USA > Michigan > A history of the northern peninsula of Michigan and its people; its mining, lumber and agricultural industries, Volume III > Part 20
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Micajah Rice, Sr., Mr. Rice's grandfather, was born of English an- cestry in Concord, Massachusetts, where he spent his life of eighty- six years. He was a soldier in the Mexican war, and the first battle of the Revolutionary war, the battle of Concord, which occurred on April 19, 1775, was fought in front of his farm on the road between Concord and Lexington. His wife survived him, attaining the vener- able age of ninety-six years.
Micajah Rice, Jr., was born in April, 1821, in Concord, Massachu- setts, and there received a common school education. Going to Boston when a young man, he established a retail milk route in that city and conducted a good business for a few years. Selling out in 1850 for
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one thousand dollars he started westward, accompanied by his wife and one child, making his way from Buffalo by the lakes to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and thence to Waupaca county, where he was a pioneer settler. With a land warrant given him by his father, who had re- ceived it for his services in the Mexican war, he secured a tract of land in Dayton township, eight miles from Waupaca, and the small log cabin that he there erected was the family's first home in Wisconsin. The country roundabout was then in its primeval wildness, deer and other kinds of game being plentiful, and furnishing supplies for the table ere the advent of railways. He cleared a good farm from the forest and there resided until about a year prior to his death, which occurred in 1897. IIe married Olive Lilly, who was born in Pulaski, Oswego county, New York, a daughter of Alfred Lilly, who was born in the same state, of Scotch-English ancestry. She died in 1896, leav- ing five sons, as follows: Arthur D., Adelbert W., Walter, Levi Sampson and Byron. Arthur D., the eldest son, served in the Civil war, enlisting in Company B, Thirty-eighth Wisconsin Volunteer In- fantry, and in a battle before Petersburg was severely wounded and suffered the amputation of a leg.
Levi S. Rice was, as previously mentioned, born in Lapeer county, Michigan, but it was while his mother was there on a visit. He re- ceived his early education in the district schools of Waupaca county, Wisconsin, and at the age of thirteen years began to earn his own liv- ing by working in the lumber regions. Taking up a homestead claim in Marathon county, Wisconsin, in 1876, Mr. Rice redeemed a farm from the forest and was there engaged in tilling the soil until 1885. Lo- cating then in the new town of Bessemer, Michigan, he built a hotel which he operated a year. Much interested in advancing the growth of this section of the Upper Peninsula, he assisted in getting the bill passed for the construction of the Black River Road, and in 1891 built it. Mr. Rice, in the meantime, had devoted all of his leisure time to the study of law, and in 1891 was admitted to the bar and im- mediately began the practice of his profession.
In 1897 Mr. Rice went to the Klondike regions, and traveled exten- sively throughout the Alaska and Yukon territories as a prospector and miner, reaching points seldom, if ever before, visited by white men. After spending nearly four years in that vicinity, he returned to Bes- semer to resume his law practice, in which he has met with marked success. In 1909 he formed a partnership with M. M. Riley, under the firm name of Riley & Rice, and in addition to their office in Bes- semer these enterprising gentlemen have two offices in Saint Louis county, Minnesota, one at Duluth and one at Virginia.
Mr. Rice married, September 5, 1875, Lillie J. Hull, who was born in Boltonville, Washington county, Wisconsin, a daughter of Nelson Hull and granddaughter of Jesse Hull, a native of Vermont. Jesse Hull, who came from English ancestry, was reared among the hills of the Green Mountain state and there learned the carpenter's trade. He subsequently migrated to New York state, becoming a pioneer of Genesee county, where he spent the remainder of his days. His wife, whose maiden name was Rhoda Reed, was also born in Vermont. She survived him, and after the death of her husband came west and made her home with her children. She was a bright, active woman, and an interesting talker, and she used to entertain her grandchildren with stories of her early life, when stoves were unknown, and she did all of her cooking by the fireplace. Taught by her mother to card, spin and weave, she manufactured the homespun in which she clothed her
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family, and with her own hands fashioned their garments. After liv- ing a few years in Wisconsin she went to Iowa and lived near Waterloo with a son, passing away at his home at the age of seventy-five years.
