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Gc 977.4 P87h v.2 1219032
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01074 7183
A HISTORY OF
Northern Michigan
AND ITS PEOPLE
BY
PERRY F. POWERS
Assisted by H. G. CUTLER Editor of the Lewis Publishing Company
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME II
-
1912 THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO
1219032
Medland- $27.50 (3 Mal)
History of Northern Michigan
JULIUS T. HANNAH .- "A truly great life," says Webster, "when Heaven vouchsafes so rare a gift, is not a temporary flame, burning bright for a while and then expiring, giving place to returning darkness. It is rather a spark of fervent heat as well as radiant light, with power to enkindle the common mass of human mind; so that when it glimmers in its own decay, and finally goes out in death, no night follows, but it leaves the world all light, all on fire, from the potent contact of its own spirit." A splendid type of American manhood was Julius T. Hannah, who passed from this life on the 29th of November, 1905, deeply mourned by a large circle of friends in his home at Traverse City, Michigan.
Julius Trueman Hannah was born on the 29th of March, 1858, in what is now Traverse City, and he is a son of Perry and Anna A. (Flynn) Hannah, the former of whom was a native of Erie county, Pennsylvania, where his birth occurred on the 24th of September, 1824, and the latter of whom was born in New York on the 25th of December, 1832. The father was interested in the lumber business in northern Michigan for a half century. He came to Traverse City in 1851, invested in large tracts of timber land in Grand Traverse county and during the long intervening years was a tremendous power in financial and industrial affairs in the old Wolverine state. On other pages of this work will be found a sketch of his interesting career so that further data are not required at this juncture. While a mere child Mrs. Hannah became orphaned and in her girlhood she moved to the city of Chicago, where she met and married Perry Hannah. To this union were born three children, namely : Hattie, who is the wife of J. F. Keeney, of Chicago; Julius T., the immediate sub- ject of this review ; and Clara Belle, who married George W. Gardner, of St. Paul, Minnesota.
In his native city Julins T. Hannah grew to maturity and after com- pleting the curriculum of the public schools thereof he was matriculated in the college at Racine, Wisconsin, in which well ordered institution he pursued the regular course and in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1876. Being the only son, his father designed him as his
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HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
successor in business and accordingly Julius T. entered upon a routine to learn the details of the business which had already assumed such gi- gantie proportions. He first entered one of the departments of the mer- eantile establishment of Hannah, Lay & Company, where he worked for one year, at the expiration of which he entered another department, remaining there for another year, and so on until he had mastered the details of the mercantile branch of his father's business. He was next given a position in the office and later was assigned to the duties of out- side foreman, continuing ineumbent of the latter position for three years. Subsequently he was in the saw mills and other manufacturing plants, in the yards, where millions of feet of lumber were piled up in the woods, where the trees were eut down and the logs prepared for the mill and in addition to other things he familiarized himself with every detail re- lating to the line of steamboats owned and operated by the company. He was next transferred to the banking department, beginning as he had in all the others, at the foot of the ladder and steadily advancing until he reached the position of president of the Traverse City State Bank, of which he was incumbent at the time of his death, in 1905. His advancement was entirely due to his own well directed efforts and not at all to the fact that he was a son of Perry Hannah. The Traverse City State Bank was incorporated under the laws of the state in 1892, with a paid-up capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars, with a surplus fund of twenty-five thousand dollars and undivided net profits of fifty- six thousand, five hundred and twenty dollars. The officers of the bank before the death of Perry Hannah were as follows: Perry Hannah, president ; A. Traey Lay, first viee-president ; James Morgan, second vice-president ; J. T. Hannah, eashier ; and S. G. Garland, assistant eash- ier. At the time of his death Mr. Hannah of this review was likewise a member of the board of directors.
