USA > Michigan > A history of northern Michigan and its people, Volume II > Part 37
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Mr. Samuel B. Kahn has been most successfully engaged in the gen- eral merchandise business at Harrisville, Aleona county, Michigan, since 1895, and here he is recognized as a loyal citizen, whose every public act has been a contributor to progress and development. Mr. Kahn was born at Kurland, Russia, on the 15th of September. 1873, and he is a son of Abraham and Sarah (Tange) Kahn. The father died in September, 1910, and the mother is living in Bay City. Mr. Kahn was reared and educated in his native land, under the strict rules of the Hebrew church is as far as was permissible under the Russian gov- ernment. As a youth he developed decided ability in the line of mer- cantile pursuits and in 1892, when nineteen years of age, he emigrated to the United States and settled in Michigan. In 1895 he located at Harrisville, where he opened a general store. His energy and vim soon began to count for good and from small beginnings his business gradu- ally grew in scope and importance until to-day his splendid establish- ment is one of the best in Alcona county. In 1906 he purchased the old Van Buskirk stand, fronting on the lake and the same is two and a half stories in height and is well stocked with the choicest of fresh and staple merchandise direct from the importer and factory. With his staple and fancy line of goods he caters to even the most factions city ens- tomer and in the business world of this place he is noted for his straight- forward and honorable dealings.
Politically Mr. Kahn endorses the cause of the Republican party and during his residence in Harrisville he has been honored with the
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following offices of trust and responsibility : He was treasurer of the school board for nine years, was a member of the city council for six years and for three years was mayor of Harrisville. He is now (1911) secretary of the Republican County Committee. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Masonic order, in the Scottish Rite branch of which he has attained to the thirty-second degree and in the York Rite of which he is a member of Harrisville Lodge, No. 292, Free & Accepted Masons, in which he is a past master. He is also a valued and apprecia- tive member of the adjunct organization, the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In every walk of life Mr. Kahn's conduct has been characterized by strict adherence to honesty and prin- ciple and his exemplary life may well serve as lesson and incentive to others. He is a man of resolute purpose and one whose laudable ambi- tion has stimulated him to put forth his best efforts both in his own private business affairs and in the administration of the duties of the public offices to which he has been elected at different times.
In 1897 Mr. Kahn was united in marriage to Miss Nellie Sandorf, of Bay City, Michigan. To this union have been born four children, namely,-Ivar J., Berniee D., Louisa and Velma R. Mr. and Mrs. Kahn are popular in connection with the best social activities in Harrisville and their home is celebrated for its gracious and cordial hospitality and the good cheer which there abounds.
CHARLES H. SCHRAM .- An essentially representative business man of Lincoln, Alcona county, Michigan, and one whose energy and enterprise have won him a high place in the confidence and esteem of his fellow men is Charles H. Schram, who has resided in this town since 1881, and who as a boy and man has retained an untarnished reputation amongst people who have known him from earliest youth. Mr. Schram was born in the province of Ontario, Canada, on the 27th of September, 1875, and is a son of David and Celesty (Underhill) Schram, both of whom were like- wise born and reared in Canada, where was solemnized their marriage and whence they came to the United States in the year 1881. Location was made in Lincoln and subsequently the father purchased a farm of seventy-five acres of land, which is now in a high state of cultivation. Of their eleven children seven are now living, namely,-Charles H., the immediate subject of this review; Anna, who is now Mrs. L. Dewey; George A .; Frederick B .; Earl O .; Emma, who is Mrs. C. Clayton; and Etta.
After completing the curriculum of the public schools of Lincoln Charles H. Schram entered upon an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade, with the work of which he continued to be identified for a num- ber of years. In 1899 he conducted a grocery store and in 1907 he be- came manager of the Lincoln Mercantile Company. In his political faith Mr. Schram is a staunch advocate of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor and while he has never manifested anght of ambition for the honors or emoluments of public office he is ever on the alert to do all in his power to advance the general welfare of the community in which he has elected to maintain his home. He is a business man of irreproachable conduct and straightforward
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methods and as such commands the high esteem of all with whom he has come in contact. He is a strictly temperance man and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of the Tented Maccabees and the Modern Brotherhood of Amer- ica. For two years he was the efficient incumbent of the office of village clerk.
