USA > Michigan > A history of northern Michigan and its people, Volume II > Part 11
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WILLIAM G. HUDSON .- No citizen of Ludington, the beautiful capital city of Mason county, commands more secure place in popular confi- dence and esteem than does William G. Hudson, who has here main- tained his home for nearly two score years, who has been prominently identified with the upbuilding of the city, and who has here held var- ious offices of distinctive public trust, including that of postmaster. He was for many years engaged in business as one of the leading mer- chants of Ludington, and his aid and influence have been potent in con-
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neetion with the civic and material development and progress of this favored section of the Wolverine state. He is one of the loyal sons of the republic who gave valiant service as soldiers of the Union during the climacteric period of the Civil war, and he manifested the fervor ot his patriotism by enlisting when a mere youth. Ancestors of Mr. Hud- son in both the paternal and maternal lines were numbered among the patriot soldiers of the Continental forces in the war of the Revolution, and through his own services he added new laurels to the military pres- tige thus gained by his forebears. A man of broad intellectual ken and of inviolable integrity in all the relations of life, Mr. Hudson well merits the unqualified esteem in which he is held in the community that has so long represented his home, and thus it is but consonant that in this publication be entered a brief record of his career.
William G. Hudson was born at Gouverneur, St. Lawrence county. New York, on the 14th of October, 1843, and is a son of Henry and Mary (Chappell) Hudson. Henry Hudson was born near Pittsfield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and was of English descent, the fam- ily having been founded in New England in the colonial epoch of our national history. His father was likewise a native of the old Bay state, and the latter's father, Darius Hudson, was a valiant soldier with the Massachusetts troops in the Revolutionary war. Henry Hudson was reared to maturity in his native state and there learned the cooper's trade. As a young man he removed to the state of New York, where, in 1834, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Mary Chappell, who was born and reared in that state and whose paternal grandfather was a soldier of the Revolution. Soon after his marriage, which occurred in the southern part of the state, Henry Hudson removed to St. Lawrence county, New York, where he engaged in the work of his trade and where he also bought a traet of land. He developed his farm and there con- tinned to be identified with agricultural pursuits until 1845, when he located in the town of Gouverneur, in the same county, where he con- ducted a hotel for a period of about fifteen years. After his retirement from this line of enterprise he turned his attention to the real-estate business, in which he there continued to be engaged until his death, at the age of fifty-two years; his wife long survived him and was eighty- two years of age when she was summoned to the life eternal. This worthy couple became the parents of five sons and two daughters, and all of the sons served as soldiers in the Civil war. The parents were members of the Universalist church and in politics the father was or- ginally an old-line Whig, from which party he transferred his allegiance to the Republican party at the time of its organization.
William G. Hudson was reared to adult age in the town of Gouver- neur, New York, where his early educational advantages were those afforded in the common schools and in well conducted private schools. When the dark cloud of Civil war cast its pall over the national firma- ment the youthful patriotism of Mr. Hudson was roused to definite re- sponse. and he was among those who went forth at the time when Presi- dent Lincoln issued his first call for volunteers. Early in 1861. several months prior to his eighteenth birthday anniversary, Mr. Hudson en- listed as a private in the Sixteenth New York Volunteer Infantry, but
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illness prevented his being mustered in at this time. Early in August of the same year he enlisted as a private in Battery H, First New York Light Artillery, with which command he was mustered into the United States service and with which he departed for the national capital in the following October. In the spring of 1862 his battery joined the Army of the Potomac, in the command of General McClellan, for the Peninsular campaign, and from that time forward his record as a soldier of the Union has been briefly summed up as follows: The first engagement was near Newport News, with the Confederate gunboat "Teaser," on the James river; he was at the seige of Yorktown and all through the Peninsular campaign, including Fair Oaks and the seven days' retreat of Mcclellan from White Oak swamp to Harrison's Land- ing. During the winter of 1862-3 he was with the army at Yorktown, Virginia, and Gloucester Point. In the spring he joined General Kil- patrick in his raid to Mathews Court House and Mobjack Bay. His command then joined the Fourth Army Corps, under General Dix, in June, 1863, and thus took part in the second expedition against Rich- mond, along the same route taken by MeClellan in 1862, and there were engagements with the enemy at Baltimore Cross Roads and other points,-principally skirmishes. The forces then returned to York- town and thence to Washington. From the national capital the com- mand proceeded to Frederick City, Maryland, and it arrived just one day too late to take part in the ever memorable battle of Gettysburg. Again joining the Army of the Potomac, at Warrington Junction, Vir- ginia, Mr. Hudson took part in the Mine Run campaign, late in 1863. In May, 1864, he started for Culpeper Court House, with General Grant on his great campaign, and he participated in the battle of the Wilder- ness as well as in the engagements at Spottsylvania Court House, Jer- icho Ford, Bethesda Church and before Petersburg, in July; and in nearly all the engagements from that time until September 5, 1864,- thus having served more than three years before attaining to his legal majority. He received his honorable discharge, at the Yellow Tavern, in front of Petersburg, Virginia, on the 5th of September, 1864, and his record as a gallant and loyal soldier of the republic is one that will ever redound to his credit and honor.
