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OAKLAND COUNTY
XX
MICHIGAN VOL II
HISTORY OF
OAKLAND COUNTY MICHIGAN
A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People, and its Principal Interests
Compiled from the official records of the County, the newspapers and data of personal interviews, under the editorial supervision of
THADDEUS D. SEELEY
VOLUME II
ILLUSTRATED
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO AND NEW YORK 1912
.
Henry Play Ward €
BIOGRAPHICAL
HENRY CLAY WARD. The mighty primeval forests of northern Michigan have been the foundation of many of the vast fortunes that have been amassed within the space of several generations by men of business sagacity. Gifted with prophetic foresight, they came into the wilderness of trees and their eyes beheld something beyond the waving of branches and fluttering of leaves. Cities made prosperous by their trade in timber; noble ships of this soil's product riding the waves of every sea; thousands of mouths being fed by the labor of preparing this timber for its final uses,-these are a few of the visions that may have come to these men, and perhaps they saw also the establishing of homes, factories, busy marts of trade, the introduction of the culture and com- fort of civilization where in their day the forests sheltered only the wild creatures that are men's enemies. The pioneers in the timber business in Oakland county were not always men capable of land selection, and the opportunities afforded their chosen agents were sometimes so fav- orable, according to their contracts, that men of good business capacity, college bred and professionally prepared, were willing to accept the hard- ships and dangers of the life for a time, subsequently reaping rich re- turns. In this way Dr. David Ward, the father of the subject of this review, and the well known capitalist and timberman in Oakland county, became connected with that industry.
Dr. David Ward was born in New York state, and the family is one of the oldest in the United States, with the best blood of the nation in its veins. On his mother's side Dr. Ward is a descendant of the Puri- tans. He was the grandson of George L. Perkins, who was born at Plymouth, Massachusetts, within stone's throw of historic Plymouth Rock, and the house in which he was born stands there to this day. His grandmother was born on the corner lot directly oppo- site the Perkins mansion, and both were descendants of families who came over in the Mayflower. The names of these families may be read on the quaint old tombstones in the Plymouth cemetery, from the earliest settlement of Plymouth.
In 1850 Dr. Ward married Elizabeth Perkins, who was born in Romeo, Michigan, and they became the parents of eight children: Henry Clay of this review ; two who died in infancy ; Charles W., a resident of Queens, Long Island; Flora, the wife of Fred H. Fay, New York ; Willis C., who now lives on a farm at Orchard Lake, Oakland county ; Helen, the wife of Louis Pelouze, residing on the old homestead at Orchard Lake, and Pearl, the wife of George K. Root, of New York City. David
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Ward had just one hundred dollars in cash when he married Elizabeth Perkins, and the young couple made their home with the parents of the bride until after the birth of their first child, Henry Clay. David Ward had worked his way through college, studying medicine, although all his earlier years had been devoted to surveying, and after his gradua- tion he hung out a shingle and undertook the practice of medicine. The loss of a patient in the outset turned him against his profession, and he closed up his office without ado and took up his former work of surveying. He engaged in the locating of pine lands in Michigan for Tom Merrill, Francis Palms, A. F. Dwight, and many other capitalists of his time, and through his efforts many of his business associates be- came millionaires. When he was but a lad, his father, Nathan Ward, located and surveyed an immense tract of timber lands in the Saranac Lake region for John Jacob Astor and Peter Smith, the father of Gar- rett Smith. At that time these men were business partners and the land thus located cost them fourteen cents per acre. At that date the lands were heavily timbered with cork pine, a noble and valuable tree of the American forests. During the years that Dr. Ward was engaged in this work he received as his remuneration one third of the lands he located for his clients, and it was in that manner that he secured his start in the lumber business. He finally located on Pine river and engaged in the manufacture of lumber, and here his faithful wife bore her full share of the burden of that life, accompanying her husband the first two years to the scenes of his activities and cooking for the men he employed in his work. Dr. Ward died on May 29, 1900, and his widow survived him until April 1, 1906.
