USA > Michigan > A history of northern Michigan and its people, Volume II > Part 5
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Judge Quay began his academic education in the public schools and completed it at the Cheboygan high school. He secured his professional preparation at the Detroit College of Law, from which he was gradu- ated in 1900. Within the same year he began his practice in Cheboygan, forming a partnership with M. W. Benjamin for the purpose, the firm name being Benjamin & Quay. The partnership continued from Sep- tember, 1900, to January 1, 1909, when it was dissolved on account of Mr. Quay's assuming the duties of probate judge. In 1901 and 1902 he served as circuit court commissioner, and in 1903 was elected county prosecuting attorney and held said office until his election as probate judge in the fall of 1908, which office he still holds. For over a decade Judge Quay has practiced law in Cheboygan and he has rendered excel- lent service to the county and its people, and, what is as much to their credit as to his, the service is highly appreciated. He is clean, fearless and exact in the performance of his official duties, knowing the law and ad- ministering it without hesitation on the one side or favor to any person or class on the other. But he is liberal and just in his interpretation of
Vol. II-3
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it, and will not allow its technicalities to work injury to any person with business in his court.
The fraternal life of the community has long engaged his interest and had his active assistance. He is a member of the Masonic order and the Order of Elks, holding his membership in both in the Cheboygan lodges of these fraternities. His political faith is pledged and his political services are given to the Republican party, and in its councils he holds an enviable place and has a potential influence. He has for years been a leading man in county politics, having served from 1906 to 1910 as chairman of the county central committee, and both through this posi- tion and his excellent party work in the field amply demonstrated his organizing ability and his power to rouse the confidence and enthusiasm of his party followers. By the party leaders in the state and by the rank and file of the organization in his county his services have been highly valued, as his citizenship is from every point of view. He is regarded as one of the most upright, capable and useful men in the county, and one of its most representative citizens in every relation of life.
DELOS F. DIGGINS .- In his beautiful sketch of "The Great Stone Face," Hawthorne tells of the direction and development of Ernest's life in boyhood and manhood and until its very closing days through the influence of his observation of the impressive mountain view. There was an appeal to Ernest in the noble lines of the great configuration that actuated and modified his life and gave to it a purpose and a value it otherwise might not have known.
And that which was true of Hawthorne's mountain dwellers ex- plains in part the influences that relate to all our lives. The man whose life illustrates and interprets for those about him the qualities most ad- mirable performs the highest possible service. Not knowingly, or with intention was such service rendered, and yet it is true of Delos F. Dig- gins that quietly, modestly, consistently, he gave to those who observed him and who knew him an interpretation of integrity and loyalty and kindness that will abide as an appeal and an influence so long as the communities exist to whom and for whom so much of his life was given.
Delos F. Diggins was born at Harvard, Illinois, May 16, 1852, and his death occurred September 7, 1907. He was the son of Franklin and Ellen C. (Blodgett) Diggins. His father died in 1891 and the death of the mother followed that of the son about one year later, in September, 1908. Two brothers, Albert B. Diggins of Harvard, Illinois, and Fred A. Diggins of Cadillac, sons of Franklin and Ellen Diggins, yet survive their parents and brother. Mr. Diggins was married at Hersey, Mich- igan, December 19, 1877, to Miss Esther C. Gerrish, a daughter of Nathanial S. Gerrish and Caroline (Getchell) Gerrish, and the home of Mr. and Mrs. Diggins continued in Hersey until 1883 when they re- moved to Cadillac. Mr. Diggins' business life in the latter city was en- tered upon as cashier of the D. A. Blodgett & Company bank, his re- moval to Cadillac, indeed, being part of the business plan of his uncle, D. A. Blodgett, in order that Mr. Diggins might assume direction and control of the bank. In 1890 Mr. Diggins retired from the active man- agement of the bank that he might become a member of the firm and
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resident manager of the lumber business of Blodgett, Cummer & Dig- gins. His successful service in this direction continued until his death in September, 1907.
