USA > Michigan > A history of the northern peninsula of Michigan and its people; its mining, lumber and agricultural industries, Volume III > Part 35
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The period intervening between 1834 and 1850, except that por- tion marking the Florida and Mexican wars, was spent by the father at military posts in Arkansas and the Indian territory, but the family lived on a plantation near Fort Smith, Arkansas, where the subject of this sketch attended the public schools and St. Andrew's Catho- lic College. During 1850 and 1851 the home of the family was at Madison Barracks, Sackett's Harbor, New York, and from 1852 to 1854 residence was enjoyed at Mackinac Island, Michigan, where the captain had been assigned to duty.
At an early age John R. elected the career of medicine and was graduated in the medical department of the University of Michigan, March 30, 1854, about four months prior to attaining his twenty-first birthday. He was immediately appointed acting assistant surgeon in the United States army at Fort Mackinac, and Indian physician to the Chippewa and Ottawa Indians at the Michilimackinac Agency. After 1854 he served as post surgeon at Fort Mackinac no less than twenty times. He was also stationed at Fort Hamilton, New York, in 1856, and at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, during the Indian war in 1857. He subsequently entered private practice on Mackinac Island, but at the outbreak of the Civil war formed a company of infantry, and in June, 1861, offered his services to Governor Blair, expressing williness to wield musket, sword or scalpel. His proffer was accepted, but the trend of events changed his plans and rendered necessary a sojourn in St. Louis, Missouri, to afford a beloved mother assistance in influenc- ing his father and brothers to espouse the cause of the United States government. As a result, father, four sons and two sons-in-laws, served, with commissions, in the Union army, the author entering the conflict as assistant surgeon of the Eight Missouri Infantry Volunteers, but his rank was soon raised to major and surgeon and later he received promotion to the brevet lieutenant coloneley of United States volun-
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teers for meritorious and distinguished services in the field, the honor being conferred by act of Congress. During the first year of the war he organized the New House of Refuge General Hospital and com- manded the post bearing the same name, in St. Louis, Missouri. As the contest progressed he became the recipient of many titles, the most noteworthy being surgeon-in-chief and chief of the operating corps of the Second Division of the Fifteenth Army Corps; chief medical of- ficer on the staffs of General Morgan L. Smith, General Lew Wallace, General Giles A. Smith, General Joseph A. J. Lightburn, General David Stewart, General William T. Sherman and General Frank P. Blair, Jr .; Surgeon in Charge of Special Field and General Field Hos- pitals at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Russell's House, Corinth, Memphis, and Vicksburg; besides special medical purveyvor to the Army of the Tennessee in the field at Chattanooga.
Dr. Bailey was an active man all his life, socially, politically and fraternally, and had many honors thrust upon him. He was a third degree Mason and past commander of William M. Fenton Post, St. Ignace, Grand Army of the Republic. He was a companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and was the first president of the Chippewa County Medical Society, comprising Chippewa, Mackinac and Luce counties. Dr. Bailey was an honorary member of the Michigan State Medical Society, the Upper Peninsular Medical Society, honorary life member of the Loyal Guard and a mem- ber of the American Medical Association and roll of honor of the Uni- versity of Michigan.
In civil life he likewise served his fellow citizens in official capacity. He was twice president of the Village (now city) of Mackinac Island, once by appointment and once by election. For years he was a mem- ber of the board of school examiners of Mackinac county, besides which he held various other minor offices, and previously to his death he was a member of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission.
The doctor was twice married and was the father of four children by his first wife, three of whom are living,-Matthew G., pharmacist ; Guy G., physician, and Jennie B. (Mrs. Clow), physician. His first helpmate was Miss Sarah Gray, of Mackinac Island, who became his bride in 1858 and died in 1876. Five years afterward he married Miss Mary Ette Marshall, of Jefferson county, New York, who is still living.
As physician, soldier and citizen, Doctor Bailey has lived an active life. The major portion of his energy has been expended in alleviating suffering humanity, but a goodly amount has been invested in projects aiming for the betterment of municipal and commercial conditions. He was the originator of five bills contemplating the improvement and em- bellishment of Mackinac Island and vicinity, all of which were passed by Congress. He had sole charge of a bill relating to the fisheries of the Great Lakes from Duluth and Chicago to the St. Lawrence river, which was eventually merged into a treaty with Great Britain.
