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 38
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His son, John F. Noud, was educated in the schools of Manistee, and for some years after completing their course of instruction was associated in business with his father. On November 21, 1900, he began business for himself as a retail lumber merchant in South Haven in association with Joseph F. Smith, the firm name being Noud & Smith. The partnership continued until late in 1901, when Mr. Noud bought Mr. Smith's interest in the business and started it anew under the name of the John F. Noud Company. Under this name Mr. Noud has been conducting the enterprise ever since with a steadily increasing volume of trade and an ascending rank and reputation as a merchant and business man in general, being esteemed as a leader by both the trade and the general pub- lic throughout this part of the country.
Mr. Noud has also been active in city affairs and one of the
John F. Mond
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awakening and stimulating forces in connection with them. He served as alderman from the First ward four years, giving the people excellent service as a city official, and for many years has been zealous in promoting every undertaking of value for their benefit, mentally, morally and materially. His duty as a citizen is never neglected or given half-hearted attention, whatever the issue, whether political, business or social matters, and it is always performed with conscience and an effectiveness that indicates ele- vated manhood and a deep sense of personal responsibility for gen- eral conditions and the results of every agitation for their better- ment.
His political support is given to the Republican party, but he is not a hide-bound partisan, and he never allows party considera- tions to overbear local needs with him. Fraternally he is a mem- ber of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, holding his membership in Benton Harbor Lodge, No. 544, and a Knight of Columbus, belonging to Benton Harbor Council, No. 1120. He is zealous in his devotion to these fraternities and energetic and help- ful in the work of the lodge and council in them to which he belongs.
Mr. Noud was married on April 21, 1902, to Miss Alma M. Schaab, a native of Manistee and the daughter of John and Rose (Wise) Schaab. Five children have been born of the union, three of whom are living: Francis Patrick, J. Bernard and Roger Will- iam. Katherine, the second child, died in infancy, and Robert T., the fourth, at the age of two years. The parents are warmly wel- comed in all desirable social circles, and regarded as valuable addi- tions to any. They are genial and companionable, making associa- tion with them highly agreeable, and their advanced culture and lofty ideals win them the admiration of all who come in contact with them and aid extensively in keeping up the standard of citizen- ship in their community, of which they are such creditable representatives.
THOMAS WABER .- For upwards of half a century Thomas Waber has been a resident of Pine Grove township, and during that time he has established for himself a reputation as a thoroughly honest man and worthy citizen. Many of the active agriculturists of Van Buren county were born on the other side of the Atlantic, and to Germany, especially, is our country indebted for some of her pros- perous citizens, among them being Mr. Waber. He was born, May 14, 1841, in Bavaria. Germany, the home of his ancestors for many generations.
John Waber, his father, was born in the same part of Germany, being the only child of his parents. He there learned to hew tim- ber before the days of saw mills, or at least before they were gen- erally used, becoming an expert chopper and hewer. Bidding good bye to friends and relatives in 1848, he came with his family to the United States, being several weeks in crossing the ocean on a sailing vessel. Landing in New York city, he made his way to Rochester, and for a time worked on the Erie Canal, later being there employed in a foundry. Desirous of establishing a perma-
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nent home for himself, wife and children, and being attracted by the cheap Government land of the West, he came to Michigan in 1854, and for a year lived in Kalamazoo county, from there coming, in 1855, to Van Buren county. Settling in the dense woods, he became one of the early pioneers of Pine Grove township. Buying eighty acres of timbered land on the east half of the southeast quarter of section two, he cut down giant trees to make room for the log house which he built as one of the first improvements on his place. Deer, wild turkeys and game of all kinds abounded and formed a large part of the subsistence of the brave-hearted pioneers. Working with a will, he cleared his land and was there engaged in tilling the soil for many years. Prior to his death, however, he went to Otsego, Allegan county, to live with his son Fred, and was there a resident until his death, at the ripe old age of eighty-one years. His wife, who was also a native of Bavaria, died before he did, her death occurring on the home farm. They reared seven children, as follows: George, Henry, Frederick, Anna, Thomas, Margaret and James. They were worthy members of the Lutheran church, and reared their family in the same religious faith.