Beautifully carved in a stone of heroic size that rests by the grave of Delos F. Diggins are figures representative of the Spirit of Kindness. Their ministrations are typified in part through sympathetic thought and overbending watchfulness that extends to a little child. Fitting and tender testimony is this impressive tribute of love and of art to the sym- pathies that most marked the life of him whose remains in that hillside rest. But the Spirit of Kindness graven in the stone are not so enduring or so impressive as the memory and influence for thought and kindness to others that exist and will continue in the lives and hearts of those that best knew D. F. Diggins.
Through the fruits of his labor the blessings of life and health have been made possible for many who otherwise might have been denied. Through the closing months and days of his life, some of them knowing much of weakness and pain to himself, Mr. Diggins participated with his wife in formulating ways and means by which they should provide their home city of Cadillac with an adequate and beautiful hospital building and equipment. The building was well entered upon while yet he could direct it and was furnished in accordance with the mutual pur- poses and plans of Mr. and Mrs. Diggins. In accordance with further hopes and expectations Mr. and Mrs. Diggins had together held and re- viewed there has been provided for the children of Cadillac a Manual Training building modern and possessed of provision anticipatory of many years. The Spirit of Kindness that was related to the life of Delos F. Diggins will minister in a helpful, worthy way to children whose lives will be better and whose possibilities will be greater because of his thought and his plans for them.
Because of the contemplation of his ideal in the face formed of the mountain picture the life of Ernest, we are told, was larger and better in its touch and help to those with whom he lived. Because of his life among them, because of what he sought to do and to be, and by reason of the spirit that actuated him, the memory of Delos F. Diggins and the influence of his life on those with whom he lived has larger grown as the years have gone, and will remain.
WILLIAM W. MITCHELL .- The preparation and publication of a his- tory of Northern Michigan as a territory or section sufficiently unique within itself to deserve separate and distinct attention was principally based on the citizenship of that region, on the men it has produced and on the part they have played in the development of their respective communities and in the creation of a spirit which marks as peculiar the counties and communities of their homes.
We are assured by observing and thoughtful students of men and their movements from the earliest periods and traditions of time that geography more than philosophy has had to do with the qualities and characteristics of our race; that the mountains and rugged hillsides and valleys of Switzerland and Scotland and Norway have had a larger part in marking and making the differences that exist between the inhab-
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itants of these countries and the people of perpetual warmth and bloom in tropic lands than have any other influences that relate to their efforts or to their existence.
The typical men of Northern Michigan have represented the develop- ment that contact and familiarity with its peculiar problems have pro- duced. Its great forests and its products of timber related in the earlier years to the deep snows of winter, to the long river drives, and to the business perils of loss or gain through the shifting and unreliable exigen- cies of men and mills and markets, were incidents of experience that became factors in the mental and physical shaping of the men who shared them.
William W. Mitchell, of Cadillac, favorably and well represents what the people of that section refer to with pride as the Northern Mich- igan temperament and spirit. Northern Michigan has been Mr. Mitch- ell's home for more than thirty-five years, Cadillac being his place of residence throughout that entire period. Hillsdale was the childhood and boyhood home of Mr. Mitchell and in that city he was born on the 3d day of June, 1854. His parents were Charles T. and Harriet (Wing) Mitchell, the former of whom was born in New York and the latter in Wayne county, Michigan. Charles T. Mitchell, the father, was a man whose life work formed a most valuable contribution to the city and county of his home and to his adopted state in which throughout all his life in Michigan he was an influential and honored citizen. William W. Mitchell was the third of six children born to his parents at Hills- dale, but one of whom besides himself is now living, a sister, Harriet W., wife of Dr. Walter II. Sawyer, of Hillsdale.
