek as well as at Augusta. He is a
Democrat in politics, but has held no political
office. He is a member of the order of Elks."
Mr. Marvin has been twice married, his
first wife having been Miss Florence Cooper,
daughter of George Cooper, of Fostoria, O.,
who died May 15, 1885. Their three chil-
dren are: Harry C., Bessie and Fred, aged
respectively 19, 18 and 16, all at home. Miss
Jennie C. Dodge, daughter of Martin Dodge,
of Montague, Mich., became Mrs. Marvin,
February 16, 1894. There is one child by
this marriage.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
487

WILLIAMS, FITCH REED. Mr. Will-
iams is of mixed Dutch and Welsh ancestry,
through his father, John Williams, and his
mother, Bulia Calkins, who were respectively
of Dutch and Welsh extraction, though re-
motely. He was born in Dutchess county,
N. Y., December 18, 1834, his parents re-
moving to Sharon, Conn., in his infancy, and
in 1845 to Sharon, Washtenaw county, Mich.
The family later removed to Albion, Mich.,
where the son attended Albion Seminary
(now Albion College), and in 1854 entered
the University, from which he graduated in
1858. He was appointed to and held the
chair of Latin and Greek in Albion College
for two years, and afterwards assisted in the
chair of Latin in the University for a like
term. The death of his father at Albion com-
pelled him to return there to care for the
family and estate, where he remained six
years. While there, in connection with a
brother, he established a drug and book store,
but sold his interest in 1867 to resume his
law studies, which had been pursued while
teaching at the University. He was admitted
to the bar at Marshall in 1868 and after a
successful practice of two years at Albion he
went to Elk Rapids to have charge of the ex-
tensive interests of the then well-known firm
of Dexter & Noble, at that place. He has
practised law continuously in that part of the
state for thirty years, most of the time alone.
In the seventies he was associated with J. A.
Parkinson, now of Jackson, Mich., under the
firm name of Williams & Parkinson, and
afterwards for a short time with Charles T.
Hickox, now of Milwaukee, Wis. In 1870
Elk Rapids was the county seat of a district
which has since been divided into the four
counties of Antrim, Kalkaska, Otsego and
Crawford. From 1870 to 1876 Mr. Williams
served as prosecuting attorney and prosecuted
fifty cases for infraction of the liquor laws,
securing convictions in forty-nine of them.
He was elected to the State Senate in 1876
and in that body was a recognized authority
on the subject of taxation, a subject on which
he had bestowed special study.
Mr. Williams may be justly characterized
in every sense as a leading citizen of northern
Michigan, having contributed largely to its
material development, and by his broad cul-
ture also to its social and moral advancement.
And in this connection it would be unjust to
omit mention of Mrs. Williams, formerly
Miss Elizabeth Jane Roberts, of Ogden, Mon-
roe county, N. Y., who became Mrs. Williams
August 12, 1862. An acquaintance formed at
Albion College led to the union. She also re-
FITCH REED WILLIAMS.
He
ceived a liberal education at Albion College,
Mich., and Ingham University, N. Y., and
has ever been admired not only for her domes-
tic and social qualities, but also her literary
and artistic attainments. One son, Fitch Rob-
erts Williams, is now a law student at the
University. Mr. Williams is a member of
the Masonic fraternity and of the Alpha Delta
Phi (literary) of Michigan University. He
is a Republican in politics and attended with
his father at the formation of the party,
"under the oaks," at Jackson, in 1854.
is vice-president of and general counsel for
the Elk Rapids Portland Cement Co., attor-
ney for the Elk Rapids Iron Co., and many
other corporations and firms in northern
Michigan, and also attorney for and one of
the
organizing stockholders and directors of
the Elk Rapids Savings Bank. The Elk
Rapids Portland Cement Co. owes its exist-
ence to his efforts. Securing options on 350
acres of marl land and a large bed of ideal clay
suitable for such purposes, he organized the
company, which is capitalized at $400,000,
Jackson and other Michigan cities furnishing
many of the principal shareholders, together
with Elk Rapids business men.
pany is now building a plant on the shore of
Lake Michigan, in Elk Rapids, which will be
completed before 1901, capable of turning
out 600 barrels on the start, designed soon to
be expanded to 1,000 barrels per day, and
which will give employment to 200 or more


men.
The com-


488
MEN OF PROGRESS.
ROBERT SMITH.
SMITH, ROBERT. Robert Smith, presi-
dent and manager of The Robert Smith
Printing Company, the state printers, of Lan-
sing, Michigan, was born April 13, 1843, in
Syracuse, New York. His father, Thomas
Smith, came to this country from Ireland in
1818. His mother's maiden name was Judith
Morton. When he was four years of age his
parents removed to a farm near Syracuse, and
when the boy reached the proper age he was
sent to the district school, where his education
continued until he reached his thirteenth
year, when he was apprenticed for three years
in the office of the Syracuse Standard, to learn
the trade of a printer. After two years as
"devil" at a salary of $1.50 a week, he quit
the job and for twelve months travelled about
the country as a two-thirds journeyman
printer. He then got "cases" on the Roches-
ter Express, where he worked alongside of
John McVicar, ex-member of the Board of
Public Works in Detroit.
In the winter of 1863-4, the result of a
strike in the Rochester Express, Mr. Smith
removed to Lansing, Mich., where he secured
a situation with John A. Kerr & Co., then
state printers and binders. In the spring fol-
lowing, with Henry S. Hilton, he bought the
Clinton Republican, published at St. Johns,
and they made the venture a success from the
start. In 1883 they started the Globe, at
Flint, Mich., and were the first in the country
to adopt the so-called "patent insides," and
they used the inside pages of the Globe, for
the Clinton Republican. In 1870 the Globe
was sold to A. L. Aldrich, of St. Joseph,
Mich., after which Messrs. Smith & Hilton
purchased a two-thirds interest in the Jackson
Daily Citizen of Hon. James O'Donnell, who
retained a one-third interest. In about eight
months afterward, however, Mr. O'Donnell
became the sole owner again of the Citizen,
Mr. Smith returning to St. Johns. Some
months later, owing to failing health, Mr.
Smith removed to Minnesota, engaging in the
hardware business at Taylor's Falls, in that
state. He remained there some fifteen
months, when he sold out. While looking for
another and more satisfactory business open-
ing, he concluded to return to Michigan, and
subsequently purchased the Gratiot Journal,
at Ithaca, during the Grant-Greeley cam-
paign, that paper having threatened to change
from a Republican to a Greeley organ.
at once enlarged the paper and made it un-
compromisingly Republican, which it so re-
mained until he sold it in 1891. While under
his charge the Gratiot Journal was recognized
as the handsomest, typographically, and one of
the ablest newspapers in the state. In 1899
Mr. Smith secured the state printing and
binding contract, after a stubborn struggle,
and has since been identified with it.
He
In 1896 the firms of Robert Smith & Com-
pany, state printers and binders, and D. D.
Thorp & Son, publishers of the State Repub-
lican, were merged into one concern, under
the name of The Robert Smith Printing
Company, Robert Smith and H. S. Hilton
owning the controlling interest. The house is
still doing business under this name.
Mr. Smith was postmaster during six of the
years he spent in Ithaca, and served on the
council and school board several terms. He
is a Mason and belongs to Lansing Comman-
dery, K. T., No. 25, and the Shrine of Saladin
Temple, Grand Rapids. He is also an Elk
and a K. of P.
He was married to Miss Carrie H. Scatter-
good, of St. Johns, Mich., Oct. 5, 1869, by
whom he had one daughter, Maude, and two
sons, Robert Jr., and Harry M. In April,
1887, his wife died. He remained a widower
until 1889, when he wedded Miss Henrietta
Chapman, daughter of the late Judge W. H.
Chapman, of
of Lansing. One daughter,
Frances, is the result of the union.
Mr. Smith is in every sense a self-made
man, having carved his way to his present
position by force of character and indomitable
will.
will. He is a good hater and one of the
stanchest friends on earth. He has never been
an office-seeker.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
489

MINER, HON. JOHN. Mr. Miner is of
Irish descent. His father, Edward Miner,
was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, and came
to New York city about 1840. His mother,
Mary Kern, was born in County Louth, Ire-
land, and came to America in 1834, and the
parents were married in New York in June,
1847. John Miner, the subject of this sketch,
was born in New York city, September 14,
1849, from whence with his parents he came
to Detroit in 1855, where he has ever since
lived. He received his education in the pub-
lic schools of this city of Detroit. When he
left school he assisted in his father's business,
that of a merchant tailor, in which business
he was engaged for several years. In 1871
he began reading law in the office of Levi
Bishop, and was admitted to the bar in 1872,
before Judge Jared Patchen, then presiding
judge of the Wayne Circuit Court.
He re-
mained in Mr. Bishop's office until 1875,
when he started in practice on his own ac-
count. In 1877 he was elected to the office
of police justice of the city of Detroit. It
was certainly a responsible and difficult posi-
tion in which to place a young man of but
28 years, but his subsequent election to a
second and third term, covering a continuous
service of twelve years, demonstrated the wis-
dom of the choice. In 1890 he was elected to
the lower house of the legislature, and during
his service in that capacity he was principally
instrumental in amending the Metropolitan
Police Law, by which the appointment of
Commissioners of the Metropolitan Police of
Detroit was placed in the hands of the mayor,
instead of with the governor. Another meas-
ure, however, and probably the most import-
ant one of that session, of which he was the
author, was known as the "Miner Law." This
measure changed the method of choosing
Presidential Electors, so that they were chosen
by districts instead of by the state at large.
It excited widespread discussion and interest,
not only in Michigan but throughout the
United States. In Michigan it was bitterly
antagonized as being a mere partisan measure
in the interest of the Democrats, which was
made possible by the fact that the Democratic
HON. JOHN MINER.
party was then in control of the state adminis-
tration. The measure was fought by the Re-
publicans through the state courts, and into
the United States Supreme Court, where its
constitutionality was finally completely af-
firmed. The result was that at the election in
1892 the Democrats elected five of the four-
teen Presidential Electors, whereas under the
other system (to which the Republicans re-
turned when they came into power in 1893)
the whole fourteen would have been Republi-
termined the result on Presidential election.
can. In a close election this would have de-
Judge Miner was a candidate for mayor of
Detroit in 1891 but with a divided party, Hon.
Wm. G. Thompson being also a candidate
upon the Democratic ticket, Mayor Pingree's
election to a second term resulted. At the
spring election in 1897 Judge Miner was
again a candidate for police justice and the
vote on the east side showed his old-time popu-
larity, but the Republican ticket was success-
ful except on mayor (a special election for that
office), when owing to special causes Mr. May-
bury was elected. He was again a candidate
for the Legislature in 1898, but it was a bad
year for the Democrats.
year for the Democrats. For the past ten
years he has given his attention to his law
practice, making a specialty of probate prac-
tice and private trusts.

490
MEN OF PROGRESS.

ALEXANDER FORSYTH.
FORSYTH, ALEXANDER. Michigan
is indebted for much of its healthy blood to
the neighboring province of Ontario, and Mr.
Forsyth is of this class, he having been born in
Middlesex county, Ontario, May 16, 1860.
Leaving the district school at 12 years of age,
he became a student in the high school at
Petrolia and later at Sarnia, and at the age of
17 he began his career as a teacher, his first
care on receiving an income being to cancel
some indebtedness incurred in acquiring his
education. He taught school in Ontario for
five years, starting in at $57 per month and
working as a farm hand during the summer.
He came to Michigan in 1882 and taught
school at North Branch, Lapeer county.
While there he engaged in the drug business,
in which he invested all his savings, but the
venture was a losing one, and in 1883 the
business was closed out, leaving him without
a cent and with some liabilities. He resumed
the profession of teaching and when his obli-
gations had been discharged he opened an in-
surance office at North Branch, which proved
a success from the start. He had the agency
for all the larger companies doing business in
the United States and had a reliable clientele
in the counties of Lapeer and Tuscola and the
southern part of Sanilac. In 1890 he sold
out the business and removed to Standish, the
county seat of Arenac county. He here es-
tablished an insurance office, the first in that
county, having fifteen of
the old-line com-
panies, and had an extensive business in Are-
nac and adjoining counties. Having been
elected to the State Senate in 1896 and being
unable to give his personal attention to the
business during his necessary stay at the capi-
tal, he sold a half interest in the business. In
1894 a foreign insurance company insuring
farm property withdrew from Arenac county
and Mr. Forsyth organized the Home Mutual
Insurance Co., being a farmer's company.
He wrote some 300 risks the first year and to-
day the company has about 2,500 members,
and the policies in force aggregate insurance
of about $2,000,000. Mr. Forsyth was elected
secretary and treasurer of the company, which
position he now holds.
Politically, Mr. Forsyth was an indepen-
dent up to 1892, since which time he has been
a Populist and a Free Silver Democrat. He
was elected to the State Senate from the
Twenty-fourth district in 1896, under the
political combination known as the Demo-
cratic-People's-Union-Silver party, and won
great applause in his successful fight against
the school book trust for the adoption of uni-
form and free text books. He was a dele-
gate to the National Populist Convention at
St. Louis, Mo., in 1896. His lodge connec-
tions are Masonic, including the Auxiliary
Eastern Star. Miss Henrietta Brooks, daugh-
ter of Wm. Brooks, of Lambton, Ont., be--
came Mrs. Forsyth in 1882. They have
three children, Jennie, Annie and William.
Mr. Forsyth is one of the solid farmers of
Arenac county, and owns and operates a farm
of 500 acres near Standish, and also own con-
siderable real estate in the village, all acquired
within the past ten years as the fruit of his
enterprise and business tact. In 1897 he
took up banking and reorganized the Arenac
County Bank, which had previously failed,
and after getting it on a sound basis, sold out
his interest.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
491

GODFREY, MARSHALL HARTLEY.
At present a member of the Board of Public
Works of Detroit, Mr. Godfrey has passed a
useful life in his native city, up to the age of
55 years, both in business, social and official
relations. He was born in Detroit, July 16,
1845, his parents having been Jeremiah and
Sophromia (Pierce) Godfrey. The Godfrey
family were originally from the state of New
York. Marshall H. attended the Detroit pub-
lic schools, whose courses were much less ad-
vanced then than now, and also attended an
academy of which the Rev. Prof. Nutting was
principal, located on what is known as Lodi
Plains, some seven miles south of Ann Arbor,
in Washtenaw county, from which he gradu-
ated in 1862, also taking a course in a com-
mercial college in Detroit. He was then ap-
prenticed to learn the trade of a painter, with
the firm of Godfrey Dean & Co., of which his
uncle, Joseph Godfrey, was the senior part-
ner, serving his time of four years. The next
seven years were passed as an employee and
working at his trade. In 1866 he became a
member of the firm, representing the business
first established by his father in 1838.
history of this house is thus briefly noted:
Jeremiah Godfrey, 1838-52; Joseph Godfrey,
1852-74; Marshall H. Godfrey, 1866-99. Mr.
Godfrey, with his business associates, did a
flourishing and increasing business from year
to year until the collapse of the Majestic
Building Association, in which he was a stock-
holder, in January, 1899, which forced him
out of business.
The
Mr. Godfrey served the public as a member
of the Board of Water Commissioners five
years, 1884-89, when he resigned and was
four years a member of the Fire Commission.
He was the general manager of the water
works system fourteen months preceding his
appointment to the Board of Public Works.
He was the Democratic candidate for mayor in
1893, but it was a bad year for Democrats.
He has something of a record in the local
volunteer militia, having been Regimental
Color Sergeant of the Third Regiment, Michi-
MARSHALL HARTLEY GODFREY.
gan State Troops, and afterwards of the
Third and Fourth Regiments and of the De-
troit Battalion. He was aide on the staff of
Gov. Begole two years, with the rank of
colonel, and is now a member of the Old
Guard and of the Veteran Corps of the De-
troit Light Guard. Mr. Godfrey is a member
and trustee of the Central Methodist Church
of Detroit. He was made a Mason in Detroit
Lodge, No. 2, and was one of the charter
members of Palestine Lodge, No. 357, and
has the Chapter, Knights Templar, Consistory
and Moslem Temple Degrees. He has been
for nearly seventeen years a member of the
United States Master Painters' Association
and was its president one year, and was presi-
dent of the local association four years, and
of the state association two years.
Miss Marion Isadore Carrick, of Buffalo,
N. Y., became Mrs. Godfrey, April 2, 1868.
Mrs. Godfrey's father, John Carrick, was led
to California by the gold fever in 1849, and
died there. Mr. and Mrs. Godfrey have two
sons, Marshall H., Jr., a graduate of the Na-
tional Art Training School, South Kensing-
ton, England, and David F., a graduate of the
New York Trade School, who are today con-
tinuing as decorators and painters the business
inaugurated by their grandfather in 1838.
David F. served as ship painter on board the
Yosemite, during the war with Spain.

