USA > Michigan > A history of the northern peninsula of Michigan and its people; its mining, lumber and agricultural industries, Volume III > Part 13
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In 1869 or 1870 Dr. Church initiated his identification with the school work of the eastern end of Chippewa county, including Detour and Drummond townships, and for many years he was at the head of the educational work in this section, his earnest and well directed ef- forts resulting in the organization of a well equipped system, which was placed upon a self-sustaining basis. For nearly a decade and a half the Doctor has been a valued newspaper correspondent and he has made many contributions of Indian legends and other literary ma- terial. He has of late years made fewer contributions of this order, though he occasionally offers "copy" to various papers. His nom de plume is "Socrates" and under this name he has become well-known. Recently the Soo Times published his French dialect poem entitled "De Saut Long, Long Hago," and an article reminiscent of those
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times. It is to be regretted that full details of his earlier experiences in connection with the pioneer days have not already been placed on record in book form and it is the hope of his many friends and admir- ers that he will consent to formulate his reminiscences in such order. In March, 1910, the Doctor was appointed census enumerator for the township of Drummond, of the Twelfth district, and in this impor- tant government work he covered his assignment to the entire satis- faction of the department. He received the appointment chiefly by reason of his having taken the census of Chippewa county in 1870, besides which he was enumerator for two townships in the census in 1880 and for one township in 1890. In 1874, 1884 and 1894 he was employed by the state in the securing of the state census. In Novem- ber, 1895, Dr. Church established a small saw mill and he success- fully operated the same until the mill was destroyed by fire,-on the 16th of June, 1902. He built up a successful local business in custom sawings and in the manufacturing of boat materials, besides which he installed a shingle mill and manufactured large amounts of cedar shingles. Notwithstanding his venerable age and strenuous life Dr. Church still retains remarkable physical and mental vigor and the years rest lightly upon his shoulders. This is the direct result of clean, normal and sane living and in appearance and action he gives slight evidence of the fact that more than three score years and ten have been marked by the mile posts of his journey through life. In polities he gives a stanch allegiance to the Republican party and he takes an intelligent and active interest in questions and issues of the day.
On the 30th of June, 1865, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Church to Miss Rosalie La Sage, who was born in Escanaba, Michi- gan, of mixed French and Indian descent. Dr. and Mrs. Church be- came the parents of four sons and four daughters and three of the daughters are deceased. The other children are well established in homes of their own, and the Doctor and his wife have eight grand- children,-four boys and four girls.
WILLIAM L. MIDDLEBROOK .- During the many years of his residence in the Northern Peninsula, William L. Middlebrook has been conspic- uously identified with its public life, and he is now serving as the mayor of Manistique. He was born in Steuben county, New York, July 22, 1864, and his father, James H. Middlebrook, was also born in that state, and he was a merchant at Lindsley for many years. He was a son of Hiram Middlebrook, a merchant at Syracuse and later at Lindsley, both a lumberman and general merchant. James H. Middlebrook was of English and Scotch descent, and he died in New York at about the age of seventy-three years. He married in his early life Margaret Lindsley, born in Pennsylvania, a danghter of William Lindsley, who was born in the east and the town of Lindsley, New York, was named in honor of his family, and land was granted them there for services rendered in the Revolutionary war.
William L. Middlebrook was the third of the four children born to James H. and Margaret Middlebrook, and his boyhood days were spent at his native place in Steuben county, New York, and he attended the common schools there and the business college at Elmira. On coming to Manistique in 1885 he was made the head clerk in the Western Lum- ber Company's store, and held that position for about three years. He then became associated with George Chantler in the grocery business, the firm name becoming George Chantler & Company, and after a time
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he bought his partner's interest in that business and has since conducted it alone. During the twenty-four years of his residence in this com- munity Mr. Middlebrook has served in many public positions, including his fourteen years as supervisor of the township and city, township treasurer, township clerk, city alderman, member of the board of health, a member of the board of public works, a member of the board of edu- cation, and in 1908 he was elected the mayor of Manistique, and in 1909 and 1910 was returned to that office, the highest honor within the power of his fellow townsmen to bestow. He is a stanch Republican and an influential party worker. He is a Chapter Mason and an Elk, Odd Fellow, Maccabee, Eagle and K. of P.