While Mr. Hannah never had the time nor the desire to participate actively in public affairs his interest in politiea] questions was deep and sincere and he gave an earnest support to the principles of the Republi- ean party, believing that the platform of the party contained the best elements of good government. In their religious faith Mr. and Mrs. Hannah were not adherents of any special faith but usually attended the services of the Graec Episcopal church, to which Mrs. Hannah still gives an ardent support. Mr. Hannah was ever a generous contributor to all measures and enterprises advanced for the publie good and it has been said concerning him that his charity knew only the bounds of his opportunities. In the time-honored Masonie order he had passed through the circle of the Seottish Rite branch, having attained to the thirty- second degree; in the Knights of Pythias he was a member of both the subordinate and uniform rank; and he also affiliated with the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks and with the Knights of the Maecabees.
On the 30th of June, 1896, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Hannah to Miss Elsie K. Raff, a daughter of George W. Raff, who was long post- master of Traverse City and who was summoned to the life eternal on the 2nd of November, 1909. Elsewhere in this volume will be found a sketch of the career of Mr. Raff. Mrs. Hannah was born at Napoleon, Ohio, to the public schools of which place she is indebted for her carly
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HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
educational training. She is a woman of innate refinement and culture and her gracious and pleasing personality have won her a high place in the loving regard of her many friends.
Up to the time of his death Julius T. Hannah assumed most of the responsibilities of his father's business. Alive to all modern business methods, Mr. Hannah during his lifetime aided and encouraged the loca- tion of more business enterprises than the city had ever known before. As a result Traverse City is now enjoying an era of prosperity far be- yond that enjoyed by any other town or city in northern Michigan. Mr. Hannah's death was mourned by a large number of friends and business associates and in losing him Traverse City lost an ardent friend of progress and prosperity. Mr. Hannah was a man of tremenduous vitality, extraordinary executive ability and fine moral fiber. His entire record, both public and private, will bear the closest inspection and he leaves as an heritage to his wife and friends a good name and an untarnished career.
GEORGE W. RAFF .- For a long number of years George W. Raff was the efficient and popular incumbent of the office of postmaster of Traverse City, and when he was summoned to the life eternal, on the 2nd of No- vember. 1909, northern Michigan lost one of its most loyal and public- spirited citizens. Looking into the clear perspective of his career there may be seen definite courage, persistent determination and self-confidence, which, as coupled with integrity of purpose, are the factors that con- serve success and make it consistent.
George W. Raff was a native son of Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred in Franklin county, that state, on the 27th of December, 1833. His parents were Peter and Catherine (Snyder) Raff, both of whom were likewise born in the old Keystone state of the Union. The father was summoned to the life eternal when George W. was a child of but three years of age, he having met death in an accident. The mother passed away at the home of one of her children in Ohio, at the patriarchal age of ninety-three years. To Mr. and Mrs. Peter Raff were born nine children, of whom George W. was the youngest. All have now passed to the great beyond except two-Peter, who is a farmer and resides at Ames, Iowa; and John. of Canton, Ohio. The early life of him to whom this sketch is dedicated was passed in Pennsylvania, where he received his preliminary educational training. When fourteen years of age he accompanied his mother to Ohio, location being made at Wilmot. Stark county, where they resided about nine years and whence they removed to Iowa, remaining in that state until the inception of the Civil war. After coming to Ohio Mr. Raff attended school for one year and then entered upon an apprenticeship at the tailor's trade, in which he soon became an expert workman. He continued to be identified with that line of enterprise throughout much of his active business career, only retiring in order to devote more time to his duties as postmaster, to which office he was first appointed by President Grant. He retired permanently from tailoring about 1898.
When the dark cloud of Civil war obscured the national horizon Mr. Raff gave evidence of his intrinsie patriotism by enlisting as a soldier
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in Company K, Twenty-third Iowa Volunteer Infantry, in which he was commissioned second lieutenant. For about a year after his enlist- ment the field of operations of the Twenty-third Iowa Regiment was Mis- souri, where it was largely engaged in skirmishing and garrison duty. After being in service about one year Lieutenant Raff received an injury which disqualified him for active duty, and he was forced to resign on account of disability. He immediately returned to his family in Stark county, Ohio, and for the ensuing seventeen years he and his wife maintained their home at Napoleon, that state. Soon after General Grant's inauguration as president George W. Raff was appointed post- master of Napoleon and he served in that capacity for a period of eight years. In 1880 the family removed from Ohio to Michigan, settling in Traverse City, where Mr. Raff resided until his death. He engaged in the tailoring business, conducting a fine establishment for a number of years. When Benjamin Harrison beeame president of the United States, in 1889, Mr. Raff, was by him, appointed postmaster of Traverse City and he discharged the duties of that offiee most creditably until President Cleve- land appointed a Democrat to fill the office. Upon the return of the Republican party to power, Mr. Raff was again appointed postmaster of Traverse City and by successive re-appointments he continued the able incumbent of that responsible position until the time of his death, in 1909.
