USA > Michigan > A history of northern Michigan and its people, Volume II > Part 21
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Still. E Edgerton
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at Otsego Lake, where he was prosperously engaged in mercantile pur- suits until 1902, when he assisted in the organization of the Grayling Mercantile Company, of which he has since been the manager.
Mr. Joseph has been twice married. He married first, in 1876, Mary Morris, of Germany, and to them four children were born, Rachel, Sam- uel, Ida and Abraham. He married in 1891 Rose Wolf, and they are the parents of four children, Martha, Henry, Louis and Margaret. Frater- nally Mr. Joseph is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Knights of the Maccabees.
WILL E. EDGERTON .- The present efficient and popular sheriff of Emmet county has been closely identified with the industrial and civic activities of this county, where he has maintained his home since 1886 and where he has gained definite independence and prosperity through his own well directed endeavors, the while he has so ordered his course as to retain the high esteem of the community. He has served in vari- ous local offices of public trust and he assumed the duties of his present important office on the 1st of January, 1911, prior to which time he had given effective serviee as deputy sheriff. He is a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of Michigan and his parents, each of whom has passed the psalmist's span of three score years and ten, now reside in the village of Brutus, Emmet county, where his father has the dis- tinction of being the oldest blacksmith in the state actively engaged in the work of his trade.
Will E. Edgerton, whose duties as sheriff of the county, involve his residence in its judicial center, the attractive little city of Petoskey, is a native of Steubenville, Jefferson county, Ohio, where he was born on the 17th of December, 1858, and he is a son of Harris and Delia (Edgerton) Edgerton, both of whom were born in Vermont and both of whom are representatives of families founded in historie New Eng- land in the colonial era. Of the three children Sheriff Edgerton is the elder of the two now living, and his sister, Etta, is the wife of George Aurand, of Flint, this state. Harris Edgerton was a child at the time of his parents' immigration from New England to the wilds of Mich- igan, and his father, Curtis Edgerton, became one of the early settlers of St. Clair county, this state, where he reclaimed a farm from the virgin forest and where both he and his wife passed the residue of their lives. There Harris Edgerton was reared to adult age under the sturdy discipline of the pioneer farm, and his educational advantages in his youth were limited to the somewhat primitive schools of the locality and period. As a youth he went to Almont, Lapeer county, where he served an apprenticeship to the blacksmith trade, and later he re- moved to the state of New York, where his marriage was solemnized. Shortly afterward he established his residence in Steubenville. Ohio. where he was engaged in the work of his trade until the early '60s, when he returned to New York state, where he soon afterward subor- dinated all other interests to go forth as a loyal soldier of the Union In the city of Rochester he enlisted as a private in the Twenty-second New York Volunteer Calvary, with which he proceeded to the front and with which he took part in a number of the important engage-
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ments marking the progress of the great conflict. His enlistment was for a term of three years "or during the war," and he continued at the post of duty until his health became so impaired as to incapacitate him for further service, under which conditions he received his honor- able discharge, in the city of Baltimore, Maryland. He then returned to Stenbenville, Ohio, and after his recovery he returned to Almont, Michigan, where he was engaged in the work of his trade for a period of about three years. His field of endeavor for the next three years was at Midland City, Midland county, and he then returned to Lapeer county and engaged in business at his trade in the village of Columbia- ville, where he continued to maintain his home about eighteen years, at the expiration of which he located in the village of Brutus, Emmet county, where he has since been actively engaged in the work of his trade and where he is a citizen who commands the unqualified confi- dence and esteem of the community. His life has been one of consecu- tive industry and he is a man of strong character and sterling qualities. He has served two terms as clerk of Brutus township, is a stalwart in the camp of the Republican party, and is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
The present sheriff of Emmet county gained his rudimentary dis- cipline in the village schools of Almont, Lapeer county, and supple- mented this by an effective course of study in the public schools of Goodrichville, now known as Goodrich, in Genesee county. His first independent occupation was that of laborer on the farm of John Sehuman, in the vicinity of Goodrichville, and in compensation for his services he received eight dollars a month and his board. Later he was similarly employed on the farm of John Coats of Oakland county, and here he commanded an augmented stipend, as he received thirteen dollars a month. He was still a boy when he entered the employ of the firm of Carpenter Brothers, who were engaged in lumbering operations in Lapeer county, and from the position of general-ntility boy in the lumber woods he was gradually advanced by this firm until