USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > A history of Van Buren County, Michigan a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests Volume II > Part 10
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There was now an opening for him in a higher department of . his calling, and he promptly took advantage of it. He bought an interest in the Paw Paw Free Press and Courier and entered into a partnership with James F. Jordan in the ownership and management of the paper. He bought Mr. Jordan out within the first year, and thus became the sole owner of the publication, which he has been ever since. The paper has a large local cir- culation and wields a considerable influence with the people. It is the only Democratic newspaper in the county, and always sup- ports the principles and candidates of its party with fearless courage, impressive force and unwavering loyalty, as it acts wholly on conviction and never has occasion to dodge an issue or side-step or shuffle on any question.
Mr. Cole was married on December 1, 1875, to Miss Carrie A. Neff, a daughter of Emanuel and Laurilla A. (Field) Neff, who are the parents of three children: Mrs. Cole, her brother Wal- lace, and her sister Mabel, now the wife of E. S. Briggs of Paw Paw. Mr. and Mrs. Cole have four children : Alberto N., who was born on June 2, 1878, and is now engaged in newspaper work in Chicago; Carlos C., who was born on August 21, 1888; and is now a teacher of Latin and Greek in the Battle Creek High School; Katharine, whose life began on July 15, 1890; and Margaret, who
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came into being on June 4, 1896. The two last named are still living at home with their parents.
In his political faith and allegiance Mr. Cole is an uncomprom- ising Democrat in state and national affairs. In local matters he regards always the best interests of the community, and does not allow his zeal for their promotion to be overborne by partisan considerations. But he also endeavors to have his party pursue such a course in determining its policy and selecting its can- didates as will best subserve the public welfare. In fraternal circles he is something of an enthusiast, holding membership in the Masonic order, the Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of the Maccabees and the Knights of Pythias, and taking an active part in the proceedings of his lodge in each. He is regarded on all sides as one of Van Buren county's most reliable, useful and rep- resentative citizens from every point of view.
OLIVER P. KETCHUM .- The birthplace of Oliver P. Ketchum was in New England, the cradle of so much of our national history, but in Michigan he has made his home since the age of one year and he is very loyal to the section. The estate of this prominent farmer and good citizen consists of two hundred acres, advantageously situated in sections sixteen and ten, and his operations in the great basic industry have proved of very successful character. He has played a useful part in township affairs and has the distinction of being a veteran of the Civil war, having worn the blue during the con- flict between the states. His military record is indeed gallant and interesting.
This citizen of Almena township was born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, on January 4, 1844, and is the son of Elihu and Abigail (Darling) Ketchum. Elihu was also born in the Bay state and there was reared, educated and married. There he and his worthy wife spent their younger days and all but one of their children were born in Massachusetts, where the head of the house was a farmer. Of their children, five are now living, as follows : A. J., who makes his home in Mason county, Michigan; Harriet, who married J. H. Stevens, of North Dakota, now deceased; Ann married Allen Gorman and is also a widow; Helen became the wife of Mr. Patterson and makes her home in the Bay state.
The newly opened northwest appealed to the parents of Oliver P. Ketchum as presenting greater opportunities for their sons and daughters and accordingly, when the subject was an infant, they severed the old associations and brought goods and chattels to Michigan. They chose Van Buren county as a location and pos- sessed themselves of land which was new and uncleared. Their farm consisted of one hundred and sixty acres and a great part of it was covered with timber, vast labor being entailed in bringing it to a state of cultivation. Of the original tract Mr. Ketchum now owns eighty acres. There the father and mother spent the residue of their lives, the mother dying when Oliver was a lad of seven years. In course of time the father again married Casdania Clark, also of Massachusetts, becoming his second wife. The father sur- vived until 1864.