492
MEN OF PROGRESS.

CHARLES DURANT JOSLYN.
JOSLYN, CHARLES DURANT. Mr.
Joslyn is a native of Vermont (Waitfield), the
son of Ezra O. and Eliza A. (Durant) Joslyn,
born June 20, 1846. His father died at Wait-
field, October 16, 1881, and his mother died
September 1, 1846, when he was but a few
months old. The Joslyn name is of Welsh
origin and appears among those of the inhab-
itants of Connecticut as early as 1637. One
John Josselyn gained some notoriety in the
early days as a historian and writer of travels,
and in one of his books written previous to the
time when the "Connecticut Settlement" be-
came generally known, he made mention of
such a spot in the new world, from which it
is inferred that he is one of the founders of
that settlement. The name is a familiar one
in England, one of the name having at one
time been Lord Mayor of London. Mr. Jos-
lyn's great-great-grandfather was a soldier in
the War of the Revolution, and supported
General Washington at Valley Forge. Others
of his relatives (great uncles) were soldiers in
the War of 1812. On his mother's side the
family tree runs back in a direct line to Henry
Leland, who was one of the pilgrim band that
came over on the Mayflower, the name of
Durant coming through his grandmother,
Susan Leland, whose husband was of that
name.
Mr. Joslyn's education passed from the
primary schools of his native town to the
Vermont State. Normal School, and Barre
Academy, from both of which he graduated
in due course.
In 1867 he entered Dart-
mouth College at Hanover, N. H., but left
there in 1869 to accept the position of Assis-
tant Superintendent of the State Reform
School at Waterbury, Vt. He there entered
upon the study of law in the office of Gov.
Paul Dillingham, of that place, and was ad-
mitted to the bar before the Supreme Court
of Vermont in 1874. He came at once to
Detroit and entered upon a general civil prac-
tice, which has been interrupted only by offi-
cial duties with which he has been entrusted.
He was assistant clerk of the Superior Court
of Detroit, and was U. S. Consul at Windsor
1890-93. His greater public service, how-
ever, was as Assistant Corporation Counsel of
Detroit, which position he held six years,
1894-1900. As first assistant, the greater
volume of the work of the office fell to Mr.
Joslyn, the exacting duties of which were
always discharged with promptness and with
a clear perception of the legal aspects involved.
He represented the city successfully in a num-
ber of litigated cases and was counsel in the
case of Pingree vs. Moreland, and the State
vs. Sutton (the alleged military goods fraud
case). Since his retirement from the office
of Corporation Counsel in July last, Mr. Jos-
lyn has resumed his private practice.
Mr. Joslyn was first married at Waterbury,
Vt., in 1873, to Miss Julia Atherton, of that
place, who died in 1881, leaving three chil-
dren, Max A., now a civil engineer, and Alice
E. and Louise D., both at home. His second
marriage was in 1883 to Mrs. Fannie Cooper,
of Detroit.
There is no better known gentleman in mu-
nicipal and social circles in Detroit than
"Charlie" Joslyn. Of stature somewhat be-
low the average, but with an ample breadth of
chest and limb, he is brim full of good nature
and of devotion to his duties and his friends.
He is a Republican in politics, but politics has
no place in his personal and business relations.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
493

HUGH P. STEWART.
STEWART, HUGH P. Mr. Stewart is a
native of Michigan, "to the manor born," and
has demonstrated by a successful career that
a prophet may have honor in his own country.
He was born in Lockport township, St. Joseph
county, July 6, 1856, and was reared in that
vicinity.
Mr. Stewart is of Scotch descent and has
inherited many of the characteristics of that
race. He received the advantages of home
schools until the age of 17. When 19 years
of age he entered the law office of Alfred
munerative and second to none in the county.
Mr. Stewart is a stanch Republican in poli-
tics, and served the county four years as Prose-
He is vice-presi-
cuting Attorney, 1889-92.
dent of Wolf Bros. Bank of Centreville, a
member of the firm of W. Denton & Co.
(knitting mills), and director in the Centre-
ville Electric Light & Water Co.
He was married to Miss Anna Hasbrouck,
of Centreville, in 1884, and they have two
bright and interesting children. Mr. Stew-
art is a prominent Mason, being a member of
Three Rivers Commandery and Saladin Tem-
Akey and afterwards that of Judge Melendy. ple, at Grand Rapids.
He was admitted to the bar in 1878 and estab-
lished himself in practice in Centreville, the
county seat, where his practice has grown
steadily year by year until it has become re-
Mr. Stewart has by pluck, perseverance and
hard work won an enviable position in his
chosen profession, and has the confidence and
esteem of the community in which he lives.

494
MEN OF PROGRESS.
HON. PHILIP T. VAN ZILE.
VAN ZILE, HON. PHILIP T.
Strength
of character is an attribute of the people of
Holland and their descendants, a fact strik-
ingly exemplified in the person of Judge
Philip T. Van Zile, who is of that stock, his
great grandfather, Isaac Van Zile, having
come from the Netherlands and settled in
New Jersey. He was born at Osceola, Tioga
county, Pa., July 20, 1844, his father being
a shoemaker, to which calling he early applied
himself. His mother, however, had more am-
bitious views for him, and he was prepared
for college at Union Academy, Knoxville, Pa.,
and entered Alfred University, at Alfred
Center, N. Y., from which he was graduated
in 1862, having relied largely upon his own
exertions to pay his expenses during his col-
lege course. The Civil War was then at high
tide, and unable to resist the impulse to have
a hand in it, young Van Zile enlisted in Bat-
tery E, First Ohio Artillery, in which he
served to the close of the war. Upon his honor-
able discharge in 1865, he entered the Law
Department of the University at Ann Arbor,
graduating therefrom in 1867. He settled in
Charlotte and soon secured a good practice. He
was elected Prosecuting Attorney in 1868 and
re-elected in 1870. In 1875, yielding to a
strong pressure by members of the bar and
others, he accepted a nomination for Judge
of the Circuit Court, and was elected, sup-
ported not only by his own party but largely
by the opposition. While in the middle of
his term, Judge Isaac P. Christiancy, of the
Supreme Court, who had known Judge Van
Zile personally as well as officially, and who
knew and appreciated the material of which
he is made, was elected to the United States
Senate. At that time a vigorous administra-
tion of the Federal laws was demanded in the
Territory of Utah, and Judge Christiancy
recommended Judge Van Zile for appoint-
ment as United States District Attorney there.
After twice declining the appointment he
finally accepted upon the urgent desire as well
of Judge Christiancy as of President Hayes.
It was perhaps here that the record of his life
was made. During his six years of service he
was instrumental in securing the enforcement
practices of the Mormon Church, and also
of the laws against the corrupt and corrupting
aided in the modification of those laws, to
render them more effective. Judge Van Zile
resigned in 1884 and returned to Charlotte,
and that year conducted the state campaign of
his party, as chairman of the State Central
Committee.
Judge Van Zile removed to Detroit in 1890
and has filled the position of special lecturer
before the Detroit College of Law, and Dean
of the Faculty. He is also a member of the
State Board of Examiners, before whom can-
didates for admission to the bar are examined.
conferred upon him by his Alma Mater, Al-
He enjoys the degrees of Ph. D., and LL. D.,
fred University. He has been a member of
the Masonic Fraternity since 1869 and is at
present (1900) Right Eminent Grand Com-
mander of the Knights Templar of Michigan.
and earnestness have always been exerted in
A Republican in politics, his natural energy
behalf of his party. With a strong physique,
a stature measuring over six feet, a resonant
voice, a strikingly magnetic power, and an air
of conviction in his intellectual efforts, he is
a dangerous opponent at the bar and a power
on the stump. Miss Lizzie A. Jones, daughter
of Alexander Jones, a merchant of Rochester,
Ohio, became Mrs. Van Zile in 1866. Two
children, Hortense E. and Philip Donald, are
the fruit of the marriage.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
495

MCLAUGHLIN, JAMES C. Mr. Mc-
Laughlin is of Scotch parentage, his parents,
David and Isabella (Campbell) McLaughlin,
having come from Edinburgh in 1851, and
settled in Beardstown, Ill., where James C.
was born January 26, 1858. Mr. McLaugh-
lin is of the law firm of J. C. & J. A. Mc-
Laughlin, Muskegon, and comes to his profes-
sion through inheritance as well as by study,
the father, David McLaughlin, having been
a leading attorney at Muskegon for many
years. He was for twenty-five years a mem-
ber of the Muskegon School Board and for
nineteen years served as it secretary. The
efficiency of the Muskegon public school sys-
tem is regarded by the citizens as largely due
to the untiring work of Mr. McLaughlin.
James C. attended the public schools of the
city and graduated from the High School in
1876. After a preparatory course he entered
the Literary Department of the University at
Ann Arbor, in the fall of 1878, but did not
graduate. He became an assistant to his
father at Muskegon in his abstract office and
was later employed in a local bank. In the
summer of 1880 he went into the law office of
Smith, Nims, Hoyt & Erwin, as office clerk
and bookkeeper and read law as opportunity
offered. He entered the Law Department of
the University in the fall of 1881, graduating
therefrom with the class of 1883. After
graduating he entered the office of his father,
where he remained until the death of the
latter in 1891. After that date he practiced
his profession alone until November, 1899,
when the firm of J. C. & J. A. McLaughlin
was formed, a cousin being the junior part-
ner. Mr. McLaughlin succeeded to the ab-
stract business of his father, which is con-
ducted under the name of the Muskegon
JAMES C. MCLAUGHLIN.
County Abstract Company. He is a director
in the Enterprize Foundry Company and a
director in and attorney for the Home Build-
ing & Loan Association, both of Muskegon.
He is a Republican in politics, and served as
Prosecuting Attorney of Muskegon county
four years, 1887-91. He has served at differ-
ent times as chairman of the Republican
county and city committees. In 1898 he had
the support of his county delegation for a
Congressional nomination and in 1900 was a
candidate for the nomination for Auditor
General, in which he had the support of many
of the West Michigan delegates, but was de-
feated by Perry F. Powers, of Cadillac. Mr.
McLaughlin is unmarried but has extended
society connections, being a member of the
Masonic fraternity, the Foresters, Maccabees,
and Elks (Muskegon, No. 274), of the latter
of which he is Past Exalted Ruler. He is
also a member of the Michigan (Republican)
Club, Detroit.

496
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HORATIO N. HOVEY.
HOVEY, HORATIO N. The subject of
this sketch is a thorough Michigan man, hav-
ing been born at Oxford, Oakland county,
February 20, 1853, where his father, Horace
Hovey, was a farmer. His grandfather, Phi-
letus Hovey, was a contractor on the first
Erie Canal. His mother, Hannah Scribner
Hovey, was from Otisfield, Maine. The fam-
ily moved to Michigan from the state of New
York, May 18, 1828. He attended the local
schools until 1867, when the family removed
to Muskegon, where Mr. Hovey's active life
began, and on whose prosperity and growth he
has made his impress. He secured a position
in the grocery store of S. H. Stevens at six
dollars per week, and in the fall of 1868 was
made delivery clerk in the Muskegon post-
office, under the then Postmaster E. W. Mer-
rill, where he remained six years. After his
first
year, at the
age of 17, he was made deputy
postmaster. During his service in this con-
nection he secured a lay-off and in the winter
of 1872-3 attended a commercial college, tak-
ing a thorough commercial and business
course. In 1875, having saved about one
thousand dollars, he engaged in the hardware
business with Elias W. Merrill, under the firm
name of Merrill & Hovey. Mr. Hovey then
engaged in the lumbering business, and the
firm of McCracken, Hovey & Company was
formed. They built a sawmill and began
sawing lumber and in 1883 the firm of Hovey
& McCracken was formed for the purpose of
buying timber lands and purchasing logs for
the mill. This latter firm subsequently ab-
sorbed the firm of McCracken, Hovey & Co.,
and for several years operated two sawmills at
Muskegon, being one of the largest lumber
manufacturing concerns there. Their lum-
ber supply was exhausted in 1899 and the
mills closed. They are large holders of farm-
ing lands in Michigan and of pine lands in
Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Mr. Hovey has been self-supporting since
he was 14 years
of
age and without help from
any one in a financial way, has built up for
himself a substantial fortune. He is presi-
dent of the Muskegon Savings Bank, a director
and vice-president of the National Lumber-
men's Bank and is president of the Muskegon
Chamber of Commerce. He is a Republican
in politics but has never held any political
office, though having served seven years as a
member and treasurer of the Board of Educa-
tion of Muskegon. He is a member of the
Masonic Fraternity and of Muskegon Com-
mandery, Knights Templar. Miss Nellie
Merrill, daughter of Elias W. Merrill, here-
tofore mentioned as having been early asso-
ciated with Mr. Hovey in business, became
Mrs. Hovey in 1874. Four children are the
fruit of the marriage: Anna M., Eleanor, Sila
M. and Willard M., the three last named being
still attendants at school.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
497
FRED. N. BONINE.
One ancestor was an
BONINE, FRED. N. Dr. Bonine traces
his ancestry both on the paternal and maternal
side, to the
year 1600.
officer on George Washington's staff in the
Revolutionary War and the Bonines were
also distantly related to Daniel Boone, the so-
called first settler of Kentucky, and famous
Indian fighter.
Dr. Bonine's father, Dr. Evan J. Bonine,
was for many years a prominent citizen and
phyisician of Niles. He was appointed sur-
geon of the Second Michigan Infantry when
it was mustered into the service during the
Civil War, remaining in the service until the
close of the war in 1865, having been gradu-
ally promoted to the position of division sur-
geon of the Army of the Potomac. He filled
many places of trust, including four terms in
the House of Representatives and one term in
the State Senate. In his religious leanings he
was of the so-called Society of Friends, or
Quakers, and the writer, who knew Dr. Bo-
nine quite well, takes the liberty to say that
he was one of those plain, blunt, honest, soul-
ful men that are none too plentiful in the
world. He died in 1892. His widow (mother
of Dr. F. N.), formerly Eveline Beall, of Cen-
treville, Ind., is still living in Niles.
Dr. Fred. N. Bonine, upon leaving the local
schools at Niles, went at once to Freiburg,
Germany, where he took an academic course of
four semesters. His early medical education
received under his father's tutelage was con-
tinued at the State University, from the medi-
cal department of which he graduated in
1886, after which he took post-graduate
courses in London, Paris and Vienna. He
then took an extended European trip, visiting
cian.
the Holy Land and in fact nearly every corner
of the habitable globe, combining pleasure
with study. In 1888 he established practice
in Niles, his native place (born October 21,
1863), and has from the first enjoyed a flatter-
ing degree of success, more particularly as an
oculist, in which line he is widely known as a
specialist. He is now special pension exam-
iner for the pension district in which Niles is
situated and is division surgeon for the Michi-
gan Central Railroad. A Republican in poli-
tics, his election as mayor in a Democratic
city, in 1900, attests the estimation in which
he is held by his fellow-townsmen. He has
also served the city as alderman and city physi-
The doctor is an all-round athlete and
holds the world's championship for 110 yards,
eleven second, officially timed, Ann Arbor
field day, May 22, 1886. In May, 1885, at
"Meeting of all Colleges," including Yale,
Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, U.
of M., etc., held in New York city, he won the
championship for 100 yards dash. In all,
Dr. Bonine has won 275 first prizes in college
athletic sports, including running, jumping,
weight-throwing, etc. His lodge connections
are Masonic, including all the degrees except
the 33rd. Is a member of the Mystic Shrine,
has been Eminent Commander of Niles Com-
mandery, K. T., and is now High Priest of St.
Joseph Valley Chapter (Royal Arch), and
Grand Warder of the Grand Commandery of
Michigan.
Michigan. Is also a member of the Macca-
bees, Oddfellows and Royal Arcanum. Miss
Viva M. Thomas, daughter of Drew Thomas,
of Newark, N. J., became Mrs. Bonine (mar-
ried at Niles) July 28, 1886. A daughter,
Natalie, aged 10 years, is their only child.
498
MEN OF PROGRESS.

