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 11
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Mr Cleveland is a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Glendale and is one of its trustees. Fraternally he is a member of Glendale Lodge, No. 408, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has given hand and heart to the cause of the Repub- lican party since his earliest voting days and has given excellent service as highway commissioner of his township. He has not for- gotten the comrades of other days and is interested in all the "Old Boys" doings.
GEORGE LANGDON .- One of Almena township, Van Buren county's, highly respected citizens and representative farmers and fruit growers is George Langdon, who, although not a na- tive son of the Wolverine state, has resided within its boundaries since youth. His eyes first opened to the light of day in Wayne county, New York, April 23, 1855. He is the son of Henry and Phoebe (Smith) Langdon and the grandson of Ananias Langdon. Henry Langdon was also a native of the Empire state, where he was reared and married, and where he resided until summoned to the Great Beyond. He and his wife were the parents of four children, only one of whom is now living, namely : the subject.
George Langdon was about fifteen years of age when his father died and he came to Michigan with his mother, who with her own home broken up had acepted her sister's invitation to make her home with her. They remained permanently in the state, eventually having a home of their own and beneath its roof the subject remained until his marriage. He laid the foundations of
an independent household when on November 5, 1882, he was united in matrimony to Phoebe French, daughter of Warren and Sarah (Eager) French. Sarah Eager's father, Benjamin Eager, came to Michigan when it was a territory, and was one of its early pioneers and followed farming all his life. He and his wife were the parents of thirteen children. The mother dying when the youngest was a baby. The care of the family fell upon the shoulders of the older children, of whom Mrs. Langdon's mother, Sarah, was one, making her life one of extreme and Vol. II-6
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severe toil and responsibility. She and her husband, Warren Eager, lived together for many years, the husband being one year the older and his death proved so great a shock to his widow that she only survived one week. Mrs. Langdon's father was a native of Vermont and remained in the Green Mountain state until his marriage, when he and his wife took up their residence in the state of New York and later moved to Michigan and set- tled in Almena, where he followed farming some forty years, up to the time of his death, which occurred when he was over eighty years. He was a Democrat in politics and always took an active part in town affairs, holding a number of town offices, among them being that of supervisor, which office he filled for many years. Both he and his wife claimed St. Albans, Vermont, as their birthplace. Nine children were born to them, of which number six are now living, namely : Mary J., wife of Levi Brown; Henry French; Ella, wife of Wells Edgerley; Walter; Phoebe, wife of the immediate subject of the review; and Hiram T.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Langdon located on the farm upon which they have ever since resided. This consists of ninety-four acres of excellent land, located in Almena township, and here Mr. Langdon has engaged successfully in fruit grow- ing and general farming. Here nine sons and daughters have been born to bless the home, seven of the number now surviving. Claude is an employe in a factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan; Ralph, now at home, was engaged in farming in Idaho for five years; Ray is employed in a drug store in Grand Rapids; Frank is employed in a factory in Grand Rapids; Charlie is a student in the Paw Paw high school, and Reo and Lettie are in attend- ance at the country schools.
Although inclined towards the men and measures of the Re- publican party, Mr. Langdon is liberal in his political views, cast- ing his vote for whomever he believes to be the best man, regard- less of mere partisanship. Both he and his excellent wife are members of the Maccabees at Almena and the family enjoy high standing in the community in which they are best known. Mr. Langdon's brother James wore the Union blue at the time of the Civil war.
CHARLES R. AVERY .- Starting in life as a clerk and salesman in a general dry goods store, and acquiring a fondness for the busi- ness, Charles R. Avery, now one of the leading merchants of Paw Paw, has adhered to it ever since, and although he has suffered some severe losses he has on the whole made steady advances to his present high standing in business circles, and shown at all times a spirit of determination to win his way in spite of every obstacle and over every difficulty.