Henry Clay Ward was born October 6, 1851, at Richmond, Macomb county, Michigan, and even in his youth displayed a keen interest in his father's lumber and timber interests, as well as in farming and horti- culture. As an example of his willingness to work, it is cited that when he was ten years of age he drove a cow two hundred miles, his remun- eration for the service being one dollar. Prior to that time he had never realized what the possession of such a considerable sum might mean, and had been rather a spendthrift, buying Judas Paste candy with his pennies, but after earning that first dollar and saving it, he concluded that spending was very poor business, and from then on practiced a rigid self-denial in the matter of his pennies. He was but fourteen years old when he bought five hundred and thirteen acres of land from the government in Crawford county, Michigan, paying for it two and a half dollars the acre. He has since increased his holdings in this sec- tion to two thousand, one hundred and forty acres, twelve hundred acres of this being cleared land and eight hundred of it being in orchards, re- puted to be the finest in the world, with some sixty-six thousand apple trees in bearing. He is also the owner of an orchard of one hundred and ninety-five acres and a farm of two hundred and fifty-eight acres on Square Lake, in Oakland county, and at one time he owned twenty- one acres in the city of Pontiac. This tract he improved, laying out Franklin boulevard and setting out all the trees along that beautiful thor- oughfare. This boulevard is named in honor of his eldest son, Franklin B. Ward, and two of the other streets in Pontiac are named for mem- bers of his family; Henry Clay avenue named for himself, and Mary Day avenue, in honor of his wife. Forest Lawn is also his addition, and he planned and carried out the improvements here also. His orchards
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are his greatest pride, and are indeed a credit to the state. He attri- butes his splendid success to the fact that he saved his money as a boy and invested it safely in the land which formed the nucleus of his im- mense fortune, and he feels that he would like to have every boy and girl in the United States see these orchards, as an object lesson to them upon the value of early thrift. There are rows of apple trees in these orchards two and a quarter miles in length, the whole presenting a mag- nificent sight in either flowering or fruit season.
Mr. Ward's first venture in active business on his own responsibility was between the ages of fourteen and twenty, when he was engaged in the manufacture of cider vinegar. He would load one hundred bushels of apples, take a piece of bread and a glass of milk for his breakfast, haul the apples from Orchard Lake to Auburn and get there before day- light ; when Mr. Adams went down to his mill in the morning he usually found Henry Ward there waiting to unload his apples. Mr. Adams was an honest man, and he took an immense pride in Henry Clay Ward, calling him "his boy" and remarking once that "Henry Clay Ward was the only boy of his acquaintance who delivered apples to his mill before he arrived to commence his day's work."
Mr. Ward as a boy was not unfamiliar with the routine of work connected with his father's surveying business, and when he was four- teen years old accompanied his father on a trip along the broad waters of the Manitou river. The route was from Chicago via Hannah & Lay's propellor to Traverse City. There they took ferry to Dexter & Nobles Mill on the upper end of the bay, where they witnessed the sawing of large cork pine logs that had been cut near Kalkaskia, hauled by teams a distance of twelve miles and dumped into Torch Lake, rafted and deliv- ered in rafts to Deits & Nobles water mill. The logs were immense in size and sawed out wide, clear lumber. They then took boat up Torch Lake, a beautiful stretch of water whose depths were so clear that the eye might penetrate from sixty to a hundred feet. They finally landed, put their luggage on a wagon. and walked to the head waters of the Manistee river. It was a new and wild country, consisting of immense tracts of hardwood and pine timber lands, with usually rolling soil and somewhat sandy. For six weeks young Henry Clay traveled on the firing line and carried a pack of forty pounds on his back the greater part of the time. Sixty pounds was then considered a fair load for a man and eighty pounds was regarded as a heavy load for a man to carry on his back through the woods all day. On that trip they entered six thousand acres of choice pine lands on the head waters of the Manistee river, their share of which afterward made a fortune for them. They returned via Traverse City, thence to North Port, and by boat to Detroit, and it is but taking Mr. Ward at his word when we say that he was tired out and glad to find himself at home again.
