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 40
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Educated in the Fatherland, Charles J. May attended school regularly until fourteen years old, acquiring a practical knowledge of books. Five years later he immigrated to America, being thirty- two days in crossing the ocean on a sailing vessel, and landing at the end of the voyage in New York city. Going from there to Ohio, he began the struggle of life among strangers, without capital other than he earned. For two years he was employed as a farm laborer in the vicinity of Cleveland. Being convinced that he could find more favorable opportunities for advancing his financial condi- tion in a newer country, Mr. May made his way to Van Buren county, Michigan. The county, especially its northern portion, was then sparsely settled, the people hereabout having but limited means at their command. He found employment in clearing the land and in farming. Industrious and thrifty, he saved his wages,
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and when he had accumulated a sufficient sum to warrant him in so doing bought eighty acres of the land now included in his present farm, in section eleven, Pine Grove township. The entire tract was covered with timber when he bought it, and for a few years he rented land near by, and during the time that he worked that cleared a few acres of his own estate. When ready to set up an establishment of his own he settled with his bride on his own farm, which he has since placed under a high state of culti- vation. Mr. May has made other improvements of great value, erecting a substantial set of farm buildings, and installing all the machinery and equipments necessary for carrying on his agricul- tural work after the most approved modern methods.
Mr. May married Margaret Waber, who was born in 1843, in Bavaria, Germany, her birth occurring on the sixth day of April. Her father, John Waber, was born and bred in Bavaria, and there learned the trade of a carpenter. In 1848, accompanied by his wife and eight children, he came to America in a sailing vessel, being six weeks on ship board before landing in New York. Locat- ing in Rochester, New York, he lived there for six years, after which he spent a year in Kalamazoo, Michigan. From there he came to Van Buren county, which was then in its pristine wildness, with no railroad nearer than Lawton. He settled in Pine Grove town- ship, and a year or so after coming here purchased eighty acres of woodland in section two. Clearing a small space in the forest, he erected a log house, and having placed a part of his land under cultivation began farming in earnest, for several years taking his surplus productions to Kalamazoo with ox teams, and selling it, or exchanging it for needed household supplies. Late in life he sold his farm and moved to Otsego, where he lived with his son Fred, dying at his home at the advanced age of eighty-one years. His wife died on the home farm in Pine Grove township. at the age of sixty-seven years. She reared seven children, as fol- lows: George, Henry, Frederick, Anna, Thomas. Margaret and James.
Mr. and Mrs. May have had nine children, namely : Frederick, Philip, Anna, Barbara, Frances, Charlie, Nellie, Alice and Elmer. Frederick married Caroline Stiloh. Philip married Mabel Cowan, and they have one son, Philip H. Cowan. Anna, wife of Peter Stevens, has six children, May, Royal, Dale, Adelbert, Isabelle and Isadore. Barbara, who married George Wyman, died in 1909, leav- ing two children, Margaret and Charlie. Frances is the wife of Clyde Scramlin. Nellie, wife of Florence Harbolt, has three chil- dren, Flossie, Anna and Elmer. Alice is the wife of Elmer Sim- mons. Elmer, the youngest member of the parental househould. married Gertrude Squires, and they have two children, Lyle and Claudie. Charlie is unmarried and manages the home farm.
JOHN H. TRIPP .- Leaving the home of his parents and the scenes and associations of his childhood and youth at the age of seven- teen, and coming to Michigan when it was still a part of the re- mote West, to join a brother in South Haven who was conducting a general store in that city, himself far from his kindred and
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still a young man, John H. Tripp, now one of the leading busi- ness men and citizens of the town of his adoption, gave at an early age a signal proof of his mettle and an indication of the qualities of resolute and self-reliant manhood which have dis- tinguished him through all his subsequent years of life and in all his business undertakings.