In 1902 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Schram to Miss Sarah J. Brounlee who is a daughter of William and Jane Brounlee, and who was reared and educated in Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Schram have no chil- dren. They are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church in their religious adherency and are popular factors in connection with the best social activities of the community, their home being widely recog- nized as a center of most gracious hospitality.
BLAIR F. SCOTT, who is ably filling the office of county clerk of Mis- saukee county, Michigan, maintains his home at Lake City, the judicial center of this county. For nine years he was the popular incumbent of the office of postmaster of Lake City and prior to 1901 he was engaged in the drug business at this place. A native of the fine old Keystone state of the Union, Mr. Blair F. Scott was born at Beaver, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, on the 24th of November, 1866. He is a son of Noah and Margaret (Ferguson) Scott, both of whom were likewise na- tives of the state of Ohio. The father was a railroad contractor by occu- pation and for a number of years was in the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. In 1872 the Scott family removed from Beaver, Pennsylvania, to Somerset county, that state, where the young Blair F. began his educational training. Subsequently he was matricu- lated as a student in the State Normal School at California, Pennsyl- vania, remaining in that institution for a period of one year. In 1891 he went to Ada, Ohio, where he attended a school of pharmacy, in which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Pharmacy. For a time he was engaged in the work of his profession at Ada, Ohio, and later he came to Michigan, locating in the city of Detroit, whence he removed to Kalamazoo. From the latter place he came to Lake City, in 1893, beginning to work for Dr. John O. Decker in the latter's drug store, which he eventually purchased and which he continued to con- duet with marked success until 1901. In that year he was appointed postmaster of Lake City, by President Mckinley, and he remained in tenure of that office until 1910, when he was honored by his fellow citi- zens with election to the office of county clerk of Missaukee county.
In the year 1897 was recorded the marriage of Mr. Scott to Miss Kate Beauthien, of Lake City. Mrs. Scott was born at Big Rapids, Michigan, a daughter of Carl and Aneniae Beauthien, both of whom were natives of Germany. Mr. Beauthien was a soldier in the German army prior to his emigration to America, and during his active career in this country was a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Scott have three children,- Margaret, Doris and Pauline, all of whom are attending school in Lake City.
In politics Mr. Scott endorses the cause of the Republican party, in the local councils of which he has ever been an active and zealous factor.
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For three years he was town elerk of Lake City, for two years was vil- lage elerk and for four years was incumbent of the office of county coro- ner. He is now secretary of the Republican county committee. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the time-honored Masonie order and with the Knights of Pythias. A citizen of unusual loyalty and public spirit, he is a eo-operant factor in all matters projected for the good of the general welfare and by reason of his square and straightforward dealings is accorded the whole-souled regard of his fellow men.
WILLIAM W. RICE .- The late William Wirt Riee, who died at his home in Petoskey, on the 12th of September, 1891, was here the founder of the extensive and important industrial enterprise eondueted under the title of the W. W. Rice Leather Company, and he was actively identified with this line of business during his entire active career, which was marked by large and worthy accomplishment. Mr. Riee es- tablished his residence in Petoskey more than a quarter of a century ago and identified himself closely with its civie and business interests. He did much to further its development and upbuilding, gave his aid and influence in support of all legitimate measures and enterprises pro- jected for the general good of the community, and, above all, he was a man whose nobility of character and fine business ability made him a power for good in the little city in which his interests became centered after his retirement from business in the state of New York. He was signally true and loyal in all the relations of life, was generous, kindly and tolerant, was of optimistie temperament, and his gracious person- ality gained and retained to him the stannehest of friends in all elasses. His was a large mind and a large soul, and both were manifest in all stages of his career, which was one of distinctive attainment along nor- mal lines of productive industry. Though he maintained his home in Michigan for less than a decade his name and fame remain a very part of the history of Petoskey and Emmet county, and none is more worthy of representation in this publication.
