USA > Michigan > A history of northern Michigan and its people, Volume II > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53
In 1868 Mr. Filer removed to Ludington, the judicial center of Mason county, where he became one of the interested principals in the Pere Marquette Lumber Company, which purchased the large property of James Ludington,-virtually all the real estate in that vicinity and representing a valuation of fully five hundred thousand dollars. The associates of Mr. Filer in this important venture were Colonel John Mason Loomis, of Chicago, and James Ludington, later of Milwaukee, but the direction and supervision of the business was entrusted entirely to him. Contrary to the policy of the original owner of the various prop- erties, which had been to discourage other industries, Mr. Filer, with characteristic liberality and civic progressiveness, gave out every pos- sible inducement to secure to Ludington every kind of business enter- prise, with the result that the village rapidly expanded in population and general prosperity. Before leaving Manistee he had induced set- tlers to take up tillable lands in that section of the state, and he was essentially the founder of the Norwalk colony and farming community, located about eight miles north of Manistee. His plan was to supply the gold required by the government in connection with the purchase of such land and then to take a mortgage on the property and thus assist the settlers in gaining homes and independence through their own efforts. This is a wise philanthropy, and many owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Filer for his interposition in this way. He ever showed the utmost consideration in this connection and his object was far removed from mere personal aggrandizement. He also introduced fruit culture in this section of the state by a practical test that involved great pe- «uniary risk to himself; and in many other instances he proved his deep interest in the welfare of his fellow men. He made many extensive land deals within his business career and most of the same were confined to Michigan, to which state his loyalty was of the most intense order, as he fully appreciated that this commonwealth had given him the medium through which he so signally advanced his personal fortune. He was the founder of the Cream City Iron Works, one of the extensive indus- trial concerns of the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and in this enter- prise he was originally associated with John M. Stowell, under the firm name of Filer & Stowell.
Delos L. Filer was a strong and practical business man, but he was also large of mind and heart, so that his life was not compassed by the
629
HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
narrow boundaries of materialism. On the contrary, his nature was one of fineness and much of spirituality as shown in his abiding appreciation of those things that represent the higher ideals of life. He was a true friend, was kindly and tolerant in his judgment of his fellow men, and in his home the noble qualities of the man found their maximum ex- emplification. His name is held in lasting honor and regard in the cities of Manistee and Ludington and, indeed, throughout northern Michigan, to whose development and upbuilding he contributed in most generous measure. He left the gracious heritage of worthy thoughts and worthy deeds and was one of the world's noble army of productive workers.
In politics Mr. Filer accorded a staunch allegiance to the Republican party, and he was well fortified in his opinions as to matters of public import. He was ever ready to extend his aid in behalf of worthy char- ities and benevolences, though he never courted publicity. He was rather one who would "do good by stealth and blush to find it fame." The following statements made concerning him are worthy of perpetuation in this memoir: "Mr. Filer was essentially a broad-gauged man, and in business, politics and religion he had the courage of his convictions. IIe was versatile in his acquirements, possessing some knowledge of almost all subjects. While he was too cautious to overreach his possibilities in business ventures, he was ever ready to explore new fields of enterprise, providing his own unaided judgment so directed, and his success showed the unerring qualities of his opinions. He was generous to those who needed assistance, gave freely to all publie enterprises that tended to better the community in which he lived, and by those who knew him best his death was regarded as a public loss of irreparable order."
In 1838 Mr. Filer was united in marriage, in the state of New York, to Miss Sarah A. Paine, who died in June of the following year. leaving an infant daughter, Amanda, who became the wife of John M. Vahue and who died in the state of Florida in 1873. In March, 1840, was sol- emnized the marriage of Mr. Filer to Miss Juliet Golden, who was born and reared in the state of New York, and who was summoned to the life eternal in 1864. Of this union were born three sons and one daughter : E. Golden, Delos W., Mary J. and Frank, the only daughter being now the wife of Alonzo G. Sexton, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. E. Golden Filer is individually mentioned on other pages of this work; Delos W., who died in October, 1899, was associated in the lumber business with his two brothers; and Frank, who still retains an interest in the same enter- prise, maintains his home in the city of Detroit, Michigan, where he is president of the Standard Tie Company, an extensive concern whose business extends throughout the Union. On the 23rd of January, 1866, Mr. Filer contracted a third marriage, being then united to Miss Mary M. Pierce, of Manistee, who survives him, as does also their only child. Grace. They maintain their home in Detroit.
