USA > Michigan > A history of the northern peninsula of Michigan and its people; its mining, lumber and agricultural industries, Volume III > Part 69
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
PETER SOLHEIM .- Among the enterprising and progressive business men of Norway, Dickinson county, Michigan, is Peter Solheim, the well known photographer, who has here built up a large and lucrative pat- ronage in his line of work, his artistie tastes and professional skill being fully recognized and appreciated. He was born June 3, 1874, in the city of Bergen, Norway, the descendant of an old and highly respected fam- ily. He is a son of Nels Solheim and is the youngest in order of birth in a family of four children,-Karsten, Adolph, Olaf and Peter, all of whom are now residents of the United States except Karsten, who is a noted modern organist and composer in his native land of Norway.
An ambitous student, Peter Solheim attended school in the city of Bergen, Norway, until he had attained to the age of sixteen years, at which time he began to study the art of photography. In 1893 he immi- grated to the United States and immediately found employment at his chosen profession in New York City, whence he later went to Chicago, Illinois, where he was similarly employed for a time. Subsequently he worked in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and thence he came to Michigan, locating first at Iron Mountain. In 1899 he settled at Norway, Dickin- son county, this state, and here opened a studio on the old town site, meeting with the most satisfactory and gratifying suecess as a plio- tographer. In 1910 he assumed possession of his present commodious quarters on Nelson street, South Side, in a new brick building, with rooms specially fitted for a photographic studio, and is here doing work that finds high favor with his many patrons.
In August, 1910, Mr. Solheim married Miss Julia Hanson, who was born in Memphis, Tennessee, a daughter of Michael and Mary (Field)
1545
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
Hanson, natives of Norway. Mr. and Mrs. Solheim have two children,- Paul Field and Florence Evelyn.
JAMES R. RYAN .- In this age of colossal enterprise and marked in- tellectual energy the prominent and successful men are those whose abilities and ambition lead them into large undertakings and to as- sume the responsibilities of leadership. Among the native sons of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan who are entitled to consideration through their able and productive efforts as veritable captains of in- dustry is James R. Ryan, of Sault Ste. Marie, which city has repre- sented his home from the time of his birth. IIe is now identified with various industrial enterprises of broad scope and importance and he has long been an influential factor in public affairs in his home city and where he has for a number of years been the active manager of the large estate of his honored father, who located on the site of the present city in the early pioneer days and who made such judicious investments in local real estate as to realize therefrom a large and substantial fortune. No name has been more closely or prominently identified with the civic and material development and upbuilding of Sault Ste. Marie than that of Ryan, and the subject of this review has well upheld the prestige of the name. He is broad-minded, loyal and public-spirited and has held various offices of trust, including that of postmaster of his native city.
James R. Ryan was born in a home that stood within the present corporate limits of the city of Sault Ste. Marie, on the 25th of May, 1858, and is a son of Thomas and Elizabeth Anne (Warrington) Ryan, whose marriage was solemnized in the year 1856. Thomas Ryan was born in county Tipperary, Ireland, on the 21st of December, 1829, and his death occurred at his home in Sault Ste. Marie in 1905. His wife was born in county Cavan, Ireland, in 1836, and she died in Sault Ste. Marie in 1898, shortly after her return from Ireland, whither she had been taken by her devoted husband in the hope of securing to her relief from a complication of disorders which were the sequelae of an attack of la grippe. Of the three children of this union the subject of this sketch is the eldest ; Mary E. is the wife of Lawrence E. O'Mara and they reside at Waukegan, Illinois; and Margaret M. is the wife of Dr. William S. Royce, who is engaged in the practice of his pro- fession in the city of Chicago.
