USA > Michigan > A history of northern Michigan and its people, Volume II > Part 38
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of northern Michigan. Inasmuch as the upbuilding of the splendid en- terprise of the W. W. Rice Leather Company is adequately outlined in the memoir to William Wirt Rice, its founder, and in that of George S. Rice, its president, it is deemed unnecessary to repeat the same in the present sketch. William Wirt Rice, father of him whose name initiates this paragraph, left an indelible impress upon the industrial and social history of Petoskey, where he founded the business which is now carried forward with all of energy and success by his sons, of whom the younger is he to whose career attention is now briefly directed.
Francis Yale Rice, the fourth in order of birth of the six children of William W. and Martha A. (Gowdy) Rice, was born at Louisville, Lewis county, New York, on the 12th of November, 1872, and thus he was a lad of about thirteen years at the time of the family removal to Petoskey in 1885. His rudimentary education was secured in the public schools of his native place and was supplemented by attendance in the schools of Petoskey, after which he prosecuted high academic studies in Alma College, at Alma, Gratiot county, and completed a commercial course in the Ferris Institute, in the city of Big Rapids, this state. After leaving school he became actively associated with the tanning business established by his father, and after the honored father passed away, in 1891, the two sons incorporated the business, which has since been con- ducted under the title of the W. W. Rice Leather Company, and George S. Rice, the elder of the brothers, is president of the company, while Francis Y. has given most effective service in the office of secretary. In 1906 Mr. Rice also engaged in the livery business, and he has since con- ducted one of the leading establishments of this kind in Emmet county, with the best of equipment and service. He is one of the progressive business men of the city that has been his home from his boyhood days and here his standing in business cireles is on a parity with his popu- larity in the community, in which his sterling character and genial per- sonality have gained to him a host of friends. In politics Mr. Rice is found aligned as a loyal supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, but he has had no predilection for the honors or emoluments of public office. He is affiliated with Petoskey Lodge, No. 629, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Inawandiwin Lodge, No. 56, Knights of Pyth- ias, ; and Petoskey Lodge, No. 282, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
On the 12th of December, 1900, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Rice to Miss Emma Raymond, who was born and reared in the city of Grand Rapids, this state, and who is the only daughter and the eldest of the four children of Morris and Laura E. (Wauperton) Raymond both of whom were born in Maryland. Morris Raymond was for twenty-seven years state agent in Michigan for the Connecticut Fire Insurance Company, and later he became general agent for the Royal Exchange Insurance Company, of England. He was a Republican in politics and was affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. A man of winning personality and the highest principles, he ever commanded the unequivocal esteem of his fellow men, and he died, at Grand Rapids, in 1910, at the age of sixty years; his widow now main- tains her home at Grand Rapids. Mr. and Mrs. Rice have two fine little sons,-Francis Yale, Jr., and Edward Raymond.
Vol. II-19
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JAMES B. MARTIN, M. D .- The course of Dr. Martin has been such as to exemplify the highest ethies of his chosen profession and, engaged in successful general practice in Traverse City, he is worthy of recog- nition as one of the representative physicians and surgeons of northern Michigan, the section to which this publication is devoted.
Dr. Martin elaims the fine old Keystone state of the Union as the place of his nativity. He was born in the eity of Seranton, Lack- awanna connty, Pennsylvania, on the 12th of March, 1855, and is a son of Daniel and Margaret (Barry) Martin, both of whom were born and reared in Ireland, but they were married in America. After their emi- gration to this country they established their home in Pennsylvania, where they remained until about 1860, when they came to Michigan and took up their residence in St. Joseph county, where the father reclaimed a productive farm and where he continued to be engaged in agri- cultural pursuits during the remainder of his active career. He passed the closing years of his life in the village of Menton, that county, where he died at the venerable age of eighty-three years, and his name is given a place of honor on the roster of the sterling pioneers of that section of the state. Both he and his wife were communicants of the Catholic church, and she died at the age of sixty-six years. Their seven children, four sons and three daughters, are living, and of the number Dr. Martin of this review was the third in order of birth.
