USA > Michigan > A history of the northern peninsula of Michigan and its people; its mining, lumber and agricultural industries, Volume III > Part 50
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James J. Brown gained his early educational training in the com- mon schools of his native county, after which he took a preparatory course in the city of Ypsilanti, Michigan. Later he continued his studies for a time in the University of Michigan and finally he entered the Western Reserve College, at Hudson, Ohio, an institution that was removed to the city of Cleveland in 1882, and in the same he was graduated as a member of the class of 1859, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was soon afterward admitted to the bar of his native state but prior to engaging in the practice of his profession he held a reportorial position on the historic old Detroit Free Press. Later he removed to Chicago where he served as city editor of the Chicago
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Times, under the regime of that celebrated journalist, Wilbur F. Story.
Finally, in 1865, Mr. Brown returned to Detroit, where he engaged in the practice of his profession and where he served as city attorney from 1868 to 1872. In 1876 Mr. Brown came to the Upper Peninsula of the state and located in Cheboygan, becoming one of the leading at- torneys of Cheboygan county and serving one term as mayor of the city, besides which he held the office of prosecuting attorney of the county for several terms. He returned to Detroit, where he was again engaged in the practice for a time, until he came again to the Upper Peninsula and located at Menominee, where he remained a short time, as did he later in the city of Detroit. In 1870 Mr. Brown established his permanent home in St. Ignace, Mackinac county, where he has been actively and successfully engaged in the practice of his chosen profession during the long intervening years. He served as prosecut- ing attorney of Mackinac county for several terms and has been city attorney for a long time, being incumbent of this office at present. Mr. Brown has been identified with much of the important litigation in the courts of this section of the state and his professional reputation is of the highest. He is a stanch Democrat in his political proclivities and has given efficient service in the promotion of the party cause. In a fraternal way he is identified with the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Martha Willis, who was born in Ohio. They have no children.
LOUIS DOBEAS .- Especially worthy of mention in a work of this char- acter is Louis Dobeas, a prominent and prosperous merchant of In- galls, and one of its leading citizens. Beginning life for himself poor in pocket but rich in energy and ambition, he has steadily climbed the ladder of attainments, rising from a state of comparative poverty to one of affluence and influence, thus becoming an excellent representa- tive of the self-made men of our times. Born in Buffalo, New York, March 12, 1847, he was left an orphan when but seven years of age, and as a boy worked at any employment he could find.
Coming to Menominee, Michigan, in 1861, Mr. Dobeas found work with Judge Ingalls, who edited the Menominee Herald, which was published first in Oconto and later in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and in 1863 he distributed the papers to the patrons up the river, becoming the first Herald newsboy in the county. In the fall of that year, hav- ing saved his earnings, this ambitious young man went to Mount Car- roll, Illinois, where he attended school six months. Returning then to Menominee, he again entered the employ of Judge Ingalls, as a road builder, and also embarked in mercantile pursuits, with the Judge as a silent partner. The winter of 1871 and 1872 Mr. Dobeas spent in Muskegon, Michigan, working in a saw mill, and the follow- ing summer was employed in a brick yard at Saint Joseph, Michigan, afterwards working in a saw mill at Watervliet. Then, after work- ing a year for Judge Ingalls, he bought out a mercantile establish- ment and dealt in groceries, flour and feed until the fall of 1876. Going then to Red Bluff, California, Mr. Dobeas entered the employ of a lumber company, with which he remained two years, during which time his salary was increased from forty dollars a month to one hundred and fifteen a month. The following winter, that of 1878, he traveled extensively through California, Colorado and Oregon, but found no place better, in his estimation, than Michigan. Returning, therefore, to Menominee county in the spring of 1879, he began farm-
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ing on section 19, at what is now known as Ingalls, and at the same time embarked in mercantile pursuits on a somewhat limited scale, putting in a small stock of general merchandise. His first bill of dry goods, which amounted to seventeen dollars and seventy-five cents, he bought of Marshall Field & Company, Chicago, and these goods he brought home with him on the train, which stopped at that time on section 18. Later lie established the station on section 19, naming it Ingalls, in honor of his friend, Judge Ingalls.