FREDERICK A. NIMS.
NIMS, FREDERICK A. Mr. Nims has
been for a full quarter of a century a member
of the law firm of Smith, Nims, Hoyt & Er-
win, of Muskegon. His parents, Dr. Dwight
B. and Mrs. Anna W. (White) Nims, were
descendants of a New England colonial an-
cestry, and came from Madison county, New
York, and settled in Michigan in 1835. The
son, Frederick A., was born June 15, 1839.
He passed from the district schools to a pre-
paratory college course at the then Wesleyan
Seminary (now Albion College), at Albion,
and in 1853 entered Hobart College, at Ge-
neva, N. Y.
N. Y. He pursued the classical course
here for three years, when he was compelled
to abandon his studies by a threatened failure
of eyesight. He left college and remitted
all study and literary pursuits for two years,
when in 1858, he entered upon the study of
law in the office of Withey & Gray, of Grand
Rapids and was admitted to the bar in 1860.
He at once formed a partnership with Col.
Andrew T. McReynolds, which was inter-
rupted a year later by the advent of the war,
Col. McReynolds accepting a position in the
army, Mr. Nims also receiving a commission
as second lieutenant and being subsequently
promoted to first lieutenant. He was mus-
tered out in 1864 on account of expiration of
term of service. He returned to Grand Rap-
ids, where he remained for a year seeking re-
covery of health, and in 1865 established him-
self in practice in Muskegon. In 1867 he
formed a partnership with Francis Smith and
George Gray, from which Mr. Gray retired
in 1869. In 1870 D. D. Erwin became a
member of the newly-formed firm of Smith,
Nims & Erwin, under which style a successful
business was prosecuted until 1874. H. J.
Hoyt was then admitted to the firm, the firm
becoming as named first foregoing, and has
since so continued and has ranked among the
foremost law firms of the state. Mr. Nims
has been active in promoting the material
interests of that section. The first railroad
connecting Muskegon with the outside world,
the Muskegon & Ferrysburg road, connecting
with the Detroit & Milwaukee at Ferrysburg,
was started in 1868, of which Mr. Nims was
one of the incorporators, and the secretary and
attorney of the company until the line was
completed. He was for several years a direc-
tor in the Muskegon National Bank and was
one of the organizers and a director in the
Merchants' National Bank of Muskegon, and
was at one time president of the City Street.
Railway Company of that city. He has
served for over twenty-four years as a member.
of the Board of Education and was for several
years its president. He is a Democrat in
politics but has never held any political office.
He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, of
over thirty years' standing, including the
Knights Templar, and of the Knights of
Pythias, the G. A. R. and the Loyal Legion.
Mr. Nims has been twice married, and has one
daughter and six sons.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
499

WOOD, LUCIAN EBY. The Wood fam-
ily are of English descent, the first American
representative of the family having settled in
Vermont at an early day. The grandfather,
Lyman E., moved from Vermont to New
York and thence to Michigan in the thirties,
first settling at Edwardsburg, Cass county,
and then going to St. Joseph county, where he
became interested in a woolen mill. The
parents of Lucian E., Jerome and Ganthia
(Corey) Wood, were married in Flowerfield,
St. Joseph county, Michigan, the mother
being a daughter of Samuel Corey, who was a
captain in the war of 1812. Their first Michi-
gan home was in Kalamazoo county, moving
thence in 1854 to Silver Creek, Cass county,
and in 1867 to Howard township, Cass county,
where the father died in 1889, the mother
being still a resident there.
Lucian E. Wood was born in Kalamazoo
county, October 5, 1852, and received his edu-
cation in the public schools of Cass county.
He adopted the profession of a teacher when
19 years old, first teaching for a year in the
township of his residence (Howard) and the
next year in Silver Creek. In 1872 he taught
in Berrien county and in 1874 in Sumnerville
and Pokagon, Cass county, devoting the inter-
vals of time to farm work. From 1874 to
1878 he was engaged in farming, and from
1878 to 1881 was employed in the State Fish
Hatchery at Crystal Springs Camp Ground,
on Dowagiac creek, near Pokagon. He was
then employed as assistant tie inspector for the
Michigan Central Railroad, under Inspector
Clark Johnson, and on Mr. Johnson's death in
1885 he succeeded him as chief tie inspector,
so continuing until 1894. In the last named
year he opened a real estate and insurance
office in Niles, which is his present business
and residence. He has always kept in touch
with his farming interests, however, and still
ranks as a farmer. He is also president of
the Freeland Manufacturing Company and a
stockholder and director and treasurer in the
Schwabac Manufacturing Company, both of
Niles. Mr. Wood represented his district in
the State Legislature in the session of 1895.
LUCIAN EBY WOOD.
Mr. Wood has quite an extended record in
the Masonic and other fraternal orders. He
received the Master Mason's Degree in Paka-
gon Lodge, No. 136, in 1873, and subse-
quently served four years as Master of the
Lodge. He became a Royal Arch Mason (St.
Jo Valley, Chapter No. 2) in 1880, and a
member of the Niles Commandery, Knights
Templar, No. 12, in 1881, of which latter he
is a Past Eminent Commander.
He is a
Scottish Rite Mason and member of DeWitt
Clinton Consistory. He also became a mem-
ber of Saladin Temple (Mystic Shrine) of
Grand Rapids in 1890, and was made Grand
Marshal in 1891, holding the position six
years. He became a member of the Grand
Lodge in 1894 and has held the following posi-
tions therein: Grand Marshal, 1894; Junior
Grand Deacon, 1895; Senior Grand Deacon,
1896; Junior Grand Warden, 1897; Senior
Grand Warden, 1898; Deputy Grand Master,
1899; Grand Master, 1900. Mr. Wood is
also a member of the Knights of Pythias and
of the Elks.
Mr. Wood was married November 11, 1874,
to Miss Alice L. Walter, daughter of Joseph
Walter, of Pokagon. They have two sons,
J. Walter, aged 22, electrical engineer, gradu-
ate of the University, June 1900; Floyd J.,
aged 20, studying electrical engineering at the
University.

500
MEN OF PROGRESS.

ARCHIBALD B. DARRAGH.
DARRAGH, ARCHIBALD B. This
well-known representative citizen of Gratiot
county is a native of Michigan, having been
born near Monroe December 23, 1840. His
father was Benjamin F. Darragh, formerly of
Chambersburg, Pa., his mother's name having
been Catherine Bard. The Darragh and Bard
families are of Irish and Scotch descent, set-
tling in this country prior to the Revolutionary
War, many of their names being found in the
Colonial Army Register.
Mr. Darragh's childhood years were passed
on his father's farm and in attendance at the
country school, and when 12 years of age he
entered the public schools at Monroe, and was
a schoolmate of the late Gen. George A. Cus-
ter in a private academy at Monroe. Later he
Later he
attended a private school managed by Levi T.
Griffin, now of Detroit. He entered the Lit-
erary Department of the University in 1857,
graduating therefrom in 1868. During va-
cations he worked as a farm hand in and about
Monroe county, to help out his expenses. In
1859 went to Mississippi, where he taught
school until May 16, 1861. The place then
became a hot one for a northern man, and with
the assistance of two southern college chums,
Mr. Darragh made his way out of the county,
to escape being forced into the Confederate
service or suffering personal violence. In the
fall of 1861 he again entered the University,
and at the end of the college year in 1862 he
enlisted as a private in Company H, 18th
Michigan Infantry, but was transferred Jan-
uary 1, 1863, to Company D, 9th Michigan
Cavalry, and served until the close of the
war, having been mustered out as Captain of
Company D, August 9, 1865. He then went
to Jackson and entered the law office of ex-
Gov. Blair. Not relishing the law very much,
he gave it up after six months' study and ac-
cepted a position as teacher in the public
schools at Jackson, and taught therein two
years, when he was elected superintendent of
schools of Jackson county, serving two years,
1867-8. He then pursued a further law read-
ing with Enoch Banker, of Jackson, until
February, 1870, when he went to St. Louis
and opened a private bank, which was backed
up by capitalists of St. Johns. He acted as
cashier and manager of this bank for fourteen
years, when in 1884 it was closed out and
merged as the First National Bank of St.
Louis, Mr. Darragh remaining as cashier. In
1894 this bank surrendered its charter and
reorganized under the state law as the Gratiot
County State Bank, of which Mr. Darragh is
president.
Mr. Darragh is a Republican in politics, was
treasurer of Gratiot county, 1872-74, and was
a member of the State Central Committee,
1882-3, and representative in Legislature
1882-84, and has served as chairman of the
Gratiot County Committee during several
campaigns. Was president of the village of
St. Louis 1879-81 and after it became a city
was its mayor 1893-4. He is at present a
member of the Board of Control of the State
He was ap-
Asylum for the Insane at Ionia.
pointed receiver of
the Citizens' National
Bank of Niles by the Controller of the Cur-
rency, October 1, 1899. His society connec-
tions are Masonic, including the Chapter De-
Annie P. Culbertson, daughter of Albert Cul-
grees, Oddfellows and Sigma Phi. Miss
bertson, a paper manufacturer of Mononga-
hela, Pa., became Mrs. Darragh, in 1865.
They have no children.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
501

SAVIERS, LEMUEL. General Saviers,
now a capitalist and farmer at St. Louis, Gra-
tiot county, won his title of colonel by service
in the Civil War, and that of general by ap-
pointment as brigadier general on the staff of
Gov. C. M. Croswell, where he served for four
years as quartermaster-general, 1877-81.
He was born in Antrim, Guernsey county,
Ohio, December 12, 1840, and came with his
parents to Tecumseh, Mich., in 1844. The
son attended school winters until 14 years old,
when he was apprenticed to J. & E. Rich-
ardson, of Adrian, to learn the trade of a car-
penter and millwright, receiving five dollars
per month and board the first year, from which
he saved forty dollars.
He served his time and worked at his trade
until twenty years of age, having been fore-
man of a gang of carpenters when eighteen.
He was a member of the Adrian Light Guard,
an independent military company, at the time
the Civil War broke out. He then enlisted as
a private in Berdan's Sharp Shooters. He
was appointed first sergeant of the company,
was made second lieutenant Oct. 8th, 1861,
captain Thirty-sixth Infantry Sept. 1st, 1862,
major May 15th, 1863, lieutenant colonel
March 30th, 1864, colonel September 12th,
1864, and was discharged for disability on
account of wounds Sept. 27th, 1864.
General Saviers' military record is most
creditable, as is shown by the following quo-
tation from a letter written by General John
C. Caldwell, at that time division commander:
Washington, D. C., Oct. 18, 1864.
Col. L. Saviers (at that time Major), served in
the First Division, 2nd Army Corps, while that
Division was under my command. I always re-
garded Col. Saviers as in every respect one of the
best officers I had, and in the management of a
skirmish line I have never seen his equal. Col.
Saviers was always prompt, faithful and efficient
in the discharge of his duties, and served most
gallantly until severely wounded in the present
campaign.
JOHN C. CALDWELL,
Brig. Gen. U. S. Vols.
Somewhat anomalous is his record. Com-
ing out of the service with the rank of colonel
and having had command of regiments and
brigades, he became a pupil in a local school
with a class of young persons. Being unfitted
at the time for active effort of any kind by
reason of his wounds, he entered the Tecum-
seh high school, and after graduating spent
one year in teaching higher mathematics in the
same school. In 1866 he married Miss Caro-
line M. Bills, daughter of Hon. Perley Bills,
of Tecumseh. In 1866-7 he was special agent
LEMUEL SAVIERS.
in connection with United States mail ser-
vice, and was then appointed postmaster at
Tecumseh, resigning that office in 1874, when
on account of ill health, resulting from his
wounds, he went to St. Louis, Mich., to avail
himself of the curative properties of the waters
there. As his health improved he became en-
gaged in business at that place, investing in
pine lands and the manufacture of lumber. In
1875 he organized the Merchants' and Far-
mers' Bank at St. Louis, which later became
Harrington, Saviers & Co., and in 1892 be-
came a state bank under the name of the
Commercial Savings Bank, of which he is
president. In 1888 he started the L. Saviers
& Co. bank at Harrison, in Clare county,
which is still doing business. Besides being a
banker, General Saviers is an extensive far-
mer, operating a model farm of four hundred
acres near St. Louis. In 1888 he, with others,
built the Electric Light & Power Company
plant at St. Louis, and later purchased the
entire stock and managed the enterprise until
1899, when he sold the plant to the city. Gen-
eral Saviers is a Republican in politics and a
member of the order of Oddfellows. General
and Mrs. Saviers have one daughter, Alice,
wife of W. G. West, a druggist at St. Louis.
The parents of General Saviers were Cyrus
and Matilda (Dean) Saviers. His grand-
father, General John Saviers, came to America
with Lafayette and distinguished himself as an
Indian fighter in the War of the Revolution.

