USA > Michigan > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Michigan; Volume II > Part 1
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ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
MICHIGAN VOL II
HISTORY
OF
ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
MICHIGAN
PREPARED UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF
H. G. CUTLER, GENERAL HISTORIAN
HON. R. R. PEALER, CHARLES B. KELLOGG, E. B. LINSLEY, MRS. DELIA S. CROSSETTE, MRS. ALICE M. BOSSET, MRS. HENRY CHURCH, MRS. W. C. CAMERON AND OTHER LEADING MEN AND WOMEN, ADVISERS AND CONTRIBUTORS.
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME II
PUBLISHERS: THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO NEW YORK
:
.
RC Hamilton
History of St. Joseph County
ROBERT CALDWELL HAMILTON was born in La Grange county, Indiana, June 10, 1830. His parents were Alice and Robert Hamil- ton, who came to this country about 1820, and after some looking about for a suitable place, they settled near the town of Lima, then the county seat of La Grange, Indiana. Here they built a home on the banks of beautiful Crooked Creek, where after battling with the hardships pertaining to pioneer life they as the years passed gath- ered about them by diligence and labor a fine estate.
Here the subject of this sketch, Robert C. Hamilton, was born, one of a family of twelve children. His parents being educated peo- ple, they used every effort to give their children educational ad- vantages. The two oldest sons were sent to Gambier College, both taking a classical course in that institution. The oldest, William, after graduating went to Iowa and taught school, and Hugh, the second brother, graduated with honor in the same class with Pres- ident Hayes. After graduating Hugh joined his brother in Iowa City where they opened the Mechanics Academy. There Robert C. finished his education and later taught school both in Iowa and In- diana. His life has been one of strenuous labor and whether it was farming or other business he did it with all his might.
In 1856 he was married to Miss Josephine Ayres. Two chil- dren were given them, one son and one daughter, who are to-day valuable citizens. In 1862 Mr. Hamilton moved from the farm to Sturgis, Michigan, where he still lives a much loved and respected citizen.
HON. EDWIN W. KEIGHTLEY, a leading attorney of Constan- tine, Michigan, was born in La Grange county, Indiana, August 7, 1843. His father, Peter L. Keightley, was a native of Boston, Eng- land, and came to the United States when sixteen years of age; he was a farmer and millwright, and settled in Indiana in 1836. Peter L. Keightley was the first man to own a threshing machine on White Pigeon Prairie; he died in his eighty-second year. He
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
married Elizabeth Winters, also a native of England, who came to the United States when a girl. They had four children, two sons and two daughters, of whom Edwin is the youngest living. Mrs. Keightley died also in her eighty-second year.
Edward W. Keightley attended the common school and acad- emy, and was graduated from the law department at Ann Arbor University in 1865. He established an office in White Pigeon, where he remained until 1867, and at that time located in Constan- tine; the first year he spent in White Pigeon he published the White Pigeon Republican. In 1872 Mr. Keightley was elected prosecut- ing attorney, and two years later received the appointment of circuit judge of the Fifteenth Federal District, to fill an unex- pired term; in 1875 he was elected for a full term of six years. In 1876 Judge Keightley was elected to Congress and in 1879 was ap- pointed third auditor of the treasury department of U. S., serving until 1885, when Grover Cleveland was elected. In 1886 Judge Keightley removed to Chicago, where he lived until 1899 and then returned to Constantine. He retained his home in Constantine while residing in Chicago.
Honorable Keightley has been a lifelong Republican, and an earnest worker in the interests of the party, in other states as well as Michigan ; for many years he has been a member of the Masonic order, and has been for thirty-five years a Knight Templar. For thirty-seven years he has been connected with the First State Bank, of which he is a director and the vice president. He owns a fine farm of one hundred eighty-one acres in Colon township, St. Jo- seph county. Honorable Keightley is well known throughout the county, where he has a host of friends, and is universally liked and respected.
In 1868 Honorable Keightley married Mary S. H., daughter of Honorable Thomas Mitchell, of Constantine, who died in 1890; they had four children, all of whom are deceased. He married (second) in 1894, Mrs. Lottie E. Haslett, daughter of Thomas Knowlen, of Constantine.