Thomas Ryan was reared and educated in his native land and there learned the blacksmith trade. In 1852, at the age of twenty-three years, he severed the ties that bound him to the fair Emerald Isle and set forth to seek his fortunes in America. From the national metropo- lis he made his way westward, and in the city of Chicago he gained information concerning work then in prosecution on the first locks in the St. Mary river at Sault Ste. Marie. Believing that he could here secure profitable employment, he made the voyage up the lakes on a schooner and arrived at his destination in July, 1854. He as- sisted in the construction work on the locks and here he continued to reside during the remainder of his life, having maintained his home in Sault Ste. Marie for more than half a century, within which he so directed his energies and abilities as to become one of the most prom- inent and influential citizens of the Upper Peninsula, even as he re- tained at all times the inviolable confidence and esteem of his fellow men. He early established himself in the general merchandise busi- ness, in which he continued, with ever increasing success, until 1885, when impaired physical energies led to his retirement. Thereafter
1546
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
he gave his attention to the supervision of his extensive real estate interests. He became one of the largest landholders in Chippewa county, and through the great appreciation in value of the lands owned by him in and near Sault Ste. Marie he gained a substantial fortune. He was liberal and progressive in his civic attitude and by influence and financial aid did much to further the development of the city that represented his home and the center of his interests un- til he was summoned to the life eternal. From the time of becoming a naturalized citizen until the close of his life he manifested a lively interest in local affairs of a public nature and he was long one of the leaders in the councils of the Democratic party in this section of the state. No citizen has enjoyed a greater measure of popular confidence and approbation and he was called upon to serve in practically every county office, including those of sheriff, county clerk, register of deeds, supervisor, and even that of prosecuting attorney, to which position he was elected as a practical joke and for which he refused to qualify ; his election, however, showed the popularity he enjoyed, and many of the citizens of the county had unbounded confidence in his ability to fill this office successfully, as he had all others. He served as justice of the peace for nearly a quarter of a century and he served as postmaster of Sault Ste. Marie during the first adminis- tration of President Cleveland. He was a member of the city council for several terms and as school director he aided materially in main- taining at a high standard the public-school system of the county. He was identified with many movements and enterprises that proved of great benefit to his home city, and he showed that his constructive powers and his strong mental forces were not narrowed in their func- tions by self-interest, as he was leal and loyal in the support of every measure that conserved the general welfare of the community. Gen- ial and companionable, with ready wit and unfailing kindliness, he filled a large place in his city and county, where his name will long be remembered and honored. Both he and his wife were communi- cants of the Catholic church and did much to further its interests in their parish and diocese.
James R. Ryan was afforded the advantages of the parochial and public schools of his native city and thereafter he continued his stud- ies in Assumption College, conducted by the Basilian Fathers, at Sandwich, Ontario, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1876, after the completion of a course of four years. He then became associated with his father in the general merchandise business, and he also proved the latter's valued coadjutor in many lines of enterprise, including the handling of large real estate hold- ings, the improving of the same, and the building of the street rail- way line in Sault Ste. Marie. In this important development Mr. Ryan was the prime factor, and he had the distinction of here install- ing the first electric street railway to be placed in practical operation in the entire United States. This original line was constructed and placed in operation in 1888 and constituted the nucleus of the present excellent system of the Sault Ste. Marie Street Railroad Company. Mr. Ryan had the management of his father's real estate at a time when the same comprised five thousand acres of land, including much property now within the best business and residence sections of Sault Ste. Marie. He now has his offices in the MeTavish building, which stands on the site of the old home in which he was reared, at 110 Maple street. In 1887 he disposed of much of the realty of the family estate, though there is still retained a large amount of city and subur- ban property of valuable order.
1547
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
As a progressive and public-spirited citizen Mr. Ryan has proved a worthy successor of his honored father and he likewise has given effective service in offices of trust. In 1889 he was elected representa- tive of the First ward in the city council, of which body he was cho- sen president, and he resigned his seat when he entered upon his administration as postmaster, an office of which he continued incum- bent for four years, during the presidency of Grover Cleveland. Since 1896 he has been engaged in the furniture and undertaking business, under the firm name of James R. Ryan & Company, and the estab- lishment is metropolitan in all equipments and facilities. Mr. Ryan has much inventive genius and has secured letters patent on a num- ber of valuable inventions, including the Lake Superior wrench, the Ryan storm canopy for vehicles, the casket bearer, and an automatic chicken feeder, besides the McKeone mineral separator. He is presi- dent of the Ryan Storm Canopy Company, which was incorporated July 1, 1907, with a capital stock of two hundred thousand dollars, and is secretary and treasurer of the Soo-Nome Mining Association, which was incorporated on the 1st of April, 1904, with a capital stock of fifteen thousand dollars. He is also secretary and treasurer of the Gold-Platinum Dredge Company, which is incorporated under the laws of South Dakota, with an authorized capital of one million dol- lars. This incorporation was formed in part to dredge for gold, plat- inum and other minerals, to separate the minerals with the MeKeone separator previously mentioned, and to carry on a general mining business.