502
MEN OF PROGRESS.

LOUIS E. ROWLEY.
ROWLEY, LOUIS E. Mr. Rowley is
among the best known, as he is also one of the
most popular and aggressive Democratic editor
in Michigan. His parents, George and Kath-
erine (Greene) Rowley, came from Monroe
county, N. Y., in 1856, and settled in Orleans
township, Ionia county, where the son was
born May 17, 1858. He absorbed as much
education as was possible, in a country district
school, up to the age of 13, when he entered
the office of the Ionia Sentinel as a printers'
apprentice, and improved the opportunities of
the situation for acquiring an advanced edu-
cation, and has been learning ever since, be-
cause the printing office and the newspaper
contribute a school in which there is always
something to learn. He was with the Sen-
tinel six years, graduating from one branch to
another of the printers' art, until he was pre-
pared to assume the duties of the editor's
chair. There was one thing that he did not
learn with his early employers. Though pub-
lishing a Republican paper, he did not learn
their kind of politics but continued steadfastly
in the Democratic faith. After working as
a journeyman for a short time at South Bend,
Ind., in the fall of 1877, he bought an interest
in the Ionia Standard, the Democratic organ
of that county, and became its editor. He
continued in that connection until 1883, when
he disposed of his interests at Ionia and pur-
chased the Lansing Journal. Under his man-
agement the Journal has become one of the
leading and influential Democratic papers of
the state. A man who is true to his convic-
tions will always command the respect of those
who may differ from him in opinion. Mr.
Rowley did not approve of the financial plank
in the Democratic platform of 1896, and
ranged himself with that section of his party
known as the Gold-Democrats. In the cam-
paign of 1900, however, deeming the financial
question (so far as it is an issue in the cam-
paign) as subordinate to other paramount
issues that have arisen, he is in accord with
the great mass of his party.
Mr. Rowley has served his party and the
people in the responsible position of Deputy
Secretary of State, and Postmaster at Lansing,
the latter under the second Cleveland adminis-
tration. As Deputy Secretary of State he
continued in his position under two chiefs,
Hon. Daniel E. Soper and Hon. Robert R.
Blacker, during the administration of Gov-
ernor Winans, 1891-3. Mr. Rowley is a mem-
ber of the Michigan Press Association, of the
Order of Elks, and the Knights of Pythias.
Miss Mary C. Clark, daughter of Edward
Clark, of Ionia, became Mrs. Rowley in 1882.
One son, Edward Clark Rowley is the fruit
of the marriage.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
503

BLISS, AARON T. The life of Col. Bliss
is a story of success, won by indefatigable en-
ergy, indomitable perseverance and honest,
plain methods of business. In one broad
sweep of the imagination, which surveys only
by fleeting glance the beginning of the strug-
gle under most adverse circumstances and
jumps over the long interim of years, filled
with hardships and privations, to the contem-
plation of the success which has rewarded
heroic and unfaltering ambition, the real char-
acter of men like Col. Bliss is most generally
reviewed.
Aaron T. Bliss was born at Smithfield,
Madison county, N. Y., May 22, 1837. His
father, Lyman Bliss, was a native of the Em-
pire State and of English ancestry. His
mother was Anna M. Chaffee, a New Eng-
land lady of culture and refinement. The
early years of Col. Bliss were spent on his
father's farm, his education being obtained
in the district schools and continued in a
select school in the same county. When 18
years of age he became clerk in a country
store, in which occupation he continued until
the breaking out of the Civil War, when he
enlisted as a private in the Tenth New York
Cavalry. After three years of eventful cam-
paigning, he re-entered the service with the
rank of captain. In June, 1864, his command
was captured, and he was confined successively
at Andersonville, Macon and Charleston.
Being removed to Columbia, on November 29
he escaped in company with several comrades.
After seventeen days of tramping through the
swamps and forests, he reached the lines of
Sherman's army near Savannah.
In 1865 Col. Bliss threw in his lot with the
lumbermen of Saginaw valley, prospered
and laid the foundation of a large and suc-
cessful business. His immense lumbering
operations have been extended to other states,
and the exhausted timber lands tributary to
Saginaw are now being converted into produc-
tive farms. His business at present centers in
the Central Lumber Co., of which he is presi-
dent, but he figures prominently in numerous
manufacturing and banking interests, besides
being a large holder of real estate.
The public life of Col. Bliss has been an
active one, in which he has demonstrated his
fitness to deal with important affairs. He was
alderman of the city of Saginaw four years,
served on the board of supervisors in Saginaw
county, and in 1882 was elected to the State
Senate. He served on the staff of Gov. Alger
AARON T. BLISS.
with the rank of colonel, and in 1888 was
elected to the Fifty-first Congress. He se-
cured for his district an Indian school, located
in Isabella county, and a postoffice and gov-
ernment building for Saginaw. He supported
in an able speech the McKinley tariff bill in
Congress, and his efforts in behalf of the old
soldiers made happy a thousand or more vet-
erans and their dependents in his district
alone.
Col. Bliss has rendered valuable service to
his city and state. He served eleven years on
the school board of Saginaw, and for two
years was president of the Saginaw Board of
Trade. For five years he was treasurer of the
Soldiers' Home at Grand Rapids, after serv-
ing as a member of the commission which
located the institution. Col. Bliss was elected
vice-president of the National League of Re-
publican Clubs, and served one term as depart-
ment commander of the Michigan G. A. R.
Few men have given more to churches,
schools, colleges and other noble charities in
proportion to their wealth than he. Mrs.
Bliss, to whom the Colonel credits much of
his success in life, was formerly Miss Allaseba
M. Phelps, of Solsville, N. Y., a lady of cul-
ture and prominent in benevolent and Chris-
tian agencies for the betterment of mankind.
At the present moment Col. Bliss is con-
spicuous in the public eye because of his selec-
tion as the Republican candidate for governor.

504
MEN OF PROGRESS.

WILL ANTONY CROSBY.
CROSBY, WILL ANTONY. Mr. Crosby,
a practicing attorney at Battle Creek, is "na-
tive and to the manor born," having first seen
the light there June 11, 1864. His father,
Peter Crosby, a native of Bath, Steuben
county, New York, came to Battle Creek in
1841. His mother, Mary J. Webster, was
born in Findlay, Ohio. (Her father was re-
lated to Daniel Webster.) Both parents are
still living. The son attended school in Battle
Creek until 1879, when he left school and for
several months taught school in Barry county.
During the summer and fall of 1880 he
worked in a broker's office in Detroit.
then took the Bryant and Stratton Business
College course, returning to his studies in the
fall of 1881, and graduating from the Battle
Creek High School June 22, 1882. After
this he took charge of the books of the Union
Mutual Life Insurance Co., in which capacity
he was engaged for several months. While
in this service he commenced to read law and
was admitted to the bar at Marshall June 22,
1885, before Judge F. A. Hooker. He
located in Reed City and practiced his profes-
sion there until March, 1890, when he was
He
forced by ill-health to abandon his profession
and return to Battle Creek for treatment, at
which place, upon his recovery, in the spring
of 1894, he resumed the practice of his pro-
fession.
Mr. Crosby is a natural born orator and has
been successful, in a marked degree, in his
professional work. His first prominent case
was in defense of the alleged train wreckers
at Battle Creek, who were charged with at-
tempting to wreck trains on the Chicago &
Grand Trunk Railway during the Pullman
strike period in 1894. He also represented
the defense in the celebrated Sanderson trial,
in which the defendant was charged with the
crime of murder, in having administered
pounded glass to her husband, the accused
lady having been triumphantly acquitted.
Mr. Crosby was elected a member of the
State Legislature in 1898 to represent the
western district of Calhoun county, and served
during the regular session of 1899 and special
session which was called during the later days
of that year and overlapped into the year.
1900. In the memorable contest over the
speakership of the House of Representatives
at the opening of the session of 1899, Mr.
Crosby bore a conspicuous part. The candi-
dates were John J. Carton, of Flint, and
Edgar J. Adams, of Grand Rapids. Mr.
Crosby made the nominating speech in favor
of Mr. Carton, the vote on the first ballot being
a tie, Mr. Adams winning, however, on the
second trial. At the caucus of the Republi-
can members of the two houses, at the same
session, held for the purpose of nominating a
United Staes Senator, Mr. Crosby made the
principal nominating speech in favor of Sena-
tor Burrows for re-election to that position.
Mr. Crosby is the owner of 800 acres of coal
lands in the Saginaw Valley, which he expects
soon to develop. He also owns some 300
acres of marl land in the county of Calhoun.
He is a member of the Order of Elks and of
the Fellowcraft Club (social), of Detroit. He
was married January 7, 1896, to Miss Helene
Carson, at South Bend, Ind. They have no
children.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
505

WILSON, MATHEW. The subject of this
sketch, is a native of the Emerald Isle, having
been born in the County of Antrim, Ireland,
on August 21, 1830. When but 17 years of
age, in the year 1847, he emigrated to this
country and located in Philadelphia, where
for the first year he worked in a cotton fac-
tory. From Philadelphia he removed to a
farm in New Jersey and for the succeeding six
years followed the occupation of a tiller of the
soil. From there he went to Chicago, in
1854, and only a short time later removed to
Racine, Wis. He remained in Wisconsin for
about one year, working as a farm hand and
later being employed by the manufacturing
concern of J. I. Case & Co., of Racine, manu-
facturers of farm implements. In the sum-
mer of 1855 he left Racine and came to Mus-
kegon, where he went to work in the sawmill
owned and operated at that time by C. Davis
& Co. For about six years he worked in dif-
ferent sawmills during the summers and spent
his winters in the logging camps. His first
business enterprise was the establishment of
a meat market in Muskegon in 1861 and this
he operated until the spring of 1867, when he
sold out to devote all of his time to the lum-
bering business. He had started the erection
of a sawmill in 1866 and in the spring of
1867 this mill was put in operation, running
from that time on until 1891, when it burned.
The loss of his mill did not seriously hinder his
lumbering operations and he rented and oper-
ated the C. J. Hamilton mill for the balance
of the year.
For the succeeding two years his
lumber was manufactured at the mill of
George J. Tillotson, and in 1894 he ceased
his lumbering operations and retired from all
active business life. In educational lines Mr.
Wilson never had any great advantages, all
the schooling that he ever had having been
before he left the country of his birth. Poli-
tically, he is a Democrat and has often been
urged to accept offices at the hands of his
party. In political matters, however, he has
shown modesty, although he has held some
offices. Before Muskegon was incorporated
as a city he held the office of village treasurer
MATHEW WILSON.
and after it became a city he was three times
elected city treasurer. He also served on the
Board of Public Works and on the Police
Board. He has assisted in the beautification
of the city he calls his home by the erection
of four magnificent dwelling houses. Three
of these handsome residences were built as
homes for three of his children and the fourth
as a home for himself. He was greatly as-
sisted in this work by his late wife, who under-
took the supervision of the erection of all four.
As stated previously, Mr. Wilson has re-
tired from active business life, but he is still
interested in many business enterprises. He
is president of and a stockholder in the Union
National Bank of Muskegon and a stockholder
in the Alaska Refrigerator Company, Muske-
gon Valley Furniture Company and Home
Building & Loan Association, all of Muske-
gon.
He was
He is also a stockholder in the Maxwell
Lumber Company, of Michigan City, Ind.
Socially, Mr. Wilson is a member of Muske-
gon Lodge, No. 140, F. & A. M.
married to Mary Louise Handy, daughter of
Mrs. Eliza Handy, a native of New York
state, at Muskegon, in 1863, and his wife died
June 25, 1899. He has four children, all of
whom reside in Muskegon. They are David.
A. Wilson, Mrs. Nellie L. McLaughlin, Will-
iam H. Wilson and Alice L. Wilson, the latter
being the only one still attending school.

506
MEN OF PROGRESS.

COL. OSCAR A. JANES.
JANES, COL. OSCAR A. Col. Janes is
the present U. S. Pension Agent at Detroit.
He was born at Johnstown, Rock county,
Wis., July 6, 1843, the son of John E., and
Esther (Bagley) Janes. The family are de-
scended from William Janes, who was a mem-
ber of the colony headed by Rev. John Dav-
enport, which came over from England in
1637, and founded the city of New Haven,
Conn. Elijah Janes, the great-great-grand-
father of Oscar A., saw service in the Colonial
wars and in the War of the Revolution.
In
Col. Janes received his early education in
the public schools at Johnstown, and later
attended the Milton (Wis.) Academy.
1863 he entered Hillsdale College, Michigan,
but soon enlisted as a private in the Fourth
Michigan Infantry. He was wounded at the
siege of Petersburg, resulting in the loss of
his left arm and was mustered out of the
service in 1864. Resuming his studies at
Hillsdale College he was graduated therefrom
in 1868, and began reading law with Judge
C. J. Dickerson, of Hillsdale, was admitted
to practice in 1871 and became partner with
L. N. Keating, under the firm name of Keat-
ing & Janes, the partnership terminating in
1873 by the removal of Mr. Keating to Mus-
kegon. He has served the city and county of
Hillsdale officially and with fidelity, in various
positions. He was City Clerk 1871-76, City
Attorney 1872-76, Circuit Court Commis-
sioner same term, Alderman 1876-78, Judge
of Probate 1876-84, two terms. In 1894 he
was elected to the State Senate from the Sixth
District but failed of re-election in 1896 be-
cause of a strong silver sentiment in a portion
of the district. In the Senate he was the
father of the bill compelling the display of the
national flag from all school buildings and of
that appropriating $10,000 for a statue of the
late Gov. Blair. He was chairman of the
Committee on Soldiers' Home and Constitu-
tion, and member of the Judiciary and Min-
ing School Committees. In 1884 Col. Janes
was elected treasurer of Hillsdale College,
serving as such four years. Since 1881 he
has served as trustee of the College, and as
auditor since 1894. In 1890 he formed a
law partnership with H. G. Bailey under the
firm name of Bailey & Janes, which continued
until 1897. In 1885 he was appointed by
Gov. Alger Paymaster-General of the Michi-
gan National Guard, with rank of Colonel,
serving the term of two years. On March 8,
1897, Col. Janes was appointed to his
present
position of U. S. Pension Agent. The ap-
pointment was the first made by President
McKinley after the selection of his cabinet,
and was confirmed by the Senate in the short
term of five minutes. Col. Janes is a member
of the Knights of Pythias, Oddfellows, Mac-
cabees, G. A. R. (Detroit Post No. 384),
Michigan Society of the Sons of the
American Revolution, Detroit Lodge, Order
of Elks, and
and U. S. Grant Command
of Detroit, Union Veterans' Union, and
Fellowcraft Club of Detroit. He has
served as Commander of the Department of
Michigan, G. A. R., as Inspector-General of
the same order, as Department Commander
of the Union Veterans' Union, as Grand Trus-
tee of the Grand Lodge of Michigan (Pyth-
ian), as Grand Master of the Michigan Grand
Lodge (Oddfellows), and as their grand repre-
sentative in the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the
United States. He was president of the Re-
publican State Convention in 1896, which
elected delegates to the Republican National
Convention at St. Louis. Col. Janes has
been twice married-first in 1873, to Miss
Vinnie E. Hill, of Hillsdale, who died in
1875. In 1878 he marired as his second wife
Miss Julia M. Mead, of Hillsdale. They have
three children: Marie E., at Mary Nash Col-
lege, Sherman, Texas, and Henry M. and
John E., in school at home.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
507