In the very earliest days of its infancy, in 1873, was the village of Clam Lake, the predecessor of the city of Cadillac, when William W. Mitchell entered upon his life and labors there. His uncle, George A. Mitchell, whose name will always be connected with recitals of the or- igin and history of Clam Lake and of Cadillac as their literal founder and earliest pioneer, was then the principal lumber manufacturer there, and the young man entered his uncle's employ as a saw mill tallyman. Through successive and somewhat rapid stages Mr. Mitchell passed through the experience of teamster in the woods, foreman of the lum- ber yard and participant in a logging contract, and became junior mem- ber of the firm, the name of which is known now widely almost as is the name of our state, "Cobbs & Mitchell." It was in 1877 that he entered into partnership with Jonathan W. Cobbs, who had come to Northern Michigan from Indiana in 1874. The business relation thus formed con- tinued until the death of Mr. Cobbs in the autumn of 1899, after which it was reorganized and incorporated under the name through which it has flourished and grown throughout the twenty-one years of its previous existence. Mr. Mitchell was also junior partner in the lumber manu- facturing firm of Mitchell Brothers, which came into existence in 1882, and which was also reorganized and incorporated in 1899. His brother, Austin W. Mitchell, whose death occurred in 1902, was the senior mem- ber of the firm of Mitchell Brothers, through which the name of Mitchell has become one well known and honored in lumber circles throughout our state and country.
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Mr. Mitchell was married in 1876, at Hillsdale, to Miss Ella Yost, a daughter of George Yost, who had removed from Waterloo, New York, to Michigan, in the days of Mrs. Mitchell's early childhood. A son and a daughter, Charles T. and Marie Elizabeth, complete their immediate family.
It has been said of Cadillac, that it is possessed of a spirit of self- helpfulness; quite noteworthy and unusual; that there exists among its citizens a willingness to unite for common purposes and for their mutual interests that has been the most important factor in its continued ad- vancement and growth. This spirit and this willingness in the city of his long-time home represent the influence and the purpose of William W. Mitchell. "Can't we get together so as to work this out in a kindly way for the good of all?" has been his many-times repeated question and plea to his neighbors and home friends throughout the years. And that plea has not failed of accomplishment. Will Mitchell, as he is best known to those with whom he has longest lived, has been more then generous with Cadillac and its people. Comfort and beauty and stability in surroundings, and his thought of young men and effort to care for them, are testified to in enduring structures. But William W. Mitchell's largest and best contribution to Cadillac has been the value of his own life. His thought for others has become a community influence, his interest and desire for kindly cooperation has been made a permanent element of the life about him. The provisions of beauty and convenience and comfort with which Mr. Mitchell had to do may change and decay, the structures of stone and iron may be dissolved by time, but his helpful influence upon the lives of those who have best known him will remain as a contribution permanent and abiding.
PERRY HANNAH .- To Hon. Perry Hannah came the attainment of a distinguished position in conection with the great material industries of northern Michigan. His life achievements worthily illustrate what may be achieved by persistent and painstaking effort and his tremendous suc- cess in financial and commercial affairs of large import in this section of the state was the result of his own well directed endeavors. He was a man of progressive ideas; although versatile, he was not superficial ; exactness and thoroughness characterized all his attainments. While Mr. Hannah reached the venerable age of eighty years, he attained much of his former strength and vigor and the splendid mental and physical powers of his youth until life's work was done.
Mr. Hannah was justly known as the "father of Traverse City." He resided in this place for nearly three score years and during all that time his contribution to progress and development was of the most in- sistent order. In the early '50s he invested with his associates, A. T. Lay and William Morgan, the money which opened up his region and gave employment to nearly every pioneer who came here in those early days. The opening of the lumber business here by the firm was the foundation upon which the city was laid, and how firm a foundation it was is shown by the thriving city with its adjacent territory dotted with fine farms, villages and hamlets. At the time of Mr. Hannah's arrival in this region there was not a sign of civilization and the entire country
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was in a state of that virgin wilderness which had been untouched by the hand of man. In Mr. Hannah's own words he will here describe the harbor as it was when it first struck his vision.
"The voyage was tempestuous. After riding out a gale of three days' duration on Lake Michigan, we finally entered the bay and made Old Mission harbor in pleasant weather. The scene before us, as the vessel rounded into the harbor, appeared to us tempest-tossed voyagers the loveliest ever beheld by mortal eyes. The sun was just sinking be- hind the western hills, the white-washed houses of the Indian village gleaming brightly in his parting rays, while the tops of the forest trees seemed bathed in a floating mist of gold. On the bank sat a picturesque group of Indians, enjoying the fragrant fumes of their pipes.