Mr. Tripp is a native of Orleans county, New York, where his life began on September 1, 1852. His parents, Alvah and Jane (Blakely) Tripp, were also natives of New York, the father born in Delaware county on March 15, 1806, and the mother was born in 1810. She died on January 22, 1866, and the father passed away in 1882. They were the parents of seven sons and seven daughters, of whom ten grew to maturity and five are now living, three of the daughters and two of the sons. John H. was the thirteenth child born in the family.
The father was a carpenter and farmer, and located in western New York in 1832, and there he erected a sawmill which he ope- rated in connection with his farming and some work that he still did at his trade. Early in the forties he bought land in Michigan, near Lansing, where the State Agricultural College now stands. He made a tour of observation through this part of the country and foresaw its possibilities in the way of progress and improve- ment, and he eagerly embraced the opportunity to become possessed of some of the opportunities it offered for advancement to industry and thrift by purchasing the land spoken of. He then returned to his New York home with the intention of moving his family to his land in this state. But his wife declined to come West. and he abandoned his project. He then remained in New York until after her death, and passed his last days with his children in that state and this one, dying at Kibbie, Michigan, where his remains were buried. He was a great lover of good horses, and in his time owned some very fine ones. In politics he was a Whig in early life and later a Republican, and in religious connection belonged to the Free Methodist church from his boyhood.
John H. Tripp was reared to the age of seventeen on his father's farm in the state of New York, and obtained the higher portion of his education in schools at Albion and Rochester in that state. In 1869, having finished his schooling, as he supposed, the problem of life was before him, and he made his choice of a locality in which to solve it. He came to South Haven, Michigan, and there he clerked for a time in a general store kept by his brother, Samuel A. Tripp, with whom he remained two years. The next two years he passed in the same capacity in the employ of D. G. Wright, an- other merchant of South Haven, attaining his majority while in the employ of that gentleman.
He felt at this time that his education was incomplete, and at the end of the period mentioned he went back to New York, took up his residence in Rochester, and again attended school there. While doing so he worked on a farm in the neighborhood of the city, so that he lost nothing in the way of provision for his liveli- hood while preparing himself for higher duties and the use of
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better opportunities for his advancement. He next taught school two winters in New York, and then returned to Michigan.
After his second arrival in this state he located at Kibbie and bought one hundred and sixty acres of stumpage land in the vicinity of that town. He cleared his land and resided there for eighteen years, cultivated it and carried on a general merchan- dising enterprise in Kibbie, where he was also agent for the Mich- igan Railroad.
Keeping in touch with the spirit of progress, and always alert to the needs of his community, Mr. Tripp in 1896 organized a telephone company within his own family, and in March, 1898, incorporated it as the Kibbie Telephone Company, of which he has been secretary, treasurer and general manager from the start. The line runs into South Haven, of course, and the offices of the company are in that city. Mr. Tripp is progressive and studious of his business, and keeps his telephone service up to the latest developments in the enterprise. He also makes every effort to meet every requirement of the community in the matter and fully satisfy all the proper demands of his patrons, so that his telephone line is one of the best in the state, and has no superior in this part of the country.
Mr. Tripp was married on December 23, 1880, to Miss Flora Watson, a native of Michigan, born near Grand Rapids, and the daughter of Jerome B. and Catherine (Friant) Watson, who were born and reared in the state of New York and located in Van Buren county, Michigan, in 1854, being among the pioneers of the county. The father has been dead some years, but the mother is still living. They had ten children, of whom Mrs. Tripp was the first born. The family home in this county was in Geneva township, seven miles east of South Haven, and was literally hewed out of the wilderness. The father filled a number of township offices, among them that of supervisor, which he held for a number of years. He was a Republican in politics. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Tripp there are three children: Harold J., who mar- ried Miss Vera Nyman; Verne W., who married Miss Hallie Mer- rett; and Hazel M., who is living at home with her parents. Mr. Tripp is a Republican in politics, and an excellent citizen in every particular.