Seven years old when he left the Fatherland, Thomas Waber still has a vivid recollection of many of the incidents connected with his ocean voyage, and likewise of pioneer life in Van Buren county. In his boyhood days the people hereabout lived in a primi- tive manner, with few if any of the modern conveniences, living on the fruits of the chase or the productions of the soil, and were clothed in garments made at home from material spun and woven by the good house mother. Traveling was mostly performed on horseback, or with heavy teams, slow methods as compared with the modern means of transportation. Reared to habits of industry, Mr. Waber began life as a wage-earner when quite young, work- ing out for his board and five dollars a month at first, but later being employed in a saw mill. In 1865 he bought the land now in- cluded in his present farm, and immediately began its improvement. He has cleared a large part of his estate, and is actively engaged in general farming, each year raising abundant crops of hay and grain.
Mr. Waber married, in March, 1871, Ann Eliza Miller, who was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, which was also the birthplace of her father, Nicholas Miller. Mr. . Miller's wife immigrated to America with her ten children, leaving Mr. Miller to attend to some business matters in the Fatherland, and took up her residence at Palmyra, New York, where her death occurred two years later. Mr. Miller subsequently joined his motherless children, and with them came to Trowbridge, Allegan county, Michigan, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying when upwards of eighty years of age. Mrs. Waber died at the age of forty-eight years. leaving five children, namely: Thomas Laverne, who married Mabel Kingsley and has two sons, Henry and Clarence; Alma. wife of John McGregor, has four children, Donald, Anna, Lillian and Arthur; James; Paul Miller, who married Josie Champion, and they have one child, Pauline; and Arthur, who married Bes-
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sie Antinica Vedder, and has one daughter, Eleanor. Mr. Waber's father, the founder of the Waber family in America, was an only child, but his seven children married and reared families, so that his descendants now living in Michigan number nearly one hun- dred, and are among the best citizens of the state, being enterpris- ing and thrifty.
HERBERT LINCOLN ROOT .- Actively and intelligently engaged in the prosecution of one of the most independent, needful and use- ful occupations to which a man may devote his energies, Herbert Lincoln Root stands high among the prominent husbandmen of Pine Grove township, and is an important factor in the agricul- tural interests of Van Buren county. Coming on both sides of the house from honored New England ancestry, and of sturdy pio- neer stock, he was born August 9, 1865, in Oshtemo township, Kala- mazoo county, Michigan, a son of Isaac L. Root.
His paternal grandfather, John Root, was born in Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, but spent a large part of his early life in Connecticut, where he followed the mason's trade. In 1857 he came with his family to Michigan, locating in Kalamazoo county, which was then but sparsely settled, the present city of Kalamazoo having been a small place, while the surrounding country was in its original wildness. Purchasing a tract of land in Oshtemo township, five miles from Kalamazoo, he continued the improvements, which were very limited, and having placed a large share of it under cultiva- tion resided there until his death, at the age of seventy-five years. His wife, whose maiden name was Susan Moe, was born in New York city, and died on the home farm at the advanced age of four score years. They reared a family of seven children, as follows: Sarah, Beardsley, Frederick, Isaac L., Edward, Ebenezer and Martha.
Born in Greenwich. Connecticut. Isaac L. Root began working with his father at the mason's trade while but a boy, and in 1857 accompanied his parents to Michigan, and has since followed his trade in Kalamazoo and surrounding counties. He is a skilled workman, and his services are ever in demand. He married Han- nah Isadore Kingsley, who was born in Oshtemo township, a daugh- ter of Moses Kingsley, who was the third in direct line of descent to bear that name. Moses Kingsley, the first, was born in North- ampton, Massachusetts, January 29, 1744, of English ancestry, and married Abigail Lyman, whose birth occurred January 21, 1744, in the same place. Their son, Moses Kingsley, the second, was born in Northampton, Massachusetts. November 8, 1772. After his marriage he located in Brighton, Massachusetts. He was twice married, his second wife, Mr. Root's great-grandmother, having been Mary Montague. Moses Kingsley, the third, was born in Brighton, Massachusetts, March 5, 1810, and there learned the cabinet maker's trade. Migrating to Michigan in 1831, while it was still under territorial government, he became one of the early settlers of what is now the town of Webster, in Webster, Washte- naw county, and while there served as postmaster and town clerk.