Nelson Hull was born and bred in Genesee county, New York, and there learned the trade of a blacksmith. Settling in Boltonville, Wisconsin, when a young man, he followed his trade in that vicinity until after the breaking out of the Civil war, when he enlisted as an artificer in a Wisconsin regiment and served until the close of the conflict, when he was honorably discharged. A few years later Mr. Hull removed to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and having continued there for a time as a blacksmith took up a homestead claim in Clark county, Wisconsin, and having erected a log cabin, began to clear and improve a farm. At the end of eight years he sold at an advance and removed to Waushara county, Wisconsin, where he resided until his death at the age of sixty-four years. He married Jane Bullen, who was born in Genesee county, New York, a daughter of David Bullen, who was born in the same county. Mr. Bullen was a cousin of Abraham Lin- coln and closely related to several families of prominence, including those of Stanton, Doolittle and Quarles. He moved from York state to Wisconsin, crossing the lakes from Buffalo to Milwaukee in a sail- ing vessel and being six weeks on the water. Milwaukee was then a mere hamlet and he proceeded to Boltonville, where he took up gov- ernment land, cleared a farm, and was there a resident until after the death of his wife, when he went to live with his children, dying at the home of a son in Columbia county, Wisconsin, at the age of eighty- seven years. His wife, whose maiden name was Jane Murdy, was born in New York state of Scotch ancestry. Mrs. Nelson Hull, mother of Mrs. Rice, is now a resident of Abbottsford, Wisconsin.
Of the six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Rice two, Myrtle and Guy, have passed to the life beyond and four are living, namely : Ar- thur, Calla, Lulu and Olive. Arthur married Augusta Ostermeyer and they have one son, Arthur. Calla, wife of William Sincock, has three children, Llewellyn, Clybourne and Gerald. Lulu, who married Rich- ard Hasbrook, has four children, Myrtle, Ruth, Freeman and Earl. Prominent in public affairs Mr. Rice has never shirked the responsi- bilities of office, but served as supervisor of Ironwood when it included the whole of what is now Gogebic county; has been justice of the peace ; and was deputy United States marshal during the first admin- istration of President Cleveland. In 1893 he was appointed postmas- ter at Bessemer and served acceptably to all concerned. Fraternally Mr. Rice belongs to Gogebic lodge, No. 389, I. O. O. F., and is a char- ter member of the fraternal order of Eagles of Bessemer.
WILLIAM J. TULLY .- A man of great energy and extreme earnest- ness of purpose, practical and progressive in the management of his affairs, William J. Tully has attained a position of prominence among the leading citizens of Iron River, and the Menominee Range with whose interests he has been identified for nearly three decades. He was born, May 8, 1857, in McKillop township, Huron county, Province of Ontario, a son of Michael Tully.
Born and reared in county Galway, Ireland, Michael Tully remained in the old country until 1847. Then accompanied by his wife and three children, he started for America, after a long and tedious voyage of thirteen weeks in a sailing vessel, landing in Quebec. Going from there to Peel county, Ontario, he lived there about five years. In 1852 he settled as a pioneer in Huron county, making the journey of fifty
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miles with ox teams. Securing a tract of land that was still in its primeval wildness, he cut down trees to make room for the modest log cabin in which he installed his family, and in which his son, William J. Tully, was born. There were no railways in that locality for many years after he located there, the people living principally on the pro- ductions of the land and the fruits of the chase. With the assistance of his children, he cleared a large portion of his purchase, and in due course of time had a highly improved and richly productive farm, with a substantial set of frame buildings. There he resided, a happy and contented farmer, until his death, May 1. 1880. He married Margaret Evans, who was born in county Galway, Ireland, a daughter of Joseph Evans. Her grandfather, Mr. Evans, a native of Wales, was an officer in the English Army, and for his military service received a grant of land in county Tipperary, Ireland, and there spent the remainder of his life. One of his grandsons, Michael Evans, a brother of Margaret, emigrated to America, and during the Civil war served in the Union Army. The wife of Michael Tully died April 23, 1900. She and her husband reared eleven children, as follows: Thomas, Mary, Margaret, John, Peter, Catherine, Michael, William J., Hannah, Lizzie and Joseph. The three older children were born in Ireland, and Thomas, who came to America when a boy, enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil war, and after obtaining an honorable discharge from the army lost his life while in the railroad service.