Mr. Ketchum remained beneath the parental roof-tree until
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1861, when the long gathering Civil war cloud broke in all its fury and the young men of the nation were called to risk and sacrifice their lives upon the battlefield. He enlisted soon after the firing of the first guns at Sumter, as a member of Company K, Thirteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and saw almost four years of service. Throughout almost all of this period he was with "Uncle Billy" Sherman and was with that gallant commander on the famous march to the sea. He experienced many hardships and saw much fighting. When the war was over Mr. Ketchum returned to Mich- igan and on July 14, 1866, was united in marriage to Clara Story, daughter of Thomas Story, of Pine Grove. No children have been born to this union, but in the kindness of their hearts Mr. and Mrs. Ketchum have reared a boy from babyhood and he is as their own son. This admirable young man, Mark E. Ketchum, married Laura Emmons and they have three children, all living, who bear the names of Thomas E., Oliver R. and Mark J.
Mr. Ketchum is a Mason and exemplifies in his own life those ideals of moral and social justice and brotherly love for which the order stands. His membership is with Gobleville Lodge, No. 325. He is a tried and true Republican, and cast his maiden vote for Abraham Lincoln. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic of Gobleville, Michigan. IIe has held public office with the utmost acceptability, having been at one time highway commissioner and having given service in other capacity. In short, Mr. and Mrs. Ketchum are popular and highly esteemed citizens of the commu- nity in which for so many years their interests have been centered.
DONALD F. COCHRANE .- As editor and publisher of the Hartford Day Spring and clerk of the village of Hartford, Donald F. Coch- rane is in close touch with public sentiment in his locality and a leading man in giving it trend and expression. He is also directly connected with the financial interests of the community and its people, and has excellent opportunities to aid in caring for them in an intelligent and forceful way. It must be said, greatly to his credit but in perfect candor, that in both capacities he is faithful to his trust, and his services are rendered in an upright, con- scientious and able manner, which makes them satisfactory to the public, and enables him to maintain the hold on its confidence and regard which he long ago won. Mr. Cochrane is a native of this state, though not of Van Buren county. He was born at York. Washtenaw county, on May 21, 1881. He is a son of Rev. Henry F. and Coral M. (Wray) Cochrane, the former a native of the state of Massachusetts and the latter of Illinois. The father was a clergyman of the Baptist denomination, and was nationally promi- nent in the councils of his church. While living in Michigan he was secretary of the state organization of the sect, and his fidelity to duty and pronounced ability in this position were matters of general commendation. He received an excellent education, being graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York, and re- ceiving the degree of LL. D. in a post-graduate course at Yale University. His theological teaching and training for the ministry was secured at the Rochester (New York) Theological Seminary, and he served for some years as pastor of the leading Baptist
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church in that city. In the year 1879 he moved to this state and located in Detroit, subsequently holding pastorates at Ypsilanti, Centreville, St. Joseph county, and at Adrian, and in 1887 he moved his family to Van Buren county. Here he passed the re- mainder of his days, dying in 1895. At the time of his death he was the owner and editor of the Hartford Day Spring, having pur- chased it in 1898 in association with his son Donald. He was a Royal Arch degree Freemason and very devoted to the fraternity, active in its meetings and zealously and effectively serviceable in its behalf from his young manhood.
Rev, Mr. Cochrane and his wife were the parents of six children, all of whom are living: Frederick, who is an extensive fruit grower in Florida; Grace, who is the wife of Rev. Mr. Clark and resides with him at Chelsea, Massachusetts; Robert W., who is in the drug business in Kalamazoo; Donald F., who succeeded the father as the owner and editor of the Hartford Day Spring; Beatrice F., who has for some years been principal of a high school in Lansing; and Everett W., who is at this time (1911) sporting editor of the Kan- sas City (Missouri) Journal.
Donald F. Cochrane was six years old when his parents located in Van Buren county. He began his education in the public school at Bloomingdale, continued it at the Grand Rapids High School and completed it at Ferris College in Mecosta county. While attending the institution last named he also did editorial work in Big Rapids and Benton Harbor, Michigan. In 1898, as has been stated, in company with his father, he purchased the newspaper he now owns and publishes. This publication is an earnest advocate and defender of the principles of the Republican party, of which Mr. Cochrane is a true and loyal member, and in whose behalf he is an energetic and effective worker. But above all and before all else, the paper and its editor are ardently devoted to the welfare and improvement of Hartford township and Van Buren county. As a justice of the peace Mr. Cochrane is also able to aid in pro- moting the interests of his locality, and he does it with firmness and intelligence. He is a member of Florada Lodge, No. 309, in the Masonic order and zealous in the service of the fraternity.
