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 35
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Barnard M. Howard was born in Oneida county, New York, in October, 1791. Migrating to Monroe county, New York, in early manhood, he passed through the now beautiful city of Rochester when its only only habitation was a log cabin, with no indication whatever of its present prosperity. Locating in Sweden town- ship, he purchased a tract of timber land, and from the dense forest began the arduous task of redeeming a farm, his first work being to clear a space in which he might erect a log house. He met with good success in his labors, and in the course of a few years had a productive farm, while the little log cabin had been replaced by a frame house, and other frame buildings had been erected. On this homestead property he spent the remainder of his days, dying at the age of fifty-nine years. He married Nancy Hinkley, a daughter of Jonathan N. Hinkley, and she survived him, attaining the age of seventy-three years. She reared six chil- dren, as follows: Jonathan N., Henry M., Zenas C., Mary, Harvey II. and Joseph P.
Receiving a good common school education in his native county and being reared by a father who was well versed in agriculture, Harvey H. Howard became familiar with all branches of that independent industry in his youthful days, and selected farming as his life occupation. In 1850, soon after his marriage, Mr. Howard came to Michigan on a prospecting tour. and being pleased with Van Buren county and its prospects bought a tract of tim- ber land in section four. Bloomingdale township. Having erected a log cabin, he returned East for his wife, and with her came, by way of the Erie Canal and Lake Erie, to Detroit, thence by railway to the railroad terminus, Lawton, Michigan, and from there with a team to their home in Bloomingdale township, leav- ing Lawton early in the morning and not reaching their point of destination until after candle-light. The greater part of Michigan was then in its primitive wildness, much of the land being still owned by the government. The wild beasts of the forest had not then fled before the advancing steps of civilization, but roamed at will, and the few inhabitants of that vicinity lived in a primitive manner, possessing but few of the modern conveniences, their lux- uries being now our necessities. Laboring with energy and resolu- tion of purpose, Mr. Howard cleared and improved a fine and highly productive farm, on which he resided until 1902. In that
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year he and his wife moved into the village of Bloomingdale, where they have a pleasant and cheerful home and are enjoying life.
Mr. Howard married, January 8, 1850, Sarah Cooley, who was born on the 10th of August, 1831, in a log cabin in Sweden town- ship, Monroe county, New York, a daughter of James B. Cooley and granddaughter of Thomas and Eunice (Barrett) Cooley, pi- oneer settlers of Sweden township. James B. Cooley was but a child when his parents settled on a farm in Sweden township. He became a farmer from choice, and when ready to start in life for himself installed his bride in the log cabin in which their children were born, and which was located just across the road from the old Howard homestead. Mr. Cooley was subsequently there employed in tilling the soil until his death, at the com- paratively early age of forty-six years. He married Adeline Fargo, who was born at German Flats, New York, and she died when but thirty-one years old. Mr. and Mrs. Howard have reared two children, namely : Clara and Edward M. Clara is the wife of Davis Haven, and has two children, Mabel and Lois. Edward M. married Carrie A. Church, and they have three children, Oren Harvey, Edward M. and Neta. Mrs. H. H. Howard is a member of the Baptist church, of which her husband is an attendant and a liberal supporter.
A Whig in politics during his early life, Mr. Howard cast his first presidential vote for Zachary Taylor. Since the formation of the Republican party, however, he has been one of its most loyal supporters, and has served his fellow-citizens in various official capacities. He assisted in organizing the first school district on the base line in Bloomingdale township and served as moderator at the meetings and also served as a school director. He served. two terms as justice of the peace, nine terms as a member of the County Board of Supervisors and has been a member of the Board of Review since the board was established, being a member at the present time. He has been twice elected as a representative to the State Legislature, and had the honor of voting for Thomas A. Palmer for United States senator. Fraternally he has been a member of Bloomingdale Lodge, No. 221, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Order of Masons, since 1871, and of Bloomingdale Lodge, No. 161, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, since 1872. Mr. Howard and his brothers were natural musicians, and before leav- ing New York state played in the local band, and after coming to Bloomingdale township Mr. Howard was a member of the first band organized in this part of Van Buren county. Mr. Howard also, with his brothers Zenas C. and Joseph P., built the railroad station at Bloomingdale and presented it to the railroad company.