In the autumn of 1864 Mr. Hudson came to Michigan and located at Olivet, Eaton county, where he engaged in the work of his trade, that of painter, and where his marriage was solemnized in December of the following year. He finally established a paint and oil store at Olivet. where he continued in business until January, 1872, when he removed to Ludington, which was then a mere Iumber town. Here he opened a paint store, and from a modest inception he built up a prosperous en- terprise, in connection with which he became one of the representative business men of the village. He continued in this line of business un- til 1888 and in the spring of the following year he was appointed post- master of Ludington, after General Harrison had succeeded Grover Cleveland in the presidency of the United States. He retained this office four years, when a return of Democratic administration compassed his retirement. In 1892 Mr. Hudson was elected city assessor and he held this office two years. In 1898, after the election of MeKinley to Vol. II-6
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the presideney, Mr. Hudson was again commissioned postmaster, and at the expiration of his first term of four years he was reappointed, thus serving under both Presidents MeKinley and Roosevelt. He re- tired from offiee in 1905, and his administration of the affairs of the local postoffice has passed on reeord as one of signal ability and dis- crimination, as well as one that gained uniform popular approval in the community. Sinee leaving the postoffice Mr. Hudson has lived virtually retired. He has ever been uncompromising in his allegiance to the Republican party and has been an active worker in behalf of its eause, as well as a leader in its local councils. He has held various city and county offiees, ineluding that of chairman of the board of supervisors of Mason county, and his loyalty, integrity and publie spirit have brought to him unequivocal confidence and esteem in the com- munity that has so long represented his home.
Mr. Hudson is an appreciative and valued member or comrade of Pap Williams Post, No. 15, Grand Army of the Republic, and he has been long and prominently identified with the time-honored Masonie fraternity. He was raised to the degree of Master Mason in Bellevue Lodge, No. 83, Free & Accepted Masons, at Bellevue, Michigan, in 1868, and in the same year he there received also the degrees in Bellevue Chapter, No. 53, Royal Arch Masons. In 1870 he received the maximum ehivalrie order in Marshall Commandery, No. 17, Knights Templars, at Marshall, Michigan. He was a charter member of Olivet Lodge, No. 267, Free & Accepted Masons, and was its worshipful master in 1871. He was also one of the organizers of Ludington Chapter, No. 92, Royal Arch Masons, in 1873, and was for four years High Priest of the same. Mr. Iludson received the Council degrees in Oceana Council, No. 27, Royal & Select Masters, at Pentwater, Michigan, and is a charter mem- ber of Ludington Couneil, No. 48. He has had the distinction of serv- ing as Grand Master of the Grand Couneil of Michigan, an office of which he was incumbent in 1883. He was thriee Illustrious Master of Ludington Council for four years, and in his home eity he also is ae- tively affiliated with Pere Marquette Lodge, No. 299, Free & Accepted Masons, to which he was dimitted upon his removal to this city. In 1890 he served as Grand High Priest of the grand chapter of Michigan and he was one of the foremost in effeeting the organization of Apollo Commandery No. 31, Knights Templars, in Ludington, in 1882. He is a eharter member of this Commandery and was its first Eminent Com- mander, an office which he retained four consecutive years. In the Ancient Accepted Seottish Rite Masonry Mr. Hudson received the thirty-second degree on the 16th of February, 1881, in De Witt Clinton Consistory, in the city of Grand Rapids, and on the 15th of Septem- ber, 1891, in the city of Boston, was eonferred upon him the maximum and honorary degree, the thirty-third. Ile is affiliated with the various bodies of De Witt Clinton Consistory and in the same eity he also is identified with Saladin Temple of the Ancient Arabie Order of the Nobles of the Mystie Shrine. Even these brief data offer assurance that Mr. Hudson is one of the prominent exemplars of Masonry in Michigan and he is well known in the cireles of the great fraternity,
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of whose noble teachings and history he is deeply appreciative. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