Obtaining his early education in the log schoolhouse of his native district, William J. Tully began at the age of sixteen years to learn the blacksmith's trade, serving an apprenticeship of three years at Sea- forth, Ontario. He subsequently worked in the same shop the follow- ing three and one-half years, after which he was similarly employed in Ashfield township until 1880. Emigrating then to the "States," he located in Ishpeming, Michigan, where he found employment at a mine, wielding pick and shovel for $1.40 per day. A very few weeks at that labor proved sufficient, and in June, of that same year, Mr. Tully made his way to Quinnesee, then the railway terminus, and was there foreman in a smithy for a year and a half. Going then to Wisconsin, he spent a short time in Florence and Commonwealth, and in February, 1882, located in what is now Iron county, in the Upper Peninsula, taking up a homestead claim about two miles from the site of the present city of Iron River, which was then a wilderness, although it had been platted, and building had commenced. Mr. Tully soon came to town, put up a frame building on Genesee street, after which he began blacksmithing in a logging camp.
In 1888 Mr. Tully was elected county supervisor, and was re-elected to the same office without opposition. in 1889 and 1890. in the latter year being made chairman of the county board. Being elected sheriff of Iron county in the fall of 1890, Mr. Tully removed to Crystal Falls in 1891 and lived there eight years, where he was subsequently ap- pointed, by President Cleveland, postmaster. Resigning the latter position at the end of four years, Mr. Tully returned to Iron River in 1899, and for eight years was here extensively and profitably engaged in the sale of groceries, hay and feed. In the meanwhile he had ex- plored extensively for iron in the surrounding country to good pur- pose, and at the present time is interested in the Baker, Swanson and Tully mines, and is also a large landholder in this vicinity. Since re- tiring from mercantile pursuits, Mr. Tully has traveled much and has been in most every state in the union. In 1909 he erected the beauti- ful home now occupied by himself and family. believing the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to be one of the best spots on earth.
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On November 16, 1886, Mr. Tully married Margaret Webb, who was born in County Cork, Ireland, and when a child came to Fond du Lac. Wisconsin. She is a daughter of Hugh and Nora Webb. Although Mr. Tully has always been a loyal Democrat in politics, he is an ardent admirer of Theodore Roosevelt, and, should he ever again become the presidential candidate, it is believed will cast his vote in favor of Roosevelt, in preference to any other man. Fraternally Mr. Tully is a member of Iron River Camp No. 3273, M. W. A., and of Menominee Council, No. 646, K. of C. While very liberal in his views he is an active supporter of the Roman Catholic church.
FABIAN J. TRUDELL .- This popular citizen and representative mem- ber of the bar of Menominee well exemplifies the progressive spirit and initiative power that have been such dynamic forces in connection with the progress and upbuilding of the Upper Peninsula within later years, and he has been a prominent factor in public affairs in this sec- tion of Michigan for a number of years. He is well known and held in unqualified esteem, both as a lawyer and as a loyal and enterprising citizen.
Fabian J. Trudell was born in the city of Green Bay, Wisconsin. on the 29th of December, 1859, and is a son of Theodulph and Olive Trudell. His father was born at Nicolett, province of Quebec, Canada, in the year 1822, and he is now living in the city of Tacoma, Washing- ton ; his wife was likewise born in Canada and she was sixty-eight years of age at the time of her death. They became the parents of ten chil- dren, of whom Fabian J. is the youngest. The father came to northern Wisconsin in the pioneer days and for many years was a successful merchant and real estate operator in that state and in the Upper Penin- sula of Michigan. He established his home in Menominee about 1869 and here continued to maintain the same until 1888, when he retired from active business and removed to Tacoma, Washington, where he has since maintained his residence.