WILLIAM SCHOOLCRAFT. of Pine Grove township, Van Buren county, was clearly destined to be the architect of his own for- tune. He began life for himself on the lowest rung of the ladder of attainments, and by untiring industry, a diligent use of his faculties and opportunities, and good business management he has rapidly made his way upward to an assured position among the leading farmers of his community. A son of Elijah School- craft, he was born March 20, 1834, in the province of Quebec, Canada, where his grandfather Schoolcraft settled with his family in the early part of the last century, going there from Mas- sachusetts, his native state.
Born in Massachusetts, of English lineage, Elijah Schoolcraft accompanied his parents to the province of Quebec, and for many
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seasons was there employed in lumbering and rafting logs. He was subsequently engaged in general farming in Essex county, New York, a few years, from there coming to Michigan and living for awhile in Allegan county. His last days, however, were spent in Pine Grove township, Van Buren county, where his death oc- curred at the good old age of eighty-two years. He married Sarah Diamond, whose father, George Diamond, immigrated from Eng- land to Canada, where he bought a large tract of land, which he managed successfully a few years. Coming from there to Kala- mazoo county, Michigan, he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of timber land in Cooper township, and on the farm which he redeemed from the forest spent the remainder of his life, dying at the age of eighty-nine years. Mr. and Mrs. Elijah Schoolcraft reared nine children, as follows: George W., James, Freeman, Maria, William, Juliet, Sarah, Melissa and Guy.
But a boy when his parents settled in Essex county, New York, William Schoolcraft grew to manhood on the home farm, being there reared to habits of industry and thrift. In 1855, having attained his majority, he came to Michigan in search of fortune, caring more for that than for fame. His most cherished posses- sion at that time was a spirited, three-year old colt, broken neither to harness or bridle. Leading this colt from his home in Essex county to Ogdensburg, New York, he there, with his colt, boarded a boat and came by way of Lake Ontario, Welland Canal and Lake Erie to Detroit, Michigan, from there walking to Allegan county. Soon after arriving at his point of destination Mr. Schoolcraft traded his colt for forty acres of heavily timbered land in Trow- bridge township. None of the land had been cleared, although a log cabin had been built in the dense forest. Having no money, he was forced to seek some remunerative employment, and for a short time worked in a sawmill, receiving twenty dollars a month wages. He subsequently worked on a farm for thirteen dollars a month and board, in this way making money enough to pay his expenses while clearing his land, on which he subsequently resided until 1864. Coming in that year to Pine Grove township, Mr. Schoolcraft bought the land which he now owns and occupies, his farm containing two hundred and thirty-nine acres of choice land. on which he has made extensive and valuable improvements, in- cluding the erection of a good set of farm buildings. During the fifty or more years that Mr. Schoolcraft has resided in Michigan he has witnessed marked changes in many directions, and has watched with pride and gratification the rapid development of a wilderness into a rich and well populated commonwealth. in its gradual development well performing his share of labor.
Mr. Schoolcraft married, in 1857, Phebe Ann Mallery, who was born in Wayne county, New York, where her parents, John and Waitsel (Palmer) Mallery, were pioneer settlers. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Schoolcraft, namely: Frankie, Laura, Della, Nellie and Elba, also Charlie, the second child, who died aged fifteen months, and John, who died at the age of three months and twenty-five days.
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CHARLES E. ABELL .- During his residence of twenty-two years in South Haven, this county, Charles E. Abell, of that city, has shown great public spirit and enterprise in connection with the affairs of the city and has done as much as any other man, and much more than most, for its advancement and improvement, its enrichment with good educational institutions, its judicious govern- ment, and the general welfare of its residents in every way. He has long conducted a thriving and progressive business in the drug trade, whereby he has not only ministered directly and effectively to the comfort and benefit of the people, but has also aided in building up the mercantile and commercial importance of the municipality. He has also served two terms as mayor, and dur- ing that service a new face and condition was put upon the city in consequence of his determined persistency in the work of im- provement in a general way, and with reference to sanitary condi- tions especially.