The genealogy of the family of which William Wirt Riee was a sterling seion is traeed hack to Robert Rice, who was born in England, about the year 1590, and records extant show that the family name in England was variously spelled as Royce, Roise and Royse, the while there is no definite indication as to the exact time when the present simplified orthography of the name was adopted. Robert Riee emi- grated to America in 1631 and first settled at Boston, Massachusetts, whence he removed to New London, Connecticut, prior to 1657, and be- came one of the earlier settlers of that place. He became a citizen of prominence and influence in this community, in which he served as constable in 1660 and which he represented in the colonial legislature in the following year. Records show him to have been a man of probity and good repute and he became the owner of a property of considerable value. He died at New London, in 1676, and his wife, Elizabeth, sur- vived him, as data show that she was still living on the family estate in 1688. They became the parents of six sons and three daughters.
Samuel, the third son of Robert and Elizabeth Rice, married Han- nah Churchill, of Wethersfield, Conneetieut, and he resides at New
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London, where he was a freeman in 1669, but he removed thence to Wallingford, New Haven colony, prior to 1677. He was the father of two sons and three daughters, and his eldest son, who likewise bore the name of Samuel, resided at Wallingford, where, on the 5th of June, 1690, he married Sarah Baldwin. Samuel and Sarah (Baldwin) Rice became the parents of four children, and Samuel died on the 11th of June, 1729. Jacob, the youngest son, was born April 11, 1697, and on the 28th of September, 1724, he wedded Thankful Beach, who was born September 20, 1702, and who was a daughter of Thomas and Phebe Beach. Jacob Riee died November 13, 1727, at the age of thirty years, and was survived by two children, Amos and Experienee.
Amos Riee, who was born on the 1st of November 1725, was married to Sarah Morse about the year 1753, and they resided at Wallingford, Connectieut. They became the parents of seven sons and four daugh- ters, and their fifth son was Benajah, who was born March 16, 1767, and whose marriage to Sarah Hough was solemnized in January, 1793. Amos, the only son of Benajah and Sarah (Hough) Rice, was born in Windham, Greene county, New York, on the 22d of August, 1800, and thus it is shown that the parents were pioneers of that section of the Empire state. Amos Rice was reared to manhood in his native eonnty and there he married Loretta Susan Andrews. In 1857 they removed to Lewis county, New York, where they passed the residne of their lives, secure in the high regard of all who knew them. Of their ehil- dren William W., subject of this memoir, and two of his brothers, be- eame prominently eoneerned with the tanning industry in the state of New York.
William Wirt Rice was born at Lexington. Greene county, New York, on the 13th of August, 1833, and when he was two years of age his parents removed to Homer, Cortland county, where he was reared to adult age and where he was afforded the advantages of Cortland Academy, which was long one of the representative educational insti- tutions of this seetion of the state. Ile eontinned to be associated with the work and management of the home farm until he had attained to the age of twenty years, and in 1853 he left the home roof and removed to the town of Greig, Lewis eounty, New York, where he served a thorough apprenticeship at the tanner's trade, in the well ordered tan- nery of C. W. Pratt. He was thus employed for three years. at a com- pensation of twelve dollars a month, and in the meanwhile he mastered all details of the tanning of sole leather. In 1856, in company with his eldest brother, Benajah B. Rice, he erected a tannery at Dunning's Sta- tion, on the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, nine miles distant from Seranton, Pennsylvania, but he sold his interest in this tannery hefore it was placed in operation. In Deeember, 1856, he es- tablished his home in Crogham, Lewis county, New York, and in the following year he there ereeted a tannery, which he successfully oper- ' ated nntil 1865, when the plant was destroyed by fire. A new tannery was forthwith erected and equipped. Benajah B. Riee was associated with his brother in the enterprise until 1863, when he sold his interest to his father, who, in the following year, transferred the same to his son Yale, who thereafter continued to be associated with his younger
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brother, William W., of this review, in the operation of the wel' equipped plant until this and other properties held by the firm of W. & Y. Rice were sold to the firm of Bullard & Company, of New York City.
