USA > Michigan > A history of northern Michigan and its people, Volume II > Part 16
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Many years ago Mr. Dunwell identified himself in an active way with public affairs of local order, and he has ever given his aid and influence in the support of measures and enterprises that have tended to advance the best interests of the community. He has been unwavering in his allegiance to the cause of the Republican party and has been influential in its councils and in the manoeuvering of its forces in this part of the state. In 1896 he was elected treasurer of Mason county, and prior to this he had served six years as city clerk and for an equal period as supervisor of the second ward of Ludington. He gave a most careful administration of the fiscal affairs of the county and continued ineum- bent of the office of treasurer for four years. He was soon afterward appointed state salt inspector, and he served in this capacity for two years. In 1906, after most gratifying endorsement on the part of the people of Ludington, he was appointed postmaster of this city, his com- mission having been dated April 12th of that year. He has since given the major portion of his time and attention to the duties of this impor-
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tant office and has done much to systematize and otherwise improve the service. The local postoffice is a model in appointments and facilities and is the center from which are supplied five rural free-delivery routes.
Mr. Dunwell has been a resident of Ludington for nearly two score years, and no citizen has shown more loyal interest and enthusiasm in promoting its social and material progress, as well as that of the county. He served eight years as chairman of the Republican county committee, and in 1896 he was a delegate from Michigan to the Republican national convention, at St. Louis, that nominated the lamented President McKin- ley for the first term. IIe also represented Michigan in the national convention of his party, at Chicago, in 1900, when MeKinley was re- nominated as its standard-bearer. For nine years Mr. Dunwell served as a member of the Ludington board of education, and during virtually this entire period he was secretary of the board. He was the prime factor in the movement that resulted in the erection of the present mag- nificent court house of Mason county, and was secretary of the commis- sion that secured the site for and had charge of the erection of the build- ing. The Foster school building was erected while he was a member of the board of education, and he was a zealous worker also for this note- worthy improvement. He was one of the promoters of the county road system, by which the improvement and maintenance of the roads are under the direct supervision of the county board of supervisors. In all other enterprises that have been advanced for the general good of the city and county his co-operation and personal service have been given with all of zeal and earnestness, and he may well be acclaimed one of the builders of the beautiful little city that has so long been his home and in which his interests are centered.
In the Masonic fraternity Mr. Dunwell has compassed the circle of both the York and Scottish Rites, in which latter he has attained to the thirty-second degree. He has passed various official chairs in the time- honored fraternity and is deeply appreciative of its history and noble teachings. He also holds membership in the local lodges of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. No citizen of Mason county is better known and it may consistently be said that none is held in more uniform confidence and esteem.
In February, 1877, Mr. Dunwell was united in marriage to Miss Grace S. Lewis, whose death occurred March 21 of the same year. The only child of this union, Grace S., is now the wife of George Asby. On the 21st of October, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Dunwell to Miss Mabel L. DeHart, and she was summoned to the life eternal in May, 1902, leaving no children.
WILLIAM E. COATES, M. D .- Other men's services to the people and the state can be measured by definite deeds, by dangers averted, by legislation secured, by institutions built, by commerce promoted. The work of a doctor is entirely estranged from these lines of enterprise yet without his capable, health-giving assistance all other accomplish- ments would count for naught. Man's greatest prize on earth is physi- cal health and vigor; nothing deteriorates mental activity so quickly as prolonged sickness,-hence the broad field for human helpfulness af-
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forded in the medical profession. The successful doctor requires some- thing more than mere technical training,-he must be a man of broad human sympathy and genial kindliness, capable of inspiring hope and faith in the heart of his patient. Such a man is he whose name ini- tiates this article.