Mr. Avery is a native of Paw Paw, and was born on September 10, 1842. He is a son of Richardson and Sarah A. (Lumbard) Avery, the former born in Jefferson county, New York, and the latter in Pawlet, Rutland county, Vermont. The father came to Michigan in 1840 and located in Paw Paw after a short residence in Detroit, during which he faced all the horrors of the great epi- demic of cholera of the early days in that city that was fatal to so
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many persons but left him unharmed. He was a carpenter and joiner, and wrought at his trade until his death, which occurred in Paw Paw in 1875. The mother lived to be eighty-three years of age, surviving her husband a long time. They had four children, of whom Charles R. is the only one living. The third and fourth in the order of birth passed away in infancy. The second son, Fred E., grew to manhood and was in business as a merchant for some years in Paw Paw. He died some years ago, generally es- teemed for his excellent business traits and his general worth as a man and citizen.
Charles R. Avery obtained a high school education in Paw Paw. He left school in 1859, and in 1860 entered the employ of E. Smith and Company, a general dry goods firm of Paw Paw, with whom he remained ten years, by his capacity and faithful attention to duty acquiring an interest in the business, which covered the last few years of his connection with the house. But he was eager to have an establishment of his own, or a larger interest in one than he possessed in that of Mr. Smith.
Accordingly, in 1870 he formed a partnership with his brother Fred, and together they opened a general merchandising store, which they conducted under the firm name of C. R. and F. E. Avery until 1877. In that year C. R. sold his interest in the busi- ness to his brother and started a new store of his own, of which he is still in charge. He started his separate store in a building which he rented for the purpose, and in 1880 had his stock of goods entirely destroyed by a disastrous fire.
Not disheartened by this calamity, he kept on trading, and in 1890, or soon afterward, bought the commodious and substantial building of brick in which his store is now located, and in which it has ever since been carried on. His business ability and studious attention to the wants of the community brought him prosperity, increased his popularity as a merchant and strengthened his hold on the confidence and esteem of the people. In addition to his store building and stock of merchandise he owns an attractive and valuable residence and other property.
On June 12, 1865, Mr. Avery was married at Jackson, Michigan, to Miss Flora A. Kemble, a daughter of A. C. and Emeline Kem- ble, of that city. Three children have been born of this union: Nettie, who died in infancy ; Bernetta, who died at the age of eleven years; and Frank, who is associated in business with his father. The father is a Democrat in his political faith and allegiance, and while not strictly an active partisan, has always been loyal to his party and zealous in its service. He has taken a cordial interest in the affairs of the village, too, independently of political considera- tions, serving it well and wisely as president, trustee and treasurer. His fraternal connection is with the Knights of the Maccabees, and his religious affiliation with the Presbyterian church. These organi- zations enlist his hearty support, and all their affairs receive his energetic and helpful attention. He is ardent also in his zeal in behalf of all worthy undertakings for the good of the people and all the mental and moral agencies at work among them.
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DR. ROBERT R. LAWRENCE .- Probably the most useful, and cer- tainly the most comforting to mankind, of all the professions among men is the science of medicine and surgery, and its prac- titioners deserve, and usually secure, the universal regard and good will of the people among whom they labor. They are called upon for service at any hour of the day or night, in any rigor of the seasons, and under any pressure of other engagements; and as a rule they respond to all calls as promptly as possible, no mat- ter what the personal sacrifice or inconvenience, or even hard- ship to themselves. They devote their lives and energies to the welfare of their fellow men, and the rewards for their fidelity are seldom commensurate with the value of their services in a material way. But the people who are their beneficiaries always hold them in high esteem, and in many cases give them great and lasting popularity.
Dr. Robert R. Lawrence, of Hartford, furnishes in his useful career an impressive illustration of these facts. He has lived in Hartford thirty years and during the whole of that period has been actively engaged in an extensive and very exacting practice of his profession. The people have found him capable and skill- ful, attentive to their needs in his line of work, abreast with his calling in knowledge of his teachings and very judicious in the practical application of that knowledge; and they have bestowed on him the full measure of their approval and popular esteem.