HON. FRANK W. WAIT .- The genealogy of the family of which the subject of this sketch is a representative has been traced back as far as 1075, to William the Conqueror, who gave the earldom, city and castle to Ralph D. Waiet, the son of an Englishman by a Welsh woman, and who married Emma, a cousin of the Conqueror.
Among their descendants were Richard, John, and Thomas, who were among the early settlers of New England. Thomas was
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
the father of Josiah and in turn Josiah was the father of Jonathan G. Waite, the father of Frank W. The older generations of the family spelled their names in many different ways, the variations being as follows: Wayght, Waight, Wait, Waitt, Watt, Weight, Waiet, etc.
Jonathan G. Wait was born in Livingston county, New York, November 22, 1811, son of Josiah and Ann (Graham) Wait, na- tives of Alstead, New Hampshire, where they were reared and mar- ried, afterward moving to Livingston county, New York, and later to Lake county, Ohio. Jonathan G. accompanied his parents on their removal to Ohio, and from there, in 1834, came to Michigan, before she had attained the dignity of statehood. He had been reared on a farm, receiving only a district school education, and when he landed in Michigan, a young man of twenty-three, he first settled on Sturgis prairie. Later he became interested in manu- facturing, railroading, and politics, and figured in affairs that were state-wide. For a time he was engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes, later turned his attention to the lumber business, and in 1850 was in the employ of the Southern Railroad Company, securing rights of way, and was a heavy contractor for the road. In 1857 he helped to organize the Grand Rapids & Indiana Rail- road Company ; was a director of the company, and superintended the grading of the road. In 1860 he established the Sturgis Jour- nal, which was conducted under his management for a period of ten years, and which exerted an influence for good that was far reaching. His political career covered many years. After serving acceptably in numerous local offices, such as township supervisor, clerk, etc., he was in 1850 elected on the Whig ticket to the State legislature. In 1860 he was honored by election to the State Sen- ate, was re-elected two successive terms, and filled the office with credit to himself and his constituents.
October 20, 1839, he married Miss Susan S. Buck, daughter of George and Mary (Hersehey) Buck; she being a native of Erie county, New York, born January 8, 1821. To them were given the following named children : William H. H., born April 25, 1842; Daniel G., March 24, 1844; George, June 18, 1846; Mary E., Sep- tember 28, 1847; Thaddeus P., December 28, 1849; Arthur H., April 2, 1851; Jay G., August 1, 1854; Jessie, October 14, 1856; Frank W., December 22, 1858, and Lee E., July 22, 1861.
Of the Buck family, we record that George Buck was a native of Canada. In 1828, he came west to Michigan, and to him belongs the distinction of having built the first house in the present limits
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
of the corporation of Sturgis. Susan S. Wait, widow of Jonathan G. Wait, lived in Sturgis eighty-one years, sixty-five years of that time in one house; and died in March, 1909, at the age of eighty- eight years.
Frank W. Wait, the direct subject of this review, was born and reared in Sturgis. After finishing his studies in the high school, he was one year a student at Hillsdale, Michigan, and in 1877 he went out on the road as a traveling salesman, representing his father's furniture factory, and in this capacity met with marked success. He continued to travel until 1885, when he succeeded his father in the manufacture of furniture, and had charge of the plant until 1888, when it burned, without insurance; a total loss to him. That same winter he rebuilt. He continued the manufac- ture of furniture until 1897, when he went out of business. Later he turned his attention to the manufacture of ties and hardwood timber, in connection with farming operations, which latter he is still following. He owns 440 acres in St. Joseph county, Michigan, and a thousand acres in Kalamazoo county, this state, both of which are excellent farms, highly improved. At his home farm in St. Joseph county he carried on general farming and stock raising, making a specialty of potatoes, and shipping all his products.
Like his father before him, Mr. Wait has long been an impor- tant factor in the affairs of his town. His influence has gone far to- ward locating factories in Sturgis, and in various other ways pro- moting its best interests. For years he has been active in politics. Two years he was a member of the Board of Guardians at Adrian, Michigan, a position of prominence and trust; and in 1898 he was appointed Special Commissioner of Court Claims, at Washington, D. C., and served a short time, resigning on account of personal business pressure. Later he was appointed by President Roosevelt to the office of United States Marshal, a position he still holds.