Mr. Abell is a native of Calhoun county, Michigan, where his life began on January 29, 1868. His father, De Witt Clinton Abell, was born in Onondaga county, New York, in 1840, and died in Calhoun county, Michigan, in 1906. The mother, whose maiden name was Charlotte M. Culver, was born and reared in Calhoun county, this state, and is still living there on the farm on which the father died after many years of effort in improving and devel- oping it. They had six children, three of whom are living, Burt, Charles E. and Myrtle. Burt is a resident of Toledo and Myrtle has her home with her mother on the family homestead.
The father was reared on a farm in the state of New York and came to Michigan a short time before attaining his majority. In 1861, with bitter opposition to the dismemberment of the Union, which was then threatened by the secession of several of the South- ern states and their determination to maintain the stand they had taken by force of arms, if necessary, he enlisted in the Union army to prevent the disaster, becoming a member of Company M, Sec- ond Michigan Cavalry. Not long after actual hostilities began, and he was in the maelstrom of the conflict, he was so seriously injured by the falling of his horse that he had to be sent to a hospital for treatment, and from that institution was later dis- charged from the service on account of his disability, which was permanent. The accident occurred while he was with his com- pany on a raid for the destruction of railroads which were of service to the enemy.
When he got out of the hospital he returned to his Michigan home and was married. He then engaged in operating a saw and shingle mill in Burlington, Calhoun county, for awhile, after which he located on a farm near Battle Creek, where he passed the re- mainder of his days, and on which his widow and daughter are now living, as has been noted. He was president of the village board in Burlington two terms, a Republican in political faith and action, a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and a com- municant in the Baptist church in Battle Creek.
Charles E. Abell grew to manhood on his father's farm and obtained his education in the public schools. In December, 1889,
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he located in South Haven, where he became associated with his uncle, R. W. Culver, in a drug business, and remained with him until 1895. In that year he set up in business for himself as a druggist, and he has been carrying on the same establishment ever since. His business is extensive and prosperous, and he is ac- counted one of the leading druggists of the county, a thorough master of pharmacy and skillful in the use of his knowledge con- cerning it; an excellent manager with the power of making all his resources tell to his advantage, and a straightforward dealer who is entitled to the full confidence of the people and enjoys it.
In addition to his drug establishment and business Mr. Abell owns a forty acre fruit farm near the city, which is well im- proved and yields abundantly, and in the spring of 1911 he se- cured a ten-year lease on four hundred apple trees in what is known as the Liberty Bailey orchard, and is one of the most prolific stands of its kind in this part of the country. He is therefore well prepared to enlarge his operations in fruit growing, which are already extensive, and thereby add his own skill and enterprise in greater measure to an industry in which those qualities have made a good name for Michigan throughout the civilized world.
Mr. Abell has found his various personal undertakings exact- ing and in need of his close and continued attention. But he has not allowed them to abate his interest in the affairs of the com- munity, in which he has expended much of his surplus energy to the great advantage of the city. He organized the city Board of Trade and became its first president, and was also a member of the Board of Public Works for two terms. Backed by these two organizations, he has been able to accomplish a great deal in the way of improving the city streets, sidewalks and sewer system. and do many things of value to the municipality in other ways.
His interest in such matters, and his energy and determined persistency in forcing attention to them, led to his election as mayor of the city in 1906, and his re-election for a second term at the end of the first. During his service in that office he was able to push the public work he had inaugurated with greater speed and vigor, and bring much of it to a successful and highly gratifying completion.
Mr. Abell has taken an earnest interest in the fraternal life of the community around him for many years. He is a member and has served as chancellor of Pomona Lodge, No. 193. Knights of Pythias, and belongs to several other fraternities and social organizations. His political faith and allegiance are given without stint to the Republican party, for which he is on all occasions a hard and effective worker, but a square and upright one. But his political zeal and activity are never allowed to interfere with his business or his energetic action in behalf of his home city and its residents. To every undertaking in which their welfare is involved he always gives his best and most serviceable support. He helped to organize the City Library Association and was chair- man of the building committee which erected the structure in which the library is housed.
