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 3
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Isaac W. Van Fossen, who was then about seven years of age, stopped with an uncle at what is now Ann Arbor, and which re- ceived its name in honor of his uncle's wife, Ann Van Fossen. As soon as the family was settled in its new home the brothers be- stirred themselves to get things in order for the beginning of their business as millers. William had already begun damming the Kala- mazoo river at Concord to get power for the mill and as soon as the dam was completed and the mill erected operations were begun in a new industry which was soon appreciated as one of the great- est conveniences and benefactions of the region.
Mr. Van Fossen's mother died on November 30, 1839, but his father lived to the age of eighty-seven. He remained at home, aid- ing in breaking up the farm with ox teams and with the other farm work, until the death of his mother. He then took up his residence with a relative, Mr. Morgan, who lived at Homer in the adjoining county of Calhoun. From Homer he went a few months later to Spring Arbor, riding a two-year old colt as his means of transportation. He worked at Spring Arbor about eighteen months,
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then moved to Jackson, where he secured employment in a window and other woodwork factory for a short time. Here his newspaper career began. He got into the office of the Jackson Democrat, George W. Raney, editor and proprietor, as an apprentice, and re- mained in connection with the paper three years, having his home with his employers.
They sold the paper to Messrs. Story & Cheney, proprietors of the Jackson Patriot, and Mr. Van Fossen worked for them two years. His father owned a mill at Waterville, Ohio, and he went there on a visit. For about a year and a half he worked on the Maumee City Times and after that his engagements on newspapers were numerous. He was on the Toledo Blade, and later on the Detroit Advertiser. During the campaign of 1848, when General Cass was the Democratic candidate for the presidency, he worked on the Jackson Patriot. While working on the one last named he wrote an Indian story dealing with events in the history of the Ottawa and Pottawattomie tribes, which had been at war between themselves. The story made a great hit, for the war between the Indians had excited universal interest at the time.
During his wanderings Mr. Van Fossen attended school at odd times, when he had the chance, and kept on improving his educa- tion. On one occasion he rode from Jackson to Lansing on horse- back, stopping over night at Mason. There he found a gentleman who had a Washington iron hand printing press, but did not know how to set it up. Mr. Van Fossen put it in working order for him and it was soon thereafter dispensing the news and keeping the people enlightened. At the request of Messrs. Story & Cheney, of Jackson, his old employers, he went to Leslie, Ingham county, and took charge of a publication to secure the "Tax List," of that county and was successful. The material and appliances he had to work with were very crude, but he did the best he could with them, as he had always done under all circumstances, no matter what the difficulties.
While living in Jackson he was first corporal of the Jackson Light Guards for six years, and was then promoted quartermaster of the Eighteenth Brigade, Ninth Division, of the Michigan Militia, now known as the Michigan National Guard. During a session of the state legislature in 1852 (December 23) he began work on the State Journal, published in Lansing, Michigan, by Hedges & Peck, state printers. He remained with this paper and after the legisla- ture adjourned he assisted in getting out the reports of the work of the legislature during that session as one of the three composi- tors who were chosen. A position was offered him in Detroit by Bagg, Patten & McDonald, printers, book-sellers and dealers in stationery. Here he had charge as foreman of the book and job office. While here, on November 5, 1853, he joined the Detroit Typographical Union and is today probably its oldest living mem- ber.
He remained with the concern until June, 1854. At that time John R. Baker, the district attorney of Van Buren county, arrived in Detroit, having been sent there by the business men of Paw Paw to secure a man to take charge of the Paw Paw Free Press, which they had recently bought from S. T. Conway. Mr. Baker
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had been a student with Mr. Patten and he laid the situation be- fore him, and he immediately recommended Mr. Van Fossen for the place and granted him leave of absence to come to Paw Paw and look into the situation. He did so, and as a result of what he saw he, in June, 1854, moved to the village and bought the paper and office.