At Olivet, Michigan, on the 28th of December, 1865, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hudson to Miss Melissa J . Whitney, who was born in Illinois but who was reared to maturity in Eaton county, Michigan, where her father, the late Marcus Whitney was an honored pioneer. Prior to her marriage Mrs. Hudson had been a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of Eaton county, and in Ludington she has long been a popular factor in religious and social activities. Mr. and Mrs. Hudson became the parents of two children,-Mortimer L., who was born on the 3d of January, 1868, and Bertha May, who was born May 6, 1871, and died April 18, 1881. Mortimer L. Hudson, who is associated with the Edward Hines Lumber Company, of Chicago, was graduated in the law department of the University of Michigan and was engaged in the practice of his profession in Ludington until 1898, when he removed to Chicago and formed his present connection. He served as city attorney of Ludington and also as prosecuting attorney of Mason county, and he was recognized as one of the essentially representative members of the bar of this section of the state.
FRANK HAMILTON .- To the early enlisting of the co-operation of men of enterprise, ability and integrity in the furtherance of its industrial and other business activities has been mainly due the splendid advance- ment made by northern Michigan in the lines of development and civic progress. Among the sterling citizens who have contributed to such gratifying results is numbered Frank Hamilton, who is one of the rep- resentative business men and most honored citizens of Traverse City and whose identification with local interests had its inception in the pioneer days, as is evident when it is stated that he has here maintained his home for more than forty years. He came to Traverse City as a young man and has kept pace with its growth and upbuilding, simul- taneously with which he has advanced surely and worthily forward to the goal of independence and definite prosperity. He is consistently to be designated as one of the pioneer merchants of this section of the state and is now president of the Hamilton Clothing Company, one of the leading retail concerns of Grand Traverse county, besides which he has other important local interests. He has stood exponent of the most loyal citizenship and has contributed his quota to the support of the measures and enterprises that have brought about the upbuilding of a thriving little city, the while his course has been such as to retain to him the unqualified confidence and esteem of the community in which he has so long maintained his home.
A scion of a family whose name has been identified with the annals of New England, that cradle of so much of our national history, since the early colonial epoch, Mr. Hamilton himself is a native of the old Pine Tree state, and his ancestry is of that staunch order that should ever prove a source of pride and satisfaction. He was horn in Water- boro, York county, Maine, on the 20th of November, 1848, and is a son of Porter and Sally (Hill) Hamilton, both of whom were likewise na- tives of York county, where the respective families were founded in
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the pioneer days. The father was born Mareh 1, 1814, and died October 16, 1884, while the mother was born December 25, 1819, and died Sep- tember 18, 1901; both passed their entire lives in their native county. They became the parents of three children,-Howard, who was born November 13, 1845, and who is a representative eitizen and business man of Biddiford, York county, Maine; Frank, whose name initiates this review ; and Charles, who died on the 3d of May, 1886. Porter Hamil- ton was a man whose character exemplified the fine traditions of the New England stoek and his life was one of signal honor and usefulness. He was a wheelwright by trade, and followed this vocation in connec- tion with agricultural pursuits, but during a portion of his aetive eareer he was engaged in the general merchandise business in the village of Waterboro. He was called upon to serve in various local offices of pub- lie trust, including that of representative of York county in the state legislature, of which he was a member for two years. He also served as deputy sheriff, and this entailed his residence in Alfred, the county seat, during his ineumbeney of the same; the latter years of his life were spent in Saco where he was engaged in the manufacture of car- riages. In polities he was a staunch supporter of the principles of the Democratic party as exemplified by Jefferson and Jackson, and both he and his wife were attendants of the Unitarian church.