16
ANDREW B. DOUGHERTY.
DOUGHERTY, ANDREW B., son of
Archibald K. Dougherty, was born in St.
Johns, New Brunswick, October 17, 1863.
The family removed to Charlevoix, Mich., in
1868, and in 1878 to Elk Rapids. The son
attended the primary and graded schools until
years of
age, when he began business for
himself. His first venture was in a small
cigar and tobacco store, in which he was suc-
cessful in a modest way, and to which he added
a stock of groceries. He had a preference for
a professional over a commercial life, how-
ever, and in 1884 he decided to make the law
his pursuit, and with that end in view he
entered upon the study in the office of Fitch
R. Williams, where he read law until his ad-
mission to the bar before Judge J. G. Rams
dell at Bellaire, in May, 1889. In the fall of
the year he accepted, temporarily, a position
in the Senate folding room at Washington,
which he resigned in 1890 to accept an ap-
pointment as principal examiner of land
claims and contests in the United States Land
Office at Washington. In August, 1891, he
resigned this place and joined the new set-
tlers on the Cherokee strip in Oklahoma Ter-
ritory, locating in the town of Perry. He
found a stock of 300 lawyers already in this
territory, and while he secured a full quota of
the legal business, the dividend was small and
after eleven months' struggle for existence
and practice, in which he combined the work
of a life insurance solicitor with law, he gave
up and returned to Elk Rapids. He opened
an office and in the fall of 1894 was nomi-
nated and elected Prosecuting Attorney of
Antrim county, to which place he was twice
re-elected, but resigned in March, 1900, to
accept his present position of Deputy Col-
lector of Internal Revenue for the Fourth
it
Mr.
Michigan district, comprising the northwest-
ern portion of the Lower Peninsula.
Dougherty is a Republican in politics, and has
been a member of the State Central Commit-
tee from the Eleventh Congressional district
since 1896. He is a member of the Masonic
fraternity and the Knights of Pythias.
508
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. THOMAS A. E. WEADOCK.
WEADOCK, HON. THOMAS A. E.
Though a resident of Detroit since 1895, Mr.
Weadock's public service was rendered in
Bay City. He was born in County Wexford,
Ireland, fifty years ago (January 1, 1850),
one of a large family, the children of Lewis
and Mary (Cullen) Weadock. His father's
family, although originally Flemish, were
prominent in Irish affairs for many genera-
tions, his mother's family also being one of
the oldest in Ireland. The parents came to
America a few months after the birth of the
son Thomas, and located on a farm near St.
Mary's, Ohio. The son attended the public
schools up to the age of 13, when by reason
of the death of his father, he had to assume
the management of the farm, his older brother
being absent in the Union army. He con-
tinued a course of private study in connection
with his home duties, until the discharge of
his brother from the army in 1865, when he
went to Cincinnati. He first entered a print-
ing office, which did not prove to his taste, and
after a few months' service as clerk, he re-
turned to his home and was employed some
five years in teaching in his own and adjacent
counties, pursuing his studies meanwhile. He
entered the Law Department of the Univers-
ity at Ann Arbor in 1871, graduated there-
from two years later and was at once admitted
to the bar. He was also admitted to the Ohio
bar, and in 1884 to the Supreme Court of the
United States. Mr. Weadock located at Bay
City in September, 1873. He was elected
mayor
of the city in 1883, serving until 1885,
but declined a further election. Since 1881
he has been a law partner with his brother,
John C., under the firm name of T. A. E. and
J. C. Weadock, and the firm still continues.
Mr. Weadock was Assistant Prosecuting At-
torney of Bay county (January, 1875, to
July, 1877) and on the death of the Prose-
cutor, his partner, G. M. Wilson, he was ap-
pointed by Hon. Sanford M. Green to fill out
the term, giving a vigorous administration.
His law practice has been extensive and his
cases are found in the Michigan Reports,
from 36 Mich. down.
A Democrat in politics, Mr. Weadock has
been active in the work of the party, both on
the stump and in its counsels. He has served
as chairman of the city and county commit-
tees and has presided over the Congressional
and State Conventions of the party, and was
a delegate-at-large to the Chicago Convention
of 1896. He was elected to Congress from
the Tenth District in 1890 and re-elected in
1892, being the only Democrat ever elected
from that district without fusion. He was a
useful member of that body and especially
successful in securing appropriations for local
improvements. He aided in securing an in-
crease of pay for the Life Saving Service men
and had the eastern judicial district of Michi-
gan divided into southern and northern divi-
sions. In both his campaigns he was viru-
lently opposed by a secret anti-Catholic so-
ciety, which has been not inaptly rendered
"Ambushed Political Assassins." His most
notable speech in Congress was an exposure
of the secret oaths and aims of this society.
He declined a renomination for Congress in
1894. In 1893 he made an extensive tour
in Europe. He has published papers on Rev.
Gabriel Richard, Hon. Sanford M. Green and
Pere Marquette. He was the author and sup-
porter in Congress of a joint resolution allow-
ing the statue of Pere Marquette to be re-
ceived in Statuary Hall at Washington
(though not a citizen of Wisconsin), that state
having appropriated the money for the statue
many years before. He is a member of the
Executive Committee of the Detroit Bar As-
sociation, member of the American Bar Asso-
ciation and the Detroit Club. Mr. Weadock
has been twice married. His first wife, Mary
E. Tarsney, died March 11, 1889, leaving
three daughters and three sons. The oldest
son, Thomas J., is now a lawyer in Detroit.
His second wife was Miss Nannie E. Curtiss,
who is the mother of one child. Of the eleven
children born to him, Mr. Weadock has lost
four by death.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
509

STEWART, DR. GEORGE DUFFIELD.
The Stewarts from whom Dr. G. Duff Stewart
is descended first came from Scotland to
America, settling in Connecticut. The doc-
tor's father, Dr. Morse Stewart, came to De-
troit in 1842. He was a practicing physician
for more than fifty years, stood at the head of
his profession, having, however, retired from
active practice a few years since. The mother
of Dr. G. Duff Stewart, Isabella Duffield, was
of the well known family of that name, a
daughter of Rev. Dr. George Duffield, the
first pastor of the First Presbyterian Church
(the first of that denomination built in De-
troit), holding his pastorate for some thirty
years.
The father of Dr. Duffield was a resi-
dent of Pennsylvania, was also a clergyman
and officiated as chaplain in the Continental
Congress.
Dr. G. Duff Stewart was born in Detroit
March 21, 1855. His primary
His primary education was
received in the Detroit public schools, and his
scientific education in the Detroit College of
Medicine, from which he graduated in 1878.
He then spent a year in Heidelberg, Ger-
many, as a rounding out of his professional
course. Returning to Detroit he at once set-
tled down to the practice of his profession.
In 1883 he was appointed city physician, and
in 1885 county physician, holding each posi-
tion two years.
In 1886 he was elected a
member of the Board of Education of Detroit,
serving as such until the constitution of the
board was changed by act of Legislature,
which took effect in 1888. For the succeed-
ing ten years the doctor devoted his full time
to his practice, while yet keeping in close
DR. GEORGE DUFFIELD STEWART.
touch with his party, and in 1898 was nomi-
nated for sheriff of Wayne county, and was
elected by a handsome majority over one of
the strongest Republicans in the county,
being the only Democrat elected on the
county ticket that year. The doctor is well
known as a hustler, professionally and politi-
cally.
Dr. Stewart's ancestors on both sides
(Stewarts and Duffields) have been well rep-
resented in the country's wars. The annals
of 1776, 1812, the Mexican war, the war of
the Rebellion and the war with Spain, bear
testimony to their services in the field. The
Stewart Light Infantry, of Detroit, is so
named in honor of Dr. Stewart, he being an
honorary member of the corps. Dr. Stewart
is a member of the Order of Elks and is a
bachelor.

510
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. ROBERT OAKMAN.
OAKMAN, HON. ROBT. Mr. Oakman
is of Irish lineage, and from a printer's ap-
prentice has become one of the best known
men in the state. His parents, John and
Elizabeth (Normille) Oakman, were both na-
tives of Ireland, coming to Detroit in 1846.
The father was a machinist and was employed
for many years in the Michigan Central shops
and helped build the first locomotive engine
built by the Michigan Central Railroad. The
son Robert was born in Detroit, August 21,
1860. He passed from the public schools to
the printers' art at the age of 15, becoming
an apprentice in the mechanical department
of the then Detroit Post. After a service of
seven years as apprentice and journeyman, he
established a weekly paper called the "Spec-
tator," devoted to the interests of the labor
organizations, with which he had for some
years been identified. In 1882 he was a can-
didate on the labor ticket, for a seat in the
City Council (then called the "upper house"),
coming within 200 votes of an election.
1884 he was a candidate for the same place,
on the Republican ticket, but the party was in
a minority at that time. After publishing
paper a year and a half, he sold out and
his
In
engaged in the real estate business, which was
then having what is termed a boom. He han-
dled property in the North Woodward Ave-
nue section and in the northeastern part of
the city, near the Milwaukee Junction, and
scored a success by a new departure in real
estate handlings, in the form of huge auction
sales. Although latterly giving his time
largely to political and official life, he has yet
considerable real estate interests and handles
several desirable trusts.
While holding no office by election, Mr.
Oakman may be said to have been a success,
politically. His sympathies with labor in-
terests drew him towards Gov. Pingree, then
mayor of Detroit, whose altruistic tendencies
are well known. Becoming a political lieu-
tenant and faithful adherent of Mr. Pingree,
that gentleman, both as Mayor and Governor,
has recognized his claims to preferment. In
1889 he was appointed Assistant City Asses-
sor, but resigned in 1891 to become private
secretary to Mayor Pingree, serving as such
until 1895, when he was appointed a member
of the Board of Assessors of Detroit, which
is composed of three members serving the full
term of three years. In March, 1899, he was
appointed a member of the State Board of
Assessors of railroad, telegraph, telephone and
express companies, which act was declared
unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. In
July, 1899, he was appointed a member of
the first Board of State Tax Commissioners
for the long term (six years). His work as a
member of this board has given him promi-
nence throughout the state, as well as having
inspired a high degree of confidence in and
respect for his impartial but firm administra-
tion of the office.
Mr. Oakman is a member of the Knights of
Pythias and of the Michigan Club, and was
one of the organizers of the "Lincoln League"
of Michigan, a Republican organization. He
was for four years a member of the Republi-
can State Central Committee and two years a
Mamie R. Moross, a descendant of one of the
member of its executive committee. Miss
early French families with Cadillac, became
Mrs. Oakman in 1887. There are no chil-
dren.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
511

LITTLE, ANDREW JAMES. Starting
out as a newsboy and printers' apprentice,
Mr. Little has had, to say the least, a some-
what varied career. Born at Northville,
October 6, 1862, like many another young-
ster, he attended the public schools and
"picked up" bits of knowledge and informa-
tion as he picked up the type from his case,
and as the type were formed first into the
line, then into the stickful and finally into
the full form, so Mr. Little has locked up an
average form of general information in his
mental chase. He began work as an appren-
tice on the Northville Record, of which his
brother was proprietor, before he was 12 years
of age, and at the same time worked up a
route and carried the Detroit Evening News
in Northville. In 1874 he went to work for
Comfort Bros., druggists, in Detroit, remain-
ing with them about two years. He then
went to work in the office of the Ingham
County News at Mason, working there three
years. He then started the South Lyon Sen-
tinel at South Lyon, of which he was editor
for two years.
This he sold out and started
the Bancroft Sentinel at Bancroft, which he
edited for about a year, and then sold out and
went to Chicago. Here he secured a position
on the Chicago Times, remaining there about
a year. In 1883 he went to Grand Rapids as
manager of the Henry G. Allen Publishing
Co., remaining with them three years. In
1886 he went to Battle Creek and purchased
an interest in the Art Album Manufacturing
Co., securing a position with them as traveling
salesman. In 1892 he brought about a reor-
ganization of the company, merging it into
the Metal Back Album Co., of which he was
made vice-president and manager. The plant
was sold out in 1898 and Mr. Little then or-
ganized the first independent telephone com-
pany in Calhoun county, of which he was
made treasurer and manager. The plant is
but a trifle more than two years old but has
been a remarkably successful one from the
first.
During his fourteen years' residence in
Battle Creek Mr. Little has always been an
ANDREW JAMES LITTLE.
active promoter of all enterprises tending to
the improvement and advancement of the
city. He is treasurer of and helped organize
the A. T. Metcalf Lodge (Masonic) at Battle
Creek, the Calhoun County Republican Club
and the Battle Creek Guards (the latter one
of the finest companies to go to the front dur-
ing the Spanish war), and assisted in getting
them mustered into service. He has been an
active Republican from boyhood, secretary of
the Executive Committee of the Calhoun
County Republican Club and is frequently
chosen as delegate to Republican Conven-
tions, and is a member of the Michigan Club.
Mason of the higher degrees, including the
His society connections are numerous. Is a
Knights Templar and the Mystic Shrine, and
a member of the Elks, of the Order of the
Red Men and of the Athelstan Club of Battle
Creek. He also holds honorary membership
in the Sheriff and Police Association of Michi-
gan, and in military companies in Battle
Creek, Grand Rapids and Detroit. Miss
Rose Wert, daughter of Samuel Wert, of
Laingsburg, became Mrs. Little February 6,
1882. They have one child, a daughter. Mr.
Little's father was Edward Little, proprietor
of the Argo Flouring Mills at Northville.
Mr. Little's parents were Presbyterians and
natives of Belfast, Ireland. His mother's
maiden name was Rose Harkins.

