A history of the northern peninsula of Michigan and its people; its mining, lumber and agricultural industries, Volume III, Part 26

Author: Sawyer, Alvah L. (Alvah Littlefield), 1854-1925
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 752


USA > Michigan > A history of the northern peninsula of Michigan and its people; its mining, lumber and agricultural industries, Volume III > Part 26


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Charles J. Huebel was a child at the time of his father's death, and he was reared to maturity on the old homestead farm which was the place of his birth. He remained with his widowed mother and continued to be associated with the work and management of the farm until he had attained to the age of twenty-three years, and in the meanwhile had been called upon to serve in the office of treasurer of his native township of Aztalan, Jefferson county, Wisconsin, a position of which he was incumbent for two terms. He gained his early educational discipline in the public schools and later supple- mented this by a ten months' course in the Bryant & Stratton Busi-


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ness College in the city of Chicago, in 1884. After leaving this insti- tution Mr. Huebel secured the position of bookkeeper in the exten- sive department store of Charles Gossage & Company, long one of the leading retail houses of Chicago, and he held this position until June, 1886, when he responded to the request of Louis Nanton, who had been a fellow-student in the business college, and joined the latter in Nadeau, Menominee county, Michigan, where the firm of Nanton Brothers had established a general store. Mr. Huebel remained with this firm about one year and then formed a partnership with Mr. Thompson and engaged in the same line of business at Nadean. About a year later Mr. Huebel purchased his partner's interest and thereafter he conducted the enterprise individually until the autumn of 1890, when he sold a one-half interest to Samuel Pike, of Chicago. He continued in active charge of the business and built up a large and prosperous enterprise. The firm of Huebel & Pike purchased a saw mill at Talbot, Menominee county, and later they also bought a tract of timber land in this county, for a consideration of $12,000. They began the manufacturing of lumber and a son of Mr. Pike secured a small interest in the business, which was successfully con- ducted under the original firm name. In connection with the lumber- ing operations the firm also established a store at Talbot, to which place they removed their stock of general merchandise from Nadeau. With this varied enterprise Mr. Huebel continued to be actively iden- tified until 1892, when his partners sold their interest to James Little, of Kankakee, Illinois. Mr. Huebel retained an interest and had active management of the same under the new partnership alliance until 1898, on the 15th of November of which year he removed to the city of Me- nominee, where he engaged in the manufacturing and wholesaling of cedar products, with which line of enterprise he has since been suc- cessfully identified. In 1902, to meet the demands of the constantly expanding business, he organized the C. J. Huebel Company, of which he has since been secretary and general manager. This concern has been very successful in the handling of cedar products of all kinds, and especially posts, poles and railroad ties. The company has exten- sive yards both in Menominee, and in the village of Peshtigo, from which is supplied a substantial trade in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and other states in the central west. From an appreciat- ive newspaper article is taken the following statement : "Mr. Huebel's extensive acquaintance throughout the surrounding country has been of value to him in putting in high-grade cedar, and his company to- day has business relations with some of the largest. metropolitan con- cerns buying cedar posts and poles. Mr. Huebel is personally active in every movement for the welfare of Menominee and a firm believer in the future of the new northwest."


In politics Mr. Huebel gives a stanch support to the cause of the Democratic party, though he has never been a seeker of public office. Both he and his wife are communicants of the Catholic church, in whose faith they were reared.


On the 15th of January, 1889, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Huebel to Miss Lelia Faille, who was born in the province of Ontario, Canada, and who is a daughter of Francis and Lelia Faille, the former of whom is now a resident of Nadeau, Menominee county, Michigan, and the latter of whom died in February, 1909, both having been born in Canada, of French descent. Mr. Faille came to Menominee county in the carly '80s, and here his principal vocation has been that of farming. He is a Republican in politics and is a communicant of the


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Catholic church, as was also his wife. They became the parents of three sons and three daughters, all of whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Huebel have six children, namely : Herbert, Archibald, Robert, Norman, Stella and Dorothy, all of whom remain at the parental home except Herbert, who was graduated in the Menominee high school in 1908 and who is now a student in the University of Michigan.


FRED S. EATON, chief clerk of the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company of Calumet, Michigan, has for a long time held his present situation and is exceptionaly well versed in the various duties which devolve upon him, having long brought an intelligent interest to their solution. Mr. Eaton is a native of Ohio, born in Peru, near Norway, October 8, 1859, his parents being Alvin and Mary (Sears) Eaton. The father was a native of New York, and an early settler of Peru, Ohio.


