USA > Michigan > A history of northern Michigan and its people, Volume II > Part 15
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George W. Doane was reared and educated in Genesee county, sup- plementing his earlier training by a course in the high school at Holly, · Oakland county. He studied civil engineering under the preceptorship of a private tutor and in time' became exceedingly proficient in his chosen field. He was a resident of Genesee county until 1888, in which year he established his home in Gladwin, where he has maintained his residence during the intervening years to the present time, in 1911. Up to 1900 Mr. Doane was engaged in the work of his profession and in that year he turned his attention to the abstract business, in which his success has been on a parity with his well directed endeavors. He fur- nishes complete abstracts of all titles and transfers of property sold in Gladwin county. Long experience and keen interest in the work have made him an expert in this line of enterprise. In politics he is aligned as a loyal supporter of the cause of the Republican party and he has served most creditably in various important offices of public trust. He has held the office of clerk of Grant township and has been county sur- veyor of Gladwin county, in addition to which he has also been city engineer of Gladwin. For six years he was alderman and he is now (1911) serving his fourth term as justice of the peace, having been incumbent of the latter office for a period of sixteen years. He is ex- tremely conversant with the laws of the state and no movement pro- jected for the improvement of Gladwin has met with any but the heart- iest approval on his part. He is affiliated with several representative social organizations.
In the year 1898 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Doane to Miss Emma E. Scott, who was born and reared at Newburgh, Ontario, and who is a daughter of Thomas Scott, also of Newburgh. No children have been born to this union. Mr. Doane is a man of broad general informa- tion and is endowed by nature with high intellectual qualities. While he has won marked success in business he has at the same time kept in touch with the thinking men of the age and is thoroughly informed upon many of the subjects which concern the general interest of society and the welfare of the nation.
JAMES J. POTTER .- Any publication purporting to enter record concerning the representative citizens of Alpena would be devoid of
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consistency were there failure to accord recognition to this pioneer business man, who has here maintained his home for nearly half a cen- tury and who has been prominently identified with the social and ma- terial development of the fine little city which has been the scene of his worthy and productive activities along normal lines of enterprise. Here he has been engaged in the hardware business for more than forty years, and in the community his name has ever been synonymous with integrity and honor, the while his civic loyalty and public spirit have been of the most pronounced order, as shown in his support of all measures that have tended to conserve the best interests of the community. A man of sincerity and sterling character, an aggressive and successful factor in business life, and a citizen who merits the high esteem in which he is uniformly held, Mr. Potter is one whose career is pleasing to contem- plate, and his also is the distinction of having served as a valorous sol- dier of the Union during the greater part of the Civil war.
James J. Potter was born in Carleton county, province of Ontario, Canada, on a farm about 28 miles distant from the city of Ottawa, and the date of his nativity was November 1, 1843. He is a son of Thomas and Margaret (Duncan) Potter, both of whom were born in the north of Ireland and both of whom were of Scotch and Irish lineage. The father was born in the year 1790 and died at Port Huron, Michigan, in 1865, the major portion of his active career having been devoted to the cooper trade, which he learned in his native land. He emigrated from the Emerald Isle to America in the early '30s and thereafter maintained his home in the province of Ontario, Canada, until 1848, when he came to Michigan and located in Port Huron, which was then a mere village. There he engaged in day laboring and there he maintained his home for many years. He was a man of alert mentality and so lived as to deserve and command the unqualified confidence and esteem of his fellow men. His wife, to whom he was married while a resident of Ireland, was born in the year 1808 and she was summoned to the life eternal in 1876. The father was a communicant of the Episcopal church and the mother of the Methodist church. They became the parents of eight sons, of whom six attained to years of maturity, and of the number James J., of this sketch, is the elder of the two now living. His only surviving brother, John D., is associated with him in business, under the title of the Potter Hardware Company, and is individually mentioned on other pages of this work.