512
MEN OF PROGRESS.

LEE E. JOSLYN.
JOSLYN, LEE E. Mr. Joslyn was born
February 26, 1864, at Darien, Genesee
county, N. Y., his father, Willis B. Joslyn,
having been a building contractor. When
he was seven years old his parents removed to
McLean county, Pa., and two years later they
settled in Dryden township, Lapeer county,
Mich. The son, being one of a family of
eight children, had some primary school in-
struction, at his former place of residence, but
after the removal to Dryden he was a regular
attendant at the public schools for eight years,
and was graduated from the Union School at
Dryden in 1881. Soon after leaving school,
Soon after leaving school,
being then but 17 years of age, he began
reading law with Judge William W. Stick-
ney, of Lapeer, who paid him the compliment
of saying that he mastered Blackstone the
most readily of any student he ever had in
his office. Mr. Joslyn's law reading was in-
termitted by the necessity of pursuing some
remunerative employ, mainly at teaching, he
having been principal two years of the graded
school at Otisville, and one year principal of
the ward school in West Bay City, not omit-
ting to mention a season as night clerk in a
hotel. His later law reading was pursued
under Judge George H. Durand, of Flint,
and Thos. A. E. Weadock, then of Bay City
but now of Detroit. He was admitted to the
bar in June, 1886, and at once began prac-
tice in West Bay City, spicing out the small
income of a beginner with some receipts from
newspaper writing. In March, 1888, he re-
moved his office to Bay City, occupying an
office in connection with U. S. Commissioner
McMath. At the November election in 1888
he was elected Circuit Court Commissioner
and re-elected in 1890. He was advanced
from this position to that of prosecuting attor-
ney in 1892.
He is at present city attor-
ney for West Bay City and local attor-
ney for the Chicago & Grand Trunk Railway
Co. His political preferment has come
through the Democratic party, of which he is
an adherent and active member.
In
Mr. Joslyn is especially known in connec-
tion with the Order of Foresters, of which he
has been a member since 1887, and at the
hands of which he has enjoyed the highest
honors. He was elected High Counsellor at
the Bay City meeting of the High Court in
1892 and High Vice-Chief Ranger at the
High Court meeting at Saginaw in 1893.
the fall of that year he was appointed High
Chief Ranger, to fill the vacancy caused by
the death of Frank Millis, and served as such
until 1897. He declined an election at the
Port Huron meeting in that year, succeeding
to the position of Past High Chief Ranger.
At the Detroit meeting in 1898 he was elected.
High Secretary, which position he now holds.
He was Michigan delegate to the Supreme
Court meeting at Chicago in 1893, and a dele-
gate to the Supreme Court meeting held in
London, England, in 1895, and a member of
the committee on laws. He is a member of
the Masonic fraternity, including the Michi-
gan Sovereign Consistory of the Scottish Rite
at Detroit, was four years Chancellor Com-
mander of the Bay City Lodge, No. 23,
Knights of Pythias, and a member of the
Grand Lodge four years. He is also a mem-
ber of the Maccabees, Oddfellows and Modern
Woodmen. Miss Alice L. Wilson, daughter
of F. L. Wilson, of West Bay City, became
Mrs. Joslyn in 1893. They have two chil-
dren, Lee E., Jr., and Allan F.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
513

PHELAN, HON. JAMES. The Associ-
ate Recorder of Detroit, and a judge of the
Recorder's Court, Hon. James Phelan, is a
native Detroiter, and is of Irish extraction,
with a mixture of French. His father, John
P. Phelan, was a sea captain and was lost at
sea in 1862. His mother,
His mother, Catherine New-
man, daughter of William Newman, a native
of Waterford, Ireland, still lives with her son
James in Detroit. James Phelan was born in
1858 and at the age of 42 has served the peo-
ple of his native city in various positions of
trust. His primary education was received.
in Detroit schools (partly in private schools),
up to the age of 14, his expenses during the
last two years having been met by his personal
labor during the summer months. Leaving
school in 1872 he secured a position with the
Michigan Central Railroad as check clerk in
their lumber yard, serving in that capacity
three years.
He was then promoted to the
train department of the same road, seeing a
like term of service there, when he was ad-
vanced to the position of yardmaster, which
position he filled five years. A partial failure
of eyesight caused him to give up this work in
1883, when he went west and spent a year and
a half in traveling in the western states for
his health. Returning to Detroit in the fall
of 1884, he entered the law office of James H.
Pound and began the study of law. His
funds running short, at the end of two years,
he accepted a position in the supply depart-
ment of the Board of Education, and later in
the office of the County Clerk, in each of
which positions he remained six months, pur-
suing his law studies at night, during the
year. Having saved a little means, he re-
sumed his studies with Mr. Pound and in 1888
was admitted to the bar before Judge C. J.
Reilly of the Wayne Circuit Court. Begin-
ning active practice in 1889, he was the same
fall nominated for Justice of the Peace on
the Democratic ticket and was elected by
about 1,000 majority over Felix A. Lempkie,
the Republican candidate, beginning his offi-
cial duties July 4, 1890. He served in this
position three and a half years, and resigned
HON. JAMES PHELAN.
in December, 1893, to accept the position of
Collector of Internal Revenue under Presi-
dent Cleveland. His removal in February,
1898, followed as a sequence to the election
of President McKinley in 1896.
During his term as collector, Mr. Phelan
collected over $8,400,000 for the government,
for the whole of which vast sum his books
showed perfect balances. He incurred the
displeasure of the so-called Good Government
League, by his neglect to furnish them with
data from his books, designed to aid them in
their work. They filed charges against him
but he went to Washington in his own de-
fense and was sustained by the department.
In March, 1899, he was nominated for Asso-
ciate Recorder and was elected by 3,376 ma-
jority, despite the hostility of the Good Gov-
ernment League, taking his seat January 9,
1900, for the term of six years. Judge Phe-
lan is unmarried. His society connections
are Catholic Mutual Benevolent Association,
Ancient Order of Hibernians, American In-
surance Union and Michigan Bar Association.
The foregoing brief sketch will show that
Judge Phelan is a self-made man, having
made his own way in the world, from the first,
without outside help from any source.

514
MEN OF PROGRESS.

JOHN CHRISTIAN HARTZ.
Mr.
HARTZ, JOHN CHRISTIAN.
Hartz is the well known dealer in clothing,
hats, shoes and gentlemen's furnishings on
Monroe Avenue, in Detroit. He was born
near Kiel, Holstein, Germany, April 9, 1855,
the son of John H. and Mary (Behring)
Hartz. His early education was received in
the schools of his native country and at the
age of 12 years he came with his parents to
America. They located at New Baltimore,
Mich., and after a stay of a couple of years
there, the son came permanently to reside in
Detroit. After attending a business college
for a year he entered the establishment of
C. C. McCloskey, hatter, as an apprentice,
subsequently serving with other prominent
manufacturers and dealers in the same line.
Having acquired a thorough knowledge of the
business, he in 1883, became senior partner in
the firm of Hartz & Kernaghan, hatters and
furnishers. After three years in this connec-
tion, he in 1886 became sole proprietor of the
business, which he has since conducted with
marked success. Mr. Hartz has served the
public as a member of the Board of Metro-
politan Police Commission, as a member of
the Board of City Assessors, and as Under
Sheriff of Wayne county, the latter under
Sheriff Chipman. He was appointed on the
Police Commission by Mayor Pingree in Feb-
ruary, 1896, which office he resigned in 1897,
to accept the appointment of City Assessor.
under Mayor Maybury. Mr. Hartz is a
member of the Knights of Pythias, the Elks,
the Harmonie and Concordia Singing Socie-
ties and the German Salesmen's Association.
In politics he is a Democrat. In 1879 he
married Lena Orth of Detroit. Four chil-
dren, Henrietta, Gertrude, Viola and Harry
M., are the fruit of the marriage.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
515

LOTHROP, HENRY BROWN. Mr.
Lothrop was born in Detroit July 8, 1855, the
son of George Van Ness and Almira (Strong)
Lothrop. George V. N. Lothrop was a lead-
ing light in Michigan for fifty years until his
light went out with his death in 1897. Born
and educated in New England, he came to
Detroit in 1853 and entering upon the study
of the law, he became the able lawyer, the
courteous gentlemen and the matchless orator.
He was a favorite in the Democratic party,
was twice its candidate for Congress, and only
an adverse political majority stood between
him and the highest honors of the nation.
His talents secured for him retainers from the
large corporations, and an ample fortune, the
fruit of just endeavor, was mainly represented
by real estate and commercial interests in and
around Detroit. His professional career was
practically terminated by his acceptance of
the Russian mission, to which he was ap-
pointed under the first Cleveland administra-
tion, and which he held for two and one-half
years, when he returned to Detroit, where the
remainder of his life was passed. The son
may well feel proud of such a parentage.
Henry B. Lothrop has chosen a business rather
than a professional career, and while he mod-
estly announces himself as a Grosse Pointe
farmer, he has the active management of
large property interests. His education was
rounded out at the State University, from
which he graduated in 1877. On the com-
pletion of his education he entered the em-
ploy of the Michigan Central Railroad Com-
pany, and later accepted a position with the
wholesale hardware house of Buhl, Ducharme
& Co., where he remained three years.
In
1881 he was offered and accepted a position
with the Griffin Car Wheel Company, and a
year later became a stockholder in the Michi-
gan Carbon Works, with an active participa-
tion in the office work of the company.
the appointment of his father as minister to
Russia, Mr. Lothrop threw up all other busi-
ness engagements to take charge of his large
business interests. Since the death of his
father he has been the manager of the estate,
On
HENRY BROWN LOTHROP.
which is now represented by the Lothrop
Estate Company, Limited, of which he is
treasurer. He is also treasurer of the Lothrop
& Duffield Land Company, Limited, and a
director in the First National Bank and in
the Hargreaves Manufacturing Company.
Mr. Lothrop has been an enthusiastic mem-
ber of the state militia, having been actively
connected with various organizations for the
past twenty-five years. He joined the Detroit
Light Guard in 1875 and the Detroit Light
Infantry in 1877, in which company he passed
from the grade of lieutenant to that of cap-
tain. He was appointed Inspector-General of
Michigan State Troops by Gov. Winans, in
1891, with the rank of Brigadier-General.
On the expiration of his term he re-enlisted
in the Light Infantry and the same year was
elected captain of Company H. His service,
however, has not all been of the carpet knight
order, he having been captain of Company L,
Thirty-second Michigan Infantry, during the
war with Spain. Being a bachelor, Mr.
Lothrop has quite extended societary connec-
tions. He is a member of the Detroit, the
Century, the University and the Detroit
Yacht Clubs, of the Harmonie Society, of the
Order of Elks, is an associate member of De-
troit Post, G. A. R., and a member of the
Veteran Corps of the Light Infantry.
his father, he is a Democrat in politics.
Like

516
MEN OF PROGRESS.

THEODORE DELONG BUHL.
BUHL, THEODORE DE LONG. Mr.
Buhl is a son of the late Christian H. Buhl,
who was for over fifty years one of the leading
business men of Detroit. He was mayor of
the city 1860-62, the first Republican to be
elected to that office after the formation of the
Republican party in 1854. He was at one
time extensively engaged in the fur trade, but
subsequently established the first wholesale
hardware house in the State, which in the
course of its history came to be known as
Buhl Sons & Co. Mr. Buhl acquired a con-
siderable fortune, had large manufacturing
interests in Detroit and was largely interested
in the iron industry in Pennsylvania, of which
state he was a native. He was a liberal
patron of the public institutions and charities
of the city, and among his benefactions was
the presentation of a valuable law library to
the State University.
Theo. D. Buhl was born in Detroit August
20, 1844. His education was received in De-
troit and abroad. No small part of his edu-
cation, however, consisted in his training for
practical business in the store of which his
father was the head, and to the management
of which he succeeded on his father's death.
His active business life, however, antedated
that event by some years, and few men have
contributed more to the industrial and com-
mercial growth of the state. He is the senior
member of the firm of Buhl Sons & Co., the
largest and oldest jobbing hardware house in
Michigan. He is president of the Parke,
Davis & Co., corporation, of the Buhl Stamp-
ing Co., the Detroit Meter Co. and the Buhl
Malleable Co., a director and one of the larg-
est owners of the Detroit Copper & Brass
Rolling Mills, of the Canadian Meter Co., the
Detroit Union Depot Co. and the Strong Lum-
ber Co., and a director and vice-president of
the Detroit National Bank. He is also a stock-
holder in the Detroit & Cleveland Navigation
Co. and is interested in a number of other
local enterprises and is the owner of much
valuable real estate and improved property in
Detroit and Wayne county, including the
Buhl Block and Telegraph Block in Detroit.
Mr. Buhl has been a generous contributor
to the University of Michigan, to the Detroit
High School Scholarship Fund, the Detroit
Museum of Art, the Children's Free Hospital,
the Protestant Orphan Asylum, and other
educational, benevolent and charitable enter-
prises. He is a member of the Fort Street
Presbyterian Church and of the Young Men's
Christian Association, and of a number of
social clubs, including the Detroit, Michigan
(Republican), Country, Lake St. Clair Fish-
ing & Shooting, Detroit Athletic and Detroit
Boat Club. Mr. Buhl was married April 22,
1868, to Miss Julia Elizabeth Walker, daugh-
ter of Hiram Walker, then of Detroit, but
later the founder of the town of Walkerville,
opposite Detroit, in Canada. Eight children
have been the fruit of the marriage, four of
which are living-Mary Buhl Warren, wife
of Wm. M. Warren, general manager of
Parke, Davis & Co., Willis E. and Arthur H.,
connected with their father in the manage-
ment of the business of Buhl Sons & Co., and
Lawrence De Long Buhl, youngest son, is
still at school.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
517

1692.
For a
BAXTER, CHARLES ERNEST.
young man of 37 years, Mr. Baxter has made
a varied record in political and business circles
and is widely known throughout the state.
His paternal ancestors were Scotch-Irish, his
great-great-grandfather coming to America in
His parents, Daniel C., and Emily
(Shepardson) Baxter (the latter a Massachu-
setts lady), settled on a farm near Fayette,
Ohio, where Charles E. was born March 18,
1863. In his early infancy his parents re-
moved to West Unity, Ohio, where his father
was a general merchant and postmaster under
President Lincoln. The son passed from the
village schools at West Unity to the graded
schools at Bryan, Ohio, and in 1879 entered
Oberlin College, remaining there two years
and later completing his studies in Williams
College, Massachusetts, where he was a mem-
ber of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
He then became connected with the Bryan
(Ohio) Press, first as a reporter and afterwards
as editor, thus beginning his career as a jour-
nalist. Subsequently he became a reporter
on the Cleveland Herald, and in 1885 bought
an interest in the Republican at Charlotte,
Mich. He was editor of that paper until
1892, when he disposed of his interest and
came to Detroit, where he was a political
writer on the Detroit Tribune, in which capa-
city he remained until he became secretary to
United States Senator John Patton of Grand
Rapids. In 1895 he returned to Detroit and
engaged successfully for a time as a bond
broker, and in 1896 was tendered and ac-
cepted the position of state manager of the
Manhattan Life Insurance Co., which position
he holds at the present time.
Incidentally, Mr. Baxter has filled many
places of honor and trust outside of his stated
engagements. He was assistant secretary of
the State Senate in 1889, assistant secretary
of the Republican State Central Committee
in 1892-94, and Deputy State Treasurer
CHARLES ERNEST BAXTER.
1893-94, a period when on account of the
panic and the depleted condition of the state
treasury, the deputyship was a position of
great responsibility. He was president of the
Eaton County Republican League in 1888,
was secretary of the State League of Republi-
can Clubs four years and was Michigan mem-
ber of the National Republican League's Ex-
ecutive Committee 1895-6.
Mr. Baxter is a member of the Masonic fra-
ternity,
ternity, including Charlotte Commandery,
No. 37, Knights Templar, is a member of
Moslem Temple (Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine), of Detroit, and is a Past Chancellor
of Knights of Pythias. He was married at
Charlotte in 1886 to Miss Dora Gay Belcher,
daughter of James Belcher, one of the few
Kentucky plantation owners who voluntarily
freed their slaves. Two children, Marie A.
and Kenneth S., both at home, are the fruit
of the marriage. Mr. Baxter has hosts of
friends, who will wish him a long life of pros-
perity and usefulness, corresponding to his
past.
518
MEN OF PROGRESS.