For fifteen years Mr. Ward shipped lumber to South Water street, Chicago, and several cargoes were always sold ahead of its manufacture. His lumber was generally conceded to be the finest that entered the Chi- cago market, and one plank which brought him especial notice being sixty inches wide, sixteen feet long and four inches thick, without a blemish on either side. This plank was cut from a leaning cork pine stub, seven feet in diameter, and the five logs cut from it scaled nine thousand feet. He has had many and varied interests during his business career, and in whatever direction his mind turned he ranked among the
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leaders in that especial field. At one time he had three hundred thou- sand sheep feeding in Oakland county, and was known as the largest sheep feeder east of Chicago. He is the owner of a lumber mill at Bir- mingham, Washington, and is interested in the Hansen-Ward Veneer Company at Bay City, Michigan, as well as being the owner of another large mill at DeWard, British Columbia. In California and British Col- umbia he is the owner of about one billion, two hundred million feet of standing timber, and also owns thirty gold, silver and copper properties throughout the west, most of them producing mines. He owns some eight thousand bearing apple trees in Michigan. At the present time, although not as active in business as he has been in former years, he can not by any means be said to have retired, and is now engaged in laying out a boulevard on Ward's Point, at Cass Lake with two or three beauti- ful parks. The place is ideally located for summer homes, and the land will be let to builders on long term leases of ninety-nine years. The grounds will be planted to ornamental shrubbery and flowers, with elec- tric lights and every improvement that will tend to make for comfort and pleasure. It is designed for a resting place to which the tired and energetic business man may come and escape the confusion of the city. At the time of the death of his father an estate of six million dollars was left to be divided among the heirs. Mr. Ward has added very materially to his share, having been extremely successful in every business venture that has claimed his attention and being a man with an eye for an oppor- tunity, possessing much of the same business keenness that made his father a multimillionaire.
On December 18, 1872, Mr. Ward was united in marriage with Miss Mary Day Scott, daughter of Robert D. and Elizabeth (Day) Scott, born in 1854, in Ontario, Canada. Mrs. Ward's father was a native of Scot- land, and descended from a line of Scottish chiefs, while her mother, who was a native of England, has royal blood in her veins. During the money panic that occurred at the close of the Civil war, Robert Scott became almost penniless, and arrived in Pontiac with his family in 1866 with about thirteen dollars in money. The family spent their first night in Pontiac with Mr. and Mrs. Thorpe, in the old Thorpe homestead, near the State hospital. The daughter, Mary Day, who had been educated under private tutors, displayed her loyalty to her family and her coura- geous spirit as well by accepting a position in a millinery store, and it was while acting in this capacity that she met Mrs. David Ward, who became attracted to the firm-minded young girl and invited her to her house to spend a week. She had previously met the son, Henry, at a social gathering, and the two families became friends from their first association. Through H. C. Ward, Robert Scott was enabled to start in the carriage building business, which he did under the name of Scott & Company, his daughter Mary, who turned over all her earnings to her father, constituting the "company," and in consideration of this she owned a half interest in her father's business. The latter died on April 28, 1905. In their family were eight children, the first being twins, one of whom was still-born, the other, Elizabeth, is now deceased. The others, in the order of their birth, are: Maria, a resident of Pontiac; Mary Day, the wife of Mr. Ward; William R. and Louis D., both of Pontiac; Phoebe, the wife of Howard Stevens, of Pontiac; and Helen, the wife of John E. King, of Grand Junction.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Clay Ward have had three children, of whom
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Franklin B. was the first born, on November 1, 1873. He is now in the lumber business at Bay City, Michigan. He married Elizabeth Bonsfield, and has five children : Mary E., Barbara, Bonsfield, Virginia and Scott. Frederick L. Ward, the second son, born September 22, 1876, is now en- gaged in the lumber business in British Columbia. Dolores Ward was born August II, 1879, and is the wife of Captain O. G. Collins, of Fort Totten, Long Island. Both sons were graduated from the Michigan Military Academy at Orchard Lake, after which both wished to enter college. They were promised that their wishes would be granted if they would work and secure the money necessary to pay their first year's tuition. They at once applied to their grandfather for positions working in his timber tracts, at chopping down trees, logging and similar labor, but the old gentleman, although greatly pleased with their ambition and enterprise, ridiculed the idea of their being able to do this kind of work. However, he eventually gave them a trial, and they immediately demon- strated that the sturdy characteristics of their forbears had been inher- ited by them in a large degree, and that they could hold their own with the best men in the camps. Subsequently, after the completion of their college courses, the sons entered their grandfather's employ and for two years prior to the death of the old pioneer, Franklin B. Ward had charge of the entire lumber interests of the old gentleman.