While the Doctor was not a prolific writer, but rather a worker, he nevertheless prepared a number of important medical and historical papers which have attracted considerable attention, notably, "Beau- mont-Army Surgeon;" "A Memoir of Pere James Marquette;" "The Legend of Michilimackinac," which was prepared at the request of Gen- eral Winifield Scott Hancock, commander of the Military Division of the Atlantic; and the "Province of Michilimackinac," an illustrated ar- ticle contributed to the thirty-second volume of "Michigan Pioneer & Historical Collections."
Notwithstanding a very strenuous career, Dr. Bailey found time to
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devote to the religious side of life. He was blessed by the birthright of Christian parentage and was a believer of the Episcopal persuasion. Most of his relatives are members of that church, and a nephew, Right Reverend G. Mott Williams, is bishop of Marquette, a diocese named in compliment to the missionary explorer. The doctor was identified with church progress from early life, and received some of the honors bestowed upon the elect, having served in the capacity of senior warden and as lay reader, an honor which was conferred upon him more than forty years ago by Bishop McCoskry and continued until his death by Bishops Harris and Davies.
Althoughi he presented a serious expression of countenance, the Doctor had a humorous vein coursing through his anatomy and his fac- ulty of provoking mirth was a happy characteristic. He was charitable, liberal in his views and paid homage to merit. He did not believe in extracting fame and glory from ancestral skeletons to offer as bounty for recognition in the social realm, but judged personal worth by the kind of noise an individual person made in the world. He was not satisfied with merely being good but strived to be good for something.
After the death of Dr. Bailey, which occurred at Fort Smith, Ar- kansas, on the 18th of January, 1910, the Michigan Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States issued a special memorial to this deceased and honored companion whose insignia in the order bore the number of 4030. This tribute was issued under order of Lieutenant Orville C. Allen, commander of the Michigan Commandery, and was dated at Detroit, Michigan, on the 31st of March, 1910. So thoroughly appreciative is the article in question that the same is given perpetuation in this volume.
On the morning of January 18th last, the residents of Mackinac Island were shocked by the announcement by telegram that their old neighbor and life-long friend, Lieutenant-Colonel and Surgeon John R. Bailey had just died at the home of a brother in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He had left there early in the autumn, intending to spend some months in the south, and the announcement of his sudden demise was the first intimation to the family of anything wrong. Companion Bailey was born in New York City, July 23, 1833. He came to Mackinac as an army surgeon and physician at the agency for the Chippewa and Ottawa Indians immediately after his graduation from the University of Michigan. He served as acting assistant surgeon U. S. A. at frequent intervals at Fort Mackinac from 1854 to 1860. He became assistant surgeon of the Eighth Missouri Infantry June 20, 1861, enrolling and mustering at St. Louis, Missouri, surgeon with rank of major March 28, 1862. Brevetted lieutenant colonel March 13, 1865, for meritorious ser- vices in the medical department.
He resigned on account of disabilities received in the service and was honorably mustered out January 29, 1864. His service in the Civil war was remarkable for its strenuous devotion to the line of his duties. Very few surgeons saw the varied and extended service that he did, and it would take much more space than can be given in this brief paper to even enumerate the many battles and campaigns in which he par- ticipated.
He organized the New House of Refuge Hospital in St. Louis in 1861. In November of that year, at his own request, he was ordered to rejoin his regiment then at Paducah, Kentucky, and with his regiment participated in the marches and campaign which resulted in the cap- ture of Forts Henry and Donelson in February, 1862, and later to Pittsburg Landing, rendering efficient service to the wounded of Shiloh,
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April 6 and 7, 1862. He participated under Sherman in the campaigns of Corinth, Memphis, La Grange, Holly Springs, Expedition of Vicks- burg and battle of Chickasaw Bayou, second expedition to Vicksburg and operations at Milliken's Bend and "William's Ditch;" March to the rear of Vicksburg, battle of Champion Hills, and other operations re- sulting in the surrender of Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi, in July, 1863. He also served under Sherman in the Chattanooga and Chicka- mauga campaign in the fall of 1863, in the actions and operations leading up to and culminating in the battle of Missionary Ridge, November 25, 1863, and, in fact, in most of the marches and engagements of the Fif- teenth Army Corps during that strenuous period.