It is interesting to record that in 1867 Thomas Ryan, father of the subject of this review, entered one hundred and sixty acres of govern- ment land which is now included in the best section of Sault Ste. Marie, where it is bounded by Easterday avenue, Ashmun street, Eighth avenue and Swinton street. This property was sold by the original owner to Robert N. Adams. Thomas Ryan was also the owner of the land on which the city power plant stands, and at one time owned fully four-fifths of the land now included within the city limits.
In politics Mr. Ryan accords an unwavering allegiance to the Democratic party, and he and his family are communicants of the Catholic church. He is prominently affiliated with the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Catholic Order of Foresters, and served for several years as president of the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association of his home city.
In Sault Ste. Marie, on the 16th of January, 1883, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ryan to Miss Elizabeth A. Cody, who was born in the city of Toronto, Canada, and who is a daughter of John and Ann (Bertles) Cody, both natives of Ireland. Mr. Cody came with his family to Chippewa county, Michigan, in 1880, and here devoted the remainder of his active career to agricultural pursuits. Both he and his wife are now deceased, and of their thirteen children ten are living. Mr. and Mrs. Ryan have three children: Thomas J. is chief draughtsman of the Union Carbide Company, and is married to Miss Eleanor Squire; Annie L., who has completed a special course in the Thomas Normal School of Art, in the city of Detroit, is now at the parental home, as is also John C., who is attending the local schools.
JUDGE DANIEL GOODWIN has acted a prominent part in the affairs of the state, and especially of the Upper Peninsula during the formative period of government and the initiation of great private and public busi-
1548
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
ness enterprises. He was born in the state of New York in 1799, and when twenty-six years old, in 1825, moved to Detroit and entered the practice of law. Soon thereafter he was appointed by President Jack- son, United States district attorney. He was a delegate to the Conven- tion of Assent held in December, 1835, which accepted the conditions im- posed by congress for the admission of Michigan into the Union, taking in the Upper Peninsula in lieu of a strip of land on the south boundary coveted by the states of Ohio and Indiana. He was appointed justice of the supreme court, and judge of the first circuit in 1843, but after three years on the bench he resigned and returned to private practice.
In 1850 he was a member of the convention to revise the state consti- tution, and his ability and prominence are attested by the fact that he was made president of that body in which were many very able men. In 1851 he was elected judge of the district court of the Upper Penin- sula, and on the division of the district into circuits he remained judge of the - circuit, including what is now the twenty-fifth, until 1881. His last signature upon the court records of the several counties in that circuit, appears appended to the records for that year and is a signature as smoothi as if impressed by a copper plate. Although Judge Goodwin maintained his home in Detroit and never became a resident of the Upper Peninsula, his thirty years' service and unblemished record in this peninsula, at a time when precedents were being established and the court was called upon to construe new laws, has so indelibly impressed itself upon our records as to give him forever a prominent place in our history. He was of small stature, dark complexion, of a quiet, even, de- cisive temperament, great legal ability and unquestioned integrity. During his long term of office in the Upper Peninsula he journeyed here regularly twice a year, from Detroit, and made the rounds-first of the counties within the peninsula that were organized for judicial purposes, and thereafter of the counties within his circuit; and this at a time when traveling and hotel accommodations were in great contrast to those of today. He always appeared in a conventional black suit, and was a typi- cal example of the "old school." In matters of etiquette he was punc- tilious to a degree, and he was highly respected by the settlers, who looked upon the usual call of the judge as a pleasure and an honor com- bined. His portrait which appears in the general chapter on the Bench and Bar, is from a photograph as he appeared when he left the bench in 1881, at the age of eighty-two years. He was then in failing health and he thereafter lived a quiet life, highly respected and esteemed, at his home in Detroit, until his death in 1885. His just, able and upright de- cisions, to be found in the records of his services as a judge, constitute a better and more enduring monument than any pen can write or chisel carve in his honor.