The Free Press was at that time the organ of the Democratic party and the only paper published in the county then in the control of the political situation in Van Buren county, but in 1855 the state passed into the hands of the Republicans and Mr. George W. Fitch, of Kalamazoo, was induced to send a printer-lawyer named Butler to Paw Paw to edit and print what was then and is still known as The True Northerner, and which was at once given the political and official patronage of the political party then coming into power.
Mr. Van Fossen still continued and, being a thoroughly practical man, his business increased and at the end of six months he was compelled to put in another press to take care of his increased busi- ness and job printing. In 1858 his office was destroyed by fire, but he succeeded in saving his newspaper files and books and imme- diately bought new material and continued the paper some months later. This continued until 1875, when he sold the paper to Land- phear & Matthews, after which he went to Florida and assisted in establishing a new Democratic paper, The Pensacola Advance. He then returned to Paw Paw, where in the meantime had been formed a central Greenback club, which had begun the publication of a paper-the Michigan Independent-but it had not been a re- markable success and was discontinued. He was solicited to buy an office and start a new paper, which he did on June 1, 1880, called the Paw Paw Herald, and this he continued to publish until De- cember 31, 1889. He then retired from the publication of this and later published for awhile a campaign paper called the "People's Alliance" for Sullivan Cook, the editor, of Hartford, Michigan. He also operated a job office up to 1902, when he sold out and retired from active business. His newspaper career covers a period of fifty years, in which time he has seen many advances and reverses in the course of his connection with it, and has es- tablished himself firmly in the esteem of newspaper men wherever he and his work are known.
Mr. Van Fossen purchased his present residence and was mar- ried on June 23, 1858, to Miss Irene P. Simmons, the first white girl born in Paw Paw, then called the town of Lafayette, and by this union he became the father of three children, namely: Zell, who died in infancy; Vern, who is a dentist and living at home ; and Rena R., who is a school teacher in Rossville, Illinois. The father was an ardent Greenbacker in the day when the Greenback issue was a prominent one in our politics, and he still adheres to the doctrines of the party. For some years he has not been active in political matters, but he still retains all his old-time interest in public affairs. In 1858 he was appointed deputy United States marshal for the District of Michigan by U. S. Marshal John S. Bagg. In 1866 he was made Department Collector of Revenue for the Second District. In 1884 he was nominated by the Greenback
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and Democratic parties for the State Senate, in opposition to C. J. Monroe, Republican, and was defeated by a small majority.
Fraternally he is a Freemason, having been initiated in the Jack- son Lodge, No. 17, on February 8, 1849, and soon thereafter took the R. A. M. degrees. When he became a resident of Paw Paw he took a demit from the Jackson lodge and joined at Paw Paw, July 15, 1855, and from the chapter in 1860. He holds the rank of past high priest in his chapter and is the only charter member now living. He was also a member of Peninsular Commandery, Knight Templars, of Kalamazoo. His religious connection is with the Episcopal church.
C. RAY PUGSLEY .- Pursuing the even tenor of his way as a quiet, unostentatious farmer and breeder of fine registered cattle, with comparative indifference to the great, wasting currents of life outside of his peaceful domain; with no desire to mingle in or be a part of its bustle, hurry and distracting cares, yet alert always to the needs of his own community and zealous in his efforts to aid in providing for them, C. Ray Pugsley, of Paw Paw township, in this county, has lived to this time a useful and productive life, and given to those around him a fine example of sturdy manhood and serviceable citizenship of the kind that the welfare of the country mainly depends upon.
Mr. Pugsley was born on a Paw Paw township farm, in fact on the one he now lives on and cultivates, and the whole of his life to this time (1911) has been passed within the boundaries of Van Buren county. The date of his birth was February 12, 1883, and he is a son of William H. and Sarah A. (Harris) Pugsley, the former a native of England and the latter of Jackson county, Michigan. The father came to Michigan in 1857, when he was but ten years of age, and he has been a resident of the state ever since. He has been actively and profitably connected with the farming industry of the state for more than thirty years, and is even now deeply interested in it, although he has turned the man- agement of his home farm over to his son Ray. In 1880 he bought the eighty acres on which the family is now established, and to the cultivation and improvement of this tract he devoted all his time and energy until 1904, when his son took charge of the place and he retired from active pursuits. He and his wife are the parents of three children, all of whom are living. They are: Verne M., the wife of L. H. Weldon, of Battle Creek, Michigan; May, the wife of F. A. Dibble, of Paw Paw; and C. Ray, the interesting subject of this brief review.