Mr. Wait is a member of the A. O. U. W., Maccabees, K. of P., I. O. O. F., and F. and A. M., in the last named he having advanced through the degrees of Knight Templar and is a 32d degree Mason. In his religious views he is liberal, inclining toward the Unitarian church.
LAWRENCE D. KNOWLES, M. D., was for many years engaged in the practice of his exacting profession in Three Rivers and he long held prestige as one of the able and essentially representative phy- sicians and surgeons of the state of Michigan. He labored with all of self-abnegation and devotion for the alleviation of human dis-
Dr.haussures S.Knowles
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
tress and suffering and his sympathy transcended mere sentiment to become an actuating motive for good. Like so many others who have brought to the medical profession the equipment of great minds, marked technical skill and high purpose, he accomplished much, and his gracious personality not less than his professional ability gained and retained to him inviolable friendship among all classes, the while he had the affectionate regard of the many to whom he ministered with so much ability and earnestness. He held a secure place in the regard of his professional confreres and no citizen has enjoyed more unequivocal popularity in his home city and county than did the honored subject of this brief memoir. It is most fitting that in this publication there be incorporated a brief record of the life and labors of this sterling citizen and tal- ented physician.
Dr. Lawrence Darling Knowles was born at Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, on the 30th of November, 1849, and was a son of Lawrence D. and Almira (Fellows) Knowles. The doctor's father was a native of England, where he was reared and educated and whence he came to America in company with his widowed mother, three brothers and one sister. The family home was established in Pennsylvania. Lawrence D. Knowles, Sr., was a skilled me- chanic and for a time he was employed as a boat-builder. Later he became identified with the great coal-mining industry in the Keystone state, and he was a successful coal dealer at Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, at the time of his death. His wife, who was born in Luzerne county, that state, survived him by a number of years. She finally contracted a second marriage, by becoming the wife of Samuel P. Kellam, and both passed the closing years of their lives in the historic old city of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Of the children of the first marriage, six attained to years of ma- turity, namely: Amanda S., Charlotte, William, Austin, Law- rence D., and Almira.
Dr. Lawrence D. Knowles gained his early educational dis- cipline in the common schools of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and in preparation for the work of his chosen calling he first at- tended a course of lectures in the medical department of the Uni- versity of Michigan, to which state he came when a young man. He next went to New York City, where he completed the prescribed course in the celebrated Bellevue Hospital Medical College, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1874, and from which he received his well earned degree of Doctor of Medi- cine. Shortly after his graduation the doctor returned to Michi-
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
gan and located in the village of Kendall, Van Buren county, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession for the ensuing six years, within which he made an admirable record and met with excellent success. In 1880 he removed from Kendall to Three Rivers, where he entered into a professional partnership with Dr. William Ikeler, with whom he continued to be associated in prac- tice for several years. After the dissolution of this alliance Dr. Knowles continued in an individual professional business until his death, which occurred on the 29th of December, 1908. He gained precedence as one of the distinguished representatives of his profession in southern Michigan, and for many years he con- trolled a large and substantial practice, the extent and importance of which gave effective evidence not only of his splendid pro- fessional ability, but also of his personal popularity. He kept in close touch with the advances made in the sciences of medicine and surgery, and his devotion to his profession was constant and appreciative during the long years of his faithful and able service. He was humanity's friend and he labored with much of skill and unselfish zeal for the alleviation of suffering. He was kindly, gen- erous and tolerant, and his heart ever responded to the gracious harmony of sympathy, so that he held a secure place in the affec- tion and confidence of those to whom his services were accorded.