Dr. William Edward Coates, Jr., was born at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on the 25th of December, 1870, and is a son of William E. and Matilda (Wambold) Coates, the former of whom was born in Wisconsin, on the 10th of January, 1840, and the latter of whom claimed Pennsylvania as the state of her nativity. When the dark eloud of Civil war obseured the national horizon, Mr. William E. Coates, Sr., tendered his services in defense of the union, enlisting as a private in Company A, Twenty- eighth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He served from 1862 until the close of the war, at which time he was breveted captain. He was with the western forces at Vicksburg and later was detached and sent with his company to Arkansas. He participated in many important engage- ments marking the progress of the war and at one time received a wound in the throat. His regiment was often sent to the front in bat- tle. He was a member of the staff sent into Mexico at the close of the war to protect the frontier and throughout his entire military career he was recognized as a daring and gallant soldier. He was mustered out of service in Brownsville, Texas, in 1865, and thereafter returned to Wisconsin, where he engaged in business at Menominee Falls for a number of years. Later he removed to Milwaukee, where he was identified with the grocery business until 1883, in which year he was appointed collector of internal revenue for Wisconsin. Upon leaving the government service, in 1886, he entered the employ of a wholesale grocery establishment in the capacity of traveling salesman, remaining with this concern until his death, which occurred in March, 1904. IIe married Miss Matilda Wambold and they became the parents of several children, of whom William E. Coates was one.
Dr. Coates passed his boyhood days in Milwaukee, to whose public schools he is indebted for his early educational training, having attended high school in that city for one year. In 1887 the family removed to Manistee, Michigan, where he continued to attend school for about one year. At the age of eighteen he passed the teacher's examination, after which he taught school at Arcadia for a term of four months. In the fol- lowing winter he was a student in the high school and later he taught one term at District No. 7. Brownstown. Then District No. 1 desired his services and he was engaged as principal of the Stromach high school, remaining there for a year. After attending high school again for a few months he was matriculated in the University of Michigan, at the age of twenty-one years, in February, 1892, in the medical department of which excellent institution he was a student for about a year and a half. In September, 1893, he went to Chicago, where he entered the junior class of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, later attending the medieal department of the University of Illinois, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1896, duly receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine. Having spent considerable time in the study of bacteriology and microscopic analysis, he was appointed professor,
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of those branches in the Chicago Post-Graduate Medical School. While studying, he was engaged at odd times as a lecturer, filling in from time to time for other professors. He finally left the Post Graduate school and accepted the position of instructor in bacteriology in the College of Physicians and Surgeons. He was pathological instructor in elinie microscopie study and was later made adjunct professor of pathology, having full charge of that department for a number of years. He devoted a great deal of time to the affairs of a west side hospital while in Chieago, and in addition to his other duties he was an instruc- tor in various night medical schools in the great western metropolis.
In August, 1903, he was obliged to leave Chicago on account of the impaired condition of his health, due to overwork and strain, and it was at this time that he made his advent in Manistee, where he entered upon the general practice of his profession. In 1906 he established his home in Onekama, where he took up general practice and out-door . sanitary work. While in Manistee he was appointed inspector of milks and dairies, organizing the first inspection department at that city, this being one of the first in Michigan. He organized a system of in- spection that has been copied by many of the cities and towns of Miehi- gan. His principal object in locating at Onekama was to establish a tuberculosis sanitarinm, the organization of which was effeeted March 16, 1906, the institution being called the Onekama Heights Sanitarium Association, of which Dr. W. E. Coates was made medieal director. The purpose of the founding of this institution was for the treatment of ineipient cases of tuberculosis, the main objeet being to educate the people to a better care of the sick. Dr. Coates was instrumental in bringing the exhibit of the National Association for the study and pre- vention of tuberculosis to Manistee, in July, 1906. The foregoing state- ments are sufficient evidenee of the marvelous activity of the Doctor for the general advancement of sanitary conditions in Onekama, and they are deemed ample voucher of his deep and abiding interest in humanity. In the fall of 1910 an organization was formed at Onekama for the bettering and advancement of business, the Doctor being elected president of the same. In politics he accords a stalwart allegianee to the cause of the Republican party and he has contributed generously of his aid and influence in support of all measures tending to enhanee the good of the community. He has served as village president and as a health officer and is at the present time justice of the peace. He is affiliated with the Knights of the Maceabees and with the Modern Brotherhood of America. He and his wife are devout members of the Congregational chureh, in the various departments of whose work they have been zealous faetors.