Dr. Martin was about five years of age at the time of the family removal to Michigan and he was reared to adult age under the sturdy and invigorating discipline of the old homestead farm in St. Joseph county, where he was also afforded the advantages of the public sehools. His predilections and ambitions led him to seek a broader sphere of endeavor than that offered in the monotonous and arduous routine of the farm, and he early formulated definite plans for his future eareer. Appreciative of the responsibilities and exactions of the medical profession and also of its humane functions, he decided to pre- pare himself for the same. With this end in view he was finally matriculated in the medical department of the University of Michigan, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1881, and from which he received his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. In October of the same year he came to northern Michigan and located in the village of Manton, Wexford county, where he initiated the prae- tice of his profession, in the work of which he there continued until 1889, when he removed to Traverse City, the metropolis and judicial center of Grand Traverse county, where he has since snecessfully fol- lowed the work of his profession and where he has long eontrolled a large and representative practice. Ile has subordinated all other interests to the demands of his profession and has been a close and appreciative student of its standard and periodical literature, so that he has recourse to the most approved modern remedial agencies and technical methods and facilities. He is an active and valned member of the Grand Traverse County Medieal Society and the Michigan State Medieal Society, and is also identified with the American Medical Association. Dr. Martin has served three terms as health officer of Traverse City, and in this position his services have not been of
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merely nomenal order, for he has put forth every possible effort to promote sanitary conditions and to safeguard the health of the com- munity in general. While a resident of Manton, Wexford county, he served as village clerk and was for three years president of the village council, besides which he was township clerk for two years. In poli- ties Dr. Martin is found aligned as a staunch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, and he is well fortified in his opinions as to mat- ters of public polity, both national and local. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
On the Ist of November, 1882, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Martin to Miss Mary J. Shepard, who was born and reared at Middle- ville, Barry county, Michigan, and she was summoned to the life eternal on the 30th of March, 1901. She is survived by one daughter, Rhea, who remains at the paternal home. Dr. Martin married Miss Mabel Bullock of St. Joseph, Missouri, on December 20, 1910.
ROBERT A. RICHARDS,-Honored and respected by all, there is no man in Iosco county, Michigan, who occupies a more enviable position in commercial circles than does Robert A. Richards, not alone on ac- count of the brilliant success he has achieved, but also on account of the honorable, straightforward business policy he has ever followed. He possesses untiring energy, is quick of perception, forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution, his close application to business and his excellent management having brought to him the high degree of prosperity which is his to-day. He stands as one of the foremost repre- sentatives of the hardware business in this section of the fine old Wol- verine state, and while laboring for his own success he has also promoted the general prosperity by pushing forward the wheels of progress and advancing the commercial prestige in Au Sable and that portion of the county in which he makes his home.
Robert A. Richards, dealer in exclusive hardware, paints and oils, was born in England, on the 25th of December, 1848, and he is a son of Benjamin and Phoebe (Powell) Richards. The father was born in Bridgeport, Dorsetshire, England, on the 21st of March, 1825, and as a youth he learned the tinsmith's trade, with which he was identified dur- ing much of his subsequent career. In 1845 was solemnized his marriage to Miss Phoebe Powell, who was likewise born and reared in England, and they became the parents of ten children, seven of whom are still living, namely,-Robert A., James, William, Frederick, Mary, Sarah and Blanche. Benjamin Richards emigrated to the United States in the year 1854 and in due time he made a home for his family, who fol- lowed him to this country about the year 1856. Immediately after land- ing in America the father located at Lansingburg, New York, and thence he went to London, Canada, where he remained but a short time, and re- turned to Lansingburg, New York. In 1866 he removed to Alpena, Michigan, where he worked at his trade in connection with the Barlow Hardware Store. In 1872 he started a hardware store of his own at Al- pena and in 1874 the family home was established at East Tawas, Michigan, where Mr. Richards eventually hecame the owner of the busi- ness block now occupied by the Richards Brothers Hardware Store.