Concerning the operations with which William W. Rice was thus long and successfully identified in Lewis county, New York, further data may consistently be entered. The capacity of the firm's tannery at the time when the property was sold was thirty thousand sides of sole leather per year, and in the manufacturing of the same thirty thousand cords of tanbark were utilized. In the spring of 1870 the firm pur- chased ten thousand acres of land in Lewis county, principally for the purpose of thus securing a reserve of hemlock timber for use in eon- nection with their tannery. They also erected a tannery at Jordan Falls, on the Oswegatchie river, and this plant had an output capacity of sixty thousand sides of sole leather per annum. At this point they also ereeted twenty-five or more dwellings for the use of employes, to- gether with a large boarding house, a general store and a school house. In 1873 they purchased about eighteen thousand additional acres of land, principally for its hemloek timber, and they built up one of the most extensive tanning enterprises in that section of the Empire State. On the 27th of February, 1883, the tanneries and about ten thousand acres of the hemlock land were sold by the Rice brothers to Bullard & Company, of New York City, and about two years later, in 1885, Will- iam W. Rice came to Emmet county, Michigan, and established at Petoskey a tannery from which has been evolved the large and pros- perous business now conducted under the corporate title of the W. W. Riee Leather Company, in which his sons, as the interested principals, have perpetuated his name. The original tannery at Petoskey had a capacity for output of fifty sides of dry-hide hemlock sole leather a day, and concerning the growth and expansion of the enterprise further and adequate details are given in the sketches of the careers of the two sons, George S. and Francis Y., on other pages of this work.
Petoskey was a small and obscure village at the time when William W. Rice here established his home, and his publie spirit reached wider manifestation than the upbuilding of the important industrial enterprise which he here founded. He was alert in the promoting of measures and projeets for the advancement of all interests tending to foster social and material progress and became a leader in local business circles as well as in the direction of public affairs. He was president of the vil- lage board of trustees at the time of his death and no eitizen eom- manded a fuller measure of popular confidence and esteem. Ile was considerate in the treatment of all in his employ and showed a kindly interest in their welfare, the while he was essentially democratic in his attitude and placed true valuations upon both men and things. A kind word was ever his to give to those employed by him and by others, and he had an abiding appreciation of the dignity and value of honest toil and endeavor, in whatever capacity. Sympathy and toleration were his permanent guests and his entire life was ordered upon the high- est plane of integrity and honor. As a man and as one who contributed his quota to the advancement and upbuilding of Petoskey and Emmet
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county his name and work should be made the subject of definite tribute in this history of northern Michigan, where he lived and labored to goodly ends.
In politics Mr. Rice gave a staunch allegiance to the cause of the Democratic party, and his wife was a zealous member of the Presbyte- rian church.
On the 11th of October, 1864, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Rice to Miss Martha A. Gowdy, who was born at Lowville, the county seat of Lewis county, New York, in 1839, and whose death occurred at Petoskey in 1885. She was a daughter of Norman Gowdy, one of the representative citizens and business men of Lewis county. Con- cerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Rice the following brief record is given in conclusion of this memoir : Alice G., who was born on the 24th of October, 1865, died on the 28th of September. 1870; George Stanley, who was born August 20, 1867, is individually mentioned elsewhere in this work ; Julia B., who was born October 23, 1869, is now Mrs. Arthur M. Coburn, of Detroit : Francis Yale, who was born November 12, 1871, is likewise the subject of a specific sketch on other pages of this work ; Norman G., who was born January 12, 1874, is now a resident of Ubly, Michigan ; and Martha A., who was born September 12, 1876, is Mrs. Morgan Curtis of Petoskey.