Fabian J. Trudell removed with his parents from Green Bay, Wis- consin, to DePere, that state, when a mere child, and was nine years of age at the time of the family removal to Menominee, where he was reared to maturity and in whose public schools he gained his early edu- cational training. From 1875 to 1878 he was employed at the printer's trade in the office of the Menominee Herald, but impaired health led him to devote about one year to traveling through Minnesota, where he combined business with recreation by acting as a salesman for agri- cultural implements, with headquarters at Ortonville, that state. He thence removed to Vulcan, Michigan, where he remained about one year in the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company. In the meanwhile he had taken up the study of law and had fully formulated plans for the adoption of the legal profession as his perma- nent vocation. Upon leaving Vulcan, he returned to the parental home in Menominee and here entered the law office of William H. Phillips, under whose able preceptorship he continued his technical studies for some time, after which he passed some years in the office of R. C. Flannigan, of Norway, Michigan, now one of the leading attorneys of the Michigan bar. He was matriculated in the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where he entered both the literature and law depart- ments, in the former of which he continued his studies for a time, and in the latter he was graduated as a member of the class of 1884, having received his degree of Bachelor of Laws in that celebrated institution, on the 20th of June of that year. He was forthwith admitted to the
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bar of the state and took up his residence in Iron Mountain, one of the progressive towns of the Upper Peninsula, where he engaged in the active practice of his profession. The village of Iron Mountain was incorporated in 1888, and Mr. Trudell became its first attorney. In the following year it secured incorporation as a city, and under the new charter Mr. Trudell continued his work as city attorney until 1890. He had taken a prominent part in securing the incorporation of both the village and the city, and was one of the most popular and in- fluential citizens of the place. At that time Iron Mountain was in- cluded in Menominee county, but upon the organization of the new county of Dickinson, in the autumn of 1890, the flourishing little city was included in its limits. Mr. Trudell was elected the first prosecut- ing attorney of Dickinson county, and at the expiration of his first term he was chosen as his own successor. In 1891 he was elected mayor of Iron Mountain, giving a most effective administration and being again elected to this office in 1894, thus serving two consecutive terms as the chief executive of the municipal government. He con- tinued in the practice of his profession in Iron Mountain until the 1st of May, 1898, when he returned to Menominee and formed a profes- sional partnership with Hon. Benjamin J. Brown, one of the veteran principals of the bar of Menominee county. This grateful alliance con- tinued under the firm name of Brown & Trudell until the death of Mr. Brown, since which time Mr. Trudell has continued an individual prac- tice of a general order. He is known as an especially versatile and well equipped trial lawyer, and as one so admirably fortified in the minutiae of the science of jurisprudence as to make him a safe and duly conserv- ative counsellor. He controls a large and representative practice and is distinctively one of the leading members of the bar of this section of the state. He was appointed city attorney of Menominee in 1907, and he retained this office for one term.
In politics Mr. Trudell is aligned as a stalwart advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and he has rendered most effective service in behalf of the party cause. He is one of the leaders in its ranks in the Upper Peninsula, and in the summer of 1892 he was elected as alternate delegate at large to the Republican national convention, which was held at Minneapolis. Mr. Trudell is one of the most zealous and enthusiastic members of the Menominee Commercial Club and is most appreciative of its high civic ideals, in the promotion of which he has given effective aid.
On the 20th of June, 1889, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Trudell to Miss Mary J. Foster, who was born at Jamestown, Pennsyl- vania, on the 20th of June, 1860, and who is a daughter of Edward P. and Mary (Phillips) Foster, the former of whom was born in Palmyra, New York, in 1839, and the latter in Sharon, Pennsylvania, in 1842. They passed the closing years of their lives at Iron Mountain, Mich- igan, where the father died in 1891 and the mother in 1909. They are survived by three children, of whom Mrs. Trudell was the second in order of birth. Mr. Foster came to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 1879, and for many years he was the valned superintendent of the business of one of the largest iron companies at that place. Mr. and Mrs. Trudell have two daughters, -- Olive, who is now a student in Vassar College; and Margaret, who is attending the Menominee high school. The family is prominent in the best social life of the com- munity and its members here enjoy unalloyed popularity.
BENJAMIN BJORNSON .- An excellent representative of the active and well-to-do business men of Ramsay. Gogebic county, Benjamin Bjornson
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has here built up a substantial trade as a dealer in groceries and pro- visions, and is ably contributing his share in promoting the mercantile interests of this section of the Upper Peninsula. A son of the late John Bjornson, he was born, December 18, 1872, near Red Wing, Goodhue county, Minnesota, where his very early years were spent.
A native of Norway, John Bjornson lived there until twenty years of age, when, in company with three of his brothers and a sister he emigrated to this country, locating first in Goodhue county, Minnesota, where he resided until 1876. Moving then to Polk county, Wisconsin, he invested his money in land, buying a tract of timber, from which he com- menced the arduous labor of clearing a homestead. Selling at an advance in 1883, he spent the ensuing two years in Ashland, Wisconsin, and then, in 1885, came to the new town of Bessemer, making the journey with a team himself, while his family, preferring a quicker and more com- fortable mode of traveling, came on one of the first railway trains that entered the place. Here he was subsequently employed at various kinds of work, continuing his residence here until his death, in 1892. He left four children, namely : Benjamin, the special subject of this brief sketch ; Charles ; Carrie ; and Annie.