Fred S. Eaton passed his early boyhood in Peru, Ohio, attending the village school, and in course of time entering the preparatory depart- ment of Oberlin College. Upon leaving college in 1880, he came to Lake Superior and was almost immediately placed upon the pay roll of the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company with which important con- cern he has remained to the present day. He proved his capability and advanced step by step to his appointment as chief clerk of the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company which position he assumed in March, 1907.


Mr. Eaton, who is modest in bearing and conservative in his views enjoys the confidence and affection of a wide circle of friends. He en- joys numerous lodge affiliations, belonging to Calumet Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Calumet Chapter, Montrose Commandery, No. 38, K. T., and also holding membership in the Marquette (Michigan) Shrine.


Mr. Eaton, has been married twice, his first wife being Miss Grace Hoatson, of Calumet, Michigan. Two children were born to this union, Lorimer A., who is a student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and Mary S., who attended and graduated from Dana Hall, Wellesley, Massachusetts. Mr. Eaton's second union was contracted with Miss Sarah Nickel originally of the state of Massachusetts. She was before her marriage a teacher in the Calumet schools. Her father, Daniel Nickel, was a prominent citizen of Waupaca, Wisconsin. This second marriage has likewise been blessed by the birth of two children, Frederick N. and Catherine G.


CORYDON E. AINSWORTH .-. For more than a quarter of a century Mr. Ainsworth has maintained his home in Sault Ste. Marie, where he has been a prominent factor in connection with industrial enterprises of wide scope and importance and where he has commanded at all times the unqualified confidence and esteem of his fellow men. He is now a director of the corporation of A. Booth & Company of Chicago and has charge of its business in the Upper Peninsula.


Corydon Everett Ainsworth was born at Cape Vincent, Jefferson county, New York, on the 30th of September, 1861, and is a son of Willard and Mary (Herrick) Ainsworth, the former of whom was born in the state of New York, in 1830, and the latter in Vermont, in 1835. The father died in 1895 and the mother was summoned to the life eternal in 1907. Of the five children, four are living, namely : Nellie, who is the wife of Frank McGraw of Buffalo, New York; C. Everett, who is the immediate subject of this sketch; Emma, who is the wife of Wil- liam Gray of Elizabeth, New Jersey ; and Elton E., who resides in Seattle, Washington. Willard Ainsworth was identified with agricultural pur- suits in his earlier life and later was engaged in the merchandise busi-


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Fredd. Eaton


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ness at Cape Vincent, where he served for a number of years as super- intendent of the United States custom house. He was one of the prom- inent and influential citizens of Jefferson county, New York, where both he and his wife continued to reside until their death. They were mem- bers of the Presbyterian church and he was Republican in politics.


C. Everett Ainsworth gained his early education in the public schools of his native county and at the age of seventeen years he entered a collegiate institute at Adams, New York. Thereafter he was employed for eighteen months in a drug store and in 1883 he came to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and located in Sault Ste. Marie, where his father had an interest in a company engaged in the fish business. In the same year he borrowed two thousand dollars from his father and associated himself with Joseph Ganley, under the firm name of Ains- worth and Ganley. They built up a successful fish business, in which they continued until 1898, when they sold the business to A. Booth & Company of Chicago, of which well-known corporation Mr. Ainsworth has since been a director, as well as manager of the business of the con- cern in Michigan. Mr. Ainsworth is also manager of the Georgian Bay-Lake Superior division of the Dominion Transportation Company, of which he is president and this company operates a fine line of pas- senger and freight steamers on the upper lakes. For a number of years Mr. Ainsworth has engaged in the lumber business, in which he con- trolled a large and prosperous enterprise, but he disposed of his interest in this business in 1899. He was one of the organizers of the Edison Electric Light Company in Sault Ste. Marie, of which he was president for four years. He is a stockholder and director of the Sault Ste. Marie Savings Bank and is vice-president of the Central Savings Bank of this city. In politics Mr. Ainsworth gives his allegiance to the Repub- lican party and he has been a member of the Board of Education since 1904. He has been president of the Soo Club and the Country Club and the Sault Ste. Marie Boat Club. He is affiliated with Bethel Lodge, No. 358, Free & Accepted Masons; Sault Ste. Marie Chapter, No. 126, Royal Arch Masons; Sault Ste. Marie Commandery, No. 45, Knights Templars; and Ahmed Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Marquette. Both he and his wife are attendants of the Episcopal church.