The Doctor was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 28, 1851, and is a son of Daniel T. and Jane (Crawford) Lawrence, the former a native of Canada and the latter of Warren county, Ohio. The father was captain of a river boat on the Ohio river and became ac- quainted with the lady whom he made his wife in Cincinnati. It seems to have been a case of love at first sight, for they were mar- ried after a short companionship, and a little later located in Jen- nings county, Indiana. From there they moved to Berrien county, Michigan, settling on a farm on which they passed the remainder of their lives. That of the mother ended in 1883, and that of the father in 1886, each having reached a good old age.
They were devoted to their home and its duties, and gave the greater part of their attention to the rearing and education of their children, nine being born to them, four of whom are living: Judith, who is the wife of John Osborne, of Benton Harbor, this state; John C., who is also a resident of that city; Hadassah, now the wife of John Withey and a resident of Los Gatos, California ; and the Doctor. The father was a man of fine education and ex- cellent business capacity. He was also a man of the strictest moral rectitude, and was impelled in everything he did by a strong sense of duty. This made him industrious in his affairs, and his care- ful management of them enabled him to accumulate a competence for the benefit of his offspring, as well as for the enjoyment of him- self and his wife in their declining years.
Dr. Lawrence was reared on the farm in Berrien county, and began his education in the Union school in Benton Harbor. Hav- ing completed its full course of instruction, he entered the Univer- sity of Michigan in 1871, becoming a student in the medical depart- ment and, in due course received his degree of M. D., in 1875. He
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at once located at Watervliet, Michigan, and for six years was en- gaged in an active practice as a physician and surgeon at that place. In 1881 he came to Hartford as surgeon for the Chicago & West Michigan Railroad Company, and in that capacity he is now serving that highway of travel and great public convenience, the Pere Marquette. He has not, however, confined his professional work to the requirements of the railroad, but has been occupied in a large general practice throughout the county of Van Buren and portions of those which adjoin it. He has been successful in a ma- terial way as well as in his profession, being interested in farming. a stockholder in one of the banks of the city, and the owner of other property of value.
Dr. Lawrence was married on March 24, 1876, to Miss Carrie B. Merrifield, of Coloma, Berrien county. where she was born and reared. She is a highly accomplished and cultivated lady. well versed in literature, with fine natural ability well developed by the most careful training. Although she and the Doctor have no chil- dren, Mrs. Lawrence is devoted to her home, and takes delight in making it an agreeable resort for her own and the Doctor's numer- ous friends and acquaintances.
The Doctor is a member of Florada Masonic Lodge, No. 309, at Hartford, and also takes great interest in the organizations formed in and devoted to the welfare of his profession. He was formerly vice president of the International Association of Railroad Sur- geons, and is an active and serviceable member of the American Medical Association. He has written for publication several bro- chures and a number of articles on medicine and surgery, which have been received with high approval. His political faith and services are given to the Republican party, to which he is earnestly devoted, but the only political, or semi-political, office he has ever held is that of secretary of the local pension board, which he is now filling and has filled for many years.
M. L. DECKER .- In the forty-nine years of his life M. L. Decker, of Paw Paw, has dwelt and been in business in three states of the American Union and the city of Quebec, Canada. He has been occupied in several lines of trade, filled a number of publie offices and suffered some reverses in his undertakings. His experience has therefore been extensive and varied, and of a character to broaden and develop him in capacity, make him firm in fiber and flexible in function, and give him an excellent and useful knowl- edge of human nature, evolving him into the intelligent, influen- tial and serviceable citizen he is and has long been known to be. He has traveled extensively, has made ten trips across the conti- nent to California and on these trips has covered most of the west- ern states and New Mexico and Arizona. Some of his journeys have been made in the interest of fruit growers, but after an extended investigation he returned to his home county firmly convinced that the richest and most adaptable land for fruit culture anywhere in the United States was located in Van Buren county.