As the war progressed he received many appointments. Among them were surgeon in chief and chief of the operating corps of the Second Division of the Fifteenth Army Corps; chief medical officer on staffs of General Morgan L. Smith, General Lew Wallace, General W. T. Sherman and several others ; surgeon-in-charge of Special Field and General Field Hospitals at Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, Memphis and Vicksburg, and special medical purveyor to the Army of the Tennessee in the field at Chattanooga. This wonderful record is supplemented by a long life devoted to his profession as physician and surgeon and in alleviating the sufferings of humanity around him. He was always a devoted and en- thusiastic champion for the betterment and beautification of the beauti- ful island, which, for so many years, was the scene of his labors.
His "History of Mackinac," published in popular form, was the re- sult of deep and painstaking research, and is a very valuable contribu- tion to the literature of Michigan, and is highly prized by the fre- quenters of that famous summer resort. He was for years the commis- sioner for Mackinac Island state park and was largely instrumental in having a large part of the island reserved for park purposes. He was an enthusiastic admirer of the life and career of Pere Marquette and wrote much concerning his history, and was an earnest advocate of the placing of the statue of that devoted pioneer missionary in the beautiful little garden park below the old fort. He was permitted to see this ac- complished in the summer of 1909.
But all of this is only a part of what this earnest worker did. While assistant post surgeon he was associated with Dr. Beaumont, then post surgeon, in the treatment of the world-famous case of Alexis St. Mar- tin, through which medical science first gained actual knowledge by observation of the processes of the human digestive organs and which furnished material for world-wide study. This grand man has left his impress not only upon the island he loved so fondly, but upon the state and nation. His remains repose amid the flowers and ferns of Mackinac, but his spirit and influence will be manifest in our future-for he will not be soon forgotten.
MATTHEW G. BAILEY .- This well known resident of the city of Mackinac Island has passed practically his entire life on this pictur- esque island, known as one of the most attractive resorts of the entire Union, and he has been prominently concerned in the material and civic upbuilding of his home city, where he is engaged in the drug business and where he is recognized as a public-spirited and progress- ive citizen. He is a son of the late Dr. John R. Bailey, one of the most distinguished citizens ever identified with the interests of Mackinac Island and one to whom a special memoir is dedicated on other pages of this work so that further reference to his career and family history is not demanded in the present connection.
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Matthew G. Bailey was born at Mackinac, on the 14th of May, 1864, and he was reared amidst the surroundings and conditions of Mackinac Island, which is endeared to him by the gracious associations and memories of many years. After attending the Island public school he entered the Eastman Business College in the city of Poughkeepsie, New York, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1882. After leaving school he was employed for some time in railroad survey at Newburgh and Buffalo, New York, and later he engaged in the drug business on Beaver Island, near the head of Lake Michigan. In 1885 he became associated with his father in the same line of enterprise on Mackinac Island and since the death of his honored father he has individually continued the business, having a well equipped establishment and one that controls a large and repre- sentative patronage, especially during the summer seasons, when the island is the mecca of so many health and pleasure seekers. When but twenty-one years of age Mr. Bailey was elected president of the village of Mackinac Island and during the intervening years he has shown a most zealous interest in all that has touched the welfare of his home town. He was one of the most influential factors in securing to the village of Mackinac Island its city charter in 1900 and the same is now a fourth-class city. He was elected the first mayor and was prominently identified with the establishment of the city electric-light and water-works plants, for which he helped secure the necessary legis- lative franchises during his administration. He has but recently re- tired from the office of chairman of the board of education of his home city, after having served continuously in this office for a period of six years. Though never ambitious for political office Mr. Bailey gives a stanch allegiance to the Republican party. He is a companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, in which position he succeeded his father first class in succession.