On the 14th of December, 1892, Mr. Ainsworth was united in mar- riage to Miss Florence Mead, who was born in the city of Hillsdale, Michigan, and who is a daughter of Edward H. and Hattie A. (Millis) Mead, the former of whom was born in the state of New York on the 7th of October, 1847, and the latter of whom was born at Pontiac, Michigan, on the 14th of December, 1849. Mrs. Mead died in 1901 and of the two children Mrs. Ainsworth is the eldest; Elmore Roy is a resident of Chicago. Mr. Mead took up his residence in Sault Ste. Marie in 1883 and he has been cashier of the First National Bank of this city since its organization in 1886. Mr. and Mrs. Ainsworth have two daughters, Margaret, who is attending the Franklin school for young ladies in the city of Buffalo, New York, and Frances, who is in the public schools of Sault Ste. Marie.


ROBERT A. WALKER, M. D .- Controlling a large practice in the city of Menominee, Dr. Walker is numbered among the representative phys- icians and surgeons of the Upper Peninsula, and both in a social and pro- fessional way enjoys distinctive popularity.


Dr. Robert Alexander Walker claims the beautiful city of Montreal, Canada, as the place of his nativity, and there he was born on the 19th


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of August, 1871. He is a son of John S. and Margaret (Brown) Walker, the former of whom was born in Ireland in 1851, and the latter in the Dominion of Canada, where their marriage was solemnized. Of the thir- teen children of this union, the Doctor is the eldest. The father died in 1903 and the mother is now a resident of Canada. John S. Walker was a child at the time of his parents' emigration to America and he was reared and educated in Canada. For a number of years he was engaged in the livery business in Montreal, and he was a man who ever com- manded unequivocal confidence and esteem.


To the public schools of his native city Dr. Walker is indebted for his early educational discipline, which included a course in the high school. After leaving school he secured a position in a paint and dye- stuff establishment in Montreal, and while thus engaged he also became a student in chemistry in the University of Bishop's College, where he found so much satisfaction in his work that he was finally led to take up the study of medicine. In 1880 he entered the medical department of the same institution. where he completed the prescribed technical course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1895, duly receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine. After a competitive examination he was soon afterward appointed hospital surgeon in the Western General Women's Hospital, through his connection with which he gained espe- cially valuable clinical experience, and thus more fully fortified himself for the private work of his profession.


In 1896 Dr. Walker came to Menominee, where he soon gained a po- sition in the front rank of his profession, as here represented. Soon after establishing his home in this city he became associated with the late Dr. Patrick O'Keefe as a member of the medical staff of the Menominee River Hospital, in the city of Marinette, and later he came, with Dr. O'Keefe, to St. Joseph's Hospital. in Menominee. After the death of Dr. O'Keefe, he became associated with Doctors J. R. Minahan and H. A. Vennema, in the same hospital, and upon retirement of the former he and Dr. Ven- nema continued the work of the hospital, bringing it up to an especially high standard. Dr. Walker has been particularly successful in the sur- gical department of his profession, and also in the treatment of the different diseases of women, and to these branches he is now giving his attention, to the major extent, making a specialty of the same. He is still identified with the work of St. Joseph's Hospital, one of the noble institutions of Menominee, and he also has a very extensive private practice. He is an appreciative member of the American Medical As- sociation, the Michigan State Medical Society, the Upper Peninsula Med- ical Society. the Fox River Medical Society. and the Wisconsin State Medical Society, besides which he is at the present time, 1910, president of the Menominee County Medical Society. From 1907 to 1909, both dates inclusive, he was secretary and treasurer of the Fox River Medical Society of Wisconsin, although he is medical examiner for a large num- ber of the life insurance companies, and also for the Independent Order of Foresters, the Royal Neighbors, the Modern Brotherhood, and the Royal Arcanum, with each of which fraternities he is identified. He is a stanch Republican in generic politics, but in local affairs he maintains an independent attitude, giving his support to the men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment.


On the 5th of October, 1899, at Manitowoc. Wisconsin. Dr. Walker was united in marriage to Miss Lillian W. Schuette, who was born and reared in that place, and they have two children, Katherine R. and Rob- ert J. Dr. and Mrs. Walker are prominent in the best social life of their home city, where their circle of friends is limited only by that of their acquaintances.