Mr. Decker is a native of Ohio and was born on August 28, 1862. His parents were Absalom and Sarah (Rees) Decker, the former born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Wales. The father was a
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wagon maker and blacksmith for a number of years, then turned his attention to farming, in which he was engaged to the end of his life, which came when he was about fifty-eight years old. The mother died at the age of thirty-seven. They prospered in life, and when the father died he owned a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which showed by its improved condition and high state of cultivation that he had been attentive to his work and performed it with energy, skill and intelligence, according to the most ap- proved methods of his time.
They had eight children, of whom but two are living, M. L. and his older brother Elmer W., who is a resident of Grand Rapids in this state. The children who have died were: Mary, wife of E. A. Whitney, of Tacoma, Washington; Wilbur, who lived at Grand Rapids; Naomi, wife of William Long, of Coldwater, Michigan; Horace, whose home was at Grand Rapids; Leora, wife of M. M. Marshall, of Bowling Green, Ohio; and Alice, wife of G. A. Bates, of Denver, Colorado.
At the age of eighteen M. L. Decker started in business as a grocer at Deshler, Ohio, where he did a very successful business. He was later engaged for a time in buying lumber in Quebec, Can- ada, for parties residing in Deshler. He followed the insurance business two years in Iowa. At the end of that period he moved to Michigan, locating in Bloomingdale, this county, where he was in the drug trade six years. The taste he had of the West gave him an appetite for more of it and a region farther removed from his boyhood's home, and to gratify this desire he moved to Colorado. He was engaged in merchandising in that state for a year, and then returned to Bloomingdale. But at the end of another year he changed his residence to Lacota, Van Buren county, where he was destined to remain for a time.
Soon after his removal to Lacota he was appointed postmaster of the village, a position which he held for nine years, conducting the office in a drug store which he owned and managed. He rose to prominence among the people of the township and was chosen to serve them as township clerk six years and as supervisor three years. He was a member of the county board of supervisors when the court house was built in Paw Paw. He was also a member of the Republican County Committee for nine years. He was elected register of deeds in 1902, being the first to occupy this office in the new court house, and then moved to Paw Paw. In the second year of his residence here he was chosen president of the village.
Within the year of his removal to Paw Paw he bought the general merchandising store of Longwell Brothers, which he afterward sold to A. C. Martin. But he bought it back again, and then sold all of the goods but those in the drug department, with which he started an independent drug business and this he is still carrying on in connection with his partner, E. M. Bailey, who has been asso- ciated with him three years, and a sketch of whom will be found in this work. The firm is widely known as one of the most reliable in the county, handling only the best and purest drugs, compounding them with the utmost care and skill, dealing squarely with all pat- rons, and representing the most desirable traits of first rate business men and the most modern methods of doing business. In addition
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to the drug business, Mr. Decker also carries on a real estate busi- ness.
In December, 1887, Mr. Decker was married to Miss Mina Eaton, a daughter of Hon. R. C. Eaton. Mrs. Decker's father was a mem- ber of the state legislature for a number of years. She and her husband have two children : Royal E., who completed his education with a two years' course in college, and is now deputy county clerk ; and Verne C., who is still living at home with his parents.
The father is a Republican in his political faith and allegiance, and has always been loyal to his party and done all that good citi- zenship required for its advancement in progress and success in its campaigns. In fraternal circles he is connected with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of the Maccabees. His religious affiliation is with the Bap- tist church, in which he takes an active and serviceable interest at all times. He has always been earnest and zealous in behalf of all public improvements for the city and county of his home, and has applied his efforts with intelligence and good judgment. Van Buren county has no better citizen, none more enterprising and public spirited, and none whom the people hold in higher esteem. Mr. Decker says that although he has traveled extensively, in no place did he find more congenial people than in the village of Paw Paw.
ED. M. BAILEY, one of the leading business men of Paw Paw, and the junior member of the firm of Decker & Bailey, druggists, has passed the whole of his life to this time (1911) in Michigan, and during all the years of his maturity has contributed sub- stantially and valuably to the mercantile and social influence of the state and the direction of its public affairs through his in- fluence and activity in the locality of his home. His partner in his present business enterprise is M. L. Decker, a sketch of whose life will be found in this volume.
