USA > Michigan > A history of northern Michigan and its people, Volume II > Part 36
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As a eitizen Mr. O'Neal has taken a prominent part in the local affairs of his township and county. He has held all the township of- fiees, being supervisor at the time of his removal to Petoskey. He was moderator of the school board several years, was justice of the peace Vol. 11-18
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and township treasurer. In politics he is a Democrat. For two years he was chairman of the executive committee of the Emmet County Fair Association and for three years was president of the Fair Association.
Fraternally he is a member of O'Neal Tent No. 763, K. O. T. M., at Bliss, this tent having been named for him, and he was its commander fourteen years, for seven times was delegate to the grand session of the Maccabees and was county delegate to Toledo. IIe is a grand knight of Petoskey Lodge No. 923, Knights of Columbus.
November 19, 1877, Mr. O'Neal married Miss Sarah McCourt. She is a native of County Tyrone, Ireland, and has shared in the experiences and success of her husband and reared a large family of ehildren. Of the eight children born to them, six are now living :- Edward J .; Emma Cecil, who has the distinction of being the first white child born at Cecil Bay, and the locality was named in her honor; Arthur P .; Mand May; George T .; and Leo M., the two last named still residing at home.
JAMES H. BOOTH .- Prominent among the well-known and highly es- teemed citizens of Reed City is James H. Booth, a retired capitalist who has accomplished a most satisfactory work in the business world, acquir- ing a handsome competency through his own vigorous and energetic efforts. Descended from a long line of thrifty Scotch ancestry, he was born May 1, 1846, in Galt, Ontario, Canada, a son of James Booth.
Born, bred and educated in Scotland, James Booth emigrated to Canada at the age of twenty-one years, locating in Galt. He subse- quently married, and in 1863 came with his family to Michigan. He was a machinist by trade, and after following it for a time in Grand Rapids moved to Muskegon, where he continued a resident until his death, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. While in Canada he worked at his trade and was also engaged in the lumber and milling busi- ness. He married in Canada Isabel Skene, who was born in Scotland and emigrated from there to Canada when a child of eight years, crossing the ocean with her parents. She died at the age of four score and four years, just a few weeks prior to the sixty-third anniversary of her mar- riage to James Booth. Of her eleven children, seven are living at the present writing, in December, 1910.
The eldest child of the parental household, James H. Booth, was fif- teen years old when he came with the family to Michigan. Working with his father, he learned the machinist's trade, which he followed for a while. The country roundabout him was then scarce settled, there being few railroads in that part of the state and much of the land being still in its primitive wildness. Subsequently embarking in the lumber busi- ness with his father, Mr. Booth first operated six miles south of Reed City, finishing up on the Luther branch. Going then to Little Bay, he embarked in business as junior member of the Inmber firm of Warner & Booth. He eventually hecame head of the firm of J. H. Booth & Com- pany, and continued operations in that locality for five years longer, when he transferred his business to Sidnaw, where for twelve years he was one of the foremost lumber manufacturers and dealers. under the firm name of J. Il. Booth & Company, Mr. Booth was afterward en-
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gaged in the lumber business for two years in North Carolina in the same county, his home, however, being, as previously, in Reed City, Michigan. Having accumulated a fortune, he is now enjoying a well- earned leisure, living retired from active business cares in Reed City.
Mr. Booth married, June 28, 1875, Catherine Kelley, of Muskegon, Michigan, and to them two children have been born, namely: Isabelle, wife of Dr. D. S. Fleischhaur, of Wabasha, Minnesota; and Elmer J., who married Mildred Withey, of Reed City, a daughter of Judge With- ey. Politically Mr. Booth is identified with the Republican party, but takes no active part in public affairs, having never been an aspirant for official honors.
E. NELSON HEYSETT, M. D .- One of the leading physicians and sur- geons of Lake county, E. Nelson Heysett, M. D., of Baldwin, is a prac- titioner of much experience and skill, and as a close student of the science which he has chosen as a profession is meeting with recognized success. A son of William Heysett, he was born May 27, 1868, in In- gersoll, Ontario, coming on the paternal side of English ancestry.