Dr. Knowles was essentially a man of action, and his energies found exemplification in marked civic loyalty and public spirit, as well as through his active association with various professional, fraternal and social organizations, as well as with the militia of his home state. At the time of his death these organizations offered tributes and resolutions of respect and honor to one who had proved so true and worthy in all the relations of life. The military department of the state, in General Order No. 57, issued from the office of the adjutant general, gave testimony to the high official and professional character of Dr. Knowles, and also offered resolu- tions of respect and sorrow when he was summoned from the scene of life's mortal endeavors. Resolutions were also adopted by the Michigan State Medical Society and the St. Joseph County Medical Society, both of which indicated high appreciation of the professional talents and personal character of their deecased brother. Three Rivers Lodge, No. 43, Knights of Pythias, pre- pared and published resolutions of most appreciative order, and another specially generous tribute was that given in a poem con- tributed by Mary B. McGill, of Constantine, as a memorial to the honored physician and noble friend.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
Doctor Knowles was colonel and brigade surgeon of theMichi- gan National Guard, and with the same, enlisted for service at the inception of the Spanish-American war, in which he became divi- sion surgeon, with the rank of colonel, in the United States Volun- teers. He served as registrar of the Michigan organization of the Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States, was a mem- ber of the United States board of examining surgeons for pensions for St. Joseph county, was a member of Association of Military Associations of the United States, and in addition to being a mem- ber of the Michigan State Medical Society, the St. Joseph County Medical Society, and the Kalamazoo District Medical & Surgical Society, of which he was at one time president, he was also an appreciative member of the American Medical Association and was local medical examiner for a large number of the leading life- insurance companies. Dr. Knowles was affiliated with the lodge, chapter and commandery of the Masonic fraternity in Three Rivers and with the temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in the city of Grand Rapids. He also held membership in the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias, as already intimated in a preceding statement. He was specially progressive as a citizen and was ever ready to lend his influence and tangible co-operation in the furthering of all movements and enterprises advanced for the general good of the community. In politics the doctor was aligned as a stanch supporter of the principles of the Jacksonian Democratic party, but he had naught of ambition for public office, preferring to give his time and attention to the profession for which he had so admirably equipped himself.
On the 26th of April, 1873, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Knowles to Miss Francella E. Wagar, who was born in Texas township, Kalamazoo county, Michigan, and who is a daughter of Henry and Mary A. (Boylan) Wagar. Hector Wagar, grand- father of Mrs. Knowles, was born and reared in the state of New York, and became one of the sterling pioneers of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, to which locality he came by way of the canal and the Great Lakes to Detroit, from which point the remainder of the journey to Prairie Ronde was made with team and wagon. He secured a tract of wild land in the township of Prairie Ronde, and from this government land he reclaimed a productive farm. He contributed his quota to the development and upbuilding of that section of the state and lived to see the wild country transformed into a well settled and prosperous farming community. The maiden name of Hector Wagar's wife was Sarah Bailey, and she
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
likewise was a native of the old Empire state; both continued to reside in Kalamazoo county until their death, and their names merit an enduring place on the roll of the worthy pioneers of Michigan. Henry Wagar, father of Mrs. Knowles, was born in Canandaigua, New York, and was a boy at the time of the family immigration to Kalamazoo county, Michigan, where he was reared under the conditions and influences that marked the pioneer epoch. After attaining to years of maturity he purchased a tract of tim- bered land in Texas township, that county, and in the midst of the forest he erected his primitive log cabin, in which he and his young bride established their Lares and Penates. Laboring with indomitable perseverence, he cleared and improved a fine home- stead, and upon the same he continued to maintain his residence until his death, at the age of fifty-one years. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Ann Boylan, was born in the state of New York and was a daughter of Aaron Boylan, who was either born in Scotland or in America soon after the immigration of his par- ents to this country. He was reared to manhood in the state of New York, where he continued to maintain his home for a number of years after his marriage. Finally he came with his wife and seven children to Michigan and became one of the early settlers of Kalamazoo county. He purchased land in Texas township and by sturdy and unremitting application he reclaimed from the forest a productive farm, upon which he made substantial improvements, including the erection of well arranged frame buildings. Of the seven children only three attained mature years-William, Mary A. and Albert-and all of these are now deceased. Aaron Boylan and his wife, whose maiden name was Eliza Secoy, and who was born at Batavia, New York, both continued to reside on their old homestead farm until their death, and the latter was seventy-two years of age when summoned to the life eternal. Henry and Mary A. (Boylan) Wagar became the parents of four children-Fran- cella E., the widow of the honored subject of this memoir; Ella S., who is the wife of Albert L. Campbell, now sheriff of Kalamazoo county ; William H., who died at the age of thirty-two years; and Dr. Percy E., who died while serving the United States govern- ment as governor of one of the Philippine Islands; he was a gradu- ate of the Detroit Medical College and was an able physician and surgeon. Dr. and Mrs. Knowles had no children. Mrs. Knowles has long been a prominent and popular factor in connection with the leading social activities of Three Rivers, where she is a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church and also of the Three Rivers Wo-
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
man's Club. Her beautiful home, on Portage avenue, is one of the attractive ones in the little city, and has all the evidences of cultured and refined tastes, and its gracious mistress finds much gratification in opening its hospitable portals for the entertainment of her wide circle of friends.