GEORGE STANLEY RICE, of Petoskey, president of the W. W. Rice Leather Company, is well upholding the prestige of a name that has been one of prominence and distinction in connection with the civic and in- dustrial progress of this favored section of the Wolverine common- wealth, and he is numbered among the essentially representative busi- ness men of Petoskey, which has been his home since the days of his youth and in which he has so ordered his cause as to retain seenre van- tage ground in popular confidence and regard. Elsewhere in this vol- ume is entered a memoir to his honored father. the late William Wirt Rice, and thus it is not necessary to repeat the data of the latter's ca- reer and of the family history in the present connection.
George Stanley Rice was born at Crogham, Lewis county, New York, on the 20th of Angnst, 1867, and he is indebted to the schools of his native state for his early educational advantages, which compassed higher academic studies. He early became associated with his father's tanning business, and literally grew up in the same, so that he is familiar with all scientific and practical details of the important line of enter- prise with which he has been identified from his boyhood to the present time. Full details concerning his father's business career are given in the memoir dedicated to the latter, and reference should be made to the article in question for supplemental information. George S. Rice was about eighteen years of age at the time of the family removal. in 1885. from Lewis county, New York, to Petoskey, and here he became actively associated with his father in the establishing and operating of the tan- nery, the original capacity of which was for the output of fifty sides of dry-hide hemlock sole leather each day. He and his young brother were their father's valued and able coadjutors in the enterprise from its inception, and as straightforward. reliable business men and equipped
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with thorough knowledge of all details of this line of industry, they have continued the business with marked success since their father passed away, on the 12th of September, 1891. On the 31st of the fol- lowing December they effected the incorporation of the business under the laws of the state and adopted the present title of the W. W. Rice Leather Company, retaining their father's name as a tribute to his mem- ory and in recognition of his having been the founder of the enterprise. The plant is one of the largest and best equipped in the State the same being devoted exclusively to the manufacturing of sole leather of the best grade. The enterprise is carried forward along the careful and con- servative lines defined in the policies of its founder and has proved a most valuable contribution to the commercial prestige of Petoskey and this entire section of Michigan. When operated at full capacity the tannery gives an output of three hundred thousand sides of sole leather a year, and the fine products find a ready demand in the market.
Like his father, George S. Rice has shown a commendable interest in civic and public affairs in his home city and county, and he is emphati- cally progressive and public-spirited. He served one term as supervisor of Bear Creek township, but in politics he maintains an independent attitude and has had no desire to enter the turbulent stream of so-called practical politics. He gives his support to the men and measures meet- ing the approval of his judgment. In addition to his association with the manufacturing enterprise noted he is also vice-president of the First State Bank of Petoskey, one of the substantial and popular finan- cial institutions of northern Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Rice are valued members of the Presbyterian church.
On the 4th of December. 1888, Mr. Rice wedded Miss Fannic M. Beckham, who was born at Napoleon, Ohio, and who was the fifth in order of birth of the six children of Judge William and Amanda (Lem- ert) Beckham, both of whom were born and reared in Ohio, where the respective families were founded in the pioneer days, and where Judge Beckham not only served as judge of the probate court of Henry county but where he was also a successful contractor and agriculturist. He re- moved with his family to Petoskey, Michigan, when this thriving little city was a mere village, and here both he and his wife continued to reside until their death. Mr. and Mrs. Rice became the parents of seven children, of whom three died in infancy, and the four surviving are: William Wirt, Yale, George Stanley, Jr., and John Richard. The family is one of prominence in connection with the best social activities of the community and the attractive home, located on Mitchell street, is known as a center of gracious hospitality.
FRANCIS Y. RICE .- Among those who are actively concerned with the industrial and business interests of northern Michigan and who have here stood exemplar of the most progressive policies and appreciative civic loyalty is Francis Yale Rice, secretary of the W. W. Rice Leather Company up to 1906, one of the important industrial enterprises of the beautiful little city of Petoskey, Emmet county, whose prestige as a manufacturing and commercial center should not be subordinated to its widely known attractions as one of the most popular summer resorts
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