Henry Clay Ward votes the Republican ticket, although he has never interested himself in politics to any extent. Mrs. Ward is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, supporting its movements and contri- buting to its welfare. The old home at Orchard Lake, now a center of gracious hospitality, culture and refinement and the scene of numerous brilliant social functions, marks the site where years ago a tribe of Indians had their camp, and on the beautiful island lying in the lake is still to be found an old Indian burial ground, all that remains to remind the present generation of the savage hordes that made this vicinity their home during the early days when such pioneers as David Ward blazed the way for the present civilization.
CHARLES A. BINGHAM is achieving unusual success as a farmer and fruit-grower in section 5, Southfield township, Oakland county, Michi- gan. His estate is known as Pinehurst Farm and it comprises one hun- dred and six acres of some of the most arable land in the entire county. He is an active business man and manifests a deep and sincere interest in all matters tending to forward progress and improvement in this sec- tion of the state.
A native of Oakland county, Michigan, Charles A. Bingham was born in West Bloomfield township, May 31, 1875, and he is a son of David and Mary (Simpson) Bingham, the former of whom was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1839, and the latter in West Bloomfield township, this county, in 1845. David Bingham was reared to the age of eighteen years in his native land and there received a fair education in the public schools. In 1857 he immigrated to America, alone, and settled first at Pontiac, Michigan, where he worked for some time by the day. He purchased a farm in West Bloomfield township, Oakland county, in 1872, but sold that place in 1880 and moved to the present Bingham homestead of one hundred and six acres, living here until his death in 1899. He had been twice married, his first wife having been Eliza For- man, who passed to the life eternal in 1869, the mother of five children,
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namely,-Lorenzo D., of Southfield township; George of Southfield township; Adie, wife of Ezra Bristol; Ida, wife of J. M. Rainey, now deceased; and William J., who died in 1881. In 1870 Mr. Bingham was united in marriage to Mary Simpson, a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Patten) Simpson, the former a native of Scotland and the latter of America. Two children were born to the second marriage, Floy, who died in 1888, and Charles A., the immediate subject of this review.
To the district schools of Southfield township, Charles A. Bingham is indebted for his rudimentary educational training. He was a student in the Birmingham high school for one year and also pursued a commercial course in the Business College of Fenton. He remained at home and worked on his father's farm until he had reached his twenty-first year, when he bought an interest in his present home, Pinehurst Farm. Mr. Bingham is engaged in agricultural pursuits and the raising of fruit, mak- ing a specialty of peaches and apples. His farm consists of one hundred and six acres and is eligibly located one and one-half miles distant from the village of Franklin and four and one-half miles from Birmingham. In politics Mr. Bingham is a stanch supporter of the principles promul- gated by the Republican party and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with Bingham Lodge, No. 44, Free and Accepted Masons, being junior war- den of that organization at the present time, and of Bingham Chapter, No. 93, Royal Arch Masons. He is likewise a valued and appreciative member of the Independent Order of Foresters, being chief ranger of that organization at the present time, in 1912.
On November 25, 1895, Mr. Bingham was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Covert, who was born and reared in Oakland county and who is a daughter of Isaac M. Covert, formerly of Southfield township but who later moved to Missouri. Isaac Covert was born in the state of New York and traces his ancestry back to stanch Holland stock. Mr. and Mrs. Bingham are the parents of three children,-H. Kenneth, Cameron A. and Carson C., the first two of whom are attending school in South- field township. Mrs. Bingham is a devout member of the Methodist Protestant church, in whose faith she was reared. Mr. and Mrs. Bing- ham are popular citizens in their home community, where they are ac- corded the unqualified esteem of all who know them.