Mr. Dobeas was made the first postmaster of Ingalls, holding the office nine years. The old log building, sixteen feet by twenty-five feet, with a lean-to, which he occupied as his first store and residence, is still standing. In 1883 he erected a large frame building for a store and a home, and has since lived in it, although, in 1888, his increasing patronage demanding more commodious quarters, he erected his pres- ent store building, which is one of the most conveniently arranged and best stocked and equipped general stores in the Upper Peninsula. In addition to his valuable mercantile and residential property, Mr. Dobeas is an extensive landholder, and superintends the management of his fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres. He takes great in- terest in his live stock, raising Poland China hogs, for which, in 1909. he received both first and second premiums at the Menominee Fair, where his Durham cattle, also, took first premium and special premiums.
Mr. Dobeas married in May, 1879, Doris Beada, who was born in Germany, and came with her parents to Birch Creek, Michigan, in 1853. Two daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Dobeas, namely : Mary, the first child, born in the old log house in which they began housekeeping, died in infancy; and Emma Jane, now attending the Menominee High School. They have an adopted son, Earl, who is now serving his second term of enlistment in the United States Navy.
Politically Mr. Dobeas is a stanch Republican, and he has attended the inauguration exercises of the last five Republican presidents of the United States, in 1901, 1905, and 1909, having been accompanied by Mrs. Dobeas and daughter. He has attended several state conven- tions for his party, and is the present candidate for state representa- tive from his district. In 1890 Mr. Dobeas went abroad, visiting the principal cities of Europe, and in 1903 he traveled through the south- ern states and Cuba and visited many of the West India islands. He is associated with many of the leading organizations of Menominee county, being a stockholder in the First National Bank of Menominee ; in the Lumbermen's Bank; in the Northern Hardware and Supply Company; and in the Menominee and Marinette Light and Traction Company. Fraternally Mr. Dobeas united with the Red Bluff Lodge, No. 186, F. & A. M., of Red Bluff, California, in 1877; and in 1871 he became a member of Menominee Lodge, No. 133, I. O. O. F. He has served as township treasurer, as justice of the peace, and held various other township offices.
JERRY MADDEN, secretary and treasurer of the Jerry Madden Shingle Company of Rapid River, Michigan, was born in Kingston township, Lobrough, Canada, August 30, 1855, son of John Madden. John Mad- den, a native of Ireland, was educated in his native country, and when he was fourteen years of age he emigrated to America, locating in Canada, where he married Louise Vallian, a native of Canada and of French descent, who died at the age of seventy-one years. John Mad- den and his family removed to Stratford, Ontario, in 1859, and in
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April. 1865, to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. He engaged in farming and is now a resident of Fairmont, Minnesota. There were eight children born to John Madden and his wife, of whom Jerry is the fourth, and all are now living.
The early boyhood of Jerry Madden was spent in Canada, and most of his education was acquired in Wisconsin, as he was ten years of age at the time his parents removed to that state. He taught school five years in Wisconsin and then entered the employ of Latham & Smith, lumber dealers at Sturgeon Bay, with whom he remained eight years. He spent two years in the position of general manager of the cedar business of the W. H. Horn Cedar & Lumber Company, located at Arthur Bay, Menominee county, Michigan, to which place he removed from Door county, Wisconsin, in the spring of 1882. In the fall of 1889, Mr. Madden located in Delta county, Michigan, where he pur- chased a tract of cedar land and for eight years he engaged in lumber business on his own account. In 1897, in partnership with Adam Schaible, Mr. Madden bought the F. W. Gray Company mill at Rapid River, and engaged in manufacturing cedar shingles and ties. The firm is known as the Jerry Madden Shingle Company and for the past six years has been the largest manufacturer of shingles in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan; in the spring of 1906 the shingle mill was torn down and a new plant built, combining the lumber, lath and shingle business, the production of shingles being about six million per month. The firm employs about two hundred and fifty men in the woods and during the busy season about one hundred and thirty at the mill. Mr. Madden thoroughly understands every phase of the lumber business and is connected with an enterprise which is one of the most important in the region. He is a keen business man, possessed of great energy and executive ability, and is enterprising and modern in the methods of carrying on his work. He is one of the organizers of the Commercial Bank of Menominee, of which he is vice-president.