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In 1883 he turned the hardware business over to his sons and then, in company with J. H. Schmeck, opened a bank, which he later disposed of to his partner. Returning to Alpena he was there engaged in the dry-goods business for the ensuing eight years, at the expiration of which he again took up his abode at East Tawas, where he took an active interest in the hardware business. He was a man of most phenomenal energy and marked business capacity and his accomplishment in the commercial world was of gigantic proportions. Fraternally he was affiliated with the time-honored Masonic order, in which he was a valued and appreciative member of Baldwin lodge of East Tawas and Alpena Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. He was summoned to the life eternal on the 22d of March, 1901, at the venerable age of seventy-six years, and his cherished and devoted wife still lives at East Tawas. They belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church.
Robert A. Richards was a child of four years of age at the time of his arrival in the United States and he completed his preliminary educational training in the public schools of Alpena, Michigan. He was a resident of the state of New York for eight years, returning to Alpena in 1874, at which time he there engaged in the hardware business. In 1882 he removed to Au Sable, Iosco county, where he established a hard- ware store in partnership with C. E. Wilcox. This firm was burned out in 1891 and the partnership was then dissolved. Mr. Richards in the same year formed a partnership with his brother, James and they were together for two years since which time the business has been conducted by R. A. Richards. On the 15th of July, 1901, his business place was destroyed by fire, the loss amounting to some seventeen thousand dol- lars. His present place of business is a fine modern building, forty by eighty feet in lateral dimensions and the stock contained therein is of the best and most modern type, the same including all kinds of hard- ware, paints and oils.
On the 3d of April, 1865, Robert A. Richards enlisted as a soldier in the Civil war, becoming a member of Company C, One Hundred and Ninety-second New York Volunteer Infantry. He served with all of valor and faithfulness until the close of the war and received his hon- orable discharge on the 28th of August, 1865. In politics he accords a staunch allegiance to the cause of the Republican party and he has taken an active part in public affairs of a local order. He served several years as clerk of Au Sable and for two years he was incumbent of the office of treasurer of this city. In 1897 he was elected to the office of treas- urer of Iosco county, in which he gave most efficient service for two terms. In a fraternal way he is connected with Au Sable Lodge, No. 243, Free & Accepted Masons, in which he has been secretary since 1882 and Tosco Chapter, No. 83, Royal Arch Masons in which he has been treasurer since 1894. Mr. Richards is a man of distinct and forceful in- dividuality, of marked sagacity, of undaunted enterprise, and in manner is genial, courteous and easily approachable. His career has ever been such as to warrant the trust and confidence of the business world and his activity in industrial, commercial and financial circles forms no un- important chapter in the history of Iosco county.
Mr. Richards has been twice married, his first union being to Miss
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Rebecca Sicker, a native of New York, in which state the marriage was solemnized in 1869. Mrs. Richards was summoned to eternal rest in 1881, and in 1882 Mr. Richards wedded Miss Julia A. Baker, a daughter of William Baker, of Alpena, Michigan. To the latter union have been born two children,-Norma E. and Benjamin H., both of whom remain at the parental home.
PETER T. PETERSON .- A prominent and influential citizen of Fife Lake, Michigan, and one whose contribution to progress and develop- ment has ever been of the most insistent order is Peter T. Peterson, who though nearing his three score years and ten is still handling his business and working hard each day. He has ever manifested a deep and sincere interest in community affairs and has been the popular and efficient in- cumbent of a number of important public offices of trust and respon- sibility. The splendid success he has gained in a business way is en- tirely the outcome of his own well directed endeavors and for that reason his high position to-day is the more gratifying to contemplate.