Acquiring a good common school education in his youthful days, Benjamin Bjornson began life as a wage-earner soon after coming to Bessemer, for two years being in the employ of the Lake Shore Railway Company. He afterwards drove a delivery wagon for Peter Homes for a while, but later accepted a position with L. H. Truettner, with whom he remained until 1908. Resigning in that year, Mr. Bjornson em- barked in mercantile pursuits in Ramsay, opening a grocery and pro- vision store and establishing a trade which has since rapidly increased, his straight-forward, upright dealings winning for him the confidence and respect of the community. Religiously Mr. Bjornson was brought up in the Presbyterian faith. Fraternally he belongs to Bessemer Lodge, No. 389, I. O. O. F., and to Bessemer Tent, No. 11, K. O. T. M.
GEORGE T. ARNOLD .- As executive head of the Arnold Transit Company, this well known citizen of Mackinac Island is prominently identified with navigation interests and he is also the owner of the Chippewa Hotel, one of the well equipped hotels of this beautiful sum- mer resort. His interests also include the operation of the car ferry between St. Ignace, Mackinac Island, and Mackinaw City, and this enterprise is conducted under the title of the Island Transportation company. He is essentially one of the most progressive and influential business men of this section of the Upper Peninsula and his course has been such as to gain and retain to him unqualified confidence and es- teem. He has maintained his home on Mackinac Island for nearly thirty years and here has won definite success through his own well directed efforts.
George T. Arnold takes pride in the fact that he can claim the old Wolverine state as the place of his nativity and that he is a scion of one of its sterling pioneer families. He was born in Gunplaine, Allegan county, Michigan, on the 2nd of July, 1846, and is a son of Dan and Betsy (Foster) Arnold, the former of whom was born in Vermont and the latter in Massachusetts. Both families were founded in New England in the colonial epoch of our national history. The parents of Mr. Arnold passed the closing years of their lives in Allegan county, Michigan, where the father established his home in 1831, about six years prior to the admission of Michigan to the Union. There he se- cured a tract of land and reclaimed the same to cultivation, becoming
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one of the substantial farmers and highly honored citizens of that county. He served in various township offices and also was for a number of years a member of the school-board of his district. In politics he was originally a Whig but upon the organization of the Republican party he aligned himself therewith and he ever afterward continued a stanch supporter of its principles and policies. Of the five children the subject of this sketch is the youngest and of the number one other is now living.
George T. Arnold was reared amid the scenes and influences of the pioneer days in Allegan county, where he assisted in the reclamation and development of the home farm and where his educational privileges were those afforded in the common schools of the locality and period. He continued to be associated in the work of the home farm until he was twenty years of age, when he secured a position as clerk in a mer- cantile establishment at Saugatuck, Michigan. Eventually he engaged in the same line of business for himself at Saugatuck, Allegan county, where he also became the owner of a farm. For a number of years he operated a fishing fleet and was a tug owner, continuing to be iden- tified with this line of enterprise at Saugatuck until 1881, when he es- tablished his home on Mackinac Island, where he entered into partner- ship with L. B. Coates, with whom he was associated in the same line of business under the title of Coates & Arnold, until 1887, when he pur- chased his partner's interest. In 1891 he established the Arnold Transit Company and in this connection he is the owner of five steamboats, as well as well equipped docks on Mackinac Island. Here also he owns the Chippewa Hotel, one of the largest and most modern on the island, and also the Palmer House. The hotel first mentioned was erected in the year 1900 and it has since secured a large and appreciative patronage during each successive resort season. Mr. Arnold is a stockholder of the First National Bank of St. Ignace and is known as one of the substan- tial capitalists and sterling citizens of the Upper Peninsula. He has ever been a stanch supporter of the policies and principles for which the Republican party stands sponsor and he served as postmaster of Mackinac Island under Presidents Garfield and Harrison. For eight years he held the office of United States deputy revenue collector for the port of Saugatuck. He is identified with various fraternal and social organizations.
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