he had the entire supervision of a crew of eighty workmen. He continued with this concern for nine years, and soon after his marriage, which was solemnized in 1878, he established his permanent home in Emmet county, where he secured a homestead claim of eighty acres of wild land, one and one-half miles east of the little hamlet of Brutus, and in- stituted the reclamation of a farm. He applied himself with diligence and by good management he developed the place into a valuable prop- erty. In the meanwhile Mr. Edgerton had shown a lively interest in all that touched the welfare of the community and he had been ap- pointed deputy sheriff of the county. an office of which he continued incumbent during thirteen years, nine of which he also held the posi- tion of superintendent of the county farm and poor house. His total service as deputy sheriff covered a period of thirteen years, and thus he was a most logical candidate for the still more responsible office of sheriff, to which he was elected in November, 1910, and in which his administration has been marked by the utmost efficiency and vigor. He also served five years as highway commissioner of Maple River town- ship and was for three years ineumbent of the office of school director
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of the Brutus district. The sheriff is unswerving in his allegiance to the Republican party and has been a zealous worker in behalf of its cause. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees and he is well known throughout the county in which he has so long maintained his home and in which his popularity is of the most unequivocal type.
On the 3d of July, 1878, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Edger- ton to Miss Sarah A. Lanthers, who was born in the province of On- tario, Canada, and who is a daughter of John and Sarah Lanthers, both natives of Ireland, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they soon afterward eame to America and established their home in Ontario, Canada, where all of their children were born. Finally Mr. Lauthers came with his family to Michigan and engaged in agricultural pursuits in Lapeer county, where he remained until 1881, when he established his home in Petoskey, where he is now liv- ing virtually retired and where his wife died several years ago. Of the six children Mrs. Edgerton was the second in order of birth. Mr. and Mrs. Edgerton became the parents of nine children, of whom five are living, namely : Custer R., Mary, Winifred, Hugh, and Bina F.
DR. FRANK C. WITTER is among the younger representatives of the medical fraternity of Petoskey, Michigan, but his years seem no bar to his progress and prominent position in connection with his chosen eall- ing. During the two years which mark the period of his residence in this plaee he has gained high favor among a large and lucrative patron- age. He is a practitioner of equipment equal to that of the best and he has been a devoted student of his profession since youth. His broad knowledge of his science and sympathetic manner have given him rank among the most skillful and popular physicians and surgeons in the city.
A native of the fine old Wolverine state of the Union, Dr. Witter was born at Lawrence, Van Buren county, Michigan, the date of his nativity being the 26th of Jannary, 1879. He is a son of Frank and Mary (Pendill) Witter, the former of whom was born in the state of New York and the latter of whom elaims Michigan as the place of her birth. The father was born in Michigan in 1847 and for a number of years he was most successfully engaged in the dry-goods business at Lawrence, where his death oceurred on the 3rd of March, 1879. The mother of the Doctor is still living and she maintains her home at Lawrenee, having reached the venerable age of fifty-eight years.
Dr. Witter lost his father when he was a child of but six weeks of age and thus he was reared principally by his mother. In the publie schools of Lawrence he received his preliminary educational training, having been graduated in the high school of that place. Subsequently he was matriculated as a student in the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in the medical department of which excellent institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1906. For two years thereafter he was engaged in teaching pathology in his alma mater and for a time he was also demonstrator of obstetrics and first assistant in the elinie in obstetries and gynecology. Ile located at Petoskey, Michigan, on
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the 10th of September, 1909, and here he initiated the active practice of his profession. With the passage of time he has gained recognition as one of the best physicians and surgeons in Emmet county and he now controls a splendid practice at Petoskey and in the territory normally tributary thereto. In connection with the work of his chosen vocation he is affiliated with the Petoskey Medical Society, the Michigan State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. He is also a valued and appreciative member of the Phi Rho Sigma College frater- nity and in the time-honored Masonic order he is connected with the local lodge of the York Rite branch of the time-honored Masonic order. In the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks he is a member of Pe- toskey Lodge, No. 269. In politics he gives a stalwart allegiance to the principles and policies propounded by the Republican party and while he has never had aught of ambition or desire for political office of any description he is ever on the alert and enthusiastically in sympathy with all projects advanced for the good of the general welfare.