In 1886 Mr. Middlebrook was married to Dora Rees James, and they have two children, Harold Rees and Dorothy Katherine. He is well and prominently known in the Northern Peninsula, and he is esteemed for his honorable public career.
J. ARTHUR MINNEAR, engaged in the general brokerage business in Laurium and Calumet, with residence in Laurium, is one of the most successful of the younger generation of business men. The business with which he is identified was inaugurated in February 1903, and he pays especial attention to copper stuff. It has eastern exchanges and connections with direct private wires communicating with Boston, New York City and Chicago.
Mr. Minnear was born in Houghton, Michigan, September 16, 1886, his parents being Joseph H. and Mary E. (Burgess) Minnear, both of whom were English by birth. The father and the grandfather, George Minnear, emigrated from St. Austell, England, to America in 1867. Shortly after landing upon American shores they located in Houghton, Michigan, where both of them secured employment in the foundery then operated by Sheldon, Wanser & Cleaves. The mother, who was born in London, England, came to this country with her parents in early childhood and the first nine years of their residence here was spent in Niagara county, New York. The married life of Mr. Minnear's father and mother, with the exception of six years in Lockport, New York, was spent in Houghton. The father was well known and re- spected in the community in which he made his home, part of his wide circle of acquaintances having been acquired through his prominence in Masonry. He died November 20, 1909, at the age of fifty-nine years, the wife having preceded him to her heavenly home on September 17, 1907, her age at the time being fifty-seven years.
Mr. Minnear's early schooling was secured in the village of Ripley and in Houghton, and this he supplemented with a commercial course in Detroit, Michigan. He was first connected with the Postal Telegraph Company at Hancock and from that time his progress in the world of affairs has been steady. He later accepted a position with the firm of Fuller & Co., of Hancock, which he held for two years and was sub- sequently employed by William Carr & Company, brokers doing an ex- tensive business which later on was closed out. In 1903 Mr. Minnear opened an office on the second floor of the State Savings Bank building at Laurium, which he occupied for three years, and in the meantime
built up a large and prosperous business. The requirements of the same made it necessary for him to move down to more commodious apart- ments on the first floor of the same building. He now employs fifteen people in his two offices at Laurium and at Calumet.
Mr. Minnear finds recreation and social benefit in his lodge affilia- tions, these extending to Calumet lodge, A. F. & A. M., and to the
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Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 404. In regard to his church association, he and his wife are members of the Episcopal church of Houghton.
In 1906 Mr. Minnear was united in marriage to Miss Pearl G. Berry- man, of Laurium, whose father, Captain P. E. Berryman was killed in the mines of Montana. To this union, one son, named Robert A., has been born. Mr. Minnear has two sisters and a brother as follows: Gertrude M., now Mrs. Butler of California; W. H. Minnear, who is associated with him in business; and Edith, who is the wife of F. J. Zerbel of California. W. H. Minnear also belongs to Calumet lodge A. F. & A. M. and to the B. P. O. E., No. 404.
THOMAS BAILEY .- This well known citizen and representative busi- ness man of Sault Ste. Marie, where he is secretary and treasurer of the Michigan Pulp Wood Company, has been identified with business inter- ests in the Upper Peninsula for nearly a quarter of a century and within this time he has won definite success through his own .well directed efforts.