ROBERT E. JENNINGS .- The late Robert E. Jennings left a definite impress upon the business and civic affairs of the city of Menominee and he ever commanded the most unqualified confidence and esteem of this community where he made his life one of productive activity along normal lines of endeavor and where he was called upon to serve in various positions of public trust. In his death, which occurred on the 17th of March, 1906, the community manifested a uniform sense of loss and bereavement, for his gracious personality has gained him the loyal friendship of all with whom he came in contact in the various relations of life.
Robert E. Jennings was born at Green Bay, Wisconsin, on the 19th of April, 1861, and was the son of Peter and Letitia Jennings. His
1549
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
father was born in the Dominion of Canada, where he was reared and educated and whence he came to the United States when nineteen years of age. He first located at Racine, Wisconsin, and later resided in turn in the cities of Chicago, Green Bay, Appleton and Menasha, in which last named place he is now living virtually retired. He was for many years actively engaged in the foundry business, in connection with which he obtained a large measure of success.
Robert E. Jennings, the subject of this memoir, gained his early educational training in the public schools of Wisconsin and after the completion of a course in the business college at Appleton, that state, he came to Menominee in 1882. Here he first secured a position as bookkeeper in the office of the Ramsey & Jones Lumber Company and later he was for a considerable length of time in the employ of the Menominee River Lumber Company. In 1889 a distinguished tribute to his integrity and marked executive ability was given by the late Honorable Samuel M. Stephenson, who made Mr. Jennings general manager of his interests in this section. Mr. Stephenson had lost his only son, Samuel E., on the 31st of December, 1889, and the death of this promising young man, who was then twenty-nine years of age, led to the appointment of Mr. Jennings to the responsible position noted. After the election of his distinguished employer to congress, Mr. Jennings continued as general manager of the business affairs and various capitalistic interests of Mr. Stephenson until the time of his death, and his administration was marked by the utmost fidelity and scrupulous care. In 1900 he became identified with the manufac- turing of electrical appliances, but in 1903 he disposed of his interests in this line and engaged in the canning business at Sturgeon Bay, Wis- consin, where he became a member of a substantial stock company that still controls a large business in the canning of various lines of vegetables and fruits. Mr. Jennings also extended his operations into the field of real estate dealing, was associated with Charles Law in the drug business in Menominee, and was essentially progressive and broad-minded as a business man and as a citizen. He served for sometime as one of the board of the city supervisors and was also a member of the board of aldermen and in each of these positions he did all in his power to further good government and the advancement of all the interests of the community at large. His political support was given to the Republican party, and he was affiliated with Menom- inee Lodge, No. 269, Free and Accepted Masons; Menominee Chapter, No. 107, Royal Arch Masons; Menominee Commandery, No. 35, Knights Templars. He and his wife attended the services of the Presbyterian church, and the latter is a member of that denomination.
On the 6th of November, 1889, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Jennings to Miss Emma S. Stephenson, daughter of the late Honor- able Samuel M. Stephenson, to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Jennings became the parents of four children,-Samuel E., Antoinette S., Robert E. and Stephenson. All of the children are living except the first-born, who died in infancy.
FRED HULL ABBOTT .- A prominent and influential member of the legal profession, Fred Hull Abbott is one of the leading attorneys-at- law of the Upper Peninsula, and in his home city, Crystal Falls, has a large practice. A son of Adrian O. Abbott, he was born in Madison, Madison county, New York, October 8, 1866. His grandfather, Orrin
1550
TIIE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
B. Abbott, was born at Oriskany Falls, Oneida county, N. Y., where his grandfather, Jason Abbott, spent his declining years.