On October 12, 1902, Mr. Cochrane was married to Miss Sadie Stowe, of Bangor, Michigan. She is a graduate of the Hartford High school, and before her marriage was a teacher of considerable local celebrity. They have one child, their son Donald S., who was born on March 4, 1904. The lives of his parents have been devoted to pursuits which are educational in character, and they feel a deep interest in the intellectual improvement of the people, especially those of the rising generation. They are cordial supporters of the public school system, and make their interest in it effective by ac- tive efforts for its betterment and increased usefulness. They also stand by and befriend every agency working in the community for the moral and material good of its residents and their social en- joyment. Their citizenship is highly valued throughout the county. and in every relation of life they have shown themselves altogether worthy of the hearty regard and good will the people generally have for them.
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MRS. SYRENA B. HALL .- It will not be gainsaid that one of the most highly revered and best beloved of the good people of Almena township is Mrs. Syrena B. Hall, who, crowned with years and honor, is a representative of the noble womanhood of Van Buren county. Mrs. Hall has been granted more extended life than the majority of mankind and has long passed the psalmist's allotment, being now in her ninetieth year. In her long and use- ful life she has indeed been proved
"A noble woman, nobly planned, To warn, to comfort and command."
Mrs. Hall, who is the widow of Freeman Hall, is a native of the state of New York, her birth having occurred in Otsego county on August 8, 1822. Her husband, who was the son of Joseph Hall, was born in Massachusetts. Her maiden name was Syrena Bonfoey and she was the daughter of Horace and Susanna (Smith) Bonfoey, the former the scion of one of the old families of New England,-that cradle of so much of our national his- tory. His eyes first opened to the light. of day at Had- dam. Middlesex county, Connecticut. His father was Benanual Bonfoey.
When Mrs. Hall was a young girl thirteen years of age she came to Michigan with her parents, who had become impressed with the rich resources and opportunity of the northwest. The country was little developed then-in 1835-in fact Horace Bon- foey was one of the first settlers in Almena township, and here he and his family met the joys and sorrows peculiar to the lot of the pioneer, conquering the wild young virgin country and cutting new paths, laying them straight and clean. Mrs. Hall vividly remembers the Indians and bears and wolves which in- habited the region in abundance. Their first home was a cabin in the woods, a mere rough shanty, in truth, but they lived in it but a short time, and then built a log cabin of more comfortable sort. Subsequently the father built the house in which the family lived for many years and in which George Brooks makes his home at the present time. The father resided in this house until his summons to the "Undiscovered Country" a good many years ago. Eight children were born into the houshold of Horace Bonfoey and his good wife, but Mrs. Hall is the only one who survives. She was the third in order of birth.
When a maiden of twenty she was united in marriage to one of the young men of Almena township,-Freeman Hall, their union being celebrated on November 9, 1842. After their mar- riage they came to the house in which Mrs. Hall still makes her home and beneath its roof they lived together for nearly fifty years, Mr. Hall dying in 1891. Their long companionship was of the happiest and most congenial sort and although no children were born to them, they reared a number of boys and girls who might otherwise have been homeless. One of these was the son of Mrs. Hall's brother, who took the name of Frederick Hall. This estimable citizen now lives across the road from his aunt and foster-mother.
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Mrs. Hall has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church since her twentieth year and still retains her membership, although the weight of years precludes the possibility of her being as active as formerly. Her influence is and long has been a real factor for good, for she has lived a Christian life in the truest sense of the word, and respect and high standing are hers. She owns two hundred and twenty acres of land, whose manage- ment she has given into other hands.