Thomas Bailey was born in the province of Quebec, Canada, on the 25th of November, 1849, and is a son of Samuel D. and Ellen (Robin- son) Bailey, both of whom were natives of Ireland, the former being born in 1817 and the latter in 1820. Their marriage was solemnized in their native land and there the first two of their six children were born. The father died in 1857 and his devoted wife survived him by a score of years, as she was summoned to the life eternal in 1877. Of the children only three are now living, -James, who is a resident of Montreal; Thomas, who is the immediate subject of this review, and Eliza Jane, who resides in "Soo." The family immigration to America occurred in 1846 and location was first made in the province of Quebec, where the parents maintained their home until 1855, when they removed to the city of Toronto, where the father became purser on a line of steamboats running between Chicago and Montreal. He died in Toronto in the year 1857, as already stated. The preliminary education of Thomas Bailey was secured in the public schools of Quebec and he was about six years of age at the time of the family removal to Toronto, where he continued his studies in the parochial and public schools. At the early age of fourteen years he began to depend some- what upon his own resources as he then secured a position in a retail grocery establishment in Toronto, where later he clerked for a time in connection with the lumber business. Later he became secretary and treasurer for the Canada Car Company and Lumber Product Com- pany, being thus engaged about three years, and in the meanwhile he had learned the art of telegraphy. Thereafter he was bookkeeper for a wholesale grocery house in Toronto until 1886, when he came to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and located in the city of Marquette, where he assumed the position of bookkeeper for a large lumber com- pany. In 1886 he removed to Bay Mills, Chippewa county, where he entered the employ of the lumbering firm of Hall & Buell. The business was later reorganized as the Hall & Munson Company and he continued as secretary and treasurer of this corporation, as well as telegraph operator over their lines between St. Ignace, Sault Ste. Marie and Bay Mills until August, 1904, when he removed to Sault Ste. Marie, and be- came incumbent of his present position, that of secretary and treasurer of the Michigan Pulp Wood Company, of which he was one of the organizers and which represents one of the important industrial enterprises of this section of the state. It is interesting to record in
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this connection that the telegraph lines, to which reference has just been made, were the first placed in service in Chippewa county. While a resident of Bay Mills Mr. Bailey served as supervisor of Bay Mills township, as well as township treasurer, postmaster, notary public and telegraph operator. His career has been marked by indefatigable in- dustry and through the medium of the same he has achieved success worthy of the name. He is a stalwart Republican in his political ad- herency and both he and his wife are communicants of the St. James Parish at "Soo."
On the 13th of June, 1877, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bailey, in Toronto, Canada, to Miss Sarah Augusta Gwatkin, who was born at Green Bay, Wisconsin, and who is a daughter of Robert C. and Mary (Todd) Gwatkin, both natives of the city of Toronto, where the father was long engaged in business as a dealer in printer's supplies. Both Mr. and Mrs. Gwatkin were residents of Toronto at the time of their death and of their children five are now living. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey became the parents of nine children, all of whom are living except one daughter, who died in infancy; Arthur G., who married Miss Hattie Campbell, is a resident of the "Soo;" Charles E., the maiden name of whose wife was Opal Horton, is a resident of Seattle, Washing- ton; Alfred is a resident of New Liskeard, N. Ont., and superintendent of Casey Mining Co .; Emily May is the wife of Rev. Bates G. Burt, rector of the St. Paul's cathedral, and a resident of the city of Mar- quette, Michigan; and Thomas G., Herbert A., Percival and Louis re- main at the parental home.
RICHARD E. EDWARDS .- One of the important industrial enterprises that contributes materially to the commercial prestige of the city of Sault Ste. Marie is the Wolverine Cedar & Lumber Company, which there maintains its business headquarters. The company manufactures lumber and lath and draws its supplies from ample reserve sources in the Georgian Bay district, Province of Ontario, Canada, and has other holdings in upper Michigan. Of this well-known concern, Richard E. Edwards is vice-president and general manager and he now main- tains his home in the city of Sault Ste. Marie, though he still retains close association with the business and civic interests of Menominee, which was long his place of residence. He is one of the aggressive and enterprising business men who are aiding in the upbuilding of the new industrial Upper Peninsula and is especially well entitled to considera- tion in this volume, as one of the younger generation of representative citizens.