"The women were seen engaged in feminine avocations pertaining to their simple mode of life. The shouting of a company of children in gleeful play, mingled with the sound of tinkling bells from a herd of ponies feeding on the hillsides beyond, made musie in harmony with the quiet beauty of the scene.
"After remaining two hours at Old Mission, the 'Venus' set sail for her destination, the head of the west arm of the bay. The night was beautiful, with the glorious moon shining brightly in the heavens. The only opening in the forest visible to the party as it landed was the nar- row elearing opening the road to Captain Boardman's water-power saw mill."
Although deeply impressed with the wild beauties of nature, it was not for artistie purposes that Mr. Hannah had left civilization, and ere long his keen foresight and excellent business aeumen came into play as he sized up the possibilities of a fortune in the millions of feet of pine which were only awaiting the invasion of the woodman's axe and the hum of the mill to convert the raw material into valuable lumber. With an energy and steadfastness of purpose which has ever marked the transactions of the firm of Hannah, Lay and Company, operations were begun and carried on with the result which is familiar to all-every member of the firm became a millionaire and Mr. Hannah was the wealthiest man in the region.
On a farm known as Beech Woods, twelve miles from Erie, Pennsyl- vania, on the 22d of September, 1824, occurred the birth of Perry Han- nah. He traced his aneestry baek to staneh Scotch extraction, his father having been a major in the army of his native land. Mr. Hannah was a child of but three years of age at the time of his mother's death. Thereafter, until he had attained to the age of fourteen years, he re- sided in the home of his paternal grandmother, where he was reared in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church. He attended the district schools during the winter terms and during the summer months helped in the work and management of the home farm. In 1828, one year after the death of his wife, the father migrated to Michigan, where he re- mained for a period of twelve years, at the expiration of which time he returned to Erie for his family, which consisted of two sons and two daughters. Perry Hannah was then living with William B. Weed, a cousin of William B. Ogden, the great railroad magnate of Chicago. The father gave the young Perry his choice of remaining with Mr. Weed
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or of coming with him to the wilds of Michigan. Mr. Weed had become very much attached to Perry and tried to persuade him to remain as an inmate of his home, offering as an inducement that when he should have attained his legal majority he would give him a new suit of clothes, a yoke of oxen and a new logging chain. At that time Mr. Weed's offer was a very liberal one but Perry, filled with the spirit of adventure, chose to accompany his father. Mr. Hannah's sister, the late Mrs. Sarah Maynard, was also a member of the party. After an arduous drive to Erie, the family took passage on the old steamer Madison for Detroit, traveling second class. Arriving in Detroit the following morn- ing, passage was then taken to Port Huron, where the father was en- gaged for some time in the rafting of logs.
After looking about him, Mr. Hannah, of this review, secured a po- sition with John Wells, a merchant of Port Huron, in whose employ he remained for the ensuing three years. Subsequently he made the ac- quaintance of a lumberman and arranged to ship his stock to Chicago for him while the owner went in advance to open an office and yard in that city. After shipping the lumber, Mr. Hannah followed to Chicago and accepted a position in his employer's office. Later he hired out to Jacob Beidler, one of the richest lumbermen in the western metropolis, at the munificent salary of four hundred dollars a year. The salary seemed enormous to him at the time and his duty consisted chiefly in sizing up and purchasing lumber at Port Huron. He made good in the duties assigned to him and in due time prepared to launch out into business for himself. Accordingly, in 1850, he entered into partner- ship alliance with A. Tracy Lay and James and William Morgan, under the firm name of Hannah, Lay & Morgan, and with a borrowed capital of six thousand dollars an office was opened in Chicago. Ilearing of the fine land in northern Michigan, Mr. Hannah was delegated to come to this section of the fine old Wolverine state for the purpose of inspection. The year following the formation of the partnership valuable lands were acquired in this vicinity and a saw mill erected. For two or three years Mr. Hannah and Mr. Lay alternated in the management of affairs here, and in 1854 Mr. Hannah decided to make this section his permanent home.