EDWARD A. HAVEN .- Widely known throughout Van Buren county in connection with his business associations, Edward A. Haven, of Bloomingdale village, manager of the Bloomingdale Produce and Lumber Company, was for several years the state food inspector and instructor in cheese making at the State Agri- cultural College. A son of Augustus Haven, he was born in Bloom- ingdale township, August 3, 1862. He comes of excellent New
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England stock his grandfather, Davis Haven, a native of Ver- mont, having been the son of Elisha Haven, who was a descendant in the seventh generation from Richard and Susanna Haven, who immigrated from the west of England to America in 1640.
Elisha Haven, who was a blacksmith, followed his trade at Shoreham, Vermont, until 1820, when he removed with his family to Portage county, Ohio, making the long and tedious journey through the wilderness with teams. One of the early settlers of Shalerville, Portage county, he continued his residence there until his death, at the venerable age of eighty-two years. His wife, whose maiden name was Molly Goodell, was born in Vermont, and died in Shalerville, Ohio, when upwards of four score years old. She reared eight children, four sons and four daughters.
Davis Haven was thirteen years old when his parents moved from Vermont to Ohio. On attaining his majority he bought forty acres of timber land in Shalerville township, and in the space which he cleared built the log cabin in which his older children were born. He improved the land, erected a good set of buildings, and lived there until 1865. Selling out in that year, he came to Michigan, locating in Genesee county, where he purchased two hundred and forty acres of land, on which he was successfully engaged as a tiller of the soil until his death, in 1869. The maiden name of his first wife, Mr. Haven's grandmother, was Julia Adams. She was born in Ohio, a daughter of Augustus and Mary (Hine) Adams, natives of Connecticut and pioneer settlers of Portage county, Ohio. She died at the early age of thirty- seven years, leaving five children, namely : Mary, Augustus, Cyn- thia, Martha and Warren.
Augustus Haven was born in Portage county, Ohio, and there acquired an excellent education. He began his career as a teacher at the age of eighteen years, and taught three terms in Ohio. In 1854 he came to Van Buren county, Michigan, traveling by rail to Lawton, then by stage to Paw Paw, from there footing it through the intervening woods to Bloomingdale township. Securing forty acres of government land in section eighteen, he was also fortunate enough to buy eighty acres in the same section from a settler, who had cleared five acres of his tract and had put up a log cabin. Beginning at once to clear his land, he rolled together huge piles of logs that would now be of great value and burned them, that being the only way to dispose of them. While living in Ohio he had learned the manufacture of dairy products, and after a few years engaged in the making of cheese in addition to general farm- ing. He improved his land, erected good buildings, and lived there until 1866, when he sold out and bought the farm in section seventeen, Bloomingdale township, where he has since resided. He married, in 1854, Emily Mclellan, who was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Henry and Melissa Mclellan, natives of Pennsylvania and of Scotch ancestry. She died in 1907.
Having completed the course of study in the public schools, Edward A. Haven attended the State Agricultural School and at the age of nineteen began teaching school. While young he as- sisted his father in the making of cheese, working in the factory, Vol. II-18
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and after his return from College he was engaged in the manu- facture of cheese during the summer months and teaching in winter. Going to Oregon in 1886, he taught school in Rosebury two years, and then returned to Michigan and farmed until 1895. He then bought the Bloomingdale Cheese factory which he con- ducted until 1905, then selling the factory to Charles Linton, who converted it into a creamery, one of the leading industries of the village. In 1905 Mr. Haven was elected state food inspector and served continuously until 1910, at the same time being in- structor of cheese making at the State Agricultural College. In 1910 he accepted his present position as manager of the Bloom- ingdale Produce and Lumber Company, and is filling it ably and satisfactorily.
Mr. Haven married in 1892 Myrtle L. Edwards, who was born in Cheshire township, Allegan county, a daughter of James and Mary (Galusha) Edwards, the former of whom was a native of England, while her mother was born and reared in New York state. Mr. and Mrs. Haven have one daughter, Iris. One of the leading Republicans of his community, Mr. Haven has served as chairman of the Republican County Committee, and is a member of the local school board, of the village council and vice president of the Commercial Club.