Under the benignant influenees of a good home Frank Ilamilton was reared to years of maturity, and he early began to assist his father in the store and on the farm, the while he duly availed himself of the privileges of the common schools of the locality and period. He thus attended school both at Waterboro and Alfred, and at the age of sixteen years he assumed the position of elerk in the dry goods store conducted by his unele, B. F. Hamilton, at Saeo, Maine. He later went to Biddi- ford, Maine, where the same unele was an interested principal in the dry-goods business eondueted under the firm name of Emery & Com- pany, and there he held the position of salesman for three years. Through these associations Mr. Hamilton gained excellent experience in connection with the practical details of the mercantile business, and thus fortified himself for further responsibilities and eventually inde- pendent operations along the same line of enterprise. It is interesting to record that his honored unele under whom he thus seenred his initial training is still living, at Saco, Maine, at the patriarchal age of ninety-one years (1911). Another unele, Samuel K. Hamilton, is one of the representative members of the bar of the city of Boston and has been engaged in the active praetiee of his profession for nearly half a century.
In 1868, in company with his friend J. W. Milliken, another young man who had received similar discipline in the mercantile business, Mr. IFamilton visited the eity of Boston, in search of employment in a larger field; there he was so well received by one of the old-time wholesale dry-goods houses,-Wellington Brothers, that three months later he was ealled to Boston by this firm to meet-Mr. Smith Barnes, who wished to secure the serviees of two young men, who should ae- company him on his return to Traverse City, Michigan, where he was manager of the large general store conducted by Hannah. Lay & Com-
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pany. Mr. Hamilton met the overtures with favor and he and his young friend Milliken made arrangements to accept the positions tendered. They made the journey by way of Chicago, from which city they secured transportation to their destination on the steamer "Allegheny," from which they disembarked at Traverse City on the 31st of May, 1868. They became salesmen in the dry-goods and clothing department of the establishment mentioned, and after two years of such service Mr. Hamilton was promoted to a position in the general offices of the firm of Hannah, Lay & Company. Three years later the two ambitious young men were enabled to initiate independent operations, through the favor and co-operation of their former employers. They organized the firm of Hamilton, Milliken & Company, in which the Hannah & Lay firm and also Mr. Barnes became interested as "silent" partners. The new firm was thus organized in the year 1873, and the mercantile business was continued under the conditions noted until 1880, when Messrs. Hamilton and Milliken purchased the interests of the other principals and assumed full control of the business, which they devel- oped into one of large scope. Their relations were of the most har- monious order, and the two boyhood friends continued to be thus actively associated until 1892, in February of which year the partner- ship was dissolved by mutual consent,-Mr. Milliken retaining the dry-goods, carpets and cloak lines, and Mr. Hamilton the clothing, hats, caps and men's furnishing goods. The enterprise had grown unwieldy and the two members of the firm considered it a matter of expediency to thus divide the business, as the demands of the trade in the departments as thus divided were sufficient to justify such segregation. The former partners are still associated in the owner- ship and occupancy of the fine two-story brick building which they erected in 1889, at the corner of Front and Cass streets, and the same affords adequate accommodations for the two finely equipped and thoroughly modern .stores. Mr. Hamilton finally found it expedient to incorporate his business, and this was done in 1894, when the present Hamilton Clothing Company was organized. The enterprise of Mr. Milliken is conducted under the title of J. W. Milliken, Incorporated. It is interesting to record that the store first occupied by the firm of Hamilton, Milliken & Company was a wooden building known as the Hulburd building, located on Front street, and this continued the headquarters of the business until the erection of the firm's new build- ing. as already noted.
Early convinced of the excellent future in store for Traverse City. Mr. Hamilton made judicious investments in local real estate, of which his holdings at the present time are still large. He sold his interest in the lot on which the First National Bank erected its fine building, and he is at the present time vice-president of this substantial and popular financial institution, with which he has been identified from the time of its organization. He was one of the organizers of the Traverse City Business Men's Association and had the distinction of being its first president. When the Michigan Business Men's Association was organ- ized, with a representation, which, during his two years of activity as president, numbered seventy local associations in the state, Mr. Hamil-
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ton was elected as the first president of this noteworthy federation. in the activities of which he has been an influential factor. Every under- taking that has been projected for the general good of the community has received his support and encouragement, and he has been exponent of the most liberal and progressive civic ideals. He was mayor of his city, of whose municipal affairs he gave a most careful and acceptable administration ; he retained this executive office for one term. He was then appointed to fill a vacancy in the city council and later was elected as his own successor. He has been specially zealous in the work of secur- ing good roads in Grand Traverse county and was the first road com- missioner appointed for the county after the legislative enactment that provided state co-operation in this work. The impetus given to the construction of proper highways under his administration and through his continued efforts had been potent in promoting the best interests of the county and its people. In polities Mr. Hamilton accords a staunch allegiance to the canse of the Republican party and both he and his wife hold membership in the Congregational church, in the work of which they have long been active and zealous. These are populuar factors in the social life of their home city and their attractive home is a center of gracious hospitality.