Peter T. Peterson was born at Laaland, Denmark, on the 7th of June, 1845, and he is a son of Hans and Marie Peterson, both of whom are de- ceased. The father was a farmer by occupation and under the invig- orating discipline of the old home farm Peter T. was reared to maturity. His father was summoned to eternal rest when he was a young boy and thus he was early thrown upon his own resources. He received but meager educational advantages in his youth and was set to learning the blacksmith's trade. He worked for his master for a period of five years, during which time he received no pay other than his board. In 1868 he and a brother decided to emigrate to America and accordingly severed the ties which bound them to home and native land and set sail for the United States. They proceeded immediately to Michigan, locating at Muskegon, where he secured work in one of the lumber camps. For several years he worked up and down the river in connection with the great lumber industry and in 1878 settled at Fife Lake, which was then nothing but a wilderness. Seventeen months thereafter he rented a shop and shortly afterward he bought out Charles Lancaster, who was engaged in blacksmithing and wagon making. In 1906 he purchased a building which he later enlarged but which was destroyed by fire the same year. He then bought another building, a store, which he also en- larged, and in which he had a wood-working shop in connection with his blacksmith business. Through hard work and frugality he has succeeded in gaining a competency though he is still leading an active business life maintaining a general supervision of his blacksmith es- tablishment.
In the year 1879 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Peterson to Miss Georgia Ann Harding, who was born and reared in this state and who is a daughter of John and Dorothea Harding, of Stanwood, Mich- igan. Mr. Harding was engaged in farming operations during the greater part of his active career. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson have three children concerning whom the following brief data is here incorporated : Elsie M. is the wife of Clinton W. Combs, who is in the employ of the United States Forestry department, in the state of Oregon: Claudia is
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in the employ of the prosecuting attorney of Sanilac county, Michigan, and Raymond S. is a barber at Grand Haven, Michigan.
For the long period of twenty-four years Mr. Peterson, of this notice, was a member of the school board of Fife Lake. He was one of the organizers of the high school district and has been moderator, treasurer and secretary of the school board on different occasions. For nine years he was incumbent of the office of town treasurer, was town elerk for one year and is village treasurer at the present time, this being his eighth year in that office. He was president of the village for five years, was a member of the village council for six years and is a member of the county Republican committee. It will be seen from the foregoing that Mr. Peterson has been decidedly an active factor in community affairs since his advent in Fife Lake more than thirty years ago. In a fra- ternal way he has passed through all the official chairs of the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows and he is now past grand. While he is not formally connected with any religious organization he gives freely of his aid and influence in support of all measures projected for the well being of this section of the state. He is a man of large heart and gen- erous impulses and as such is accorded the unalloyed confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens. He has lived a most exemplary life, is a devoted husband and father, and as a citizen his loyalty and public spirit have ever been of the most insistent order.
NICHOLAS NEIL .- The dominating spirit of self-help is what has con- served the distinctive business success and prestige of Mr. Nicholas Neil, who now conducts a flourishing general merchandise concern at Lincoln, Alcona county, Michigan, where from modest inception he has built up an extensive trade and where he holds a high reputation for personal integrity and honorable methods.
Mr. Neil was born in Canada, on the 27th of December, 1861, and is a son of Nicholas and Annie (Campbell) Neil, both of whom traced their ancestry back to staunch Scotch extraction. The parents were born in Canada and there the mother was summoned to eternal rest in 1864, the father coming to the United States in 1881. To Mr. and Mrs. Nich- olas Neil was born twelve children, seven of whom are now living and of the number the subject of this review was the second in order of birth. Nicholas Neil, Jr., received his preliminary educational training in the public schools of his native place and he emigrated to the United States on the 12th of April, 1879, at which time he was a youth of about sev- enteen years of age. He first located at Harrisville, Michigan, where he was long identified with lumbering operations and he came to Lincoln in 1906. In 1907 he opened his present fine mercantile establishment, in which he handles a fine stock of general merchandise, boots and shoes. Through elose application to business he has sneceeded in building up a large and profitable trade in this vicinity, where he is known as a man of excellent business ability, energetic and far-sighted, and where he has achieved prosperity through well directed effort, the while he has ever commanded the unqualified regard of those with whom he has come in contact in either a business or a social way.
In the year 1897 was recorded the marriage of Mr. Neil to Miss
FrancisA. Tacymarek
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HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
Carrie McClaurin, who was born and reared in Canada, and who is a daughter of Robert McClaurin. To this union have been born four chil- dren, namely,-Wallace, Alice, Clayton and Percy. Mr. and Mrs. Neil are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church and they are liberal contributors to all worthy projects. The family home is a center of hospitality, and entertainment is continually being extended to the large circle of friends.