Richard E. Edwards was born in the city of Galesburg, Illinois, on the 10th of October, 1880, and is a son of Richard A. and Alice (Shirk) Edwards. The father was born in the historic old city of Salem, Massachusetts, and is a representative of one of the old honored families of New England, with whose annals the name has been identi- fied since the Colonial era. He was born in the year 1852 and now maintains his home at Peru, Indiana. He is president of the Wolverine Cedar & Lumber Company, of which his son, the subject of this sketch, is vice-president. The mother was born in Peru, Indiana, and finds satisfaction in retaining her home in her native city. Of the five children, the subject of this review is the eldest. The father is one of the substantial capitalists and leading bankers of his city, being an officer and director of the Peru Trust Company and the First National Bank of that place. He is a director in several public-utility corpora- tions and also in various manufacturing concerns, and has had much to
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do with the growth of his city's prosperity. In politics he is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and both he and his wife holds membership in the Baptist church.
Richard E. Edwards received his early educational training in the public schools of Indiana and supplemented this by college preparatory work in the Worcester Academy, at Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1898 he was matriculated in Harvard University, in which he completed the academic course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1902. He received from this historic institution the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts. Soon after his graduation Mr. Edwards as- sumed a clerical position in the office of the First National Bank, of Peru, Indiana, in which he was later promoted to the office of teller, a position which he resigned in 1903, when he became manager of the Peru Heating Company, with the handling of whose business he con- tinued to be thus actively identified until the spring of 1904, when he came to Menominee, Michigan, and assuumned the duties of the office of secretary of the Wolverine Cedar & Lumber Company. In 1905 he removed to Chicago, having charge of the company's office in that city until July, 1907, when the Chicago office was closed and he returned to Menominee. He succeeded to the general management of the com- pany in the summer of 1909, when his father purchased the interests of J. M. Thompson in the corporation. On the 23d of September, 1909, the general offices in Menominee were closed and the headquarters of the company were removed to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, where Mr. Ed- wards has since continued in active charge of the business which is one of broad scope and importance. He is a member of the directorate of the Peru Heating Company and the Peru Mercantile Company, both of Peru, Indiana. and also is a director of the Citizens' Electric Light Company, of Lebanon, that state. Mr. Edwards is identified with the University Club of Chicago and also with the University Club of In- dianapolis, besides which he is a valued member of the Harvard Clubs of Chicago and Michigan. In politics he gives his allegiance to the Republican party. He and his wife have established a pleasant home in Sault Ste. Marie and have taken a prominent part in the leading social activities of this attractive city of the Upper Peninsula.
On the 11th of October, 1904, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Edwards to Miss Marie Stuart, who was born in the city of La- fayette. Indiana, and who is a daughter of Thomas A. and Ada (Ells- worth ) Stuart, the former of whom died in 1895 and the latter resides in Lafayette. Mr. Stuart was a representative member of the bar of Indiana and was a prominent factor in connection with public affairs in that state, having been a stanch Democrat in his politcal proclivities. Mr. and Mrs. Edwards have one son, Richard A., II.
HERBERT L. PARSILLE .- The able and popular incumbent of the of- fice of clerk of Chippewa county is Herbert L. Parsille, who is like- wise a member of the bar of the county and who has here maintained his residence during the greater portion of the time since his boyhood days. Mr. Parsille was born at Mildmay, Bruce county, Ontario, Canada, on the 3rd of January, 1870, and is a son of James D. and Eliza (Kennedy) Parsille, the former of whom was born in Rochester, New York, in 1820, and the latter in the province of Ontario, being a daughter of William Kennedy, whose ancestors came to America from the north of Ireland and settled in Maryland in the early part of the seventeenth century. They were loyal to the crown at the time of the Revolutionary war and when the Declaration of Independence was
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made they left Maryland and sought a home in New Brunswick, Canada, whence they removed to York county, province of Ontario, about the opening of the nineteenth century. The Parsille family is of stanch English descent and was early founded in New Jersey. After the termination of the War of 1812 the paternal grandfather of the subject of this review removed to York county, Ontario, Canada, where he was for several years engaged in lumbering operations but later returned to the United States and was employed for several years as a surveyor for the United States Government. About 1853 James D. Parsille, who was reared and educated in York county, re- moved to Bruce county, Ontario, where he became a pioneer farmer and reclaimed a large tract of land from the wilderness. He was a blacksmith by trade and for a number of years he there operated a blacksmith shop and saw mill in connection with his agricultural pur- suits. He retired from active labor in 1893 and passed the closing days of his life at Mildmay, Ontario, where he died in 1903, and where his venerable wife still resides. Of their nine children six are now living.