William Heysett was born, bred and educated in Devonshire, Eng- land, his birth occurring April 4, 1841. Preparing for the ministry in early life, he preached the gospel in his native land for a number of years. Emigrating to this country in 1868, he spent a comparatively brief time in Ontario, Canada, from there moving in 1869 to Pent- water, Michigan. An old-time circuit rider, he preached in different places, for awhile being located at Bear Lake, Michigan. From there he went to Ludington, Michigan, where he opened a drug store, which he has since managed successfully, having been in continuous busi- ness there for four decades. He is a strong Democrat in politics, active in local affairs, and has twice been nominated to represent his district in the state legislature. He married in Canada Elizabeth Dundass, who was born in Ontario, of Irish ancestors, and to them two children have been born, namely : E. Nelson, the special subject of this personal review; and Frederick William, M. D., a practicing physician in Lud- ington, Michigan.
Improving to the utmost his advantages for securing an education, E. Nelson Heysett completed the courses of study in the graded schools and high school of Ludington, Michigan, and on March 25, 1890, was graduated with the degree of M. D. from Rush Medical College in Chi- cago, Illinois. Taking up the practice of his profession in Tennessee, Dr. Heysett remained there two years. Returning then to Michigan, he was for eight years in active and successful practice in Ludington. In 1900, desirous of enlarging his field of action, the Doctor selected Baldwin, Lake County, as a most favorable place of location, and the excellent practice which he has since enjoyed is proof that he mnade no mistake in his choice. His great success in the management of cases that have come under his charge and the many difficult operations which he has successfully performed have placed him in an eminent position among the anthorities on medicine and surgery in this part of the state. Ile is surgeon on the Saginaw and Petoskey Division of
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the Pere Marquette Railroad, and is a valued member of the Lake County, the State, and the American Medical Associations.
Fraternally the Doctor is prominent in Masonic circles, being a Knight Templar and a member of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Politically he is a firm supporter of the principles of the Republican party, and has never shirked the respon- sibilities of public office. For two terms he was president of the vil- lage; was a village trustee two terms; and is now serving his second term as president of the Baldwin School Board.
Dr. Heysett married, November 16, 1892, Jeannette Bouton, who was born in New York state, but was brought up and educated in Mich- igan, her father, Norman L. Bouton, having been a prominent merchant of Pentwater. She is a woman of culture and refinement, and prior to her marriage taught school in Ludington five years, and for two years was one of the corps of instructors in the Pentwater High School. The Doctor and Mrs. Heysett have two children, namely : Dorothy and Norman.
ADDISON A. KEISER .- Among the able representatives of the legal profession in Mason county is this well known citizen of Ludington, where he has built up a substantial practice, the extent and character of which bears evidence not only of his personal popularity but also of his ability as an advocate and counselor. Further interest attaches to his career as a member of the Michigan bar from the fact that he is a native son of the state and a member of a family whose name has been identified with the history of this favored commonwealth for more than two score of years.
Mr. Keiser was born on the homestead farm of his father in Green- bush township, Clinton county, Michigan, on the 4th of October, 1871, and is a son of John J. and Sarah (Biddle) Keiser, the former of whom was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and the latter in Elkhart county, Indiana. John J. Keiser is a son of Rev. Joseph Keiser, who was a native of Pennsylvania and who was numbered among the pioneer set- tlers of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where he developed a productive farm and where he served long and faithfully as a minister of the Evangelical church. He continued to reside in Ohio until the close of his life, ever earnest in good work and kindly deeds. His father, who likewise bore the name of Joseph, was a native of Germany and upon emigrating to America, in an early day, took up his residence in Pennsylvania, where he passed the residue of his life. John J. Keiser continued to maintain his home in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, until 1869, when he removed with his family to Michigan and purchased a tract of land in Clinton county, where he has since resided. He still lives on the old homestead, which he developed into one of the fine farms of that county, and as a sterling citizen and a man of indefatigable industry he holds a sceure place in the confidence and regard of the community in which he has so long made his home and to the development of which he has contributed his quota. He is sixty-nine years of age at the time of this writing, and his cherished and devoted wife is sixty-one years old (1911). Both are zeal- ous members of the Evangelical church, and in politics he has ever given
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a stalwart support to the cause of the Republican party. Mrs. Sarah (Biddle) Keiser was, as already noted, born in Elkhart county, Indiana, and she was a child at the time of her father's death. She was taken into the home of her uncle, Levi Biddle, and was reared to maturity in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where her marriage was solemnized. Of the five children Addison A., of this review, was the third in order of birth, and concerning the others the following brief data are given: Clara is the wife of Charles Houk, of Summit township, Mason county, Michigan ; Edward is a representative farmer of Clinton county; Almeda is the wife of Allen Houk, who is a prosperous agriculturist of Summit town- ship, Mason county ; and Miss Elda remains at the parental home.