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G. SHERMAN COLLINS is vice-president and cashier of the First Na- tional Bank of Alger county, at Munising, in which attractive and thriv- ing city, claiming one of the finest harbors on Lake Superior, he is known as a loyal and public-spirited citizen and as an essentially rep- resentative business man, bringing to bear vital energy and progressive ideas of the typical American business man of the younger generation.


Mr. Collins adverts with a due measure of satisfaction to the fact that he can claim the fine old state of Michigan as the place of his na- tivity. He was born in the city of Manistee on the 19th of June, 1877. and is a son of Thomas B. and Frances (Burr) Collins, the former of whom was born in the city of Buffalo, New York, in 1842, and the latter of whom was born in New York City. The father died in Manis- tee, in January, 1905, and there the mother still retains her home. Thomas Collins was long and prominently identified with the great lumber industry in Michigan and in this connection conducted opera- tions at Manistee for fully thirty-five years. He was a stanch Demo- crat in politics and ever showed a loyal interest in public affairs, being one of the honored and influential citizens of his county. He was identified with the Masonic fraternity and was a member of the Presby- terian church.


G. Sherman Collins gained his early educational discipline in the public schools of his native city, in whose high school he was gradnated as a member of the class of 1894. Thereafter he completed an effective conrse in the Northern Indiana Normal School & Business University, at Valparaiso, Indiana, an institution that is now known as Valparaiso University. After leaving school he seenred employment as a stenogra- pher in a law office in Manistee. In 1896 he located at Newberry, Luce county, Michigan, and there held the position of storekeeper in the Upper Peninsula Hospital for the Insane for two years, at the expira- tion of which, in 1898, he removed to Munising, where he became col- lector and stenographer for the Munising State Bank. In this insti- tution he was appointed teller in 1899 and he served in this capacity until January, 1901, when he was made assistant cashier. In 1905 he was elected cashier of the institution and in January, 1908, when the bank was reorganized as the First National Bank of Alger County, he became its cashier, an office of which he has since remained incumbent, while he has also been vice-president of the institution since Jannary, 1910. The First National Bank of Alger County is recognized as one of the strong and substantial financial institutions of the Upper Penin- sula and its operations are based upon a capital stock of sixty thou- sand dollars, while its surplus and profits are in excess of eighteen thousand dollars, as shown in the official report of its business on the 30th of June, 1910. The board of directors is comprised of William G. Mather, President of the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company ; Charles V. R. Townsend, land agent for the same company; George J. Forster, manager of the Forster Brothers Company; Marens A. Doty, vice- president of the Superior Veneer & Cooperage Company; and G. Sher- man Collins, who is the immediate subject of this sketch.


In politics Mr. Collins gives his allegiance to the Republican party and he has served as a member of the board of education of Munising, as well as a member of the village council, of which position he is a valned incumbent at the present time. He has also served as deputy United States Collector of customs at this port since 1903. He is af- filiated with Grand Island Lodge, No. 422, Free & Accepted Masons; and Marquette Chapter, No. 43, Royal Arch Masons.


On the 1st of July, 1906, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Col-


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lins to Miss Ronie A. White, who was born in the province of New Brunswick, Canada, and who is the daughter of Gilbert N. White, who was a prominent lumberman at West Branch, Ogemaw county, Michi- gan, for a period of about ten years, at the expiration of which he removed to the state of Oregon, whence he later went to Tacoma, Wash- ington, in which city he now maintains his home. Mr. and Mrs. Col- lins have one son, Burr White Collins, and a daughter, Priscilla.


EDWIN R. BAYLISS .- Possessing excellent business qualifications and judgment, Edwin R. Bayliss is an able assistant in developing and ad- vancing the industrial interests of Bessemer, where he is held in high estimation as a man and as a citizen. A son of the late Edwin Bayliss, he was born January 17, 1870, in Massillon, Stark county, Ohio, coming from English lineage. He is a descendant in the fifth generation of Thomas Bayliss, a life-long resident of England, who reared four sons, as follows: Benjamin, the next in line of descent; Thomas, William, and Samnel.


Benjamin Bayliss, great-grandfather of Edwin R., was born, in 1777, at Stratford-on-Avon, England, where he was reared and married. About 1818, accompanied by his family, he came on the good ship "Is- lington" to America, landing at Philadelphia. Settling at Germantown, Pennsylvania, he followed the trade of a tailor and clothier, which he had learned in the old country, for seven years. He subsequently lived for two years in New York city, from there going to Rochester, New York, where he resided until his death, at the age of four score years. He married Mary Timbell, who was born in Warwickshire, England, a daughter of Thomas Timbell, and they became parents of nine children, among whom was James Bayliss, grandfather of Edwin R.