The firm of Hannah, Lay & Company, established in 1850, has con- tinued to the present time, the only change made in the personnel being the addition of William Morgan, younger brother of James Morgan, one of the original partners. Some years ago they retired from the lumber business, each having made a fortune, but they still conduct the other interests of the company, which consist of a three-story brick block used for a general department store, at Traverse City, and the Traverse City State Bank, which is located on the corner of Union and Front streets, in a fine building erected at a cost of two hundred thousand dollars. Hannah, Lay & Company are the owners of considerable valuable real estate in Chicago, one of their buildings being the Chamber of Commerce, the site of which cost six hundred thousand dollars and the building one million dollars. All of these concerns were under the direct man- agement of Mr. Hannah and Mr. Lay during their lifetime. William
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Morgan, the fourth member of the firm, lives in California. James Morgan passed to eternal rest in 1900.
On the first of January, 1852, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hannah to Miss Anna A. Flint, of New York, who died February 24, 1898. To Mr. and Mrs. Hannah were born three children-Julius T., who died on the 29th of November, 1905, and concerning whose career a sketch appears elsewhere in this work; Mrs. J. F. Keeney, of Chicago, Illinois; and Mrs. George W. Gardner, of St. Paul, Minnesota.
Although he attained to the advanced age of eighty-one years, Mr. Hannah was an active business man until his death, August 16, 1904, his shrewd judgment and fine business ability being equal to that of many a younger man of affairs. It is most gratifying to record here that Mr. Hannah's great wealth had been gained through square and honorable methods and that he himself built the ladder by which he had risen to affluence. In connection with his own advancement he had been an important factor in the development and growth of Traverse City and the surrounding territory. In politics he accorded a stalwart allegiance to the cause of the Republican party and in 1856-7 he gave most efficient service as a member of the state legislature, serving on many important committees and taking an influential part in the de- liberations of the house. For twenty-eight years he served as moderator of the school board, was supervisor for several years, president of the vil- lage of Traverse City from the time of its incorporation and later he was its first mayor. He never affiliated with any church organization but was a liberal contributor on various occasions, having given the sites for nearly all the church edifices in the city. His life history is cer- tainly worthy of commendation and emulation, for along honorable and straightforward lines he won the success which crowned his efforts and which made him one of the most substantial residents of Traverse City, and, in fact, the State of Michigan, and in his death all classes from laborer to millionaire howed their heads in honor of a benefactor of mankind.
EMERY D. WEIMER, who has been in business and a progressive figure in the civic affairs of the Upper Peninsula for some forty years, is a widely known lumberman and a dealer in real estate, especially timber lands, at Ludington. He was born in Kent county, Michigan, on the 4th of February, 1856, and his father, G. Weimer, who was a pioneer of that section, is also a resident of Ludington. The son spent his boy- hood at Ionia and when twelve years of age he came to Ludington, where he was educated in the common schools, afterwards going to Grand Rap- ids and pursuing a business course in a college there.
Mr. Weimer's first practical experience in the business and the lum- ber world was an employee of D. L. Filer, manufacturers of lumber at Ludington, and he soon became so well posted that he found work with various companies as a lumber inspector. He was actively and con- tinuously engaged in that field from 1881 to 1900, when he permanently located at Ludington. He is not only largely interested in timber lands and lumber enterprises in upper Michigan, but has important interests on the Pacific coast, being secretary of a timber company whose lands
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are in California, and is one of the directors of the Detroit-Vancouver Timber Company, whose holdings lie along the Columbia river.
Mr. Weimer has been active in politics and public affairs for many years, and is one of the best known Democrats in the Upper Peninsula. He has served as treasurer of the city of Ludington for four successive terms; has been alderman of the Second ward and county superivsor ; has been active as a member of the school board and on the Democratic committees of the city, county and congressional district, having been honored with the chairmanship of the county organization. As to his standing in Masonry, it is sufficient to mention that he has reached the thirty-second degree of that order.
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