DR. OEL E. LANPHEAR .- The science and art of dental surgery is one of the most progressive in the whole range of human activity, and requires an alert, studious and enterprising man to keep up with it in its rapid advances. Every month brings some new discovery or invention in connection with it, designed to improve its methods, secure better results from its work, or aid in lessening the horrors of its chair torture. To say, then, that a practitioner of dentistry is up-to-date is to give him credit for wide knowledge and great skill in connection with his profession, and stamp him as a man who keeps pace with a rapid current of evolution and development.
Dr. O. E. Lanphear, of Paw Paw, one of the leading dentists in this part of Michigan, is entitled to full recognition and credit as such a man. He is diligently studious of his profession in all its branches, and keeps himself abreast of its most advanced thought and discoveries. And in his practice he gives his patrons the full benefit of his knowledge and the skill he has acquired in his grade work. He is genial and companionable, too, and by his manner of receiving and treating them, aids greatly in quieting apprehension and stimulating courage in his patients, and thus secures their co- operation in what he has to do for them.
Dr. Lanphear is a native of Van Buren county, his life having begun at Lawrence on June 25, 1876. He is a son of Orin P. and Josephine I. (Dolson) Lanphear, the former a native of Water- town, Jefferson county, New York, born on December 20, 1847, and the latter of Michigan, born on August 10, 1852. O. P. Lanphear spent his early days with his parents on a farm and en- listed in the One Hundred and Eight-sixth New York Infantry at the age of sixteen, and served until the close of the Civil war.
DE Lamphear
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He served mostly in Virginia, in the army of the Potomac. His regiment was present at the surrender of General Lee and from there he went to Washington to take part in the Grand Review. He was mustered out, and went to Sackett's Harbor, New York, where he was discharged, thence home, and spent two years with his folks. He moved to Michigan with his father and mother and was engaged in farming for several years. Then he returned to the state of his nativity and served an apprenticeship to the all mason's trade, becoming a mason contractor. As cement came to the front rank in the building trades, he carried on the business of cement contractor, supplying the cement and supervising the building of cement foundations and other similar work. He is now living retired on a farm in Lawrence.
Of the six children born of their union five are living: O. E., the subject of this sketch; Jennie, the wife of Fred Carroll, of this county ; Charles R., a resident of Paw Paw; J. E., who lives in Lawrence; and Howard, who is still at home with his parents. Orin, the second of the six in the order of birth, died at the age of two years.
Dr. O. E. Lanphear was graduated from the Lawrence high school in 1895, and then taught school on the Paw Paw town- ship line for one year. At the end of that period he entered the dental department of the State University at Ann Arbor, where he pursued a full course of instruction and practice in dental surgery, and was graduated in 1901, after passing three years in the institution, which he entered in 1898. He came at once to Paw Paw from the University and opened an office for the practice of his profession. In this he has been actively en- gaged with a rapidly growing patronage and extending repu- tation ever since, winning high regard among the people by the excellence of his professional work and his enterprising, up-to- date methods, his office being one of the most thoroughly equipped with the latest appliances for the practice of dental surgery in the state of Michigan.
In addition to his profession as a doctor of dental surgery he has also taken a special course in anesthesia, and to this he has given considerable time and study and is regarded as an author- ity on this subject. Along these lines he has gone very thor- oughly into the properties and administration of the newest anesthetic now before the public, known as Somno form and has the only complete equipment for its administration, in combination with other anesthetics, in Van Buren county, and in this respect has been very successful.
The doctor was married on June 25, 1902, to Miss Mamie L. Gould, a daughter of Otis and Elizabeth (Maxwell) Gould, who have three children, all daughters. Dr. and Mrs. Lanphear have two children: Marvel G., who was born on September 21, 1905, and Loel G., whose life began on July 22, 1908. The doctor is a Republican in politics and in fraternal circles belongs to the Masonic order and the Knights of Pythias. His religious connec- tion is with the Congregational church. He takes a great interest in the welfare of his church and the affairs of each of his fra-
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ternities, as he does in everything that is promotive of the bet- terment of the people around him and the progress and develop- ment of the region in which they live. He ardently desires the best that can be attained for Paw Paw and Van Buren county, and shows it in the most practical manner on all occasions and in every way open to his helpful and stimulating efforts.