On the 13th of April, 1853, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Raff to Miss Sarah Agler, who was born at Wilmot, Ohio, in 1834, and who is a daughter of George and Eva (Wyandt) Agler, both natives of Penn- sylvania. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Raff resided in Stark eounty, Ohio, until 1857, when removal was made to Marshalltown, Mar- shall county, Iowa, where they lived until the outbreak of the Rebellion, as previously noted. To Mr. and Mrs. Raff were born four children, one of whom died in infancy. Concerning the others, Laura R., who was long her father's assistant in the postoffice, is now the wife of Charles Beers, city clerk of Traverse City. Elsie married Julius T. Hannah, president of the Traverse City State Bank at the time of his death, as well as all the other institutes of the firm in Michigan, and his death oceurred on the 29th of November, 1905. On other pages of this work appears a sketeh dedieated to his eareer. George W. Jr., is a mem- ber of the firm of Raff & Morgan, electricians of Traverse City. All of the above children were afforded liberal educations and they all reside in Traverse City. Mrs. Raff has now attained to the venerable age of seventy-five years, but she still retains in mueh of their pristine vigor the fine mental and physical qualities of her youth. She is a woman of most pleasing personality and is deeply beloved by all who have eome within the sphere of her gentle influence.
In his political adhereney Mr. Raff was a stalwart Republican, as already intimated. His first vote was east for Salmon P. Chase for gov- ernor of Ohio and his first presidential vote was east for John C. Fremont, in 1856. While not identified formally with any religious institutions, Mr. Raff was a Christian man in the truest sense of the word. All his deeds and thoughts were permeated with that broad human sympathy which is inherent in the characters of great men, and it has justly heen
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HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
said of him that the circle of his friends was coincident with that of his acquaintances. In a fraternal way he was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Masonic order and with the Grand Army of the Republic. He was the owner of considerable valuable real-estate and a beautiful residence in Traverse City.
HENRY C. RANSOM .- There are manifold reasons for according in this publication definite recognition of the life and labors of Judge Ransom, who has served for virtually a quarter of a century as probate judge of Mason county, where he has maintained his home for more than thirty- five years, so that he may consistently be designated one of the pioneer citizens of this section of the state. He has been called upon to serve in various other offices of public trust and no one holds more secure vantage ground in popular confidence and esteem in Mason county than does he. Integrity, loyalty and fidelity have characterized his course in all the relations of life, and in this work tribute is rendered him as one of the essentially representative citizens of the city of Ludington and of Mason county, to the development and upbuilding of both of which he has made generous and noteworthy contribution.