A native of England, born at Stratford-on-Avon, James Bayliss, whose birth occurred November 7, 1808, remained with his parents until nineteen years old, after which he spent two years learning the tailor's trade. He was but ten years old when he crossed the ocean with the family, locating in Pennsylvania, where he completed his education. About 1827 he started westward, locating at the Kendall settlement in Stark county, Ohio, where a short time later he formed a partnership with the trustees of the "Charity School." which was named for Mrs. Charity Rotch, and had charge of the school four years. Purchasing land in Tusearawas county in 1832, he remained there four years, and then returned to the Kendall settlement, where he resumed his trade. Being seized with a violent attack of the gold fever in 1849, he went by way of the Isthmus to California, being thirteen weeks battling with the waves on the Pacific ocean. After mining and trading on the coast for two years he returned to Ohio and engaged in mercantile business at Massillon, for several years buying wool for a certain large firm of wool dealers. In 1864 he bought six hundred and forty acres of land in sec- tion ten, Tuscarawas township, Stark county, and, still residing in Massillon, carried on his large farm for several years. In 1877 he re- moved to the farm, and after a few years there returned to Massillon, and there lived retired until his death, in 1896.


James Bayliss married. January 1, 1831, Eliza J. Fox, who was born in Tuscarawas township. Ohio, March 10, 1814, a daughter of Jehiel and Anna (Doxsee) Fox, natives of Vermont and pioneer settlers of that township. She passed to the life beyond July 4, 1891, after a happy married life of sixty years. Five children were born of their union, Edwin, Edward Benjamin, Mary Ann., Carrie and James M., and of these children Carrie is the only survivor. Mr. James Bayliss


Chrom Day lusok


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was active in the Republican ranks from the formation of the party, and filled many offices of responsibility and trust in Massillon, serving as a member of the City Council, as president of and treasurer of the School Board, and was likewise president of the State Wool Buyers' Association and of the Massillon Coal and Iron Company.


Edwin Bayliss was born on the home farm, near Trenton, Tuscara- was county, Ohio, March 29, 1833. He attended the Union School in Massillon, taking a special course in surveying, and subsequently did the surveying when the Massillon Cemetery was laid out. He began his mercantile career as a clerk in his father's store, and was afterwards bookkeeper for the firm of Stitt & Brown, wool buyers of Philadelphia. In 1863 he raised and organized the Forty-fifth Ohio Battalion, which was, according to the Adjutant General's report, the first company or- ganized under the act of April 14, 1863. On May 20, 1864, this com- pany was mustered into service at Camp Chase for one hundred days and attached to the One Hundred and Sixty-second Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, Edwin Bayliss being commissioned captain of the company. The company was detailed for duty at Camp Todd, and at the end of one hundred and twenty-three days was honorably discharged from the service. In the fall of 1864, in company with Messrs. Brown and Wyndt, Captain Bayliss engaged in the manufacture of mowers and reapers, J. F. Sieberling being afterward admitted to the firm. In 1867, the two elder partners having died, the Captain bought Mr. Sieberling's interest in the business, becoming sole proprietor of the Massillon Ex- celsior Works. The mower and reaper, with the Sieberling dropper, was then the most advanced harvesting machine on the market and for some time was the principal product of the works, but later Captain Bayliss invented and manufactured the disc harrow, for which he drew a medal at the Centennial Exposition in 1876. Giving up manufacturing in 1878, he devoted the next few years to settling the business. Coming to Bessemer in 1887, he invested in mining properties and engaged in the lumber business and also in the fire insurance business, being a pioneer in the latter. He continued actively employed until his death, October 23, 1908, and his remains were interred at Massillon, Ohio. He married, November 10, 1864, Cordelia E. Zerbe, who was born, June 29, 1839, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Jonathan and Christiana (Gorgas) Zerbe. Her death occurred at Massillon, Ohio, June 20, 1882. Five children were born of their union, as follows: Charles, who became an expert electrician and died at the age of thirty-one years ; Jerome Z., of Bessemer ; Edwin R., the subject of this sketch; Willard, and Lillian, wife of Albert R. Greene, of Columbus, Ohio, secretary of the State Board of Commerce of Ohio.




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