THOMAS HARVEY RANSOM, M. D .- Engaged in the practice of one of the more important of the various professions and pursuits to which men devote their time and energies, Thomas Harvey Ransom, M. D., of Bloomingdale, has acquired prominence not only in the medical circles of Van Buren county, but in the busi- ness and social life of his community. A son of William Clark Ransom, M. D., he was born in Grant county, Indiana, of Revolu- tionary stock, his great-grandfather, James Ransome, a resident of Union county, Pennsylvania, having served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war.
The Doctor's paternal grandfather, James Ransom, Jr., was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, in 1809, coming from thrifty Scotch ancestry. After learning the blacksmith trade he moved to Ohio and lived in Belmont and Guernsey counties until 1836. In that year, following the trend of migration westward, he made an overland journey to Indiana, going into the interior as far as Blackford county, being forced to cut his way through the heavy timber the last five miles of his trip. Settling in the wilderness, five miles from the nearest neighbor, he bought a tract of land, and in the opening which he made in the forest erected the typical pioneer log cabin, which was the first home of the family. Work- ing with indomitable perseverance, he improved a good homestead. and was there engaged in tilling the soil until his death, in 1862. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Anderson, was born near Baltimore, Maryland, and died, in 1873. Twelve of their children grew to years of maturity and married. Three of the sons became physicians, two of them became prosperous merchants and one was a contractor and builder.
William Clark Ransom, M. D., was born in Belmont county, Ohio, December 6, 1828, and in boyhood accompanied his parents to Blackford county, Indiana, where, amid pioneer scenes, he grew to man's estate. For a year after attaining his majority he worked for a neighboring stockman. Not content, however, to spend his life in rural occupations, he started in 1850 for Cali- fornia, visiting on the way New Orleans, Mexico, Cuba and the Sandwich Islands. At the end of nine months he landed at San Francisco, without a penny to his name. The ensuing year he worked on a ranch, receiving one hundred and twenty-five dollars a month wages. He then took up a tract of land that is now in- cluded within the limits of the city of San Jose, but soon sold his claim for six thousand dollars, and put the money in a bank that soon after failed. During the time he earned one thousand five hundred dollars mining, and loaned the entire sum to a merchant who, likewise, failed a few months later.
Before leaving home, William Clark Ransom had paid some
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attention to the study of medicine, and when starting westward had taken his books with him, and had spent his leisure time in advancing his professional knowledge. Giving up mining, there- fore, he became an interne in a private hospital in Sacramento, where he remained two years. Then, accompanying a surgeon general of a company of militia, he went to northern California and Oregon to care for the sick soldiers. Four years later he was stationed in a like capacity on an Indian reservation in ! el Norte county, California, where he continued for a time. In 1864, pur- chasing four hundred dollars worth of drugs, he went to the island of Otaheite, in the South Pacific ocean, making the passage on an American built schooner. There disposing of his drugs, he visited China, after which he returned, on a man-of-war, to Ota- heite Island, locating in the village of Papieti, where he was for awhile employed in caring for the sick whalers that landed there. He afterwards visited the Fiji Islands, New Zealand and Aus- tralia, from the latter place going to South America on March 6, 1865, and landing in Valparaiso, Chili, where he subsequently learned of the assassination of President Lincoln. From there he sailed to Calloa, Peru, thence to Quito, Ecuador, where he sailed for New York, coming home by way of the Isthmus of Panama, arriving at Hartford, Indiana, in the fall of 1865.