On the 8th of January, 1877, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ilamilton to Miss Eva Rosman, who was born at Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York, on the 21st of June, 1845. She is a daughter of Captain Alfred W. Rosman, to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this work, so that further data concerning the family history are not demanded in the present connection. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton have no children.
CAPTAIN ALFRED W. ROSMAN was one of the strong and valiant fig- ures in connection with navigation interests on the Great Lakes, and was one of the veritable pioneers in connection with this line of enter- prisc. He knew Michigan from the pioneer epoch of its history, and this publication is favored in being able to present a brief review of his career, the data for the article having been considerately supplied by his daughter, Mrs. Frank Hamilton, of Traverse City. Captain Rosman was a man of sturdy integrity of character, loyal to duty and kindly and sympathetic under an exterior that indicated the strict disciplinarian. He was a scion of staunch old New England stock and the family, of English lineage, was founded in America in the colonial era of our national history. Captain Alfred W. Rosman was born at Burlington, Vermont, on the 30th of September, 1818, and died at his home in Chicago, on the 26th of November, 1892, after having refused to give up the command of his vessel until the preceding month, when, during his last voyage, he had to be supported by two of his men while standing on the bridge to give his final orders. This one action indicated the man as he was. for none was ever truer to duty or to the responsibilities imposed.
Captain Rosman became identified with navigation on the Great Lakes when a boy, and he was commander of sailing and steam vessels for over half a century. enjoying an almost incredible experience in
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watching the tremendous strides of advancement made within the active career of his lifetime. He saw Chicago in 1835, an almost un- known point. There was no harbor and he went ashore in a small boat. The future metropolis showed a few small houses clustering near the present site of the Rush street bridge, and the most conspic- nous buildings were old Fort Dearborn and the residence of that well known pioneer, John Kinzie. The embryonic city had no bridges, in lieu of which were supplied two floats,-one on the main river and the other on the south branch. Streets were of the most primitive order and practically impassable in seasons of rain. At that time St. Joseph, Michigan, was a much larger town, and Grand Haven had the only harbor on Lake Michigan. At that point were a warehouse and several smaller buildings, and the sites of the present cities of Mus- kegon, Manistee and Ludington were given over to the untrammeled forest wilds. Detroit was a mere village with no paved streets, and practically all provisions were secured from the Canadian side of the river. Such provisions were customarily transported by fishermen, whose arrival in the morning hours was signalized by their songs. The first ferry-boat across the Detroit river was the "Argo," and the bottom of this primitive craft was constructed of squared logs. St. Clair flats were entirely unimproved when Captain Rosman gained his first view of the same. The channel was hardly nine feet in depth, and no attempts were made to take vessels through the same at night. At Mackinac Island the fort was at that time occupied by American sol- diers; fur trading was at its zenith and the warehouses were filled with valuable pelts. At Fort Mackinac the Indians received their pay from the government, and many thousands of the red men made their way thither for this purpose. They came from all quarters, even from the Missouri, and were given blankets and money, the latter being silver half-dollars packed in boxes. Traders flocked from all points to barter with the Indians, and the result was that the latter usually departed as poor as they came, save for the accumulation of a few trinkets. In the autumn of 1835 the "Austerlitz" went ashore at Sleeping Bear Point, and the crew attempted to walk along the beach to the nearest settlement .- at Grand Haven. Several of the number died en route and were buried beneath the snow. The survivors finally reached Grand Haven and thence proceeded by stage to Detroit. One who was familiar with this disaster was young Rosman and his reminiscences in later years were most graphic, as touching this and manifold other experiences encountered. In the spring of 1836, as a member of the crew of the "Marshal Ney," he visited the wreck of the "Austerlitz." and from the same was recovered a barrel of flour that had been un- der the water all winter, five pounds of which had been damaged.
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