Addison A. Keiser was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm which was the place of his nativity, and thus he early learned the lessons of practical industry and gained appreciation of the dignity of honest toil and endeavor. He duly availed himself of the advantages of the district schools and supplemented this discipline by attending the excellent public schools of St. Johns, the judicial center of Clinton county. There also he initiated the work of preparing himself for his chosen profession, as he began reading law in the office of the firm of Norton & Bronson, whose members were leading representatives of the Clinton county bar. In February, 1892, he was matriculated in the law department of the University of Michigan, and, such had been his ad- vancement under the effective private preceptorship just noted, he was graduated as a member of the class of 1893. He duly received his de- gree of Bachelor of Laws and was admitted to the bar of the state, at Ann Arbor, in June, 1893, at the time of his graduation. On the 10th of the following month he came to northern Michigan and established his permanent home in Ludington, where he entered the law office of Michael B. Danaher, with whom he was in practice for the ensuing six years. In 1895 Mr. Keiser was elected circuit-court commissioner for Mason county, and this office he retained for two years. In 1898 further mark of popular esteem and of appreciation of his professional ability was given by his election to the office of prosecuting attorney. His first term of service amply demonstrated his powers, fidelity and loyalty as a public prosecutor, and he was chosen as his own successor in 1900, as was he again in 1902, so that he retained the office for six consecutive years. Mason county has never had a prosecuting attorney whose rec- ord has been more admirable in the conservation of justice and the pro- tecting of the interests of the people.
Since 1905 Mr. Keiser has been engaged in the general practice of his profession, and he retains a large and representative clientage, in connection with which he has appeared in much important litigation in both the state and federal courts. In 1909 he was appointed United States commissioner for the Western district of Michigan, and he still remains incumbent of this office. He is liberal and progressive in his civic attitude and soon after coming to Ludington he was elected to represent the Second ward in the common council. From the time of attaining to his legal majority he has been found arrayed as a staunch and effective exponent of the principles and policies for which the Re-
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publican party stands sponsor, and he is a leader in its councils in Mason county. He is a member of the Michigan State Bar Association, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of the Modern Maccabees and the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Keiser has identified himself with the vari- ous business interests of local order, aside from the work of his profes- sion, and has given special attention to the handling of real estate, in which line of enterprise he has contributed not a little to the material and social progress of his home city and county.
On the 23d of June, 1894, Mr. Keiser was united in marriage to Miss Anna Clark, who was born and reared in Clinton county, Michigan, and who is a daughter of Robert and Anna (Brubaker) Clark, now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Keiser have two children,-Marion, who was born on the 23d of April, 1898; and Donald, who was born on the 23d of August. 1905.
WILLIAM F. CARLE, who is one of the most capable undertakers in Alcona county, conducts a fine embalming establishment at Harrisville, where he is recognized as a man of worth and prominence. The art of embalming is to some extent lost as the Egyptians understood and practiced it, but if properly done it requires as much of an expert as does the preservation of the beauty of the living. Mr. Carle has a thorough understanding of his business, being specially well equipped for this work. He was born in Saint Clair county, Michigan, on the 18th of August, 1859, and is a son of Frederick and Elizabeth Carle, of Port Huron, Michigan. The father was a carpenter by trade and he removed with his family to Alcona county in 1866. His death occurred in 1894 and his widow was summoned to eternal rest in 1905. From 1880 to 1905 the mother conducted the Alcona House, at Harrisville, and after her death her son, the subject of this review, conducted it un- til 1910.