The last named obtained a high-school education in Paw Paw and remained at home working for and under the direction of his father on the farm until he reached the age of twenty-one. He then took over the management of the farm himself, under an agreement with his father, and since that time he alone has culti- vated it and conducted all the operations pertaining to it. His father was a first-rate farmer and he received good instruction while working under his direction. Yet he is a progressive man and studies his business with a view to securing the best possible returns for his labor and keeping in touch with the progress in
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what he has discovered his business to be-one of the most rapidly improving industries among men.
He is something of an enthusiast on the subject of stock im- provement, and in accordance with his theories he makes a spe- cialty of breeding fine registered Guernsey cattle, conducting this department of his enterprise both for his own satisfaction and ad- vantage, and also for the good of the country around him. He also feeds and ships live stock in general, and carries on a general farming industry with the utmost vigor and all the information concerning his operations he can gather from judicious reading and reflective and analytical observation.
On October 25, 1905, Mr. Pugsley was united in marriage with Miss Frances Du Bois, a daughter of J. E. and Lucy Du Bois, highly respected residents of Paw Paw. They have had six chil- dren : Milly, who has been dead several years; Frances, the wife of Mr. Pugsley; Claude; J. C., whose home is in Van Buren county ; Vernon, who is also a resident of this county; and Gert- rude, who is still living at home with her parents.
Mr. Pugsley has always taken an earnest interest and an active part in all commendable projects involving the development and improvement of the township and county of his home. He is a progressive and public-spirited man, and at all times eager to see Van Buren county as far forward in advancement of a whole- some character as judicious efforts can put it. The public affairs of the township and county interest him as a good citizen, but not as a man ambitious for public station or prominence among his fellows. Therefore, although he is a firm believer in the princi- ples of the Democratic party and does his part to secure their adoption for the government of the country, general and local, he has never sought or desired a political office for himself. His farming and live stock industries interest and occupy him in a leading way, and he prefers to leave the direction of public affairs to those who like such employment. In church relations he is a Baptist and one of the mainstays of the congregation in which he holds his membership. All who know him esteem him and he is in all respects worthy of their regard, confidence and good will.
BENJAMIN A. MURDOCK .- Having rounded out the full score of years allotted to man by the sacred writer, and almost one more, the late Benjamin A. Murdock, of Paw Paw, who died on Novem- ber 29, 1895, surrendered his trust at the behest of the Great Dis- poser of Events after working out a career that was interesting in all and remarkable in some of its features. He was for many years a school teacher, and although persons who follow that pur- suit, especially those who teach in country or district schools, usually eke out only a slender living, he became a man of extensive possessions in a worldly way. He was a traveler of some note for the period in his young manhood, yet he passed the greater part of his subsequent life almost wholly in the locality of his home and warmly attached to its attractions. His life began soon after the close of the war of 1812, in fact but nine days after its latest and greatest victory was won for the citizen soldiers of our country, and he lived through two other wars of magnitude the arbitrament
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of fate forced on our people, and in addition through a number of Indian wars, some of them of great atrocity and at times of threat- ening proportions. He also witnessed the expansion of our terri- tory, the marvelous increase in our population, our wonderful strides in the arts and sciences and all the broadening and improve- ing forces of education, and to these he did his part to bring about the results that have no parallel in human history.