Mr. Madden has been a resident of the Northern Peninsula for a period of twenty-eight years, during which time he has been identified with its progress and development ; he is well known and universally respected, being one of the prominent and influential citizens of Rapid River. He is a stanch Republican and a member of the Catholic church.
In 1885 Mr. Madden married Margaret L. McDermott, and they are the parents of four children, namely: Arthur, Margaret, Joseph and Louise.
CHARLES M. THATCHER .- A man of keen intelligence, possessing good business qualifications and tact, Charles M. Thatcher, a general insurance agent, is numbered among the leading citizens of Escanaba. Although a native of St. Louis, Missouri, his birth occurring in that city March 12, 1864. he was educated, principally, in Cleveland, Ohio, living there until fifteen years of age. Coming to Michigan in 1880, he lived for five years in Ogontz, Delta county, having charge of the general store of his step-father, Lyman Feltus.
In the spring of 1885, Mr. Thatcher became identified with the business interests of Escanaba as book-keeper for Frank H. Atkins & Co. He subsequently kept books for the Delta County Bank, and at the opening of the Bank of Escanaba accepted the position of book- keeper in that institution. For five years, at a later period, Mr. Thatcher was clerk of the steamer "Lotus" running from Escanaba to Gladstone, and afterwards spent a year at Rapid River, Michigan, having charge of the books, and the general store of Homer Farrell.
Michael. Harris
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In 1896 he was appointed postmaster by Congressman Sheldon, and served in that capacity for four and one-half years. Since that time he has been extensively engaged in the general insurance business, be- ing one of the most popular and successful agents of this part of the Northern Peninsula. He is active and prominent in local affairs, and is one of the directors of the Business Men's Association of Escanaba, and a director of the Escanaba National Bank. He has also served as supervisor of the Second ward of the city. Fraternally Mr. Thatcher stands high in the Masonic Order, belonging to Lodge, Chapter, Coun- cil, Commandery, and to the Shrine.
In 1884, Mr. Thatcher was united in marriage with Mary Mallman, a daughter of Peter and Gertrude Mallman, of Isabella, Delta county, Michigan, and into their pleasant household three children have made their advent, namely : Sarah G., Oliver V. and Rosella C.
CHARLES W. KATES, general superintendent of the Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad Company, of Wells, Michigan, was born in Ord, Nebraska, October 14, 1875. His father, John F. Kates, was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, and at his death, fifty-four years of age, was secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association. John F. Kates was of English and Scotch origin, and died in Wells, Michigan. He married Sarah Jennings, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, now living at Bloomington, Illinois. They had three sons and three daughters, of whom Charles is the second child and eldest son.
In his native place Charles W. Kates received his education, and there his boyhood was spent; he graduated from school at Grand Island, Nebraska, and began his railroad career in the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad Company when seventeen years old, working at various positions the first few years. In 1898 he came to Escanaba as bookkeeper and cashier for the railroad with which he is now em- ployed. He had charge of the accounts and office details until 1907, when he became general superintendent of the road, with headquarters at Wells. Mr. Kates understands all branches of railroad work, and has been employed in many capacities. He is a man of great intelli- gence and executive ability, and stands well with his associates. He had active interests in a business way outside of his official position, and takes an active interest in public affairs. Mr. Kates started life in a humble way, taking a position such as an inexperienced boy could fill, and has acquired his present position through his industry and careful attention to his duties.
In 1903 Mr. Kates married Zella, daughter of J. E. Cox, of Esca- naba; they have no children. He is a member of the Masonic Order, being affiliated with the Commandery of Escanaba and the Shrine of Marquette, Michigan.
MICHAEL HARRIS .- Holding a place of prominence and influence among the valued and respected citizens of the Upper Peninsula is Michael Harris, of Harris, Menominee county, in whose honor Harris township was named. Like so many of our most energetic and pro- gressive men he was born on the further side of the Atlantic, his birth having occurred, September 19, 1852, in county Waterford, at Bally Duff, Parish of Lismore Castle, Ireland, a well known seaport. His father, Michael Harris, Sr., spent the most of his three score and ten years of earthly life in the Emerald Isle, but his wife, whose maiden name was Bridget Lang, came to this country after the death of her hus- band and spent her last days in Republic, Michigan, passing away at the
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age of seventy-six years. They were the parents of ten children, of whom Michael, the subject of this sketch, was the seventh child in order of birth.