Mr. Bailey was married to Miss Sarah Gibson of St. James, Michi- gan, on the 22nd of September, 1885. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey have four children, Guy Gibson, who was graduated in the department of pharm- acy, in the University of Michigan, as a member of the class of 1910; Marian C., and Sara, who are students at St. Mary's Academy, in the city of Monroe, Michigan ; and Robert M., who is a student at M. A. C. Lansing.
WALTER G. VAN SLYCK .- Among the able and worthy members of the Michigan bar Walter G. Van Slyck, judge of probate for Ontonagon county, has won unmistakable prestige as a lawyer, and through the application of his natural talents and his acquired knowledge has achieved success in his profession. A native of Canada, he was born, November 27, 1856, at Port Royal, Norfolk county, province of On- tario, of Dutch ancestry, being descended from a family that emigrated to this country from Holland, becoming a pioneer settler of Manhat- tan Island.
His father, Cornelius A. Van Slyck, was born in Rochester, New York, his father, who died in early manhood, having been a life-long resident of New York state. His mother, grandmother of Mr. Van Slyck, married for her second husband a Presbyterian minister, and spent her last years in Norfolk county, Canada. But a child when taken by his mother and step-father to Canada, Cornelius A. Van Slyck was reared and educated in Norfolk county. On attaining his majority he embarked in the timber business, with headquarters at Port Royal, province of Ontario, and at Tonawanda, New York. Removing to Michi-
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gan in 1867, he purchased a farm in Ottawa county, and was there engaged in farming and lumbering until 1890, his operations being confined to the Saginaw valley. He is now living retired from active pursuits at Grand Rapids. He married Diantha Hannah De Witt, who was born at Port Royal, Canada, a daughter of James and Gertrude De Witt. Mr. De Witt was born at Albany, New York, his emigrant . ancestor having come from Holland to America, becoming one of the first settlers of Manhattan Island. In 1817 he removed to Norfolk county, Canada, settling on land which his father had purchased for him, and was there for many years engaged in the pioneer task of re- deeming a farm from its original wildness, residing there until his death. The farm which he improved remained in the family for ninety years. Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius A. Van Slyck reared five children, as follows: James D., of Ontonagon; Walter G., the special subject of this sketch; Elizabeth Agnes; Richard, who died in the twenty-first year of his age; and Annie Birdsell.
Having completed his early studies in the public schools of Ottawa county, Michigan, Walter G. Van Slyck assisted his father in business until 1882, when he began the study of law in the office of George A. Farr, at Grand Haven, Michigan. After his admission to the bar, in 1884, Mr. Van Slyck entered the employ of his former preceptor, re- maining in his office until 1892. Coming then to Ontonagon, Michigan, he, in company with his brother, was for six years engaged in the manu- facture of shingles. Resuming then the practice of his profession, he has continued it since, being now judge of probate for Ontonagon county, an office to which he was appointed by Governor Warner in the spring of 1909 to fill out the unexpired term of the late Judge Parker, the appointment being confirmed in the fall of 1909, when he was elected to the position by vote of the people.
Judge Van Slyck married, in 1882, Mrs. Jennie (Apsey) Miller, widow of the late David Miller. She was born in England, and when six years old was brought to this country by her parents, and was sub- sequently reared in Canada and the United States. Fraternally the judge is a member of Grand Haven Lodge, No. 129, F. & A. M .; of Corinthian Chapter, R. A. M., of Grand Haven; and of Grand Haven Camp, M. W. A. He cast his first presidential vote for James A. Gar- field, and has since been an earnest supporter of the principles of the Republican party. He was Circuit Court commissioner of Ottawa county, at Grand Haven from 1889 until 1891, before coming to Ontonagon.
JOHN F. DEADMAN, D. V. S .- There has been naught of temporizing or indirection in the career of this able and honored citizen of the Upper Peninsula, who gained prestige as one of the leading represen- tatives of the veterinary profession in the state of Michigan, a voca- tion which has been followed successfully by his father and grand- father as well as by six of his brothers so that he has had no sinecure in maintaining the professional prestige of the name which he bears. He was born in London, province of Ontario, Canada, on the 26th of November, 1868, and is a son of William and Christina (MeKay) Dead- man, the former of whom was born in England and the latter in Scot- land. Their marriage was solemnized in Ontario and the father passed the closing years of his life in Alpena, Michigan, where he died when about seventy years of age. In that city his widow still maintains her home. Of their ten children the following are still living,-Jacob I., who resides at Cobalt, Ontario: William P., who resides in Boyen,
Ino . Desdeman D.U.S.