JOHN C. KENNEDY .- Prominent among the honored and sub- stantial citizenship of Almena township, Van Buren county, Michi- gan, is John C. Kennedy, an extensive farmer and fruit grower. Mr. Kennedy is one of those native sons of Almena township who have paid the section the highest compliment within his power by electing to remain permanently within its borders. The date of his birth was February 17, 1857, and he is the son of Newton and Mary (Williams) Kennedy. The father's birthplace was Bradford county, Pennsylvania, and he was the son of David Kennedy, probably also a native of the Keystone state. The subject's father was a young man twenty-one years of age when he came to Michi- gan, and he first located at Stevens' Corners, in Almena township. At that time this section was practically a wilderness and Mr. Ken- nedy remembers as a child listening to his father's tales of the days when wolves roamed this part of the country. His memory of his father's return with venison from hunting is equally vivid. The original homestead was all forest and it was his father's monu- mental task to clear this and begin farming. He spent the entire remainder of his life here with the exception of one year which he and his family spent in the state of Iowa. He was not satisfied with the land there and, the old associates remaining dear to him, he came back to Michigan. He died in 1872 and his wife sur- vived him for a number of years, her demise occurring in 1897. Five children were born to them, and of the number three are liv- ing at the present time. Albert makes his home at Pine Grove vil- lage in Van Buren county ; Martin is a Kalamazoo county farmer and John C. is the subject of this review.
John C. Kennedy received such limited education as it was his portion to secure behind a desk in the district school of Almena township. He assisted his father with the work of the farm and resided beneath the home roof until 1872. In that year he estab- lished himself upon an independent footing and took up the car- penter trade, which he followed for the space of twenty years, five years of which were passed in Gobleville. Following this he sold out his business and bought a farm in Almena township. He remained engaged in the great basic industry of agriculture until 1905, when he retired from the more active labors of life and re- moved to Armstrong's Corners, where he purchased a very pretty home and where he now resides, secure in the possession of hosts of friends.
An August 25, 1880, Mr. Kennedy laid the foundation of a happy household by his union with Ida Covey, daughter of Luther and Phoebe (Strong) Covey, the father a native of the Empire state and the mother of Michigan. Covey Hill, of some renown in
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Waverly township, was the place where Mrs. Kennedy's grand- father Covey first located, and a large tract of the surrounding country was in his possession.
Fraternally Mr. Kennedy is a Mason, who exemplifies the noble principles of the order in his own living. He is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias at Gobleville and with the Grangers and Gleaners, insurance orders. In politics he is a Republican and in evidence of the confidence in which he is held in the community is the fact that for a number of terms he has held the offices of super- visor and township treasurer (the latter for two years) with credit to himself and honor to his constituents. His tenure of the above offices covers a period of seven consecutive years. Mr. Kennedy owns one hundred and thirty acres of Almena township's most de- sirable land. He is widely known and it may almost be said that his circle of acquaintances is co-incident with that of his friends.
MERLE HI. YOUNG .- Energetic and enterprising in everything he undertakes, and well prepared for the duties of life by natural ability well developed and trained in both academic and profes- sional lines, Merle H. Young, present supervisor of the town of, Paw Paw and one of the younger lawyers of Van Buren county, living in Paw Paw, is one of the most promising members of his profession in this part of the state, and ranks high in the estima- tion of the people as one of their brightest, best and most capable citizens. He has been at the bar only five years, but even in that short period has made his mark in his profession and won general commendation for the ability he has shown and his high character and general worth as a man.
Mr. Young is a native of Paw Paw, and therefore has a special interest in its growth and development and the substantial and enduring welfare of its people. He seeks to promote these by every means at his command, applying both intelligence and energy to all public affairs, and stimulating other citizens to activity by his own. He was born on May 25, 1884, and is a son of Charles Wes- ley and Anna (Vanauken) Young, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Michigan. The father came to this state and county in 1849 and took up his residence in Paw Paw township, where he has lived ever since and been engaged in business as a farmer, fruit grower and dealer in farming implements. He was connected officially with the State Agricultural Society for twenty-two years and its treasurer for fifteen. He has also served a number of years as supervisor and has done excellent work for his township and the county in many other ways. He is now living quietly in Paw Paw at the age of sixty-eight, in the full enjoyment of his "green old age," the fruits of his many years of useful industry and the universal regard and good will of all classes of the inhabitants of the county which has had the benefits of his enterprise in business, his fidelity and ability in the public service and the stimulus of his fine example as a man and citizen.