Mr. Bailey was born in Hastings, Barry county, on October 6, 1868, and is a son of Norman and Rachel (Aldrich) Bailey, the former born in Cayuga county, New York, and the latter in Michi- gan. The father came to Michigan in 1845 and located in Grand Rapids. During the Civil war he was provost marshal and served the government faithfully and effectively until the close of the momentous conflict. In 1866 he moved to Hastings, and there he was engaged in merchandising until his death, which occurred when he was seventy-six years of age. The mother is still living and has her home in Grand Rapids. They were the parents of three children: Emma, who was the wife of Daniel Donohue, of Hastings, but is now deceased; Ernest A., who resides in Grand Rapids; and Ed. M.
The last named, who is the immediate subject of these para- graphs, was graduated from the high school at Hastings in 1886 and after a course of two years' instruction at Ann Arbor Col- lege, received his diploma in 1890. After leaving school he be- came connected with the drug business in Otsego, and was en- gaged in it in that city for two years and a half. From Otsego he moved to Michigan City, where he carried on the same line
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of trade three years. He next passed twelve years as the leading druggist and general merchant of Gobleville, and in addition to this he was engaged in the manufacture of lumber and in the buying and shipping of live stock. He was later at Mattawan and Bradley, having drug stores at both places. In 1908 he moved to Paw Paw, and directly after his arrival and location in the city, formed a partnership with M. L. Decker for conducting a real estate and drug business. In these enterprises he is still actively and profitably engaged, and, although he has resided in the city but three years, he has fully won the confidence and es- teem of the people as a business man and citizen, and holds a high rank in mercantile circles throughout Van Buren county and a large extent of the surrounding country.
On June 21, 1893, Mr. Bailey was united in marriage with Miss Nellie Bush, a daughter of George A. and Lucy (Palmer) Bush, and a native of Gobleville. Of the seven children born of this union six are living : Cyril E., George A., Norman, Carl, Rachel L. and Gertrude. The last born of the seven, Joy Valentine. died at the age of one year. Otherwise the family circle is unbroken. as all the living children are still members of it, and add life and light to their parental home.
Mr. Bailey is a Republican in political belief and adherence. and has never wavered in his loyalty to his party, or withheld any service he has been able to render it. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of the Maccabees, the Woodmen and the Order of Elks. He and his wife divide their religious affiliation between the Baptist and the Episcopal churches, he belonging to one and she to the other, and both are true to their church duties, as they are to every interest of their community, and helpful to all good agencies at work among its people.
ADAM BEACH .- Farming, the oldest of the industries, has a suc- cessful and well and favorably known representative in Waverly township in the person of Adam Beach, who engages in general farming and stock-raising, his land being located in sections 16 and 21, forty acres being in the former and twenty in the latter. Mr. Beach was born in Hancock county, Ohio, on October 6, 1867. and is the son of Tobias and Eliza (Bame) Beach. He is of Ger- man descent, his father having been born in the Fatherland, in February, 1837. He came to the conclusion to seek the wider op- portunity presented by the new world and crossed the Atlantic when but eighteen years of age. In course of time he found his way to Hancock county, Ohio, where he located. His wife was a native of Springfield, Ohio. In 1878 the elder Mr. and Mrs. Beach came with their family to Michigan, where they encount- ered good fortunes and where they are now living, their resi- dence being maintained in Waverly township, where they enjoy general esteem. They became the parents of a family of seven children, all of whom are living (in 1911) ; Catherine is the wife of James Steinman, of Bloomingdale township; John W., who married Amanda Wolford, resides in Bloomingdale village; Adam is the next in order of birth; Anna is the wife of Volney
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Robinson; Louisa is the wife of Bert Blackman, of Allegan county, Michigan; Conrad, who married Mabel Ashbrook, makes his home in Bloomingdale village; Jacob took as his wife Mabel Howard, and they make their home in the state of Washington.
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