To the public schools of Alcona Mr. Carle is indebted for his prelim- inary educational training and as a young man he secured a position on the Pere Marquette Railroad, continuing to be identified with that line of enterprise for a period of twelve years, at the expiration of which he went to Alpena, where he conducted a grocery store for the ensuing ten years. In 1905 he returned to Harrisville and in that year took up his present business. He is the only funeral director in the city and as such does a large business. He is a Republican in his political convic- tious and fraternally he is affiliated with the Free & Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his wife are worthy and helpful members of the Methodist Episcopal church and they hold a secure vantage ground in the confidence and esteem of their fellow citizens.
In the year 1893 Mr. Carle was united in marriage to Miss Sarah MacGillis, a daughter of James MacGillis, long a representative busi- ness man of Alcona county. Mrs. Carle was born in Canada and is a woman of most pleasing personality. No children have been born to this union.
ـد
Charles to Dunham
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GEORGE A. CUYLER .- The present able incumbent of the office of reg- ister of deeds of Alcona county, Michigan, is George A. Cuyler, who is now serving his third term in office, this fact being conclusive evidence of his worth to his constituents and the high esteem in which he is held by them. Mr. Cuyler was born in the province of Ontario, Canada, the date of his nativity being the 6th of October, 1863. He is a son of George and Margaret (Gauley) Cuyler, both of whom were born and reared in Canada, where the former was summoned to the life eternal in 1866 and where the latter is now residing. To Mr. and Mrs. George Cuyler were born six children, of whom four sons emigrated to the United States.
George A. Cuyler was the fifth in order of birth in the family of six children and he grew up and was educated in his home town in Canada. In 1885, at which time he was twenty-two years of age, he emigrated to the United States, locating at Black River, Michigan, where he re- mained until 1906, in which year he removed to Harrisville, where he has since maintained his home. After his arrival in the States he was interested in the lumber industry for a number of years and subse- quently he was appointed a member of the life-saving station at Stur- geon Point, continuing incumbent of that position for a period of four- teen years, at the expiration of which, in 1906, he was elected to the office of register of deeds in Alcona county. In politics Mr. Cuyler ac- cords a stalwart allegiance to the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor and as a public-spirited and loyal citi- zen he has done much to advance progress and development in this sec- tion of northern Michigan. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of the Tented Maccabees and with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. In his religious faith he is a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the various departments of whose work he and his wife have long been active and zealous factors.
In the year 1891 was recorded the marriage of Mr. Cuyler to Miss Anna Shirley, who was born in Canada, where she was liberally edu- cated and whence she came to the United States in 1885. To this union has been born two children,-Edna M., who married Pith Medar, of Harrisville, and Hazen S., who is attending school at Harrisville.
CHARLES C. DUNHAM, probate judge, Cadillac, Michigan, was born in Hinkley, Medina county, Ohio, November 17, 1845, a son of William and Hannah A. (Conaut) Dunham, both deceased.