At Lapeer, Michigan, on the 14th of February, 1907, Dr. Witter was united in marriage to Miss Lena L. Armstrong, whose birth occurred at Lapeer, Michigan, and who is a daughter of Joseph Armstrong, a representative citizen and business man at Lapeer. Dr. and Mrs. Wit- ter have one son, Joseph Armstrong Witter, whose natal day is the 19th of June, 1909. Dr. Witter and his wife are popular in the best social activities of Petoskey, where their attractive and comfortable home is recognized as a center of most refined hospitality.
HARRY J. KERLEY .- Manistee county has been signally favored in the personnel of its executive officers, and Mr. Kerley is a former county treasurer and merits further recognition in this publication by reason of the fact that he is a native son of the county and a scion of one of its honored pioneer families.
Harry J. Kerley was born in Manistee, on the 19th of January, 1870, and is a son of Dennis and Pauline (Crawford) Kerley, the former of whom died when the son Harry was about ten years of age. The mother was born in the city of Detroit, Michigan, and she was a child at the time when her father, Captain John Crawford, established his home in Manistee, where she was reared to maturity and where she continued to reside until her death, which occurred in the year 1905. By her first marriage she became the mother of four children, namely: May, who is the wife of James M. Ramsdell, of Manistee: Harry J., whose name initiates this review; Albert C., who is a resident of Richmond, Cali- fornia, where he is engaged in the real-estate business; and Kathryn, who is the wife of Lyman C. Austin, of Manistee. Several years after the death of her first husband Mrs. Kerley became the wife of Adelbert Downing, and the only child of the second union is Miss Adelle Down- ing, still a resident of Manistee. The Crawford family was prominently identified with the pioneer history of the state of New York, whence came the original representative in Michigan, and Captain John Crawford was long identified with navigation interests on the Great Lakes, he having passed the closing years of his life in the city of Man-
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istee and having been a captain of various lake vessels during the course of his long and active career on the inland seas.
Harry J. Kerley is indebted to the public schools of Manistee for his preliminary educational discipline, which was effectively supple- mented by a course of study in the Ferris Industrial School at Big Rapids. When but twelve years of age he gained his initial experience in connection with the active duties and responsibilities of life, as he then secured employment in a brick yard in his native city. Later he was here employed for several years as clerk in mercantile establish- ments, after which he served about a decade as a member of the city corps of mail carriers in Manistee, besides which he was for a short time clerk in the registration department of the local postoffice. He resigned his position as mail carrier in 1905 and thereafter was a trav- eling representative of a wholesale candy house in Manistee for a per- iod of one year, during which he still continued to maintain his home in Manistee.
In politics Mr. Kerley has ever accorded an unwavering allegiance to the Republican party and he has taken a lively interest in the work of its local contingent, though he never appeared as a candidate for public office until 1906, in November of which year he was elected county treasurer to which he was later re-elected. In his long tenure of this position he broke all precedents in his native county, and his retention of the important fiscal office not only bears indubitable evi- dence of his able administration but also of his personal popularity in the county that has been his home from the time of his nativity to the present. His advancement has been gained through his own worth and ability, and he is one of the well known and essentially representative citizens of Manistee, where his circle of friends is coincident with that of his acquaintances. He is prominently concerned with the local or- ganizations of the time-honored Masonic fraternity, and is affiliated with the following bodies: Manistee Lodge, No. 228, Free & Accepted Masons, of which he is past master; Manistee Chapter, No. 65, Royal Arch Masons, of which he is past high priest, and Manistee Command- dery, No. 43, Knights Templars, of which he is at present an officer. He is also affiliated with the local organizations of the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of the Modern Maccabees, and the Modern Romans, besides which he is identified with the Deutsch Orden Harugari, a representa- tive German society. He is a Congregationalist in his church affilation.
On the 20th of September, 1894, Mr. Kerley was united in marriage to Miss Minnie E. Robertson, who was born and reared in Manistee county and who is a daughter of George T. and Ellen (Davis) Robert- son, now of Bay City, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Kerley have one daugh- ter, Lucille A., who was born on the 13th of December. 1895.