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Lenawee county, Michigan; Angus, who is a resident of Marquette, Michigan; John F., who is the immediate subject of this sketch, and Emily, his twin sister, who is the wife of Eugene Johnson, of Alpena ; Byron B., who is a resident of Alpena, Michigan; Richard H., who is county clerk of Alpena county ; and Charles A., who resides at Madi- son, Wisconsin. All of the brothers are veterinary surgeons except Richard H., and are actively engaged in the practice of their profes- sion. The grandfather, Dr. Jacob Deadman, was born in England and there passed his entire life, having been engaged in the practice of veterinary surgery from 1828 to 1864. Dr. William Deadman. father of him whose name initiates this sketch, learned the veterinary science in his native land under the able direction of his father, and when a young man he came to America and located in the province of On- tario, Canada, where he was engaged in the work of his profession until 1879. He then removed to Alpena, Michigan, where he con- tinued to reside until his death, which occurred in 1894. He was actively engaged in professional work for nearly fifty years. The sons organized and incorporated the Deadman Brothers Medical Com- pany of Alpena, and were associated therein in the manufacture of various veterinary remedies for a number of years. Dr. John F. Dead- man was reared to the age of twelve years in his native county in On- tario, and there gained his early education in the public schools. He then accompanied his parents on their removal to Alpena, Michigan, where he continued to attend the public schools, and finally, after pre- liminary discipline under the direction of his father, he entered the veterinary department of the Detroit College of Medicine, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1895, and from which he received the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Surgery.
Prior to this time he had been associated with his father in prac- tice. He continued to reside at Alpena until the spring of 1889, when he took up his residence at Sault Ste. Marie, where he continued in the work of his profession until the autumn of 1909, when, on account of the ill health of his wife, he removed to Portland, Oregon, in the hope that his loved companion might be restored to health. She was, however, summoned to the life eternal on the 19th of May, 1910, and Dr. Deadman then returned to Sault Ste. Marie, where he has since continued in the work of his profession, in which he has long held precedence as one of the able and successful residents thereof. In politics he is aligned as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Demo- cratic party. He is a member of the Michigan State Veterinary Asso- ciation and had the distinction of being a member of the first veteri- nary examining board in the state of Michigan, besides which he served for some time as United States Inspector at the port of Sault Ste. Marie. He served four years as treasurer of the city of Sault Ste. Marie and no citizen enjoys a higher degree of popular confidence and esteem. He is affiliated with Red Cross Lodge No. 51, Knights of Pythias; Sault Ste. Marie Chapter No. 552, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Sault Ste. Marie Lodge No. 123, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and also holds membership in the Knights of the Macca- bees, Caledonian Society, and the Modern Woodmen of America.
In September, 1893, Dr. Deadman was united in marriage to Miss Sophronia Eagle, who was born in the province of Ontario, Canada, and whose death occurred in the city of Portland, Oregon, May 19th, 1910, as already stated. Concerning the five children of this union the following brief record is given: Emily died in infancy, as did also Russell A. and Jennings W., these children being triplets. Webster
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W. remains at the paternal home, as does also Helen Sophronia, who is five years of age at the time of this writing.
At the time of the Doctor's removal to Portland, Oregon, in 1909, as stated in a preceding paragraph, one of the Sault Ste. Marie papers entered an appreciative and facetious article concerning him and from this it is deemed but consonant to make the following quotations with but slight paraphrase, as the statements are well worthy of perpetua- tion instead of being buried in musty newspaper files :
"Now that the Doctor is about to leave for the edge of the great American continent, it might be opportune to take advantage of the chance to say a few things about him before his face. There are prob- ably but few men anywhere who constitute as good a theme for the talker or writer. There are probably but few men who have had such perilous and eventful careers. There is much of striking interest to be said about this unique personality.
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