On the 24th of June, 1896, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Coates to Miss Bertha May Hesse, of Chicago, in which eity she was born and reared. She is of German parentage and her maternal grand- father was a quartermaster under Napoleon I., his honse having been the headquarters of the great general during one of his capaigns. The grandfather came to America in the early '30s in a sailing vessel. He was a wheelwright by trade and it is recorded that he built and put together the first wagon constructed west of Lake Michigan. Dr. and
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Mrs. Coates have three children, namely,-William Edward III, born on the 22d of April, 1897; Archie L., born on the 1st of November, 1898; and Dorothy Helen, born on the 28th of November, 1901.
WILLIAM E. DOUGLAS,-As the years relentlessly mark the milestones on the pathway of time, the older generation slowly gives way to the new and gradually there passes from our midst the men who made our country what it is and who built up this glorious empire for the men of now. In every generation and in every community some few men leave an indelible imprint upon the history of that community and upon the memories of those who have known them by their ability to fight and win even against great odds, and by that kind of character which wins lasting friends because of that innate quality which people know as loyalty. William E. Douglas, who passed into the life eternal on the 5th of June, 1910, was one of those. He was a resident of the city of Manistee during the greater part of his active career and his life story is one which is inseparably connected with the history of Northern Michigan, where his multifarious business interests assumed gigantic proportions. He was a noble illustration of what independence, self- faith, self-reliance and lofty ideals can accomplish in America. He was absolutely self-made.
A native of the Dominion of Canada, William E. Douglas was born at Chatham, province of Quebec, Canada, the date of his nativity being the 28th of April, 1848, and he was a son of William and Eliza Jane (Dwer) Douglas, both of whom were likewise natives of Canada. To the public sehools of his native place William E. Douglas was indebted for his preliminary edneational training and in early life he became as- sociated with his father in the latter's lumber business. Mr. and Mrs. Donglas beeame the parents of eight children-two boys and six girls. whose names are here entered in respective order of birth,-William E., Myra (deceased), Margaret, Mary Ann, Carrie, Elizabeth (deceased), Isabel and John, the last-mentioned of whom died at the age of ten years. The Douglas family removed to Michigan in the year 1879, lo- eating at Manistec, where the parents passed the residue of their lives. the father having died in 1898, at the age of seventy-two years, and the mother in 1900, at the age of seventy-one years. As already inti- mated, the father was a lumberman by vocation and he achieved emin- ent success in that particular line of enterprise.
William E. Douglas received but meager schooling in his youth and at the age of fourteen years he entered the employ of the Canadian government, working in the Canadian locks for the ensuing six years. at the expiration of which he became interested in his father's lumber business. In 1869 he severed the ties which bound him to home and native land and came to Michigan, settling in the city of Manistee. where he assumed the practical responsibilities of life as a teamster in the logging camps for MeGiness & Smith. Shortly after his advent in this place he and Sam MeClintic started out on an extended tour of the west, traveling through California, Oregon and Washington, in seareh for a good business location. Not finding exactly what they wanted they eventually returned to Manistee, where he soon began logging and
Willum Douglas.
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contracting and where he rapidly gained recognition as a lumber man of no small caliber. In the year 1880 he entered into a partnership al- liance with Edward Buckley, under the firm name of Buckley & Doug- las, and this mutually agreeable association continued until Mr. Douglas' death, in 1910.