CECIL G. BRADFORD .- In reviewing the careers of representative bus- iness men of Alpena county special interest attaches to that of Mr. Brad- ford, by reason of the fact that he is not only a scion of one of the hon- ored pioneer families of the city of Alpena but also a native son of the same. He is one of the alert and progressive business men of the younger generation in his native city, where his interests are of impor- Vol. II-11
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tant order, and as a loyal and public-spirited citizen of sterling character he commands the high regard of the community which has ever repre- sented his home and been the scene of his well directed endeavors along normal lines of enterprise.
Cecil G. Bradford was born in the city of Alpena on the 18th of October, 1875, and is a son of George D. and Helen (Masters) Bradford, the former of whom was born on the picturesque island of Jersey, in the English channel, in 1833, and the latter of whom was born in London, England, in 1836. Their marriage was solemnized in England and both families are of sterling English lineage, traced back through many gen- erations in the "right little, tight little isle." The father continued his residence in Alpena until his death, in 1898, and here his widow still maintains her home. Of their three children the youngest is he whose name initiates this review; Claude M. is a resident of New Haven, Con- necticut, where he is the manager of the Nelson Morris Packing House; and Ada is the wife of John A. Corbin, of Alpena. George D. Brad- ford and his wife emigrated from England to the United States in 1867, and soon after their arrival they came to Michigan, first locating in Port Huron, where they remained a few years. They then came to Alpena, which was then a small lumber town, and here Mr. Bradford opened a meat market, which he conducted for a number of years, be- sides which he became a dealer in cigars and tobacco. He was one of the well known and highly honored citizens of Alpena, was one of its pioneer business men, and he lent his aid in the development and up- building of the city. He served for a number of years as a member of the board of education and was otherwise influential in local affairs. He was a charter member of Hopper Lodge, No. 386, Free & Accepted Ma- sons, and served as treasurer of the same for several terms. In the same time-honored fraternity he was also affiliated with Thunder Bay Chap- ter, No. 74, Royal Arch Masons; Alpena Commandery, No. 34, Knights Templars; Michigan Sovereign Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, in the city of Detroit, in which he attained to the thirty-second de- gree ; and in the metropolis of the state he was also identified wih the ad- junct organization, Moslem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Prior to coming to America he and his wife were
communicants of the Church of England, and in the United States they naturally became identified with the same denomination, as represented in the Protestant Episcopal church. In politics Mr. Bradford aligned himself as a supporter of the cause of the Republican party, and lie ever took an intelligent and lively interest in matters of national and state importance. A man of superior mentality and one whose life was guided and governed by the highest principles of integrity and honor, he well merited the secure place accorded him in popular confidence and esteem.
Cecil G. Bradford is indebted to the public schools of his native city for his early educational discipline, which included the curriculum of the high school, and after leaving school he was a bookkeeper until 1901, when he engaged in the hotel business, becoming one of the proprietors of the Cobden hotel, in Alpena, and continuing as a popular boniface until 1906, when he engaged in the operation of flour and planing mills, with which lines of enterprise he is now actively identified. He is one of
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the members of the Thunder Bay Milling Company, whose mill is modern in equipment and facilities, and was one of the organizers of the Brad- ford Lumber & Planing Mill Company, which was incorporated in 1907, and of which important industrial concern he is president. Like his honored father he has accorded unfaltering allegiance to the Republican party, and while he has never sought the honors or emoluments of politi- cal office he shows a loyal interest in all that touches the welfare of his native city. His aid and influence are given in support of measures and enterprises tending to advance the material and civic progress of the city, and here his personal popularity is of the most unequivocal order. He was one of the organizers of the Alpena Country Club and was its secretary and treasurer during the first two years of its existence. He takes a lively interest in its affairs and is appreciative of the advantages and attractions of this representative organization. Both he and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church and are active in the general work of the parish. He is affiliated with Hopper Lodge, No. 386, Free & Accepted Masons; and with Alpena Lodge, No. 505, Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks.