Mr. Murdock was born in Hamilton, New York, on January 17, 1815, a son of Ariel and Tryphosa (Bonney) Murdock. The father was the captain of a company of volunteers in the war of 1812, but did not long survive the war, dying in September, 1826, when his son was less than twelve years old. His wife belonged to the Bonney family of distinction and had an extension and varied ex- perience. Their children are all now deceased : Sophia, Benjamin A., Hannah and Carey. Benjamin obtained a first-rate education, being graduated from Hamilton College at Clinton, New York, and for some years thereafter taught school in that state. He came to Michigan in 1836 and located in Van Buren county, taking up one hundred and sixty acres of government land near South Haven. During the next two years he taught school in that vicinity, and in 1839 made a visit to his native state and afterward an extended tour through the South.
In 1842 he returned to Kalamazoo, Michigan, and for some months was the companion and chum of James Fennimore Cooper, the celebrated novelist. He again turned his attention to teaching, and continued his devotion to the profession for twelve years. At the end of that period he became a druggist in Paw Paw. In this business he was occupied until failing health induced him to retire and from that time until his death he gave his time and attention to looking after his large farming interests. At one period of his life he owned more than sixteen hundred acres of Michigan land, and at the time of his death possessed between six and seven hun- dred acres.
On May 1, 1859, Mr. Murdock was married to Miss Mary Vic- toria Anderson, a daughter of LeGrand and Catherine (Shaw) An- derson, natives of Virginia and the parents of ten children: Cor- nelius, Lydia Anna, William, George, John, Eliza, Harriet and Le- Grand, all deceased, and Mary, who married Mr. Murdock, and Jane, who is now Mrs. Dewey and living in Van Buren county, Michigan. LeGrand Anderson, the father of these children, came to Michigan in 1828 and located near Decatur. In 1832 he brought his family to his new home in the wilderness, and several Ohio families with them, whom he induced to settle in the same neigh- borhood. He bought five hundred acres of Government land, to which he added by subsequent purchases until at the time of his death, which occurred in July, 1869, he was the possessor of about one thousand acres. His wife died in 1842. Mrs. Murdock was well educated in her youth, living for a time in Ohio and having as her first tutor in that state Professor John Purdue, the founder of Purdue University at Lafayette, Indiana.
Mr. and Mrs. Murdock became the parents of two children, their daughter Mary Eva, who died at the age of a few months, and their son Benjamin LeGrand, who lived to be only two years old.
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Although their own home was childless, they found comfort in ministering to the happiness of the children of other households and made themselves foster parents to many, so to speak, by their numberless acts of kindness to them and their interest in everything that ministered to the happiness of all who came within the reach of their generosity and proved worthy of it.
Mr. Murdock was a Republican in politics from the founding of the party and prior to that was a Whig. He was always warmly interested in the success of his party and worked to win it, but he did not care for official station for himself. His regular affilia- tion was with the Christian church, of which he was a devout and zealous member, and in whose work of making men and women better and happier he was an active participant, a wise counselor and a greatly valued aid.
An incident of special interest in the history of the Murdock and Anderson families should not be overlooked: Mr. Lambert, the private secretary of John Quincy Adams, came to Kalamazoo for a rest. Later two nephews of George Washington, Spottswood and George by name, who were then being educated at West Point, left there on a vacation and came west looking for Mr. Lambert. The latter in the meantime had moved to the home of Mr. Anderson, and there they found him. They later obtained positions as school teachers in that section. Spottswood Washington taught the school nearest the home of Mrs. Murdock's father, Mr. Anderson, and lived in the family. His brother George taught another school a short time in the same neighborhood, and he also was a member of the Anderson household.
REV. JAMES HATT RENNIE .- Although the life of this divine lasted only forty-one years, and ended when it should have been in its prime and full of promise, and although his health was fail- ing for several years prior to his demise, he accomplished a great deal of good, and made every year of his activity fruitful in serv- ice to the cause of his Master and beneficial to the peoples among whom he ministered from time to time.
Mr. Rennie was a native of Scotland, born on October 8, 1862, at Nether Tuloch, near Meldrum, the son of Robert and Anna (Hatt) Rennie. He completed his academic education at Park College in Parkville, Missouri, and his professional preparation for his great work in life at Auburn Theological Seminary, Au- burn, New York. After leaving this institution he was engaged in his sacred calling for a few years in the East, and then the hand of Providence turned his face in the direction of the setting son.