James J. Potter was a lad of about five years at the time of the family removal to Port Huron, Michigan, where he was reared to adult age and where he was afforded the advantages of the common schools of the period. When the Civil war was precipitated on a divided nation he showed his intrinsic loyalty by tendering his services in defense of the Union. On the 29th of July, 1862, about four months prior to his nine- teenth birthday anniversary, he enlisted "for three years or during the war," as a private in Company C, Twenty-second Michigan Volunteer Infantry, with which gallant command he served until the close of the war. He received his honorable discharge at Nashville, Tennessee, on the 26th of June, 1865, and was mustered out as second lieutenant of Company E, in the city of Detroit, Michigan. Mr. Potter accompanied
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his regiment into Kentucky at the time when General Kirby Smith, the well known Confederate officer, was preparing to make a raid on the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, but the regiment at this time was ill equipped for conflict with the enemy. Though its members had been supplied with Austrian rifles they had no supply of cartridges, a deficiency that was made good by whittling bullets of larger calibre to fit their guns. The command marched from Covington, Kentucky, on the opposite side of the Ohio river from Cincinnati, to Lexington, Kentucky, where it re- mained during the winter of 1862-3. In the spring it marched to Le- banon, Kentucky, having been in pursuit of General Morgan through Kentucky, and finally it reached Nashville, Tenn., where it remained on provost duty until September, 1863. The regiment then moved on to Chattanooga and arrived in time to take active part in the battle of Chickamauga, where it supported a battery during the engagement on the 19th of September. On the 20th the Twenty-second Michigan, which was temporarily attached to Granger's reserve corps, was ordered to the right. It charged over Snodgrass hill into the stronghold of the enemy losing very heavily in killed and wounded, repulsed a counter charge and held the ground from noon until evening when the amuni- tion was exhausted, order was given to fall back, but before its execu- tion, came an order to return to the hill, and this action was taken by the gallant command with no ammunition, the result being all that were left were captured by the Confederate forces who surrounded them after dark. Mr. Potter was among the number thus taken prisoner and with his comrades he was taken to Ringgold, Georgia, and marched to Dalton where they were placed on freight cars and taken to Richmond, Vir- ginia. He was incarcerated in Pemberton prison, across the street from the notorious Libby prison, and after being held there for six weeks was removed to Danville, Virginia. In the spring of 1864, he and other prisoners were transferred to Andersonville prison. After the fall of Atlanta they were started for Charleston, South Carolina. Sixty prison- ers were assigned to each box car and as there was no room for the guards in the cars they took their positions on the roof of the cars, six on each car. Mr. Potter was placed in charge of the men in his car and upon arrival at night at Fort Valley, Georgia, he managed to escape from the train. He endured untold hardships and privations in making his way to the Union lines, one hundred and fifty miles distant. He passed fifteen days and sixteen nights on the road and walked the entire dis- tance to Decatur, Georgia, where he joined the Union forces. Upon his arrival he found that he had been promoted second lieutenant, with an order from General Thomas for him to be mnstered into this office. He thus served as an officer of his regiment until the close of the war, and, as already stated, was mustered out with the rank of second lieutenant. His record as a soldier of the republic is without blemish, being marked by utmost fidelity and gallantry, and it redounds to his lasting honor.
After the close of the war Mr. Potter entered the Bryant & Stratton Business College in the city of Detroit, and after the completion of a course in this institution he came to Northern Michigan and established his residence in Alpena, where he arrived on the 1st of December, 1865. Here he secured the position of bookkeeper for the lumhering firm of L. Vol. II-8
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M. Mason & Company, with which he continued until 1868, when he formed a partnership with his elder brother, Edward K., and engaged in the retail hardware businss, under the firm name of Potter Brothers. The enterprise had a most modest inception, but from this nucleus has been evolved the large and important business now controlled by the Potter Hardware Company, one of the most notable concerns of the kind in the entire northern part of the state and one that now represents both wholesale and retail trade. In 1869, John D. Potter purchased the interest of his brother Edward K. and the business was thereafter con- tinued under the name of Potter Brothers until November, 1909, when the two principals, James J. and John D. effected the organization of the Potter Hardware Company, which was duly incorporated under the laws of the state and which bases its operations upon a capital stock of sixty thousand dollars. The two brothers retain virtually the entire stock of the concern and James J. is president of the company, while John D. holds the office of treasurer. Through the enterprise noted the Potter brothers have contributed in large measure to the business so- lidity and prestige of Alpena and here their high reputation for fair- ness and honesty in all transactions constitutes their strongest asset, as they have gained and retained the unequivocal confidence of the com- munity with whose interests they have been so long and prominently identified as representative business men and loyal and progressive citizens.