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In 1836 he moved to Kalamazoo county and purchased a tract of timbered land, forty acres of which was located in Kalamazoo town- ship and forty acres in Oshtemo township. After devoting about twenty years to the clearing and improvement of his estate he organized the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of which he was secretary and treasurer for a quarter of a century. In 1873 he became a resident of Kalamazoo, which remained his home until his death, in 1891. He married first, in Webster, Michigan, in December 1, 1831, Hannah Williams, who was born in Sem- pronious, New York, October 7, 1808, a daughter of a pioneer of Washtenaw county, Michigan. She died January 13, 1844, leaving four children, as follows : Daniel W .; Amelia; Floyd; and Hannah Isadore, who became the wife of Isaac L. Root. Moses Kingsley, the third, subsequently married for his second wife Clarissa Beck- ley, who was born in Stafford, New York, March 25, 1818, a daugh- ter of Joseph and Clarissa (Jeffries) Beckley. She died May 16, 1879. leaving six children, Henry M., Moses, Sabra W., Chester M., Clara F. and Homer M. Mrs. Isaac L. Root died in Oshtemo township, April 10, 1901. To her and her husband seven children were born, namely : Herbert Lincoln, Myron, Bertha, Luella, Edna, Fanny and Mary.
Brought up in Kalamazoo county, Herbert Lincoln Root ac- quired a practical education in the public schools, and at the age of nineteen years began working with his father at the mason's trade, which he followed for four years. Turning his attention then to agriculture, he bought the farm which he now owns and occupies. It is pleasantly located in section thirty-four, Pine Grove township, bordering on and overlooking North Lake, one of the
many beautiful sheets of water to be found in Van Buren county. Mr. Root first bought eighty acres in the northwest quarter, and subsequently purchased twenty acres of adjoining land, and still later added more land by purchase, his farm now containing one hundred and sixty-two and one-half acres of as rich and product- ive land as can be found in the vicinity. Here he is prosperously engaged in general farming, making something of a specialty of stock-raising and dairying.
In 1890 Mr. Root was united in marriage with Jennie A. Smith, who was born in Ridgeville township, Lorain county, Ohio, a daughter of Mark and Eunice (Kibby) Smith, natives, respectively, of New York and Ohio. Five children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Root, namely : Lillie, Carl, Alice, Harry and Nelson. Mr. and Mrs. Root are both members of the Congregational church, and give liberally towards its support.
DR. ARTHUR CASPER RUNYAN .- With a high grade of capacity and skill in one of the most useful of the professions, a command- ing genius for the promotion and development of public utilities, an elevated tone and broad public spirit in his citizenship, and a humanitarian disposition that seeks the good of the whole people even if it may be, to some extent, at the expense of his private business, Dr. Arthur C. Runyan, of South Haven, one of the lead-
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ing dentists of Southwestern Michigan, is a very useful citizen and is universally esteemed as such.
Dr. Runyan was born in White Pigeon, Michigan, on September 3, 1857, and grew to manhood on his father's farm in St. Joseph county. There he served his apprenticeship to the farming in- dustry, but he had other desires in life, and as he neared maturity sought an opportunity to gratify them. His parents, Casper Y. and Louisa (Olmstead) Runyan, were natives of New York, the father born in the western part of the state in 1828 and the mother in Genesee county in 1837. The father died in 1895, but the mother is still living and has her home with her children. Of the nine children born to them seven grew to maturity and five are now living. The Doctor was the second child born in the family.
The father was brought to Michigan by his parents, Philip E. and Priscilla (Brush) Runyan, when he was but seven years old. The family arrived in 1835, before Michigan was a state, and lo- cated at White Pigeon. The head of the house at that time, Philip E. Runyan, was of French Huguenot stock. He first engaged in keeping a tavern on the old Chicago turnpike, and afterward be- came a farmer. He was a man of prominence and influence in his locality and served in the state legislature while Detroit was the capital, and left a good name for the value and fidelity of his serv- ice in every trust and station.