K. L. GROW, a farmer, of Bloomfield township, Oakland county, Michigan, was born November 13, 1862, the son of Irving K. and Amelia (Mitchell) Grow. He is a sociable man, and well liked by everyone, the type of a man who, no matter where he went, would never want for friends. He is a member of the Maccabees at Pontiac, and has been director of schools for three years. He belongs to the Republican party. The farm, with which he spends most of his time, stretches over one hundred acres of land, and is a well-cared-for, prosperous piece.
Mr. Grow's grandfather, Elijah Grow, came from New York into Michigan with his brother in 1830, and built a number of houses. They then returned to New York and did not come west again until 1835. On this second trip they settled in Springfield township, Oakland county, and lived there for several years. Their next move took them to Water- ford township, and after a few years' residence there to Pontiac town- ship where they lived until their death. The son of Elijah and Charity (Baker) Grow, Irving K. Grow, was born in Homer, Courtland county, New York, November 16, 1834, and in October 16, 1857, was married to Amelia Mitchell. They lived in Waterford township for eight years and
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then moved to Pontiac township. The present residence, and the one where they had lived since January, 1912, is Pontiac. Amelia Mitchell was born in Niagara county, New York, March 7, 1838, the daughter of Lafayette and Harriet (Thomas) Mitchell. When she was six years old her family moved to Geneva county, Michigan, and later to Groveland township, Oakland county, where they lived the rest of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell had ten children, of whom four are now living : Ray, living in Flint, Michigan; John, in West Dakota; Oscar, living in Groveland, Oakland county, Michigan; Fannie, the wife of Chester Wil- kins of Flint. Amelia, the wife of 1. K. Grow, died August 3, 1912. Mr. and Mrs. Irving K. Grow have had three children, all of whom are living, Allie, the wife of George Greer, of Pontiac; K. L. the subject of the sketch; and Lettie, the wife of P. A. Knight of Pontiac.
K. L. Grow and his wife, Elizabeth (Reid) Grow, the daughter of Daniel Reid, of Port Huron, Michigan, have had two children, Myrtle, the wife of Walter Green, of Pontiac, and John, still at home and attend- ing business college in Pontiac. A little daughter was born to Myrtle Grow Green on July 9, 1912, named Elizabeth Amelia Green.
ROBERT W. MALCOLM is a prominent and well-to-do farmer in West Bloomfield and Commerce townships, his residence being maintained in Commerce village. His farm consists of seventy-two acres in West Bloomfield township and one hundred and forty acres in Commerce, and is one of the highly productive and valuable places in the county. It was a government homestead, of which Robert Malcolm's father, George Malcolm, became the owner in 1832, and on this place the subject was born on February 18, 1844, his parents being George and Janet ( Andre) Malcolm, both natives of Scotland, who came to America in their young days. George Malcolm played an important part in the affairs of his community all his life, and when the dispute between Michigan and Ohio over the city of Toledo arose, in 1835, and known to history as the Toledo War, he was one of those who organized a company of militia, but it was never mustered into service.
Robert W. Malcolm attended the district schools as a boy, and on August II, 1862, he enlisted in Company A of the Twenty-second Michi- gan Infantry. He left the state with his regiment on September 4th, following, and at the battle of Chickamauga, on September 19th and 20th, 1863, was taken prisoner and removed to Richmond, Virginia, thence. to Danville, Andersonville and Florence. He was a prisoner of war for more than fifteen months, after which he was released and re- turned to his regiment, being discharged from the service on July II, 1865. Returning home, he gave his attention to study and attended school during the winter for a short time, which ended his schooling. Thereafter Mr. Malcolm directed his energies to the care of the home farm, of which he is now the owner. He prospered as a farmer, and has long been prominent in his community in politics and general public life. The list of offices he has held in Bloomfield township is a large one, and represents practically positions of importance in the gift of his fellow townspeople. He was supervisor two years; town clerk of West Bloom- field township for two years, school moderator for twelve years and a director of the school board for nine years ; he was a member of the board of review for twenty-three years; and in 1884 was sent by his district to the state legislature for a two year term. He has always been a man of weight and influence in his community, and as a citizen concerned in
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the common weal he has done his full share in the service of his towns- people.
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