In politics James J. Potter has ever been found arrayed as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party and he has served in various offices of public trust. He was supervisor of Alpena township for one term and for twelve years held the office of deputy collector of United States customs for the eastern district of Michigan. He has ever maintained a sincere interest in his old comrades of the Civil war and is one of the appreciative and valued members of Horace S. Roberts Post, No. 139, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he was one of the organizers and of which he served as commander for several terms. He is also affiliated with Alpena Lodge, No. 199, Free & Accepted Masons, and Thunder Bay Chapter, No. 74, Royal Arch Masons. Both he and his wife are most zealous members of the Baptist church in Alpena, and he served for nearly forty years as superintendent of its Sunday school, an office from which he retired in 1908.
On the 29th of January, 1868, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Potter to Miss Frances G. Barlow, who was born at Branchville, Sussex county, New Jersey, and who is a daughter of Rev. Frederick N. and Harriet (Gillette) Barlow, both of whom were born in Connecticut, both being representatives of families founded in New England in the colonial epoch of our national history. Rev. Frederick N. Barlow was an able and honored clergyman of the Baptist church, in whose ministry he labored with all of consecrated zeal for more than half a century. He celebrated his eighty-ninth birthday anniversary on the 13th of March, 1911, and is now living retired in Alpena, where he is held in reverent affection by all who know him. IIe had the distinction of being the organizer of the First Baptist church of Alpena, in 1867, and served as its pastor for fully ten years. He was first lieutenant of Company H,
Fred M Potter.
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One Hundred and Fifteenth New York Volunteer Infantry, in the Civil war and was surrendered as a prisoner of war at Harper's Ferry; he received a parole after being held in durance for several months and finally rejoined his regiment. He is one of the honored members of Horace S. Roberts Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and has served as chaplain of the same. Mrs. Barlow died April 4, 1881. Mr. and Mrs. Potter became the parents of seven children, of whom five are liv- ing. The other two, a daughter and a son, died in infancy. Rev. Arthur B. is a clergyman of the Baptist church and holds a pastorate at Balston, New York; Harriet is the wife of Charles E. Cheney, of Detroit, Michi- gan; Frederic N., postmaster of Alpena, is specifically mentioned else- where in this volume; Frank E. remains at the parental home and is associated with the business of the Potter Hardware Company; and J. Carroll is engaged with Russell & Erwin Manufacturing Company in New York City.
FREDERIC N. POTTER .- As the efficient and popular postmaster of · his native city of Alpena, where he is also engaged in the fire and acci- dent insurance business, Mr. Potter merits recognition in this publica- tion, and he is known as one of the representative citizens of the county that has ever been his home and in which he is a member of a family whose name has been long and prominently identified with the history of this favored section of the Wolverine state. Adequate data concern- ing the family appears in the sketch of the career of his father, James J. Potter, on other pages of this work, and a repetition of the same is not demanded in the present article.