In one of his characteristic speeches Hon. Chauncey M. Depew made use of the following effective paraphrase of a familiar quotation : "Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some are born in the state of Ohio." Judge Ransom finds a due measure of satisfac- tion in being able to qualify under the last premise of the foregoing statement, as he claims the fine old Buckeye commonwealth as the place of his nativity and is a scion of honored pioneer families of that state. He was born on the homestead farm of his father in Florence township, Huron county, Ohio, on the 27th of January, 1849, the only son of Henry G. and Maryette (French) Ransom, to whom were also born two daughters. Martha A., the elder sister, married J. H. Lau- rence, who is deceased. Frances M., deceased, married Clark E. Boener. The father was born in Berlin township, Huron county, Ohio, and there he was reared and educated under the conditions and influences of the pioneer day. After his marriage he removed to Florence township, in the same county, where he continued to be actively engaged in agri- cultural pursuits until his death, at the age of thirty-eight years. He was a son of Russell Ransom, who was born in Connecticut, and who was a scion of a family founded in New England in the Colonial era of our national history, the lineage being traced back to Danish-English origin and North England people. Russell Ransom was one of the pioneers of the historic old Western Reserve, where he established his home about 1820, and there he passed the residue of his life in what is now Erie county. The mother of Judge Ransom was born in Wakeman township, Huron county, Ohio, and was a daughter of Burton French, who likewise was one of the early settlers of that county, where he took up his abode upon immigrating to the west from his native state of Connecticut, in 1819. Mrs. Maryette (French) Ransom was sum- moned to the life eternal when about seventy-two years of age, and both she and her husband were earnest members of the Methodist church. They were intelligent, industrious and God-fearing folks, and
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HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
their lives counted for good, though they never deviated from simple and unostentatious habits and customs. They had appreciation of the true values of life and were worthy of the uniform esteem that was accorded them by all who knew them.
Judge Ransom has never found reason to regret the fact that he was reared to the sturdy and invigorating discipline involved in the de- veloping and improving of a pioneer farm, and his early educational privileges were those afforded in the common schools of the locality and period with two terms in Oberlin college. He was too young to enter military service at the inception of the Civil war, but his youth- ful patriotism was such that when he had attained to the age of sixteen years he tendered his serviees in defense of the Union. He enlisted in the winter of 1865 as a private in Company F, One Hundred and Ninety-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and with this gallant command he continued in active service until the elose of the war, when he was mustered out and received his honorable discharge. After having thus proved his loyalty to the republie, Judge Ransom returned to his home in Ohio, and thereafter he was enabled to supplement his eduea- tion by attending Oberlin College, that state, for two years. As a young man he learned the cooper's trade, and to this he devoted his attention for a few years, as a journeyman. In this connection it may be noted that he was thus employed in Findlay, Ohio, for one year, and for an equal period at Elmore, Ottawa county, that state.
In 1875 Judge Ransom came to northern Michigan and secured a homestead claim in Custer township, Mason county, where he forth- with instituted the reclamation and development of a farm. His energy and former experience enabled him to make excellent progress, and he in due time developed one of the productive farms of this county. He resided on this homestead for a decade, and it is worthy of note that he has never entirely severed his allegianee to or abated his interest in the great basie industry of agriculture, as is evideneed by the fact that at the present time he is the owner of two well improved farms in Mason county. While residing on his original homestead Judge Ransom be- came a leader in publie affairs of a local order and was called upon to serve in the offices of township clerk and township supervisor. The acceptability of his work in these connections marked him for higher official preferment in the gift of the people of the community, and in 1884 he was elected county treasurer, a position of which he eontinned incumbent for four years and in which he gave a most careful and dis- criminating achministration of the fiscal affairs of the county. In 1888 he was elected judge of probate, and this office he has sinee held with- out interruption,-his successive re-elections showing the estimate placed upon him and his services by the citizens of the county. He is now serving his sixth term of four years each, and it is safe to say that so long as he will consent to retain the office other candidates for the same may consider their chances insistently negative.
In politics Judge Ransom has given unswerving allegiance to the Republican party from the time of reaching his legal majority and he has given effective service in behalf of its eause. His wife holds mem- bership in the Methodist church. That he has maintained a distinct
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interest in his old comrades of the Civil war is shown by his affiliation with Pap Williams Post No. 15, Grand Army of the Republic, in his home city of Ludington. He has served as quartermaster of this or- ganization and has been active in its affairs. In the Masonic fraternity Judge Ransom is identified with the lodge, chapter, and commandery in Ludington, and with the Saladin Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in the city of Grand Rapids. He also holds membership in the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias.