The health of Mr. Filer finally became much impaired, and in hope of recuperating his energies he traveled extensively through the south and west. In the winter of 1878-9 he started for California, but at Denver his condition became so serious that he returned to his home in Ludington, where he died on the 26th of the following July. His re-
--
680
HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
mains were laid to rest in beautiful Forest Home cemetery, in the city of Milwaukee, and an elaborate granite monument of chaste design marks the resting place of this noble man and honored citizen who did so much for northern Michigan, where his name will long be held in reverent memory.
E. GOLDEN FILER .- As a lumberman and capitalist as well as a pro- gressive and public-spirited citizen this well known and representative business man has well upheld the prestige of a name honored in the annals of northern Michigan, and he is a son of the late Delos L. Filer, to whom a special memoir is dedicated on other pages of this volume, so that it is not necessary to again review the data in the sketeh at hand. Like his father, Mr. Filer has been a prominent and influential factor in connection with the lumbering industry in this section of the state, and his operations, carried forward with vigor and discrimination have penetrated other parts of the Union. His local lumbering interests now center largely at Filer City, a suburb of Manistee, a thriving town named in honor of the family of which he is a representative and where he maintains his home. Mr. Filer gave to the nation the loyal service of a loyal soldier of the Union in the Civil war, and in the "piping times of peace" his loyalty has been of the same insistent type,-a voucher for good citizenship and productive energy. He has ever been ready to do his part in the forwarding of enterprises and measures tending to promote the material and social prosperity of the community, and his sterling attributes of character have won and retained to him the inviolable confidence and esteem of his fellow men.
The eldest of the four children of Delos L. and Juliet (Golden) Filer. he whose name initiates this review, was born in Jefferson county, New York, on the 4th of December, 1840. He there received his rudimentary education in the common schools and he was nine years of age when the family came to the west and established a home in Racine, Wisconsin, in 1849. There he attended the public schools until he had attained to the age of thirteen years, and his parents then removed to Manistee, Michigan, in 1853. This was then a center of the great lumber indus- try and the conditions were those of a pioneer community. Mr. Filer continued to attend school at intervals, but the major part of his educa- tio has been gained through self-discipline and through long and active association with men and affairs. He was afforded collegiate advantages, but he places a true estimate on the lessons gained under the wisest of all headmasters, experience. After the family removal to Manistee, Mr. Filer found employment for two or three years in connection with the saw mill and store conducted by E. & J. Canfield, for whom his father was at the time acting as bookkeeper, and in addition to this, he passed considerable time in the woods, thus gaining further knowledge of the details of the industry with which he was destined to become most pron- inently identified in later years. His salary at this time was sixteen dol- lars a month, so that the future capitalist did not gain his early experi- ence under sybartic conditions. In 1858 Mr. Filer returned to Racine, Wisconsin, where he attended Racine College for the ensuing two years. After his return to Manistee he devoted one year to the study of law,
Golden Seler
631
HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
under the able preceptorship of Hon. Thomas J. Ramsdell, who was at that time a leading member of the har of this section of the state. When Mr. Ramsdell was elected to the state legislature young Filer aecom- panied him to Lansing and soon afterward received appointment to a clerical position in the office of the auditor general of the state. He had not yet reached his legal majority and politicians at the state capital pro- tested against his retention of this position, but he continued incumbent of the same for two years, at the expiration of which he voluntarily re- signed, in order to respond to the eall of higher duty and go forth in defense of the Union, whose integrity was jeopardized by armed rebel- lion.