Frederic Nelson Potter was born in Alpena on the 16th of Septem- ber, 1872, and is a son of James J. and Frances G. (Barlow) Potter, the father still residing in this city. After completing the curriculum of the public schools Mr. Potter assumed the position of clerk in the hardware establishment of the firm of Potter Brothers, in which his father was senior member, and he continued to be identified with this enterprise until 1890, when he associated himself with his uncle, Will- iam H. Potter, in the work and management of a well improved farm in Alpena county. This study and invigorating industry engrossed his attention until 1894, when he again became a salesman in the hardware establishment of Potter Brother, long one of the leading mercantile con- cerns of Alpena. He continued to be thus engaged until 1900, when he here established himself in the fire and accident insurance business, in which he has since successfully continued. He is representative of lead- ing insurance companies and as an underwriter has a position of leader- ship among similar agencies in his home city. In 1906 Mr. Potter re- ceived from President Roosevelt appointment and commission to the office of postmaster of Alpena, and upon the expiration of his term he was reappointed, by President Taft, in June, 1910. He has given a most careful and effective administration of the affairs of this office and has done munch to improve the service and facilities thereof, with the result that there has been a gratifying measure of popular approval and en- dorsement. He enjoys unqualified esteem in the community in which he was born and reared, and such popular approbation constitutes an
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effective metewand of character. In politics, as may naturally be in- ferred, Mr. Potter is found aligned as an uncompromising advocate of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor, and he has given yeoman service in its local ranks. He is af- filiated with Alpena Lodge, No. 199, Free & Accepted Masons; Thunder Bay Chapter, No. 74, Royal Arch Masons; Myrtle Lodge, No. 432, In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows; and Alpena Lodge, No. 505, Bene- volent & Protective Order of Elks, besides which he holds membership in other civic organizations of representative character.
On the 22d of May, 1895, Mr. Potter was united in marriage to Miss Kathryn McLeod, who was born in Bay City, Michigan, and who was the second in order of birth of the three daughters of John J. and Han- nah L. McLeod, the latter of whom died when Mrs. Potter was a child and the former of whom now resides in Alpena. Mr. McLeod was born in Ben Becula. Scotland, and, as the name indicates, is of staunch Scot- tish lineage. He was long and prominently identified with railroad in- terests in Michigan, having early become an employe of the Detroit, Bay City & Alpena Railroad, whose original line is now a part of the Detroit' & Mackinac Railroad. As a conductor on the Detroit, Bay City & Alpena Railroad he had the distinction of bringing the first passenger train into Alpena, and the occasion was one notable in this history of this city. where he has lived virtually retired since 1900. He is a staunch Republican and is affiliated with the local lodge, chapter and commandery of the Masonic fraternity, being one of the well known and highly esteemed citizens of northern Michigan, of the development of which section of the state he has been an appreciative witness. Mr. and Mrs. Potter have one son, William Henry, who was born on the 1st of September. 1896.
MRS. TERESA ROSA BURR .- The time is not far past when women were considered unfit to transact business. They had been so frequently in- formed that they were the "weaker vessel" they believed it themselves and in the smallest business matters they sought humble counsel of their male relatives. One of the distinguishing features of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century is a marked change in this attitude and the woman of the twentieth century, particularly the American woman, is sharply competing with her brother for position in the various profes- sions and trades. Not only have the clerical and lesser positions been well filled by women, but they have besieged the highest walks of life and are found in the professors' chair, on the platform, in the pulpit and at the bar. Thus it is but a sign of the times when there is en- countered one of the foremost business concerns of the city which is in the hands of a woman. This is the Standish Creamery, and its manager and proprietor is Mrs. T. R. Burr.
The Standish Creamery is one of those substantial and well-conducted institutions which contribute in due measure to the progress and pros- perity of the community in which they are located. This certain in- dustry was established a good many years ago by a Mr. Judd, and was conducted as a cheese factory by that gentleman for about twenty-three years. It was purchased by Frank A. Burr, the husband of the subject
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of the sketch, in 1904 and upon the deeease of Mr. Burr in 1905 the management was assumed by his wife. The creamery has experienced constant growth and prosperity and at the present time the product amounts to one hundred and sixty-six thousand pounds of butter per annum. This is used in supplying Standish and many other points, in- cluding Bay City and surrounding towns. Mrs. Burr is gifted with business aenmen, sound judgment and great exeentive ability, and her snecess has by no means been an accident, but a logical result.