A man of superior business ability and judgment, Orrin B. Abbott was for many years extensively engaged in the coal business at Oris- kany Falls, and by means of thrift and good management accumu- lated a handsome property, being rated with the capitalists of those days. He lived beyond the allotted three score and ten years of man's life, passing away at the age of seventy-five years. His wife, whose maiden name was Maria Wheelock, was born and bred in Vermont.
Adrian O. Abbott, a native of Oriskany Falls, New York, was there educated, and as a young man developed considerable mechanical tal- ent and inventive genius. In 1867 he engaged in the dry goods bus- iness at Adrian, Michigan, where, a few years later, he began manu- facturing articles of his own invention. Settling in Hudson, Michigan, in 1878, he continued his manufactures, many of which are of great importance, among them being the Abbott Voting Machine, the Abbott Hub Borer, and various other devices necessary in the modern manu- facture of carriages. He is widely known throughout that section of Michigan, and his inventions are in use in many parts of the Union. He married Mary Adelaide Hull, who was born in Madison, N. Y., where her father was for many years a prominent physician, being there actively engaged in the practice of his profession until his death, while yet in manhood's prime. She passed to the higher life in 1876, leaving two children, Fred Hull and Lulu Eva.
Receiving his preliminary education in the public schools of Adrian, Michigan, and Hudson, Michigan, Fred Hull Abbott subse- quently attended the Military Academy at Orchard Lake, for a year, and in 1885 was graduated from the Ann Arbor High School. Enter- ing then the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, he was graduated from the Literary Department with the class of 1889, and from the Law Department in 1891. In July, 1891, Mr. Abbott was admitted to prac- tice in the Supreme Court of the state, and immediately located at Crystal Falls, where he has since continued in active practice, being now one of the leading attorneys of Iron county. His knowledge of legal matters is extended, and his best known literary work, "Abbott's Michigan Practice," published in two volumes, by the Keefe-David- son Company, of St. Paul, is of great value to the legal profession. As a sound Republican in politics, Mr. Abbott invariably performs his full duty at the polls, but he has never been an aspirant for public office, the only official position in which he has served having been that of city attorney.
On June 15, 1892, Mr. Abbott married Emma Ellis, who was born in Middletown, New York, a daughter of A. C. and Mary (Parkill) Ellis, and they have one daughter, Adelaide Abbott. Fraternally Mr. Abbott is a member of Golden Rule Lodge, No. 153, F. & A. M., of Ann Arbor and of Michigan Sovereign Consistory of Detroit, Michigan.
HON. SOLOMON S. CURRY .- In the foremost rank among the broad- minded and progressive men who have been prominent in the upbuild- ing of the city of Ironwood stands Hon. Solomon S. Curry, whose long and upright business career has made him a conspicuous figure in the industrial, financial and political life of the Upper Peninsula of Mich- igan.
He was born June 12, 1840, at Curry Hill in Lancaster township, Glengarry county. Ontario, Canada, on the ancestral lands granted by King George the Third to his grandfather, John Curry, Sr., a Scotch-
1551
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
man who migrated to Canada from the South at the outbreak of the Revolution.
Mr. Curry's father died at the early age of thirty-three, six months before the son who was named for him was born, leaving a widow and three minor children, besides his unborn son. Mr. Curry's widowed mother, nee Anna Southerland Wood, a direct descendant of the Southerlands of Scotland, married Alexander McLeod and had five chil- dren by her second husband.
Having received a meagre, but practical, education, Mr. Curry left home at the age of sixteen to begin the battle of life for himself. Going to Potsdam, New York, he served an apprenticeship of three years at the trade of blacksmith. He then returned to the lumber regions of Canada finding employment as supply clerk for "Long John Cameron" of Trenton, Ontario. While there employed he followed a raft of tim- ber cut in Simcoe county, Ontario, across Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River across the whole length of Lake Erie, through the Welland Canal and Lake Ontario down the St. Lawrence River to Quebec. This expedition was fraught with so many dangers and accomplished at an expense of time and money so great, that the experiment has not been attempted since.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.