CHARLES FLOWERS.
FLOWERS, CHARLES. Mr. Flowers'
immediate parents were of the Society of
Friends (Quakers), which tendency Mr.
Flowers himself inherits. His ancestors were
not all that way, however, or if so, they were
of the fighting kind, his great-great-grand-
father, Charles Flowers, having been a cap-
tain in the Revolutionary army, his mother
being a descendant of Gen. Timothy Picker-
ing, of Revolutionary fame, and secretary of
state under President Washington. His
mother was also a descendant of the Quimby
family of Philadelphia, one Josiah Quimby
having manufactured the clock and machin-
ery of the "Liberty Bell," which announced.
the adoption of the Declaration of Indepen-
dence. Mr. Flowers' parents, Joseph and
Sarah (Pickering) Flowers, were residents of
Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in the immediate
neighborhood of "Penn's Manor," where
William Penn made his first settlement, and
within three miles of where Washington
crossed the Delaware to fight and win the
battle of Trenton. Mr. Flowers was born
there December 14, 1845. The father died
in 1867 and the mother in 1876. They were
farmers and the son divided his time between
farm work and school.
Early in 1860 he took
up the study of phonography, for which he
demonstrated an especial aptness. His first
employ was in the Grand Trunk Railway
offices in New York city, following which he
attended a Collegiate Institute at Fort Ed-
wards for two years. After the close of the
Civil War he was employed as official stenog-
rapher of the government military commis-
sion which sat at Raleigh, N. C. Subse-
quently he studied law for a year at New
York, and came to Detroit, his present resi-
dence, in 1868. Mr. Flowers was the first
to introduce shorthand reporting in the Michi-
gan courts, which has now become an indis-
pensable feature. He secured the
He secured the passage of
the law for the purpose in 1869 and the same
year was appointed stenographer of the
Wayne Circuit Court, by Gov. Baldwin. He
was also reporter for the United States Courts
in Detroit. He pursued the study of law con-
currently and was admitted to the bar in
1878. In his capacity as stenographer he
was one of the official reporters for the three
Constitutional Conventions-Illinois in 1868,
Pennsylvania in 1872 and Ohio in 1873. He
also reported scientific conventions at various
points in the United States, being recognized
as an expert in that line of work.
He was
elected Circuit Court Commissioner in 1880
and again in 1882, resigning his stenographic
work. He was an unsuccessful candidate
(Republican) for Prosecuting Attorney in
1884. He was a member of the Detroit Fire
Commission four years, 1885-9, and in July,
1896, was appointed Corporation Counsel by
Mayor Pingree, holding the office four years.
He is now general counsel for the Michigan
Telephone Co., and a director in that cor-
poration.
As a lawyer, Mr. Flowers has shown no less-
aptness than in his former profession. He
surprised his friends (and would equally have
surprised his enemies, if he had had any) by
the brilliancy of his presentation speech in
favor of Gov. Pingree at the time of his nomi-
nation in 1896. They could not well under-
stand how a man could blossom out from the
mechanical work of a reporter to the rank of
the finished orator. But Mr. Flowers was
there, beyond question.
Miss Mary E. DeNormandie, of Pennsyl-
vania, became Mrs. Flowers in 1868. Of
their three children, Norman is practicing
with his father.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
519

WILLIAM H. BEAMER.
BEAMER, WILLIAM H. When the
municipal record of Detroit comes to be writ-
ten, no name will stand out in brighter colors
than that of William H. Beamer, now serving
his third term as alderman of the First Ward.
Other men may have made more stir than he
has done, but for faithfulness and fidelity to
his trust and firm adherence at all times, and
under all circumstances, to what he deemed
to be right, he stands in the foremost rank
among the faithful of the city's servants. Mr.
Beamer's parents, Daniel W. and Jennie
(Downs) Beamer, were from Canada, but re-
moved to Hillsdale county, this state, in 1855.
The Beamers are remotely of Dutch extrac-
tion, while on his mother's side Mr. Beamer
boasts of New England blood.
The parents
removed to Detroit in 1859, where Wm. H.
was born, July 4, 1861. If one's horoscope
may be traced from their nativity, Mr.
Beamer's sterling patriotism is in political har-
mony with the time of his birth, having been
on the anniversary of the nation's nativity, that he was such only in those things wherein
and at the time when the nation was nerving
itself for the struggle that was to determine
whether it was to live or die. With an educa-
tion obtained in the Detroit schools, Mr.
Beamer, at the age of 16, entered the employ
of the Pullman Car Company, and after a
year's service went to Colorado, where he
passed five years in the gold mines of that
territory. Returning to Detroit in 1883, he
was engaged for a couple of years as proprietor
of a family supply store (groceries and meats)
and in 1885 opened on a small scale the
Library Park Hotel, which he has since con-
ducted successfully and which has increased
to more than double its original capacity. He
has proved a popular landlord and his asso-
ciation is valued for his social qualities and
his personal integrity.
Mr. Beamer first came prominently to pub-
lic notice in 1894, when he was elected alder-
man.
At that time there was some factional
feeling (as there has perhaps continued to be)
growing out of the advanced ideas of Mayor
Pingree regarding measures of municipal ad-
ministration. Mr. Beamer was elected as a
so-called "Pingree man" but it soon developed
in his judgment he thought Pingree was
right. As a member of the Common Coun-
cil, Ald. Beamer does not hesitate to advocate
in his vigorous style any measure that he
deems to be right, while he is pronounced,
firm and consistent in opposition to whatever
he thinks to be wrong. He is a good objector
and no measure of importance passes the
Council without his careful and intelligent
scrutiny. Among all the rumors of official
crookedness, not one has attached itself to the
First Warder, and the same may be said of his
colleague, Ald. Coots, who may be termed the
Nestor of the Common Council. At his sec-
ond election to the Council in 1896, Mr.
Beamer had no opposition. He was again
elected in 1898 and during the year 1899 was
President of the Council.
Mr. Beamer is quite well-to-do, financially,
having real estate interests in Detroit and
elsewhere. He is a member of the Masonic
fraternity. He was married August 16, 1880,
to Miss Florence G. Turner, daughter of P. G.
Turner, of Detroit. Three children, Myrtle,
Grace and Lloyd, all at home, are the fruit of
the marriage.
520
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HON. DEXTER MASON, FERRY.
FERRY, HON. DEXTER MASON. The
name of Ferry was originally French, but the
family is of English extraction, coming thence
to New England, where the name appears as
early as 1688. The branch of the family
from which Dexter M. is descended removed
from Massachusetts to Lowville, Lewis county,
N. Y., where Dexter M. was born August 8,
1833, the son of Joseph N. and Lucy D.
(Mason) Ferry. The father died when the
son was but three years old, and the family.
soon after removed to near Rochester, N. Y.,
where the boyhood of Dexter M. was passed.
Leaving the local school at the age of 16, he
began active life as a farm hand at $10 per
month, working thus two summers, but at-
tending school during the winter, receiving
also, for a few months, an advanced course of
instruction at Rochester.
Mr. Ferry's advent in Detroit was in 1852,
as employee in a wholesale stationery store.
Having saved a little financial means, he
entered as a partner the seed house firm of M.
T. Gardner & Company. Mr. Ferry became
the head of the firm in 1865, and in 1867 its
title was changed to D. M. Ferry & Company.
The present company was incorporated under
that name in 1879, with a capitalization of
$750,000, absorbing a younger house, the
Detroit Seed Company.
Some men make good lieutenants, but fail
as captains. Others become captains through
gifts of nature which it would be difficult to
analyze. Mr. Ferry is one of the latter.
Under his management the business has
grown from a small store to an extensive plant,
and from sales of about $6,000 to $1,500,-
000.00 annually.
It goes without saying that worldly com-
petence has rewarded Mr. Ferry's labors. He
has large investments in real estate, and his
name appears in the directorate and at the
head of numerous manufacturing and banking
interests. He has interests as stockholder,
president or director in a dozen leading bank-
ing and other institutions in Detroit, and
also has banking and railway interests in
Arizona.
Mr. Ferry's money and his personal aid and
countenance have always been freely given to
such projects whether business, social or
charitable as promised to be of public bene-
fit, and his private charities are large, discrim-
inating and entirely wanting in ostentation.
"Let not thy right hand know what thy left
hand doeth" is a rule with him. He is one of
the trustees of Grace Hospital, Detroit, the
Detroit Museum of Art, and of Olivet Col-
lege, to each of which he has been a liberal
contributor.
He was a
Politically, Mr. Ferry is a Republican. In
1900 he was urged by his friends for the
nomination for Governor of the state, and at
the convention at Grand Rapids was the lead-
ing candidate up to the nineteenth ballot,
although eventually unsuccessful.
delegate-at-large to the Minneapolis Conven-
tion in 1892, and was chairman of the State
Central Committee, 1896-98. His only offi-
cial service has been as a member of the
Board of Estimates, and of the Park and
Boulevard Commission of Detroit.
He is a trustee of the Woodward Avenue
Congregational Church, with which denomi-
nation he affiliates.
Miss Addie E. Miller, daughter of John B.
Miller, of Unadilla, N. Y., became Mrs. Ferry
October 1, 1867. Three children, Dexter
M., Jr., an active assistant to his father, and
the Misses Blanche and Queene, now survive
as the fruit of this marriage.
Mr. Ferry is domestic and social in his
tastes, and while his home is his sanctuary, yet
he is also an active member and supporter of
many of the leading clubs and societies.
In his business relations he is a man always
approachable, courteous and affable, and his
employees, with whom he has never had dis-
agreement or friction of any kind, are
devoted to him.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
521

STEVENSON, ELLIOTT G. The senior
member of the present law firm of Stevenson,
Merriam, Eldredge & Butzel, of Detroit,
ranks with the leading members of the bar of
Michigan and the northwest. He is of north
of Ireland stock, his parents having settled in
Middlesex county, Ont., where the son was
born May 18, 1856. The father, William
Stevenson, was a contractor, and came with
his family to Port Huron in 1869, where he
continued to live up to the time of his death
in May, 1899. Mr. Stevenson's mother still
makes her home in Port Huron.
With a
primary education fitting him for professional
study, Mr. Stevenson entered the law office of
O'Brien & Atkinson at Port Huron in 1874,
and in 1877 was admitted to the bar before
Judge Harris. He at once associated himself
in practice with his former preceptor, the
firm of Atkinson & Stevenson continuing for
several years. In 1882 he became senior
in the firm of Stevenson & Phillips, which
firm continued until Mr. Stevenson's removal
to Detroit in 1887. He here associated him-
self with Hon. Don M. Dickinson and Henry
T. Thurber under the firm name of Dickinson,
Thurber & Stevenson, from which firm he
withdrew in 1896, practicing his profession
alone until the formation of the firm first
named in 1899.
Mr. Stevenson acquired prominence in
political and official circles while a resident
of Port Huron. He was for two terms prose-
cuting-attorney of St. Clair county, having
been the first Democratic official elected in
that county for over twenty years, and was
the only one elected on his party ticket at the
time. He was elected mayor of Port Huron
in 1885, and was twice nominated for Con-
gress under conditions favoring his election,
but declined the honor, from business consid-
eration. Mr. Stevenson managed and led to
a successful issue the contest for a delegation
from Michigan to the Democratic National
Convention of 1896 that would support Presi-
ELLIOTT G. STEVENSON.
dent Cleveland's financial policy, and he was
made chairman of the delegation. The silver
sentiment was predominant, however, in the
convention, and Mr. Bryan was nominated.
Mr. Stevenson was a supporter of and believer
in the sound money policy of President Cleve-
land, but felt bound by the action of his party
convention, and supported its nominees. Mr.
Stevenson has been prominent in the coun-
sels of his party in Wayne county, including
the chairmanship of the county committee.
As a member of the firm of Dickinson, Thur-
ber & Stevenson, the entire business of the
firm devolved upon the latter during the time
that Mr. Dickinson was postmaster-general,
Mr. Thurber being in Washington as private
secretary to the President.
Mr. Stevenson's societary connections are
Masonic, Pythian, Foresters and Detroit, Fel-
lowcraft and North Channel Clubs. Miss
Emma Mitts, daughter of George Mitts, of
Port Huron, became Mrs. Stevenson in 1879.
Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson have three children:
George Elliott, attending Williams College,
Williamstown, Massachusetts, and Helen and
Kennith, at home.
522
MEN OF PROGRESS.

ALFRED J. MURPHY.
MURPHY, ALFRED J. Judge Mur-
phy furnishes an illustration of the possibili-
ties within the reach of serious effort. Nur-
tured in the hard school of adversity, he has
been obliged to show his passport at every
turnpike of life. He has resolutely fought
his way, unaided, from humble beginnings,
till, at the age of thirty-two, he occupies a
position in the community of his birth that is
seldom attained except by men of more ad-
vanced years. His advancement has neither
spoiled nor marred him. Simple and unaf-
fected in manner, it is not unnatural that, al-
most daily, he should be made the confidant
and friendly adviser of people in the humble
walks of life.
He is a graduate of the Detroit public
schools. Thence he passed to the Detroit
College, taking the full classical course there
and graduating with the Bachelor's Degree in
1887. He was then employed for two years
on the staff of the Detroit Free Press, at the
same time pursuing a post-graduate course at
his Alma-Mater, and in 1889 received there-
from the degree of Master of Arts. At the
same time, he pursued preliminary studies in
law, and in 1891 entered the Detroit College
of Law, graduating in June, 1893, with the
degree of Bachelor of Laws. He thereupon
at once began the practice of law, continuing
it without interruption to the time of going
upon the bench.
Conservative in the formation and expres-
sion of opinions, he is a forcible and ready
speaker, on the stump, on occasions of public
interest, and at the bar. In August, 1896,
without solicitation on his part, he was made.
the Democratic and Fusion nominee for the
office of Attorney-General of Michigan. In
the city of Detroit he ran many votes ahead
of his ticket. He had previously had some
experience in the way of official intercourse
with the ruling spirits of the party in the
State, having been assistant secretary of the
State Central Committee in 1890 and secre-
tary of the State Senate at the session of 1891.
In 1898 he was appointed a member of the
Park and Boulevard Commission of Detroit,
an unsalaried but responsible position. It
was while filling that position that he pro-
cured the adoption of the eight-hour day on
the park and boulevard system, a reform
which won for him many expressions of com-
mendation. His sympathies have ever been
alert and active with those to whom life is a
struggle.
At the April election in 1899 he was
elected one of the judges of the Recorder's
Court of Detroit, taking his place on the
bench January 9, 1900. In addition to the
duties of that post, Judge Murphy at present
occupies the chair of criminal law, and also
of criminal pleading and practice, in the De-
troit College of Law. He is also a member
of the executive committee of the Detroit
Bar Association.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
523

The
CORNS, HENRY COLDICOTT.
parents of Dr. Corns, Joseph and Mary
(Walker) Corns, came to Detroit from Bir-
mingham, England, in 1841. While in Eng-
land the father was a member of the "Queen's
Own Guards." In Detroit he was a furniture
manufacturer on Grand River Avenue, and
died in 1890, the mother being still living.
The son, Henry C., was born in Detroit, July
15, 1860. He attended the Detroit schools
until fourteen years old, after which he at-
tended the night schools for three years, being
assistant to his father during work hours. In
the fall of 1878 he entered the Dental Depart-
ment of the University, graduating from there
after a three years' course. After graduating
he spent a few months in the office of Dr.
Watton, a dentist of Detroit, and then trav-
eled for a year and a half for the H. J. Cal-
kins' Dental Depot of Detroit, around the
States of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. In
1883 he opened an office for the practice of
dentistry in what was then known as the old
Fisher Block, on Woodward Avenue, moving
from thence in 1886 to No. 25 Washington the Detroit Athletic Club. The doctor has
Avenue, and in 1893 to his present quarters,
No. 32 Adams Avenue West.
Dr. Corns is affiliated with most of the
Masonic bodies. He first joined the frater-
nity in 1883 and has passed the chairs of the
Blue Lodge, being Past Master of Oriental
Lodge No. 240. He is a member of Penin-
sular Chapter (Royal Arch) Masons, is a
member of Detroit Commandery, Knights
Templar, in which he has held all the Com-
mandery offices, and is now Past Commander,
HENRY COLDICOTT CORNS.
has been a member of the Council (Royal and
Select Masters) since 1890, is a member of
the Grand Commandery of the State, and is
High Priest of the Ancient and Accepted
Order of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a
member and one of the board of directors of
had some nautical experience, having sailed
as wheelman and look-out on the tug Kate
Moffat during the season of 1878. He was
Assistant Adjutant-General of the State on
the staff of Governor Rich, 1893-4. In addi-
tion to his dental practice he is in a business
way, president of the H. C. Corns Hardwood
Lumber Company of Detroit. Miss Clara
Burden, daughter of Wm. Burden, of Cleve-
land, Ohio, became Mrs. Corns August 29,
1893. They have no children.
524
MEN OF PROGRESS.