Dr. Runyan's father, Casper Runyan, was educated in the schools of White Pigeon, and after leaving school engaged in farming, the occupation to which he had been reared. In 1852 he caught the enthusiasm over the discovery of gold in the then far away region known as California, and journeyed overland to seek a rapid ad- vance in his fortune in the opportunities so widely and wildly proclaimed as abounding in that state. Two years later he re- turned to the old homestead in Michigan, making the return trip by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Farming in this state was good enough for him ever afterward. and it occupied him for the re- mainder of his days.
He also took an earnest interest and an active part in the public affairs of his locality. serving for more than twenty-five years as township supervisor. and also filling with credit to himself and benefit to the people other township offices. In politics he was a genuine Democrat of the old school and to the end of his life served his party with unswerving loyalty, for he felt that it was the prom- ise and fulfillment of the highest and most enduring good to county, state and nation.
Dr. Arthur C. Runyan was also educated academically in the schools of White Pigeon, but they were greatly improved in their facilities and appointments in comparison with what they had when his father attended them. After completing their course of instruction the Doctor studied dentistry under the instruction of Dr. S. M. White, and in 1904 took a post graduate course in the dental department of the University of Michigan. For the prac- tice of his profession he first located in Bangor, this county, where he remained until 1890, a period of ten years. In that year he changed his residence to South Haven, making the change in the
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spring, and here he has ever since lived and been actively en- gaged in an extensive and lucrative practice with a steadily in- creasing body of patrons and a steadily rising and expanding rep- utation for his professional work and his enterprise, public spirit and usefulness as a citizen.
While living in Bangor he was a member of the village board of directors for a number of years and also served on the school board there. He has been alderman from the Third ward of South Haven two terms and a member of the school board of this city for over twenty years. His duties as alderman were not entirely agreeable to him and he declined to be a candidate for a third term. He has shown deep and abiding interest in the welfare of the commu- nity in other ways, however, having helped to organize the library board and served as its president for a time. He also was one of the founders of the City Hospital of South Haven, and is now (1911) a member of its board of directors.
In more material matters contributing to the improvement of the city and the convenience and comfort of its residents, he has also been a potential factor for good, and his services in connec- tion with them have been extensive and conspicuous. He helped to organize the South Haven Gas Company and is its president. In addition he is president of the gas company at Sturgis, and of the Allegan County Gas Company of Allegan, Otsego and Plain- well, Michigan, in the adjoining counties of St. Joseph and Alle- gan. In connection with these utilities he is sedulous in his efforts to make their product and their service to their patrons as good as possible, managing them with primary reference to excellence of output and satisfaction to all classes of consumers.
In his profession Dr. Runyan is studious and progressive, using all means available to him to keep up with its advances and in- formed as to its latest discoveries and improvements. He is an active member of the Southwestern Dental Society, and has been its president and secretary. He also belongs to the Michigan State Dental Society and the National Dental Association, and takes a very active and helpful part in their proceedings, both as a con- tributor to the interest and benefit of their meetings and an eager learner from the contributions of others.
Doubtless Dr. Runyan began studying for his professional work and practicing it with a primary view to making a livelihood out of it. But in the course of his practice it has broadened in his vision to a great means of constant and permanent good for the whole community if the people, especially the young people, can be informed of the facts in the case. With the view of giving them this information he began in 1892 systematic course lectures on dental anatomy and hygiene and the proper care of the teeth in the public schools of South Haven, using lantern slides to illustrate and emphasize his instructions. These lectures have been a source of great benefit to the school children, and his enterprise and pub- lic spirit in giving them is regarded with great favor by everybody in the city. In furtherance of his work in this respect he has also written a booklet on "Twentieth Century Dentistry." which he
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describes as "An Ethical Treatise on the Care and Treatment of the Human Teeth."
Dr. Runyan was married on October 12, 1881, to Miss Emma Cross, a native of Lawrence township, this county, and the daugh- ter of Calvin and Emily (Roby) Cross. Her parents are both deceased. They were born in the state of New York, and the par- ents of seven children, five of whom are living. Mrs. Runyan was the last born of the seven. Her father came to Michigan in 1844 and located in Bangor, Van Buren county. He was a millwright, a farmer and a lawyer, and rose to prominence and influence in the county. In connection with public affairs he was an active working Democrat and enjoyed in full measure the confidence and regard of both the leaders and the rank and file of his party, being esteemed as wise in counsel as well as vigorous, skillful and effective in action in party matters.