REV. FRANCIS A. KACZMAREK .- Our Lady of Mount Carmel church at Gaylord, Otsego county, Michigan, was organized in 1880 by Rev. Francis F. Szulak, who assumed charge of it in connection with his work at other parishes in the old missionary days. He visited the parish from time to time, and, though his opportunities were meagre, suc- ceeded in building a church. He was succeeded by Rev. Francis Bruno Torka, a Franciscan. The first resident pastor was Rev. Father Leopold Opyrchalski, who came here in 1888. He was influential in establish- ing the church on a more substantial basis and built the present parish house. He was in turn succeeded by Rev. Father M. Grochowski, who remained here but one year. In 1889 Rev. A. Lipinski was installed as pastor, and he was followed by Rev. Casimir Skory. In 1893 Father Skory built the present school, which cost about two thousand dollars. He also had a cemetery platted and blessed and a small chapel erected. On the 27th of August, 1904, Rev. S. Pongannis became pastor, and he remained until October 1, 1907, at which time the Rev. Francis A. Kaczmarek was installed as pastor. The property of the parish con- sists of a stately and magnificent brick church, a brick dwelling and a frame parochial school building, the valuation of which amounts to about thirty-five thousand dollars. The parish is composed of one hundred and fifteen families and the school, which was formerly under lay authority, is now conducted by the Dominican Sisters.
Rev. Father Francis A. Kaczmarek, the present incumbent of the pastorate of Our Lady of Mount Carmel church, is one of the beloved and popular clergymen of the village of Gaylord, where he has been at the head of the Catholic element since 1907, as previously noted. Father Kaczmarek was born in Poland, on the 2nd of April, 1878, and he is a son of Andrew and Mary (Wendrowicz) Kaczmarek the latter now living in Bay City, where Father Kacmarek was reared. He re- ceived his preliminary education in the St. Stanislas school at Bay City and later he supplemented that discipline by a course of study in St. Mary's Polish Seminary at Detroit. Subsequently he was matriculated in St. Francis Theological Seminary, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in which excellent institution he was graduated with honors as a member of the class of 1901. He was ordained priest by the Rt. Rev. Henry J. Richter, D. D., in Grand Rapids, Michigan, June 29, 1901, and his first assign- ment was as assistant pastor at Manistee, Michigan, where he remained for a period of four years. In 1905 he was transferred to Grand Rapids, where he became assistant to Father Skory for one year. In 1906 he was given charge of the Polish Catholic Church at Metz, where he re- mained for one year, at the expiration of which he was advanced to the pastorate of Our Lady of Mount Carmel church at Gaylord. IIis pro-
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motions have been rapid and well merited, and it may be said that while the pastor has a large and appreciative congregation, the people have a most worthy and well beloved pastor. During the incumbency of Rev. Kaczmarek general conditions in the Catholic parish at Gaylord have been greatly improved, both spiritually and temporally. The property has been improved and its value enhanced more than ten thousand dollars. The religious life of the people of whom he has charge has been intensified and every holy and righteous enterprise has been pressed to its completion. Father Kaczmarek has not endeared himself to the Catholic element only, but has also won a high place in the confidence and esteem of the resident Protestants. His earnestness, enthusiasm and aggressiveness have won to him the merit he so well deserves from all Christian people.
In his politieal convictions Father Kaczmarek is a stalwart sup- porter of the cause of the Republican party, and while his religious duties prevent his being an active factor in political circles, he is ever on the alert and enthusiastically in sympathy with all measures and enterprises advanced for the good of the community. He is affiliated with various fraternal and social organizations of a Catholic nature and he has done much to promote and develop philanthropical tend- encies among his parishoners. Other men's services to the people and state can be measured by definite deeds, by dangers averted, by legis- lation secured, by institutions built, by commerce promoted, but what he accomplishes is through the influence of speech and written words and personal character-an influence whose value is not to be reckoned with mathematical exactness but which may be worth more by far than material benefits to the one affected by it.
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