Herbert L. Parsille gained his early educational training in the schools of his native town, where he continued his studies until he was thirteen years of age, after which he completed a course in a business college in the city of Toronto. He then initiated his active business career by assuming the position of stenographer in the employ of David Maxwell, who was engaged in the agricultural implement busi- ness at Paris, Ontario, in which connection he earned his first money. In the spring of 1887 Mr. Parsille came to Bay Mills, Chippewa county, Michigan, where he became a clerk in the general store of Hall & Buell, who were conducting extensive lumber operations in this county. Later he was employed as bookkeeper in the general office of this concern and was thus engaged until the autumn of 1892, when he went to the city of Chicago, and entered Kent College of Law in which excellent institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1897, and from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the bar of Illinois, and followed the work of his profession in Chicago until 1899, when he returned to Chippewa county and located in the city of Sault Ste. Marie, was ad- mitted to the bar of Michigan and to the district and circuit courts of the United States and continued the practice of law until January 1. 1901, when he became deputy to his brother John E., who was at that time county clerk. He served continuously as deputy county clerk until the autumn of 1906, when he was elected county clerk for which office he had proved himself specially eligible, both by reason of his legal knowledge, his executive ability and his practical experience in con- nection with affairs of the office. Public appreciation of his service has been shown in a most significant way by his retention in the of- fice by successive re-elections to the present time, and the records of his department have been models of exactitude and neatness under his administration. He is a stanch supporter of the cause of the Repub- lican party and has been an active factor in its local councils. Mr. Parsille has identified himself with various fraternal and local organi- zations of a representative character, including the Benevolent & Pro- tective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and his Masonic affiliations are here briefly noted,-Bethel Lodge No. 358, Free & Accepted Masons: Lafayette Chapter No. 2, Royal Arch Masons, in the city of Chicago: Palestine Council No. 56, Royal & Select Masters: Sault Ste. Marie Command-
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ery No. 45, Knights Templar; Queen of the North Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, of which his wife also is a member; and Medina Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in Chicago.
On the 27th of February, 1902, Mr. Parsille was united in mar- riage to Miss May Sterling, who was born in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, and who is a daughter of John and Jeanette (Ross) Sterl- ing, the former of whom died when Mrs. Parsille was a child, and the latter in 1907. Of the three children Mrs. Parsille was the second in order of birth and her sisters, Bessie and Margaret, are residents re- spectively of Chicago, Illinois, and Beloit, Wisconsin. The family came to America in the early '80s and located in New York City, where the death of the father occurred. Mr. and Mrs. Parsille have three children,-Helen L., Sterling K. and Dorothy J.
CHARLES KAHLE .- Of the sterling citizens that the city of Menominee has gained from the great empire of Germany is Charles Kahle, a representative of that old and honored family of the province of Saxony, whither he emigrated more than thirty-eight years ago. Dur- ing the greater portion of the intervening period he has maintained his residence in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan or in northern Wiscon- sin, and he was for a number of years actively identified with the great lumber industry when the same was the principal line of enter- prise in this section. He is now engaged in the hotel business in Menominee, Michigan, where he owns and conducts a popular hostelry known as the Charles House. He is held in high esteem in Menominee and has served as a member of its board of aldermen.
Charles Kahle was born in the province of Saxony, on the 1st of October, 1847, and is a son of Charles and Teresa (Kummer) Kahle, both of whom were likewise born in Saxony, where they continued to reside until their death, and where the father was engaged in agricul- tural pursuits through his entire active career, having been a man of sterling integrity and much business ability and having become the owner of one of the valuable farms of that section of the German empire. Of the four children, the subject of this sketch is the eldest ; Frederick is a resident of Leipsic, Germany; Frank is with the govern- ment at this time in Germany, and Henrietta died in infancy.
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