In 1866, a boy of fourteen years, Michael Harris came to this coun- try in a steamship, landing in New York city. Coming from there directly to Hancock, Michigan, he there worked in the mines for three years. Removing to Marquette, Michigan, in 1869, he was there for three years in the employ of Edward Frazier as a lumber scaler. He then accepted a position at Eagle Mills, near Marquette, with F. W. Reed, and worked in his saw mill and lumber yard until January, 1876. In that year Spaulding township was organized, and Mr. Harris entered one hundred and sixty acres of government land in that place, and there took up his residence. He subsequently superintended the building of charcoal kilns in that township for Herman Bert, of Mar- quette, and had charge of the plant until 1879, when he embarked in business as a general merchant, at the same time superintending the clearing of his land. A few years later he embarked in the lumber industry, engaging in logging, and operating a saw mill, in which he manufactured ties and posts. In 1899 the plant was destroyed by fire, and since that time he has devoted his attention, principally, to agri- cultural pursuits and the store. His home farm of one hundred and sixty acres is under a high state of cultivation, yielding abundantly of the crops common to this section. He is an extensive land holder, owning about one thousand acres of good land, and as a farmer has met with marked succes.
Mr. Harris married, August 19, 1872, Margaret Barry, who was born in Ireland, and they are the parents of six children, namely : Della, wife of Dr. Robert P. Neil, of Calumet, Michigan; John in the insurance business in Escanaba and who married Catherine Fitzpat- rick, of Millett, Michigan; Minnie, wife of Patrick McCauley; Mi- chael, who married Nan Mayberry of Miller, Minnesota; Lillian, wife of E. P. Reynolds, of Escanaba, Michigan; and Genevieve, at home.
One of the leading Republicans of Menominee county, Mr. Harris has filled various township offices, having served as township clerk and as justice of peace. In 1903 Harris township was organized from a part of Spaulding township, receiving its name in honor of Mr. Harris, and he was elected supervisor not only of the new township but of Menominee county, an office which he has filled most satisfac- torily, having been re-elected at the close of each term. In 1905 Mr. Harris represented his district in the state legislature, and was re- elected as representative in 1907 and again in 1909. He is now post- master at Harris and has held this office for about twenty years. Fra- ternally Mr. Harris is a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians; of the Catholic Order of Foresters; and of the Knights of Columbus.
CHARLES E. HAMILTON .- The postmaster at Rapid River, Michigan, Charles E. Hamilton, is one of the leading merchants of the town, being proprietor of a drug store. He was born in Ripley county, In- diana, November 19, 1872, and is a son of Jolin W. and Margaret (McCabe) Hamilton, both natives of Indiana. John W. Hamilton was a merchant and served some time as postmaster of Delaware, In- diana ; he died at the age of sixty-eight years, and his wife at sixty-two. They were parents of three sons and one daughter; the sons all sur- vive, but the daughter died at the age of seventeen years.
Charles E. Hamilton was the youngest of the family, and was reared and educated in his native town and county. He also spent two
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years at Franklin, Indiana, and one year at Ada, studying pharmacy. He worked one year as a pharmacist in Bad Axe, Michigan, spent a short time in Gladstone, and in 1895 located at Rapid River, where for fif- teen years he has conducted a drug business. He is well known and liberally patronized by the community, where he has won high esteem and respect. June 18, 1901, Mr. Hamilton received his appointment as postmaster, from President Roosevelt. He has taken an active interest in public affairs and political matters and is a stanch Republican; he has served as township treasurer, township elerk and clerk of the school board. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mr. Hamilton married October 4, 1896, Florence Budinger, and they are parents of three children, Ruth, Margaret and John.