After practicing medicine in Hartford, Indiana, for a year or more, Dr. William C. Ransom further pursued his studies at the Cleveland Medical College, and in 1870 was graduated from the Indiana Medical College. Removing to South Haven, Michigan, in 1881, he engaged in the practice of his profession, and also became an important factor in advancing the mercantile and in- dustrial interests of the place, becoming a member of the clothing firm of Hemosted Brothers & Ransom, and an extensive real estate dealer. A man of rare enterprise and judgment, he embarked in an entirely new venture in 1884, building a boat which he located with produce and took down the Mississippi river to New Orleans, where he sold both the boat and its cargo. He subsequently built three other boats for the same purpose, and was likewise engaged in lake transportation, building the "Harvey Ransom," and other good boats that plied Lake Michigan. Going to the extreme Northwest in 1893, he explored Oregon, Washington and Alaska, and is now a resident of Klamath, Oregon. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has passed all of the chairs of the subordinate lodge and of the Encampment. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Emily Hodson, was born in Grant county, Indiana, November 22, 1848, a daughter of Samuel and Phebe Hodson.
The only child of his parents, Thomas Harvey Ransom received his preliminary education in the common schools, and after his graduation from the South Haven high school began the study of medicine. He attended the University of Michigan, and was graduated from the Central College of Physicians and Surgeons, at Indianapolis, Indiana, and later took post graduate courses in Philadelphia and Chicago. Beginning the practice of his profes- sion at South Haven, Michigan, Dr. Ransom remained there a
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year, and then settled in Lacota, Van Buren county. While in college, Dr. Ransom was active in base ball matters, and after practicing medicine in Lacota for a year entered the base ball field as a professional and played two seasons with his team. Coming then to Bloomingdale, the Doctor has practiced here since, and is now recognized as one of the leading physicians and surgeons of this part of the county.
In 1901 the Doctor was united in marriage with Nellie Pearl Wiggins, who was born in Bloomingdale, a daughter of Honorable Milan D. and Maria F. (Hubbard) Wiggins, of whom a brief sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Three children have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Ransom, namely: Theone, Ruth and Milan Wiggins. The Doctor is a man of excellent business ability, and is interested in the Bloomingdale Milling Company. He is a member of the Kalamazoo, the Van Buren County and the Mich- igan State Medical Societies, and of the American Medical Asso- ciation. A steadfast Republican in politics, he cast his first presi- dential vote, in 1892, for Benjamin Harrison. Although not an office seeker, he served six years as president of the local school board, and in 1910 and 1911 was elected mayor of Bloomingdale, the highest municipal office within the gift of his fellow-citizens. Fraternally Dr. Ransom is a member of Bloomingdale Lodge No. 221, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons; of Paw Paw Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and of Bloomingdale Lodge, No. 161, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at the present writing being chairman of the committee on by-laws of the Grand Chapter. Both he and his wife are members of the Christian church.
MARLIN LEE WILMOT .- Prominent among the energetic and able agriculturists who have been actively associated with the advance- ment of the farming interests of Van Buren county is Marlin Lee Wilmot, who is profitably engaged in his chosen vocation on the paternal homestead in Bloomingdale township, managing it with ability and success. He was born March 19, 1863, in Eaton town- ship, Lorain county, Ohio, which was also the birthplace of his father, Albert Wilmot.
Silas Wilmot, his grandfather, was born in Connecticut, and was there brought up and educated. At the age of twenty years he married Chloe Tyler, one of his early school-mates, and very soon afterward started for the then far West to seek a home. He was ac- companied on his trip by a friend, Ira Morgan, with whom he made his way on foot to the wilds of Lorain county, Ohio, each carry- ing in addition to their other baggage an axe. Spending their first night in Lorain county under the spreading branches of a maple tree, they slept soundly. After prospecting awhile, Silas Wilmot bought a tract of land on Butternut Ridge, in Eaton town- ship, and having erected a log house was soon joined by his young wife, who made the journey from her New England home with another party of pioneers. All of that section of the country was then in its primeval wildness, Cleveland being a mere hamlet, with the land now included within its city limits for sale at one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre. The wild beasts of the forest had
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not then fled before the advancing steps of civilization, but, with the dusky savage, habited the vast wilderness. Clearing and im- proving a good farm, he resided on it until his death, at the age of sixty-five years. His wife, who died when but forty-five years old, was the mother of fourteen children, all of whom grew to years of maturity, eleven of them marrying and rearing families.
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