On the organization of Company A, Twentieth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, at Lansing, in August, 1862, Mr. Filer enlisted as a private in the same, and he accompanied his regiment to the front, the command joining the Army of the Potomac immediately after the battle of An- tietam. He was soon afterward detailed to special duty in the sub- sistence department at the headquarters of his brigade, and later he was assigned to post duty in the same department, with which he eon- tinued to be connected until his final discharge. On the 28th of June, 1863, he and four hundred other Federal soldiers were captured by General Imboden's command of cavalry at Edwards Ferry, Maryland. and the prisoners were marched, under cavalry escort, steadily from Sunday morning until three o'clock Monday afternoon without rest or food. The heat and dust were so intense that many fell from exhaustion, and at the end of the march the men were paroled, this eeremonial tak- ing place in an open field, twenty-two miles distant from the city of Baltimore. Mr. Filer made his way to Baltimore, which city was then under martial law, and after continuing on a parole about a month he reported to the commissary department at Washington for duty. He was ordered to Bealton Station, Virginia, where he remained about thirty days, at the expiration of which he was transferred to Fort Foote. Maryland. Three months later he was again ordered to the national capital, where he was on duty in the commissary department for the ensuing year, during the greater part of which he had charge of the payment of commutation of rations on furloughs. In the autumn of 1864, Mr. Filer received news of the death of his loved and devoted mother, and, through the aid of influential friends, he secured his honorable discharge, an incidental stipulation being the furnishing of a substitute.
After the close of his military career Mr. Filer returned to Manistee, where he became identified with the large lumbering business which his father had here established. In the autumn of 1866 he became assoei- ated with his father and his next younger brother, Delos W., in the erec- tion of a mill at the head of Manistee lake, and this had a capacity for the output of fifty thousand feet of lumber a day. The father and two sons thus effected the organization of the firm of D. L. Filer & Sons, and in 1868 the father left the business in charge of E. Golden Filer and removed to Ludington, where his later operations are duly noted in the sketeh of his career given on other pages of this publication. E. Golden Filer assumed entire charge of the extensive business of the firm
632
HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
at Manistee and he has continued at the head of the same during the long intervening years. The enterprise, still broad in its ramifications, is still conducted under the original title, and Mr. Filer's associate in the same is his brother Frank, the other brother, Delos W., having con- tinued to be identified with the business until his death, in October, 1899. Mr. Filer is also president of the Manistee County Savings Bank; vice president of the Preferred Life Insurance Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan; and is a director in the Michigan Trust Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan; the Commonwealth Power Railway and Light Com- pany, New York, the United Light and Railway Company; the Fort Dodge Light Company; Crows Nest Pass Lumber Company and in va- rions other companies.
Mr. Filer has also been associated with John Canfield in the purchase of large tracts of timberland in Wisconsin and with Charles F. Ruggles in similar purchases in Minnesota, in both of which states he still re- tains large interests, the while there has been a due development of the. lumber preserve thus secured. Mr. Filer was the active administrator of the immense estate left by his father and he retains from the same large and valuable interests in Ludington and other parts of Mason county. The little town surrounding the Filer mill, in Manistee county, bears the name of Filer City, and is virtually owned by the represen- tatives of the name. The township in which the village is situated like- wise bears the title of Filer.
E. Golden Filer has been a man of broad and important activities and has by no means been dependent entirely upon paternal prestige for the success he has gained. He is one of the strong and valued citi- zens of northern Michigan and stands representative of high civic ideals, the while liis course has been so guided and governed as to amply justify the unqualified confidence and esteem popularly reposed in him. In politics, though never a seeker of public office, he is found arrayed as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party. His beautiful home is a center of gracious hospitality and Mrs. Filer is a popular figure in the leading social activities of the community.
It is but consonant that in this connection should be reproduced an appreciative estimate given by one who has known Mr. Filer from his boyhood: "Modest and retiring in demeanor, unflinchingly firm in his friendships, noble and generons in character, methodical and conserva- tive in business, cool and deliberate in arriving at conclusions but quite willing and able to defend his convictions, pure in social relations,-in a word, a gentleman whose acquaintance it is a misfortune not to have made,-such is E. Golden Filer."