JOHN DARROW, of Rapid River, Michigan, is a successful dealer in general merchandise and hardware, and also has large interests in the way of lumber. He was born in Tipton county, Indiana, March 7, 1863, son of John and Sophia (Shaw) Darrow, who died when he was a small boy. John Darrow Sr. is thought to have been a native of Canada; his mother was born in Connecticut and her parents were pioneers of Tipton county, Indiana. Sophia Shaw was born in Indiana. After reaching the age of nine years, John Darrow Jr. had his own way to make in the world, as both his parents were dead; he worked on a farm until twenty years of age, and received only a meager education in the public schools. When he was but fifteen years of age he removed to Dallas county, Iowa, where he remained five years working on a farm, and March 17, 1883, he married Emma, daughter of Harrison Ackley of that county. Mrs. Darrow was born in Pennsylvania, and moved as a child with her parents to Minnesota, whence they removed to Dallas county, Iowa. Shortly after his marriage Mr. Darrow re- moved to what was then called White Fish River, about half a mile east of where Rapid River now stands, and for two years engaged in fishing and hunting. He worked at various kinds of employment in the country around, and when Rapid River was founded he erected the third building in the town. Here he started a small place of amuse- ment, which he soon sold out and removed to the Coast; he remained in the west but a few months and then returning to Rapid River bought the buildings where he now carries on his business and started a grocery, flour and feed store. He sold out this business about 1895, parting with the stock but retaining the property, and moved to Arcadia, Indiana, where for a year he conducted a general merchandise establishment. Returning to Rapid River, he resumed business at his old stand, where he has been very successful.
Mr. Darrow has branched out into other lines, and though he has twice departed from Rapid River since first he settled there, he has recognized the fact that the Upper Peninsula offers a number of good investments, and a fine field for men with brains and business acumen. He formed a partnership with August Goodman, and they now deal in all kinds of timber, ties, posts, etc., and also buy and sell real estate. They have been very fortunate in their investments and successful in their enterprises, so that they have a well established business, which is constantly growing with the growth and development of the town. He has been a resident of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan some twenty-six years and is well known throughout the region, where he has won popularity and respect. Mr. Darrow has one of the largest stocks of general merchandise in this part of the state, a good stock of hardware and large warerooms. He takes an active interest and part
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in public affairs, and is an enterprising citizen. He belongs to the Knighted Order Tented Maccabees.
NORMAN W. HAIRE .- A man of broad culture and scholarly attain- ments, possessing rare judgment and discrimination, Judge Norman W. Haire, of Houghton, an extensive mining operator, is prominently connected with the leading interests of the Upper Peninsula. A lawyer of ability and note, he has held legal positions of prominence, and as one whose undertakings are ever of a vital nature he is natur- ally a leader in the enterprises with which he is identified. A son of Frederick H. Haire, he was born, February 24, 1855, in Columbia, Jackson county, Michigan, of Scotch-Irish ancestry on his father's side and of New England on the mother's.
Frederick H. Haire, a native of the Empire State, was born, in 1824, and was educated at Penn Yan, Italy Hollow, New York. Migrating to Michigan when about twenty years of age, he located in Jackson county, where he subsequently engaged in agricultural pur- suits, becoming one of the most prosperous farmers of his community ; having farms in Jackson, Hillsdale and Ingham counties, which he im- proved, dying in 1897. He married Lucy Jane Smith, who was born in New York state in 1831, and in 1839 moved with her parents to Jackson county, Michigan. She is now living in Eaton county, Mich- igan, and is the mother of four children, namely: Norman W., the sub- ject of this brief sketch; Martha, wife of William H. Hunt, a prosper- ous farmer in Allegan county, Michigan; Perry J., engaged in mer- cantile pursuits at West Chicago, Illinois; and Kate M., wife of Ion D. Eddy, who is engaged in farming near Charlotte, Michigan. The father was a Democrat in politics, but never accepted a political office.
Gleaning his elementary education in the Butts school district in Onondaga, Michigan, the subject of this sketch subsequently attended the Annis school, in Onondaga, and was graduated from the high school at Leslie, Michigan, and from the Ann Arbor high school, re- ceiving his diploma from the latter school in 1876. Entering the classical department of the University of Michigan the same year, he was there graduated with the degree of A. B. in 1880. The following three years Mr. Haire taught school at Rockland, Ontonagon county, but in the fall of 1883 returned to Ann Arbor, where, in 1885, he was graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan. From 1885 until 1887 he taught school in Rockland, where he had acquired popularity as a teacher, and as a citizen.
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