On December 1, 1890, Mr. Abell united in marriage with Miss
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Cora I. Webb. They have three children, their daughter Vera, and their sons Carlos and Thornton. Mrs. Abell was born in Calhoun county, Michigan, and is a daughter of Joshua and Sarah (Brown) Webb. Her father is a native of England and her mother of this state. Both are living, as are four of their five children : Isaac, Mrs. Abell, Frank and Jesse. Their father came to this country and Calhoun county, Michigan, in his boyhood with his parents. They were pioneer farmers in their locality. He is now seventy-seven years old, a highly respected citizen, inde- pendent in politics and cordial in his interest in everything per- taining to the progress and improvement of the region in which he is passing the declining years of his long and useful life.
JOHN WESLEY HERRON .- Distinguished as having been the first child born of white parents in Bloomingdale township, Van Buren county, John Wesley Herron is an honored representative of the early pioneers of Van Buren county and a true type of the ener- getic and enterprising men who have rendered able assistance in the development and growth of his native county. He was born December 11, 1839, a son of Ashbel Herron, and on the paternal side is of Scotch ancestry, his grandfather Herron having been, it is said, a native of Scotland.
Ashbel Herron was born April 2, 1804, in Whitehall, Washing- ton county, New York, where he grew to manhood, as a young man serving an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade. In 1836 he joined a band of emigrants, which included his brothers-in-law, Hiram, Harrison, Reuben and Merlin Meyers, and their sister, Ruth Meyers, and traveled across the country with ox teams to White Pigeon, Michigan, where he was for awhile employed in farming and butchering. In the fall of 1837 the entire band determined to settle in the "North Woods," which included a part of Van Buren county. In December of that year Ashbel Herron brought the Meyers family, which had no teams, to Van Buren county, bringing them and a part of their household goods on ox sleds, from the Paw Paw river blazing their way through the woods to Bloomingdale township, where they located, buying a tract of land on section thirty-six. Leaving his sleds, Ashbel Herron returned to White Pigeon, and the following spring came over the same route with his own family and household possessions. performing the journey with wagons. Securing a tract of govern- ment land in section thirty-six, Bloomingdale township, he made an opening in the woods and there erected a log house, making the chimney of sticks and mud, and building the large fireplace in which his wife for many years thereafter did all of her cooking, the meat which supplied the family larder being obtained in the surrounding forest, wild game, now considered a luxury, being then simple and ordinary fare. One of the leading industries of this part of the country was at that time the manufacture of shingles, which found a ready sale at White Pigeon, Constantine and Three Rivers, and Mr. Herron marketed many a load at those places, bringing back on his return trip a load of provisions for himself and neighbors. He cleared a large portion of his land
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and erected a good set of frame buildings, including the first frame barn put up in this part of the county. On his homestead he lived many years, dying January 27, 1875, honored and beloved for his many virtues.
Ashbel Herron married Miranda Meyers, who was born in Cobleskill, New York, and died in Bloomingdale township, Mich- igan, October 27, 1880, at the advanced age of seventy-eight years. She reared seven children, as follows: Andrew M., Mary, Nancy, Jane, Harrison, Lucinda and John Wesley.
The youngest child of his parents, John Wesley Herron was brought up and educated in Bloomingdale township, his first temple of learning having been a log cabin which stood on his father's land, in section thirty-six. The furniture was home made, the puncheon seats having no desks in front, a board being placed along the side wall for the scholars to write on. In his early days the Indians were as numerous as the white people, and the dim forests roundabout were inhabited by deer, bear, wild turkeys, wolves and all kinds of game. As soon as old enough to wield and axe or hoe, John Wesley began assisting his father in clearing the land, while during the winter seasons he worked in the lumber camps. Beginning life for himself as a farmer, he first rented land in Almena township, but subsequently purchased land in Pine Grove township, and was there employed in tilling the soil for a number of years. After the death of his first wife he sold his farm and purchased his present residence in Gobleville. For eight- een years after removing to his present home, Mr. Herron was engaged in the sale of farming implements and machinery, but he has more recently been engaged in the sale of nursery stock.
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