Mrs. Burr, whose maiden name was Teresa Hanbenr, is a native of Clarion county, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Marshall and Teresa (Hapinger) Hanbeur, natives of the same county and state. The father was engaged in farming and Mrs. Burr's youthful years were passed on the farm, her education being secured in the schools of Clarion, Pennsylvania. It was while living in Pennsylvania that Mrs. Burr met and married Mr. Burr, their union being celebrated on December 13, 1887. To them were born two children,-Genevieve and Marvin, both with their mother. There is also a son, Ralph Burr, born to the first marriage of Mr. Burr.
Frank A. Burr, deceased, was born in Girard county, Michigan, in 1856, a son of Charles Burr. He was educated in the public schools of his native county and when a young man took up the creamery busi- ness, which he followed until his demise,-a period of twenty-three years. In 1885 he removed to the Keystone state, where for a time he engaged in the creamery business in Clarion county and there he con- traeted that union which was to prove happy and congenial and which was only terminated by death. He was of English deseent. He and his wife became identified with Standish in the year 1903, soon thereafter becoming proprietors of the Standish Creamery, and in 1905 the head of the house was summoned from a life of usefulness to the Great Be- yond. His wife immediately took up the reins of management and has made the snecess above recorded.
FRANK P. DUNWELL, the present efficient postmaster of the thriving little lake-port city of Ludington, judicial center of Mason county, is one of the sterling citizens given to northern Michigan by the old Buck- eye state, and in Ludington he stands exponent of civic loyalty and pro- gressiveness, the while he has been an influential factor in public affairs in this section of the state.
Frank Pearce Dunwell was born in Solon township, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, on the 8th of June, 1852, and is a son of George W. and Electa P. (Tinker) Dunwell, the former of whom was born in the state of New York and the latter in Ohio, where her father, Hiram J. Tinker was an early settler. The Dunwell family became identified with the annals of the fine old Western Reserve in Ohio in the pioneer days, as is evident when it is stated that George W. Dunwell, father of him whose name pre- faces this conspectus, was a boy at the time of the family removal from New York to Cuyahoga county, Ohio. His father, Samuel A. Dunwell. was born on Long Island, and the family. of English lineage, was founded in America in the colonial days. George W. Dunwell was reared to man- hood in the Buckeye state, where he continued to be identified with
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agricultural pursuits, in Cuyahoga county, until 1861, when he came to Michigan and purchased a tract of land in Hopkins township, Allegan county, where he reclaimed a productive farm and where he continued to maintain his home until the time of his death, at the age of sixty-nine years. His cherished and devoted wife was but thirty-eight years of age at the time of her death. They became the parents of two sons and two daughters, all of whom attained to years of maturity and of whom the subject of this review is the eldest.
Frank P. Dunwell is indebted to the district schools of his native county for his rudimentary educational discipline, and he was twelve years of age at the time of the family removal to Allegan county, Mich- igan, where he was reared to adult age and where he duly availed him- self of the advantages of the public schools of the period. This training was supplemented by attendance in Hiram College, at Hiram, Ohio, an institution of which General James A. Garfield was at one time president.
As a young man Mr. Dunwell identified himself with the interests of northern Michigan, whose principal industry at that time was lumbering. He passed three years at Pentwater, Oceana county, and on New Year's day of the year 1874 he took up his residence in the little village of Ludington, where he became a clerk in the general store of Donohue & Melendy Company. On the 1st of the following March he became a clerk in this establishment where he continued for some time as a clerk, after which he was associated in the work of the bank established by Mr. Stray. He was thus identified with the banking business in Ludington for a period of about thirteen years, and as he has been identified with local business and civic interests for more than thirty-five years he may properly be designated as one of the pioneer citizens of Ludington, in whose advancement to its present position as one of the prosperous and attractive cities of the state he has contributed loyally of his influence and tangible co-operation. While interested in the banking business Mr. Dunwell became associated with Eugene C. Rohn in the insurance busi- ness, and later he formed a partnership with his former employer, Mr. Stray, in the same line of enterprise, with which he is still actively and successfully identified, under the firm name of Dunwell & Stray.
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