Merle H. Young is one of the two children and sons born to his parents, their offspring comprising only himself and his older brother, Dr. George F. Young, a prominent physician in active gen- eral practice at South Haven, the beautiful lake city of this county.
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Merle was graduated from the Paw Paw High School at the age of eighteen, then entered the law department of the State University at Ann Arbor, from which he received his degree of LL. B. in 1906. He was at once admitted to the bar and took charge of his father's business as legal counselor and manager, and is still looking after it in that dual capacity and also enlarging his professional work by extending his general practice in the county.
On April 4, 1911, he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Whitman, one of the four daughters of Irving A. and Caroline (Stainton) Whitman. Their other children are: Bertha, the wife of Charles Batchelder, who resides in Detroit, Michigan; Anna, who is living at home with her parents; and Sarah, the wife of Charles N. Hathaway, whose home is in Seattle, Washington. All are doing well in their several localities and exemplifying in their daily lives the lessons acquired from the teaching and exam- ples of their parents around the family hearthstone.
Mr. Young is a Republican in his political faith and allegiance, and an ardent supporter of the principles and candidates of his party in all campaigns. His fraternal affiliations are with the Masonic Order in which he is senior warden, and the Order of the Eastern Star. Mrs. Young is also a member of the latter order. In Freemasonry he has taken all the degrees in Lodge, Chapter and Council, and is an earnest worker in each. His religious con- nection is with the Presbyterian church, and his wife is a Christian Scientist.
JEWETT CLEVELAND .- A prominent citizen of Waverly township is Jewett Cleveland, farmer and stockman, and also a veteran of the Civil war, having served in the gallant First Michigan Cavalry during the last year of the struggle between the states. It is almost needless to say that he came from the state of New York, an un- usually large number of Empire state people having assisted in the development of this section of the Wolverine state. Mr. Cleve- land's well-improved place of thirty-eight acres is located in sec- tion 17 and is the scene of intelligent operations in general farm- ing and stock raising.
Jewett Cleveland was born in Oswego county, New York, April 4, 1848, and is the son of Henry and Elizabeth (Bessey ) Cleveland, both natives of Saratoga Springs, New York. The father was twice married, first to Elizabeth Bessey and after her demise to her cousin Elnora. To the first union six children were born, three of whom are living in 1911. To the second were also born six children, and of these four are living in 1911, namely : Jewett of this review, Zelon, Arthur K., and Edwin (of Kalamazoo, Michigan).
Jewett Cleveland was a lad six years of age when his parents made their adieux to old associations and brought their goods and chattels to Michigan, of whose resources and advantages they had heard good report. They located in Columbia township, Van Buren county, and while growing to young manhood Jewett at- tended school in the winter months and worked on the farm in the summer. As was the case with the young men of his day and generation, the threatening noise of the approaching great civil
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struggle disturbed the serenity of his younger days. He was very young when the Nation first went down into the "Valley of De- cision," but he was patriotic and high spirited and on February 9, 1864. at the age of seventeen years, he hearkened to his country's call and enlisted as a member of Company E, First Michigan Cav- alry. He remained in service until the close of the war, being mustered out October 9, 1865. Shortly thereafter he returned to Van Buren county.
For a number of years after the war Mr. Cleveland was engaged in farming and saw-milling and in the year 1904 he came into possession of his present farm. On July 13, 1873, he married Emma A. Salisbury, thus establishing an independent household. Mrs. Cleveland was born January 20, 1855, in Cass county, Michi- gan, and received her education in the schools of that county. To this union have been born four children, namely: Grace, wife of Carl Tibbitt, of Galesburg, Michigan; May, wife of John Wilson, of Galesburg; Lynn, who married Ada Zwansig, and lives at Ot- tawa, Illinois; and Fay, who is single and remains at home.
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