GEORGE BECK.
BECK, GEORGE. Mr. Beck is essen-
tialy one of the self-made men of Detroit,
having begun active work for himself as a boy
of twelve years, with but a limited primary
education. He was born at Tiverton, Devon-
shire, England, August 27, 1844, the son of
William B. and Mary Ann (Lee) Beck. The
father died at Memphis, Tenn., in 1862 and
the mother at Detroit in 1890. His father
was an ornamental plasterer and came to
America in 1847, locating at Memphis,
Tenn., where he had large contracts, includ-
ing contracts on government work. His fam-
ily joined him in 1851. In 1853 the family
moved to London, Ont., and from there to
Cleveland, Ohio, in 1854, coming to Detroit
a year later. The son's first work in Detroit
was with the Rowena Milk Co. at 75 cents
per week. After a six months' service, he
hired out to Coles & Smith, of the Marine
Meat Market, at $4 per month, remaining
with them a year and a half. He was then
with Wm. Wreford in the same business and
they have been together ever since. In 1863
His
he went to Chicago to buy cattle, buying in
Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City.
operations in this line embraced seventeen
years, up to 1888, a fact of itself quite con-
clusive as to his adaptation to a work involv-
ing large transactions. In 1888 the present
concern, the Michigan Beef & Provision Co.,
of which Mr. Beck is president and treasurer,
was formed, they confining their purchases to
Michigan, doing a business amounting to
about $600,000 annually. As related to
Michigan interests in the live stock line, Mr.
Beck made a record for himself in 1887 in
fighting through the Legislature at Lansing
(at least in the effort to do so) the bill known
as the "Inspection on Hoof Bill." The power
of combination, however, was too potent and
the bill failed by a single vote. This bill, if
passed, would have been worth an hundred
million dollars to Michigan, as most of the
meat used in the state today is raised and
owned by the "trust," and is largely raised in
the states west of us, thus to a great extent
driving Michigan breeders out of the market.
Mr. Beck represented the Eighth Ward of
Detroit, three terms (six years), successively,
in the Common Council, and during that
time was two years its president and was one
of the most useful members of that body. He
is a Republican in politics. Mr. Beck has
been twice married, March, 1865, to Miss
Minnie A. Miller, of Detroit, daughter of
David Miller, of Greenfield. She died at
Ashville, N. C., December 3, 1893. There
were two daughters by this marriage, Maude
E., wife of Charles Wynn, of New York city,
and Minnie E., wife of H. B. West, of Detroit.
In 1895 he was married to Miss Jennie M.
Smith, of Detroit. Mr. Beck is a Thirty-
Second Degree Mason, is a member of the
Royal Arcanum, the Detroit Wheelmen, the
League of American Wheelmen, the German
Salesmen's Association, the Douglas League,
the Detroit Yacht Club, the Detroit Bowling
Club, Fellowcraft Club, and the Michigan
and Lincoln Clubs, the two latter Republican.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
525

Mr.
DURANT, WILLIAM CRAPO.
Durant is the senior partner in the Durant-
Dorp Carriage Co., of Flint, which is the
pioneer of that industry in that city, and the
common expression in Flint is that he is the
business man of Michigan, as he has as many
business institutions to superintend as any
two men in the state. And his business quali-
fications are hereditary as well as cultivated,
his father, William C. Durant, having been
a banker in Boston, though a native of New
Hampshire, his mother, Rebecca Crapo, being
a daughter of the late Governor Henry H.
Crapo, of Michigan, one of the most saga-
cious and enterprising business men of Flint,
forty years ago, who developed the lumber in-
dustry in that region and built the railroad
from Flint to Holly, which now forms part of
the Pere Marquette system. Mr. Durant was
born in Boston December 8, 1861, the family
coming to Detroit when he was nine years
old, and subsequently removing to Flint. The
son passed the curriculum of the local schools,
and might have had any position that influen-
tial relations could secure, but he was ambi-
tious to do for himself, and at the age of 17
he became clerk in a drug store at $3 per
week, then for a time acting as salesman and
bookkeeper for a cigar manufacturing firm in
Flint. He received a thorough training and
discipline in practical business by a three
years' service as lumber shover and inspector
in the mills and yards of his uncle, W. W.
Crapo, after which he engaged for a time in
the real estate and insurance business. In
1886 he began in a very small way the busi-
ness that has since grown to gigantic propor-
tions. When road carts were first introduced
in the west, he secured an option on the patent
owned by a party in Coldwater. He formed
a partnership with J. D. Dort, another young
man of keen business attributes, and with a
limited capital, all borrowed, they began the
manufacture. Their first year's output
reached some four thousand, proving the
venture a success. The firm now employs
1,200 men and does a business amounting to
three millions annually, their output embrac-
WILLIAM CRAPO DURANT.
ing carriages of all descriptions. Their fac-
tories turn out 400 buggies complete each day.
They are interested in four carriage factories
at Flint and own the Imperial Wheel plant at
Jackson, the largest in the world, together
with an axel plant and 7,000 acres of southern
timber, with mills for converting the timber
into lumber. The Durant-Dort enterprise
has brought several similar factories to Flint,
and the city is known as one of the principal
carriage centers of the world and their pro-
ducts have a world-wide reputation.
Mr. Durant is certainly one of the keenest,
most successful and thorough-going business
men of the state. He is a director of the
Citizens' Commercial Savings Bank, of the
Flint Electric Light Company, Diamond
Buggy Company, Flint Top & Gear Company
and Webster Vehicle Company, all of Flint.
Though a strong Republican in politics, he
has studiously avoided seeking or accepting
public office, believing that politics and busi-
His reli-
ness cannot be successfully mixed.
gious connection is Presbyterian and he is a
member of the Order of Elks. Miss Clara
Miller Pitt, daughter of Ralph S. Pitt, of
Flint, became Mrs. Durant, June 17, 1885.
Two children, Margery, aged 13, and Russell
Clifford, aged 9 years, have been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Durant.

526
MEN OF PROGRESS.

HAMILTON CARHARTT.
CARHARTT, HAMILTON. Mr. Car-
hartt is in direct descent from Thomas and
1855.
Mary (Lord) Carhartt, who came from Eng.
land in 1600. His parents, George W. and
Lefa Jane (Wylie) Carhartt, were residents
of Macedon Locks, Wayne county, N. Y.,
where the son Hamilton was born August 27,
The parents removed to Detroit,
where the mother died in the son's early child-
hood. The father, who was a physician, at
once removed to Jackson, where he enjoyed
a wide practice and where the son's early life
was passed. In 1884 Mr. Carhartt moved to
Detroit, where he has since resided. In 1889
the business of which Mr. Carhartt is the
head (the manufacture of clothing for the
wholesale trade, corner of Michigan avenue
and Tenth street, Detroit), was established by
him under the firm name of Hamilton Car-
hartt & Co. He had previously represented
eastern business houses as a commercial agent
in the middle west. Mr. Carhartt has intro-
duced into prosaic clothing manufacture the
spirit of congeniality. His workshop remind
the visitor at once of a large family gather-
ing, so absent is the usual awe and formality,
but nevertheless every one of the 600 and
more workers performs his or her task with a
willingness and cheerfulness which is in con-
trast to what prevails in similar places. Mr.
Carhartt recognizes in his great business that
labor has its equities. Like as every man
should, he has a mission in life, and the man-
agement of a large industry is considered but
a means of promoting industrial reform. The
following from a recent business announce-
ment is quite a sermon in itself: "Our manu-
facturing business was not started to do the
gainful thing alone, but the just and honest
thing first, gainful if possible. There is a
Moslem maxim that, 'one hour in the execu-
tion of justice is worth seventy years of
prayer.'
Mr. Carhartt is a member and vice-presi-
dent of the Detroit Public Lighting Com-
mission, president of the Ophir Mining Com-
pany, Stateline, Utah, a director of the Mer-
chants and Manufacturers' Exchange, and
president of the Detroit Valve & Washer
Works. He is a member of Christ Church
(Episcopal), of the Detroit Club, Detroit
Athletic Club, Detroit Country Club, De-
troit Boat Club, Archaeological Society, the
Comedy Club and Sons of the American
Revolution. On December 21, 1881, he was
married to Miss Annette Welling, daughter of
Stephen A., and Emma (Polar) Welling of
Jackson.
Jackson. Three children are the fruit of the
marriage: Hamilton, Jr., aged 18; Wylie
Welling, 16, and Margaret Welling, 14.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
527

BOUTELL, BENJAMIN. Mr. Boutell
enjoys the prefix of captain, from his connec-
tion with marine interests centering at Bay
City. His father, Daniel Boutell, was of
Scotch descent. His mother, Betsy Adams,
was of New England origin and a niece of
President John Quincy Adams. The par-
ents came to Michigan from Syracuse, N. Y.,
in 1827, settling in Deerfield township, Liv-.
ingstone county, where the son was born Au-
gust 17, 1844. His first essay at productive
labor was riding a horse to plow corn at a
stated compensation, when he was six years
old, so that he early became self-supporting,
When 12 years old his parents moved to
Birch Run, leaving him in charge of the
farm. The parents removed to Bay City in
1859, and opened a hotel, in which Ben, as he
is familiarly called, was their assistant. The
hotel burned down in 1865 and the son se-
cured a position as "wheelman" on the tug
"Wave," and the next year was promoted to
the position of mate. In 1867 he was cap-
tain of the steamer Ajax, owned by the First
National Bank of Bay City. The boat had
been a losing investment and Capt. Boutell's
pay was dependent upon what financial results
he could show from its management. By
close financing he was enabled to turn over to
the owners some $6,000 that year and he dates
his success in life from that time. In 1868
he sailed the passenger boat Reynolds, and in
1869 the tug Union. In 1869 he formed a
co-partnership with one Mitchell, as Mitchell
& Boutell, doing a general towing and coal
business. The business enjoyed a marked
increase in the number and style of vessels
until 1886, when the partnership was dis-
solved, Capt. Mitchell continuing the vessel
and coal business and Capt. Boutell the raft
towing. He that year organized the Saginaw
Bay Towing Co., sixteen tugs now comprising
the company's fleet. The raft towing has lat-
terly extended to Georgian Bay and Lake
Michigan, from having been at first local to
Saginaw Bay. Many of the log rafts contain
from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 feet, and Capt.
Boutell is credited with having handled more
timber in this way than any man living. He
has handled every year, for thirty-five years,
1,000,000 feet and upwards, necessitating a
heavy labor and expense account.
Capt. Boutell has been a busy man in out-
side enterprises. In 1899 he organized the
Marine Iron Co., of Bay City, and has been
its president from the first. In 1891 he or-
ganized the Boutell Transit Co., of Bay City,
BENJAMIN BOUTELL.
owning the steamer Hiram W. Sibley and
schooner Twin Sisters. In 1895 he organized
the Boutell Towing & Wrecking Co., of
Sarnia, Ont., of which he is president. In
1896 he bought the Hampton Transit Co., of
Bay City, operating the steamer Charles A.
Eddy, and is president of this company. In
1899 he, with others, organized the Boutell
Towing & Transit Co., of Boston, Mass., for
salt water coastwise towing, being vice-presi-
dent of this company. He has other vessel
interests aside from those mentioned. He is
vice-president of the Michigan Chicory Co.
and a director and heavy stockholder in the
Commercial Bank, both of Bay City. Through
faith in the beet sugar industry, Capt. Boutell
helped to organize the Michigan Sugar Co.
and the Bay City Sugar
and the Bay City Sugar Co., both of Bay
City, the latter, the largest in the state, and
of which he is vice-president, he being a heavy
stockholder in both. He is also a stockholder
and director in the Marine City Sugar Co.,
and owns large tracts of coal lands and several
beet raising farms near Bay City.
Capt. Boutell is a member of the Masonic
fraternity and a trustee of the Methodist
Church.
His wife, to whom he was married Decem-
ber 21, 1869, was formerly Miss Aurelia C.
Duttinger, of Pine River. Two sons, Fred-
erick E. and William H., both married, and
in business together at Bay City, are the fruit
of the marriage.

528
MEN OF PROGRESS.
1165

GEORGE WILLIAM MOORE.
MOORE, GEORGE WILLIAM. There
is no more striking figure seen in Detroit than
George William Moore. Six feet two in
height, well proportioned, cheek bones some-
what prominent, giving a slight look of angu-
larity to the countenance, hair and whiskers
divided between brown and sandy-while it
cannot perhaps be said that he resembles Lin-
coln in his make-up, there is about him that
element which may be termed homely hon-
esty, and a tendency in his relations with men
to go straight to the matter in hand, that leads
one involuntarily to associate him in thought
with the Great Emancipator. While from
his personal appearance, an observer would
assign to Mr. Moore a high rank among his
fellows, he is by air and manner simply plain
Mr. Moore, and though a head taller than
some other, corporeally, if his moral and in-
tellectual stature exceeds the average, it must
appear from his acts, and not from any as-
sumption of superiority on his part.
Mr. Moore's ancestors came from the Brit-
ish Isles, his paternal grandfather, William
Moore, from London, his paternal grand-
mother, Elizabeth Barnes, from Tyronne
county, Ireland, and his mother from Leices-
tershire, England.
Mr. Moore is a native of Wayne county,
Michigan, having been born in the township
of Romulus, September 9, 1847, son of
George Washington Moore (retired), a New
Yorker by birth, and a resident of the village
of Romulus. He was educated in the schools
at Ypsilanti and later in the Law Department
of the State University, from which he gradu-
ated in 1872, and was admitted to the bar the
same year. He having become a resident of
Detroit, at once formed a business connection
with his present partner, George Whitney
Moore, under the firm name of Moore &
Moore. The similarity of their names, both
having the same initials, leads them in their
personal relations to give the middle name in
full as a means of identity. The firm of
Moore & Moore is familiar in legal circles in
Michigan and adjacent states.
Their prac-
tice is confined to the civil courts and is varied
and general, and includes constitutional, cor-
porate and commercial law.
Mr. Moore has never stood for public office
of any kind. He is, however, a Democrat
from the ground up. He is potential in the
counsels of the party and is at present a mem-
ber of the State Central Committee, from the
First Congressional District. He is an elo-
quent, logical and forceful speaker before the
court and jury and at the hustings in political
campaigns. He is also an occasional contrib-
utor of political articles to the daily press. In
1885 Mr. Moore was married to Miss Kath-
erine M. DeMill, daughter of the late Peter
E. DeMill, of Detroit. They have one
daughter, who bears her mother's name.

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