On the 7th of June, 1906, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Brad- ford to Miss Caroline Johnston, who, like himself, was born and reared in Alpena. She is a daughter of James M. and Elizabeth (Pollard) Johnston, the former of whom died in 1905 and the latter of whom still resides in Alpena. Of the two children Mrs. Bradford is the younger and Frank B. is engaged in farming in Montmorency county. James M. Johnston was long numbered among the prominent and influential busi- ness men of Alpena, where he took up his residence in the pioneer days and where he was identified with the flour-mill and planing-mill business at the time of his death. He was a stanch Republican and served a number of years as a member of the county board of supervisors. He contributed materially to the upbuilding of the city of Alpena, was a valued member of its Chamber of Commerce, and was a man to whom was ever accorded the most unqualified popular esteem. Mr. and Mrs. Bradford have two children,-William Johnston and Helen.
REV. CHARLES C. COORS .- How difficult it is for a young man to choose the line of work he intends to follow throughout his life! What a little thing will often cause him to decide and how often he is apt to change his mind after he has started on his career. A single stone may turn the rivulet of water to the right or to the left. We sometimes say that Providence shapes our careers. Undoubtedly something outside of ourselves has something to do with the general direction of a man's life, but the getting on is purely a personal affair. Each individual is fated to work out his own career. The Rev. Charles C. Coors, editor and publisher of the Farwell Sun has had a varied career, having several times changed its course, but throughout he has been the same man, with the same natural capabilities, each one of which he has developed to its fullest extent. He is one of the prominent men of Clare county, as pop- ular as he is respected. His career has been a most interesting one.
His birth place was White River, Michigan, September 4, 1862. He was the son of John F. and Anna Marie Dorothy Coors, who were na-
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tives of Germany. They came to the United States soon after their mar- riage and went direct to Chicago. John F. Coors had been a salt water sailor but he decided not to follow the sea any more, nor did he eare to sail on the lakes. After staying in Chicago a very short time, merely long enough to look over the prospects, they went to Black River, Alle- gan county, in Michigan, where they took up a homestead of eighty aeres. They later moved to White River, Michigan, where most of their chil- dren were born. The family was large and they had a hard pull to get along and educate the children. Mr. Coors died in 1889 and his wife in 1901.
Charles C. remembers very distinctly the little farm house at White River where he was born, and where as soon as he was old enough he had his own duties to perform,-things for which he was responsible and he was made to realize that if he did not perform these duties they would be left undone, thereby learning a valuable lesson of industry and re- sponsibility which has helped him in his later life. He remembers the log school house where he went in the winter time and learned the rudi- ments of knowledge. Ile was an apt scholar and read a great deal at home, thus picking up more learning than he could have acquired dur- ing the short period he was able to attend school. When he was only twelve years old he had the choice of remaining on the farm or going ont to earn his living at some other business. He had never cared for the work of a farmer and he too wanted to see more of the outside world, so he left his home and entered a printing office at Montague. He worked in this printing office for three years, not realizing that later he would have a much more prominent connection with the press. At the expiration of three years he began to work in the mills and factories. where he could get more pay, having very special use for all the money he could get. He was brought up in the German Methodist Episcopal church and he had decided that he wanted to become a minister. Hav- ing always been of a serious, earnest nature, he felt that for him the ministry offered the best that there was to be had, that is, greater chances for usefulness. As soon as he had saved enough money, he and one of his brothers went to Berea, Ohio, and there entered the German Theo- logical College, but before he had completed the course, he beeame sick and had to return home. He soon regained his health on the farm and continued a part of his studies with a Presbyterian elergyman, thereby gaining a liberality of view which he probably would never have had if he had studied only on the line of his own church. In September of 1889, he was admitted to the ministry in the Methodist Episcopal ehureh and immediately commenced to preach. His first charge was at Crystal Valley in Oeeana county, where he stayed two years, preaching and ministering to the people. Next he went to Farwell, remaining there three years ; thence to Pentwater and Freesoil. During these years he worked so hard that his health, never very rugged. again compelled him to take a rest. Inasmeh as change of work constitutes rest in many cases, he bought out a printing offiec and went into the publishing busi- ness, his paper being the Montague Observer. After successfully run- ning this paper for two years and a half, he sold out and bought a farm. but as the farm life did not suit his wife, he gave it up and returned to
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