In the year 1871 was solemnized the marriage of Judge Ransom to Miss Mary A. Rippon, who was born in Lincolnshire, England, and who was eight years of age at the time of the family emigration to America. She is a daughter of Henry and Mary A. (Ainsworth) Rip- pon, both natives of Lincolnshire, England, and upon coming to the United States the family located in Camden, Lucas county, Ohio, where Mrs. Ransom was reared to maturity. Her parents passed the closing years of their lives in Ohio. Judge and Mrs. Ransom have no children, but their pleasant home is pervaded by a spirit of hospitality and goodly cheer, so that it is a favorite resort for their wide circle of friends in the community that has so long been their home.
HON. ROSWELL P. BISHOP, of Ludington, former representative from Michigan in the United States congress, is one of the distinguished mem- bers of the bar of the state, has been engaged in the practice of his pro- fession at Ludington for more than thirty-five years, is one of the gallant and loyal soldiers who aided in the preservation of the Union in the climacteric period of the Civil war, and is a citizen to whom is ac- corded the most unequivocal confidence and esteem in the state that has so long represented his home. He has been closely identified with the material and civic progress of Ludington and Mason county, is an in- fluential factor in the councils of the Republican party in Michigan, and as a member of congress has shown high ability as a statesman, the while he has done much to further the best interests of the state that has thus honored and been honored by him.
In both the agnatic and maternal lines Mr. Bishop is a scion of fam- ilies whose names have been identified with the annals of American his- tory since the early colonial days in New England, that cradle of so much of our national history.
Mr. Bishop was born at Sidney, Delaware county, New York, on the 6th of January, 1843, and is the only son of Edward and Anna (An- drews) Bishop, both of whom were likewise natives of Delaware county, New York, where the respective families established homes in the pioneer days in the old Empire state of the Union. Edward Bishop passed the closing years of his life in Mason county, Michigan, where he took up his abode in 1880 and where he died at the venerable age of seventy-seven years. He was a son of Joseph Bishop, who was born in Westchester county, New York, and who devoted practically his entire mature life to agricultural pursuits, in connection with which he de- veloped a productive farm in Delaware county, New York, where he continued to reside until 1850, when he removed to Iowa. He thus be-
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came one of the sterling pioneers of the Hawkeye state, where he con- tinned to reside until his death, at a venerable age. The genealogy of the Bishop family is traced back to staunch English stock and the ori- ginal settlement of its representatives in America was made in Con- necticut, in the colonial era.
Edward Bishop was reared and educated in his native state and dur- ing the major part of his long and active career he was an effective exponent of the great basic industry of agriculture. He was twice mar- ried and he whose name initiates this review was the only son of the first marriage. Of the three daughters of this union two are living,- Elizabeth, who is the widow of Thomas Hallock and who resides at Unadilla Center, Otsego county, New York, and Mary, who is the wife of Harry Jagger, a representative farmer and honored citizen of Mason county, Michigan, where he owns a valuable landed estate near the city of Ludington. Mrs. Anna (Andrews) Bishop, mother of the subject of this review, was a daughter of Barrows Andrews, who was born in Con- necticut and who was a representative of one of the pioneer families of that state : his wife was a descendant of Robert Treat Paine, who was one of the signers of that immortal document, the Declaration of In- dependence.
Roswell P. Bishop was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and secured his early educational training in the common schools of his native county, where he was reared to maturity and where he continued to be actively identified with agricultural pursuits until his patriotism and loyalty were roused to responsive action by the thundering of rebel guns against the ramparts of old Fort Sumter. He was among the first to respond to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers, as he enlisted on the 3d of August, 1861, as a private in Company C, Forty-third New York Volunteer Infantry. He was eighteen years of age at the time and soon proceeded to the front with his regiment, which was assigned to the Army of the Potomac. He participated with his command in a number of spirited conflicts with the enemy and endured the full tension of arduous military service until April 28, 1862, when he received a severe wound in an engagement at Lee's Mills, Virginia. His injury finally necessitated the amputation of his right arm and he was confined for months in the hospital. Being thus incapacitated for further active service, he received his honorable discharge while on the field, near Fredericksburg, Virginia, in December, 1862. He thus made an endur- ing physical sacrifice in the cause of his country and his military record is one that should grant to him lasting honor.
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