In the autumn of 1894 he came to Michigan, and in 1895 located at Paw Paw, where he served the Presbyterian church as pastor for one year. He then went to Colorado and took up his work at Ouray in that state, remaining until 1898. During the next year he was in charge of a church of his creed in Omaha, Nebraska, and at the end of that period decided to rest from his labors for a year and seek to regain his health and strength. He returned to Michigan for the purpose, and here he remained until his death, which occurred on November 22, 1903.
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On June 28, 1899, Mr. Rennie was united in marriage with Miss Clara Susanne Anderson, the daughter of Le Grande Redmond and Susanne (Morris) Anderson. In domestic life, as in all other relations, he was a pattern of excellence and won high commen- dation. In politics he was by no means an active partisan, but in his faith adhered to the principles of the Republican party, and usually voted for the candidates it placed in the field for public office. In other respects besides the exercise of his suffrage he took a good citizen's interest in public affairs, and strongly favored everything that he thought likely to advance the welfare of the community in which he lived and promote the moral, mental or material progress of its people.
He was a modest and unostentatious gentleman, of high char- acter and elevated tone, genial in manner, obliging in disposition, cultivated in intellect and rich in all the bland amenities of life. While he was able he was also tireless in his pastoral work and energetic in doing all he could to make it as effective for the good of his flock as possible. Wherever he lived he was greatly beloved, and his untimely death was deeply regretted in every pastorate he ever served. His memory is enshrined in the hearts of all who knew him, and the example he gave of upright living and earnest spiritual striving toward a higher and better life is still a poten- tial force wherever it was exhibited and exerted its influence while he walked, labored and counseled among men.
MILTON H. PUGSLEY .- One of the enterprising and progressive general farmers of Van Buren county for a number of years, and now one of the leaders and most successful of its fruit growers, Mil- ton H. Pugsley, of Paw Paw township, is contributing to the ad- vancement of the county and its mercantile and commercial influ- ence in a very material and substantial way, and has been doing so for a long time. He has tried his hand at other occupations and made a success of them, too. But his inclination has always been in the direction of the farm, and notwithstanding strong tempta- tions to remain away from it he returned to the vocation of the patriarchs and has never had occasion to regret his choice.
Mr. Pugsley has a special interest in the welfare and progress of Van Buren county and Paw Paw township, for here he was born, grew to manhood and was educated. Here also he was mar- ried and established his domestic shrine, and here he has kept the fires burning brightly on it ever since. His life began in Paw Paw township on December 29, 1856, and he is a son of Henry M. and Mary A. (Prater) Pugsley, the former a native of England, born in 1823, and the latter of the state of New York.
The father came to Michigan in 1845 and located in Van Buren county. He bought first eighty and then forty acres of land, and to this he added by subsequent purchases until, at the time of his death in 1901, when he was seventy-eight years of age, he owned two hundred and eighty-three acres. His widow survived him five years, passing away in 1906. They were the parents of seven children : William H., who is a resident of this county ; Alice E., the wife of Harland P. Waters, of Paw Paw; John K., deceased; M. H., the subject of this writing; Dora M., the wife
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of Charles Lake, of Paw Paw; Myra A., the wife of L. E. Shepard, of Paw Paw; and Eliza, who died in infancy.
Milton H. Pugsley remained with his father until he obtained a high-school education, pursued a course of instruction at the Normal College at Valparaiso, Indiana, and was graduated from a business college. He had obtained his first certificate after leaving the district school, and began this profession at that time, teaching at intervals, up to the time he was graduated from the business college. He then taught school six winters, and at the end of that period was offered an excellent position as a teacher. But he preferred to return to the farm, of which he then took charge, being twenty-four years of age at the time. The next year he married and continued his farming operations, in which there has been no break since, except that he followed general farming for years, but is now making a specialty of fruit growing, grapes in particular, having forty acres of these under cultivation, and keeping from fifteen to forty employes during the fruit season. He has gradually been drawn into this interesting and profitable line of production.
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