On the 25th of December, 1865, at Racine, Wisconsin, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Filer to Miss Julia A. Filer, who was born at Ra- eine. Wisconsin, and who is a daughter of Alanson and Maria (Pilking- ton) Filer.
CHARLES NELSON .- Since 1892 has Charles Nelson been a resident in the city of Ludington, Mason county, Michigan, and since 1898 he has been actively engaged in buying, selling and shipping produce, adding to that enterprise, in 1908, the coal commission business. He was born
633
HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
in Denmark, on the 29th of September, 1864, and he was reared and educated in his native land, whence he eame to the United States at the age of twenty-one years. After his arrival in this country he pro- ceeded directly to Ludington and immediately purchased a little farm in Pere Marquette township, Mason county, one and a half miles out- side the city limits. He was identified with agricultural pursuits for a period of seven years, at the expiration of which, in 1892, he established his home in Ludington, as already noted. For a number of years he was in the employ of Mr. Stearnes, working in his saw mills and other places until 1898, at which time he engaged in the produce business, buying. selling and shipping all kinds of marketable goods. In this connection he built up a large and prosperous business. In 1906 he had constructed his fine office and warehouse and in 1908 he began to handle a eoal commission business in addition to his other interests, catering to a wholesale and retail trade and employing four men and two teams with which to carry on the business. Mr. Nelson is a most capable business man and he is a most loyal and public-spirited citizen, doing all in his power to advanee the growth and general progress of his adopted country.
In Denmark, in 1890, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Nelson to Miss Catherine Nelson, who was born and reared in that country. They have six children, namely,-Sarah, Christine, Olga, Dagmer, Anna and Harvey.
Mr. Nelson is a Democrat in his political proclivities and he is well known as one of the leading business men in Ludington, where he has taken an aetive part in public affairs. He is affiliated with various fra- ternal and social organizations of prominent order and he and his fam- ily are devout members of the Baptist church. in the various depart- ments of whose work they have been most active factors.
S. ALBERT F. RICHMOND, M. D .- Among the prominent physicians and surgeons of Onekama, Manistee county, Michigan, is Dr. S. Albert F. Richmond, who has been engaged in the active practice of his pro- fession in this place for fully a score of years. He was born at Earlville, Lasalle county, Illinois, on the 3d of June, 1857, and is a son of Elisha and Lueina (Stevens) Richmond, both of whom were natives of New York, whence they removed to Illinois with their respective parents at an early day. Dr. Richmond was the eighth in order of birth in a fam- ily of nine children and he early became associated with his father in the work and management of the home farm, attending sehool for a few months during the winter each year. By hard study he was en- abled to secure a teacher's certificate after which he spent one term in teaching. In the spring of 1864 the father and family started out for Michigan, Manistee being the destination in view. Later Mr. Richmond went to Bear Lake, where he took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres. The family started to move with teams and covered wagons in the fall of 1864 but cold weather and rains drove them back and they continued to reside in Illinois for another three years. In 1867, with their teams, wagons and portable goods. they again started upon the long and arduous trip to northern Michigan and after
634
HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
seven weeks of travel they arrived at Bear Lake, in June. Their land was located in section 29 and they immediately began the work of re- clamation, clearing their land and raising good crops. Both parents were summoned to the life eternal about the year 1901, they having at- tained to upwards of eighty-four years.