The first line of endeavor to which the firm of Buckley & Douglas devoted its attention was the logging business, cutting down timber and manufacturing the same. In connection with the manufacturing department some five mills were utilized and as much as seventy million feet of lumber was turned out in a single year. This output repre- sented the timber cut on the firm's own reserves and also that purchased. In 1886 Buckley & Douglas bought the extensive pine-land holdings of the firm of Ruddock & Nuttall, together with the saw mills formerly conducted by that concern on Manistee Lake. Immediately after this purchase the mills were rebuilt and a complete line of new machinery installed, the entire expenditure amounting to eleven thousand five hundred dollars. For the ensuing eight years the firm made a specialty of export trade, large shipments of lumber being made to England and the entire export product averaging from two to four million feet an- nually. The mills were kept in operation day and night throughout the entire year, the output demanding the sawing of about fifty million feet of logs per annum. With the passage of time the business of the firm of Buckley & Douglas grew to such gigantic proportions that a reorganization of the concern was rendered expedient. Accordingly, the Buckley & Douglas Lumber Company was incorporated under the laws of the state of Michigan, Mr. Buckley becoming president, teasurer and general manager, and Mr. Douglas serving as vice-president, gen- eral superintendent and secretary of the company until his death, in 1910.
After the year 1887 Mr. Douglas devoted the greater part of his time and attention to the building and later to the operating of the Manistee & Northeastern Railroad, a standard gauge line ex- tending between Manistee and Traverse City, a distance of seventy miles. When the various branches of the road are included the total length of line is one hundred and twenty miles, over which mil- lions of logs have been transported to the company's mills. This road is still utilized for logging purposes and in addition thereto is devoted to passenger and freight transportation. Up to the time of his demise Mr. Douglas was vice-president of the Manistee & North- eastern Railroad Company, of which Mr. Buckley is president and general manager. In 1896-7 the company completed the erection of the most extensive salt works in the entire state of Michigan. The plant is located at the foot of Third street and has a capacity for the production of twenty-five hundred barrels of salt daily, the brine being secured from wells sunk to a depth of two thousand feet, in the salt strata of rock. The firm of Buckley & Douglas early manifested keen executive ability and judicious foresight by purchasing the greater part of the lumber manufactured in their mills, thus holding in reserve their own extensive forests. While achieving marvelous success in the Iumher industry the company has fostered and encouraged the growth
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of other business enterprises in Michigan so that the decline of the former business will not impair or retard development along other lines in the state. From the forgoing a fair idea may be obtained of the re- markable executive talents and tremenduous vitality of Mr. Douglas, whose interests were of such a broad and varied nature.
In politics Mr. Douglas was aligned as an uncompromising sup- porter of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor and while he never had time nor desire for political preferment of any description, he was loyal and public-spirited in his civic attitude, contributing in generous measure to all projects ad- vaneed for the good of the general welfare. In the grand old Masonic order he was a York Rite Mason, being a valued and appreciative mem- ber of Manistee Lodge, No. 228, Free and Accepted Masons; Manistee Chapter, No. 65, Royal Arch Masons; and Manistee Commandery, No. 32, Knights Templars. He preferred the quiet and comfort of his home fireside and the intimate companionship of his family and personal friends to club life and the mad whirl of political strife. He was a devoted husband and a true friend and counselor and at all times he was generons and kindly in his attitude to those in distress or less for- tunately situated in the way of worldly goods than himself. His death occurred at the Palmer House in Chicago, on the 5th of June, 1910, and his remains were interred at Oak Grove cemetery, Manistec. His loss was uniformly mourned throughout northern Michigan where the list of his personal friends was coincident with that of his acquaintances.