William Dunham, a native of Grand Isle, Vermont, was born in 1824, a son of John and Julia '(Hilliard) Dunham. When he was eight years old he moved with his parents to Medina county, Ohio, where his next ten years were passed on a farm and where he attended the com- mon schools up to the time he was eighteen. Then he learned the car- penter's trade, which he followed in Ohio for a period of ten years, until 1853, when he came to Michigan and made settlement at Grand Rapids. Here he was variously occupied up to the time the Civil war was inaugurated. At the very beginning of the war, in 1861, he raised a company at Fentonville, Michigan, of which he was made captain and which was mustered into the service as Company I. Third Michi-
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gan Cavalry. A year later he resigned on account of disability, and from that time until 1867 made his home at Fenton. That year he went to Manistee, where soon afterward he was elected county clerk and register of deeds, which office he filled two years, at the expiration of which time he embarked in the banking business with Charles Secor & Company. After eight years' association with the company he took the business and operated it alone for two years, having organized a state bank, of which he was president. In the spring of 1879 he purchased a half interest in the wholesale grocery house of Arthur Meigs, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, which was for years one of the largest wholesale grocery establishments in that city. It was not, however, until April, 1881, that Mr. Dunham moved his family to Grand Rapids, and from that time forward he was prominently identified with the business activities of the city. He was one of the organizers of the Fifth Na- tional Bank of Grand Rapids and was president of the institution, and he was one of the stockholders of the Dean Printing Company of Grand Rapids. Politically he was a Republican, and had the honor of serving as one of the presidential electors at the time Rutherford B. Hayes was eleeted. In the Masonic eireles of Michigan he stood high. In 1877 he was grand master of the state, and he had the distinction of having conferred upon him the Thirty-third degree, the highest honor be- stowed upon any Mason. William Dunham was twice married. By his first wife, Hannah A. (Conaut) Dunham, he had five children, namely : William H., deceased; Charles C., whose name introduces this sketch ; Jennie A., wife of Albert J. Hateh, of Grand Rapids; Phebe A., wife of N. Brewer, of Grand Rapids; and Julia, deceased. The mother of these children was born in Medina county, Ohio, in 1824, a daughter of Chester Conaut, and she and Mr. Dunham were united in marriage in 1843. Eleven years later, September 6, 1854, her death occurred at Gaines, Michigan. On February 26, 1856, he married for his second wife Miss Emeline Godwin, a native of Bangor, Maine, born April 17, 1832, a daughter of William R. and Caroline (Harlow) Godwin, who survives him. His death oceurred in 1907.
Charles C. Dunham, as above stated, was born in Medina county, Ohio. At the time of the removal of his father's family to Michigan he was a mere lad, and in the schools of what was then called Fentonville, now Fenton, he received his early education. Also he attended school at Wayland, Michigan, and later studied law at that place in the office of Hon. G. Charles Godwin. In 1885, at Cadillac, Michigan, he was ad- mitted to the bar. In the meantime, when only seventeen years of age, he tendered his services to the Union cause, enlisting at Fentonville as a member of Company L, Tenth Michigan Cavalry. That was in July, 1863. He saw two and a half years of active service, during which time he participated in fifty-eight skirmishes and battles. He was mustered out of the service at Knoxville, Tennessee, and at once returned to Michigan, where, at Manistee, he engaged in the sawmill and lumber business. He came to Cadillae in 1874 and opened a grocery store, and was engaged in the grocery business for a number of years. Mean- while he was elected sheriff of Wexford county, and was re-elected from time to time until he had served six terms eovering in all twelve
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years. Finally he sold his grocery business and engaged in the under- taking and furniture business, and, having disposed of the stock of furniture in 1906, he has since that date given his entire attention to undertaking.
Politically Mr. Dunham has always been a Republican. In ad- dition to his long service as sheriff he was justice of the peace four years, supervisor from the Third ward four years, and mayor of the city two terms. At the recent election he was choice for probate judge and April 3, 1911, was again elected mayor of Cadillac.
Judge Dunham has numerous fraternal associations. He is a mem- ber of Clam Lake Lodge, No. 331, F. and A. M .; Cadillac Chapter, No. 103, R. A. M., of which he was high priest; Cadillac Council, No. 70, R. & S. M .; Cadillac Lodge, No. 46, K. of P .; the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks; and Washington Post, No. 444, G. A. R.
Mr. Dunham is married and has an only child, Eva D., wife of E. M. Wheaton.
SAMUEL B. KAHN .- Through close application and well applied in- dustry many men have risen to important positions in the business world. To be born amid unfavoring circumstances does not imply that one's life shall be passed amid such surroundings, and especially in America, the "melting pot of all nations" is opportunity offered for advancement. It is this that has drawn so many people of foreign birth to the new world, where they have profited by existing conditions and have so shaped their lives that they have gained a fair measure of pros- perity, which is the goal of all business endeavor.
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