In 1877 S. Albert F., of this review, went to Bear Lake, where he be- gan to study medicine under the able preceptorship of his brother Tyler W., who was a practicing physician in that village. In 1878 he was matriculated in the medical department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in which excellent institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1881, duly receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine. Immediately after his graduation he entered upon the prac- tice of his profession at Manistee, where he remained for a few months, after which he passed ten months at Tallman, Mason county. In Jan- uary, 1883, he went to Bear Lake, where he remained for a period of two years, at the expiration of which he again settled at Manistee, remaining at that place until his health began to fail, when he was forced to give up praetice, for a time. In 1887 he came to Onekama, where he soon built up a large and representative patronage and where his efforts along the line of his profession have met with the most unequivocal success. In 1893 he purchased the drug business of C. D. Stanley, con- duc ing that establishment in connection with his private practice. In politics he accords a loyal support to the eanse of the Republican party and he is ever alert and enthusiastically in sympathy with all measures projeeted for the general welfare of the community. He has held va- rious public offices of local trust, among them being town treasurer, justice of the peace and village clerk; he was president of the village for three years and for twenty years has been a notary public. He and his wife are devont members of the Congregational church, in the va- rions departments of whose work they have ever manifested a deep and thorough interest.
In the year 1879 Dr. Richmond was united in marriage to Miss Min- nie M. Conklin, who was born at Dayton, Ohio, whence she came to Michigan with her parents, who located at Bear Lake about 1867. Dr. and Mrs. Richmond have three children, namely,-Earle K., born at Bear Lake in 1883; Frank A., born at Manistee in 1885; and Ruth S., born at Onekama in 1891. Earle K. is auditor for the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad Company, with headquarters at Chicago; Frank A. is chief telegraph operator for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Com- pany and is located in Nebraska; and Ruth S. is a student at Mount Pleasant, where she is pursuing a course in domestic science.
WILLIAM MILLER .- Manistee may well count herself fortunate in hav- ing so large a number of able business men whose progressive methods and strong initiative powers have done so much to make this city one of the foremost industrial centers in the Wolverine state. A repre- sentative merchant and hardware dealer in Manistee is William Miller. who was born in Germany in 1844. His parents were Carl and Wilhe- mina Miller, both of whom are now deceased. In 1862, when William was a lad of about eighteen years of age, the Miller family emigrated
Mr G. Hudson.
635
HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
to America, loeation being made in Manistee county, Michigan, where a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres was entered. The father was identified with agricultural pursuits during the major portion of his life.
William Miller received his educational training in the old Father- land and after arriving in Manistee he worked in the lumber mills during the summer, helping his father in the clearing and cultivating of the farm during the winter and spring months. In 1869, however, he turned his attention to the dry-goods and clothing business at Man- istee, continuing in this line of enterprise until 1871, when his entire stock and store were destroyed by fire. Undaunted, he started again in the same business, which he continued with eminent success until 1877, in which year he sold out and began working in a hardware store, in which connection he laid the foundation for his present thriv- ing and prosperous business. He worked by the month until 1887, when the firm of Miller & Company was organized at its present loca- tion. In 1891 he bought out his partners and his stock now consists of general hardware, including builders' supplies and farming imple- ments of all kinds. He is a man of impregnable integrity and extra- ordinary executive ability and one who has done much to advance the general welfare of the community. In politics he accords a stalwart allegiance to the principles and policies of the Republican party and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of the Maccabees. He and his wife are devout members of the German Lutheran church, in the various departments of whose work they have been most zealous factors. He has the honor of being the oldest member of the church and has a general supervision of its affairs.
In the year 1869 Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Adelia Radke, of Manistee. She was born in Germany and came to America when a young girl in company with her parents. Her father was a shoemaker by trade and was long engaged in the boot and shoe busi- ness in Manistee. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have six children, namely,- Robert, Amanda, Herman, Alvina, Richard and Bertie. Robert mar- ried Miss Nellie Williams, of Manistee; Amanda married Mr. Henry Viederman, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin ; Herman married Miss Tina Kroll, of Buffalo, New York; Alvina became the wife of Harry Kroll, of Buf- falo, New York; Richard married Miss Annie Winkler, of Manistee ; and Bertie is the wife of Nels Johnson, of Manistee. Robert and Her- man are engaged with their father in the hardware business and Rich- ard is bookkeeper for the American Hide & Leather Tannery, of Manistee.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.