At Manistee, on the 9th of October, 1879, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Douglas to Miss Anna M. Halter, the third child in the family of ten children born to Anton and Anna M. (Stemper) Halter. Mrs. Douglas' father was born in France and her mother was a native of Germany, whenee they emigrated to the United States as little children with their parents, Louis Halter, and John B. Stemper. Loca- tion was first made by the Halter and Stemper families in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, whence Anton Halter and family in 1847 re- moved to Manistee. Mr. Halter was a mill-wright and carpenter by occupation and he was summoned to eternal rest in 1894 at the age of sixty-two years, his cherished and devoted wife, who preceded him to the higher life, having passed away in 1876, at the comparatively early age of thirty-nine years. Concerning the ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. Halter, the following brief data are here incorporated-Christina C. who first married Paul Camine, of Manistee, is now the wife of Alex Smith, of Manistee; John B. is a railroad engineer and resides in Manistee; Mrs. Douglas is the next in order of birth ; George A. is like- wise an engineer at Manistee; Louis resides at Denison, Texas ; Charles maintains his home at Red Lodge, Montana; Michael died at the age of twenty-one years; Joseph A. died when two years old; Albert C. lives at Kankakee, Illinois; and Frank resides at Centralia, Wash- ington. Mr. and Mrs. Donglas had no children. She is a devont mem- ber of the Guardian Angel Catholic church, while Mr. Douglas was a member of the Presbyterian church, and also attended the Congrega- tional church, being broad-minded in his religions views, and to all good works he was a most liberal contributor.
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EUGENE FOSTER .- A representative citizen of Gladwin, Michigan, and one who has taken an active part in Republican polities and done much to eonserve the general welfare of the community in which he resides, is Hon. Eugene Foster, editor and publisher of the Gladwin County Record, which publication he has issued with marked success since 1879. The Record was founded by James S. Holden, in 1878, and from a very small beginning it has inereased its number of subscribers to fifteen hundred, in 1911. Mr. Foster assisted on the first issue of the Record, was in charge of the paper for Mr. Holden the first year, then published the paper under lease and by purchase alone until 1884. He assisted Mr. Holden to issue the first edition, and was given charge of the paper from the start. The first few years of its publication he filled the positions of editor, printer and devil of the small craft, experiene- ing all the phases of pioneer journalism in a then lumbering county, now a prosperous agricultural locality, and was known as the young- est editor in the state. In 1884 he took into partnership his brother, Isaac Foster, now an attorney and postmaster of Gladwin, and it is now run under the firm name of Foster Brothers. The best and most improved machinery is installed, including a folder and a typesetting machine, and one department is devoted to job printing, in which line a large business is conducted.
Eugene Foster was born in Caroga, Fulton county, New York, on the 8th day of August, 1860, and is the son of Rev. Edwin and Elizabeth L. (Fulmer) Foster, both of whom were born and reared in the state of New York, where their marriage was solemnized. Rev. Edwin Foster, with his family, removed to Michigan early in the '70s, and they first located at Midland, and he afterwards united with the Detroit Metho- dist Episcopal conference, and filled a number of appointments in Michigan, being an eloquent and forcible minister of the gospel. He had four children,- Eugene, Isaac, Jessie L. and Emma Jane, the last of whom died in childhood, the three first named now living in Glad- win. He was summoned to the life eternal in 1880. Mrs. Elizabeth L. Foster survives her honored husband and is now (1911) residing at Gladwin.
Eugene Foster received his educational training in Fulton and Hamilton counties, New York, and at Cass City and Tuscola, Michigan. In 1875 he went to Midland, this state, where he entered upon an ap- prenticeship at the printer's trade, remaining in that place for a period of three years, at the expiration of which he came to Gladwin, where he has sinee resided. In 1881 he was elected school assessor of this city and served in that capacity for nine years, Gladwin being then under the district school system. In 1893-95 he served on the board of edu- eation and as president thereof. 1894-95. In 1882 he was chosen elerk of Grout township, remaining incumbent of that office for three years. When Gladwin was incorporated as a village, in 1885, Mr. Foster was eleeted clerk of the village and was successively re-elected to that office for five terms, and he served in the capacity of postmaster, under ap- pointment by President Benjamin Harrison, for four years. When Gladwin became a city, in 1893, Mr. Foster became its first mayor and he was again ehosen for that office in 1894. 1895, 1902 and 1903. He
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was a member of the constitutional convention in 1907, and in 1908 he was elected state senator from the Twenty-eighth district, and was re- turned to that office again in 1910. His political adherency is with the Republican party and he has been a member of the Republican county committee since 1882 and chairman thereof since 1892.
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