AUGUSTUS M. DUDLEY .- In every community the newspaper press not only exercises most important functions as an exponent of local interests but it represents a most potent and beneficent force where its objective relations are so intimate as in towns of such character as the thriving and attractive village of White Pigeon. Through the columns of newspapers of this class are shown forth the leading business and civic interests of the com- munity, and in the management of an enterprise of this order there is ample field for successful and dignified efforts of most produc- tive character. The White Pigeon News, under the direction of Augustus M. Dudley, its editor and publisher, wields much in- fluence and its progressive policy has been a distinct factor in the conservation and promotion of the best interests of the village. As one of the essentially representative members of the news- paper fraternity of St. Joseph county and as a business man of utmost liberality and progressiveness, Mr. Dudley is well entitled to consideration in this historical publication.
Mr. Dudley, who is known to his intimates as "Gus," finds a due meed of gratification in reverting to the Wolverine state as the place of his nativity, as well as of his successful efforts in the newspaper field. He was born in Berrien county, Michigan, on the 6th of January, 1859, and was the fourth of five children- four sons and one daughter-born to Oscar A. and Eunice (Car- penter) Dudley. All of the children are still living, and concern- ing them the following brief data are given: Charles C., who is an optician by profession, resides at Alba, Antrim county, Michi- gan; Ada, who was graduated in the Michigan State Normal School at Ypsilanti, is now the wife of Rev. J. N. Morris, a resi- dent of Piermont-on-Hudson, New York, and a member of the clergy of the Reformed church; William L. is engaged in the news- paper business at Grand Forks, North Dakota ; Augustus M., sub- ject of this review, was the next in order of birth; and Frank O., who is a mechanical engineer, is a resident of Rosendale, Ulster county, New York.
Oscar A. Dudley, father of him whose name initiates this article, was a scion of a stanch New England family, founded in
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
America in the colonial days, and he was born at Guilford Court House, now known as Guilford, New Haven county, Connecticut. He received in his native state, a good common school education, and there he learned the carpenter's trade in his youth. He came to Michigan in the '50s and settled in Berrien county, becoming one of the pioneer carpenters and contractors of the county. He passed the closing years of his life in Antrim county, this state, where he died at an advanced age. He was a representative in the seventh generation of the Dudley family in America, and the original progenitor came from England and settled in Connecticut in 1630. Oscar A. Dudley was a man who ever maintained an in- flexible standard of integrity and honor, and he thus commanded the unequivocal confidence and esteem of his fellow men. Through his well directed endeavors he attained a due measure of success in connection with the temporal affairs of life, and he was known as a man of positive views and marked intellectual strength. He gave his support to the Republican party from the time of its organization until his death. Mrs. Eunice (Carpenter) Dudley was a native of Ohio, was a woman of gentle and gracious personality, and was a resident of Berrien Springs, Michigan, at the time of her demise.
"Gus" M. Dudley is indebted to the public schools of Berrien county for his early educational discipline, which has been supple- mented by individual application and reading, as well as by the training of a newspaper office, whose discipline has been well said to be tantamount to a liberal education. At the age of fourteen years he initiated his association with the "art preservative of all arts" by assuming the dignified and versatile office of "devil" in the office of the St. Joseph Herald at St. Joseph, Michigan. For a quarter of a century he was connected with the Berrien Springs Era, at Berrien Springs, the judicial center of his native county, and in 1891 he located at Reading, Hillsdale county, where he purchased the plant and business of the Telephone-News, a weekly paper of which he continued editor and publisher for the ensuing seven years. In December, 1908, Mr. Dudley located in White Pigeon, where he became the founder of the White Pigeon News, which is issued on Friday of each week in quarto form, and has gained repute as one of the best country papers in southern Michigan,-a model in letter-press and in handling of subject- matter. As a worthy exponent of the interests of the community, its news columns are always bright and attractive, and the paper is regarded with pride as a local institution by the people of the
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