Dr. and Mrs. Runyan are the parents of two children, their son Cecil A. and their daughter Mabel A. The son is a gas engineer. He married Miss Louisa Tall and is living in South Haven. The daughter is still living at home with her parents. In political faith and allegiance the Doctor is also a pronounced Democrat, and in church relations he and his wife are Congregationalists. They are both members of the Order of the Eastern Star, the bright and popular auxiliary of the Masonic order. In the latter the Doctor has long been active and serviceable as a member of Star of the Lake Lodge, No. 158; South Haven Chapter, No. 58, Royal Arch Masons; South Haven Council, No. 45, Royal and Select Masters ; Peninsula Commandery, No. 8, Knights Templar, at Kalamazoo, and Saladin Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in Grand Rapids. In these different branches of the fraternity he is not merely one of the silent units, but a very energetic working member, whose in- telligence and good judgment are highly valued, and whose high character, sterling manhood and elevated citizenship help to give consequence and standing to the order and exemplify its best teachings.
GEORGE T. WABER .- Among the native-born citizens of Van Buren county who have spent their lives within its precincts, aiding in every possible way its growth and development, whether relating to its agricultural, mercantile or financial prosperity, is George T. Waber, an extensive landholder and prosperous agriculturist who is now engaged in mercantile pursuits in the village of Kendall, Pine Grove township, the township in which his birth occurred. A son of the late George Waber, he is a grandson of John Waber. the founder of the American family of Wabers, and of whom a brief account may be found on another page of this work, in con- nection with the sketch of Thomas Waber.
Born in Bavaria, Germany, George Waber was educated in the Fatherland, and as a boy in his teens came to America with his parents. In Rochester, New York, he learned the trade of a butcher, but after accompanying the family to Michigan he worked out as a farm laborer by the month. Enlisting, at the breaking out of the Civil war, in the Thirteenth Michigan Volunteer Infan-
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try, he went South with his regiment, and continued in active serv- ice until the expiration of his term of enlistment, when he was honorably discharged. Returning to Van Buren county, Michigan, he purchased a tract of timber in Pine Grove township, and having cleared a large portion of his land was there engaged in farming several seasons. Later, leaving his family on the farm, he took up a homestead claim in Baraga county, Michigan, made the neces- sary improvements to secure a title to the land, and then returned to his home in Pine Grove township, and was there a resident the remainder of his life. He married Miss Mary Miller, who was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, being a sister of Mrs. Thomas Waber. She died February 8, 1894, leaving the following children : George T., the subject of this sketch, Louis H., John N .. and Eliza- beth. Having completed his early studies in the common schools of his native township, George T. Waber assisted his father on the parental homestead until attaining man's estate. Beginning life for himself as a farmer, he started in on a modest scale, with a comparatively few acres of land which he could call his own. Meeting with encouraging results in his labors, he made subse- quent investments in other tracts of land, acquiring title to upwards of two hundred acres of rich and fertile land, on which he has a substantial residence, a good barn and all the outbuildings and machinery required by an up-to-date agriculturist. In 1911 Mr. Waber embarked in the mercantile business in the village of Ken- dall, where he has a large store, well stocked with general mer- chandise, including a fine line of agricultural implements and ma- chinery.
Mr. Waber married, October 29, 1889, Martha E. Way, a daugh- ter of Harrison S. Way, a granddaughter of Lyman Way and a great-granddaughter of John Way, of Vermont. Lyman Way, a native of Peacham, Vermont, was of a roving disposition, and not only lived in several different places in his native state, but made years in Minnesota. He spent his declining years, however, among three trips to California in pioneer days, and spent two or three the green hills of his native state, dying in the town of his birth. His wife, whose maiden name was Sophia Stevens, was born in Ver- mont, and there died, her death occurring at Barton Landing, at the age of eighty-two years. They were the parents of six children. as follows : Julia ; Mary : Harrison S .. father of Mrs. Waber: Rich- ard; and Marshall and Marcellus, twins.
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