USA > Michigan > A history of the northern peninsula of Michigan and its people; its mining, lumber and agricultural industries, Volume III > Part 9
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HON. JAMES MERCER .- Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis, of Brooklyn, New York, very recently said, "Men rise to greatness by their opportuni- ties, but there are thousands of opportunities and only a few men who are ready to take advantage of them." It is quite apparent that Hon. James Mercer of Ontonagon is one of the few who have made good use of their natural talents, and through well-directed effort and persis- tency of purpose have won success in life. For upwards of half a cen- tury he has been identified with the industrial and financial growth of this section of the Upper Peninsula, and having acquired a competency, is now living retired at his beautiful country seat, near Ontonagon. A native of England, he was born in the city of London, September 9, 1830, a son of Robert Mercer.
Robert Mercer was born in Sussex. England. December 15, 1785, coming from a family that traced its ancestry back to the time of Wil- liam the Conqueror. He was graduated from Oxford University, but chose a business career rather than a professional life, becoming a member of a firm that imported timber from Norway, and sold it in Great Britain. He afterwards invested almost his entire fortune in anthracite coal mines and their development. People not having at that time learned to use that kind of coal for fuel there was no demand for it after it was put on the market, and his fortune of more than three-fourths of a million of dollars was swept away. Nothing daunted, however, he started, in 1833, for America, where he hoped to retrieve his losses. Accompanied by his wife and ten children, he crossed the ocean in a sailing vessel, after a voyage of thirteen weeks landing in New York City. Proceeding westward to the territory of Michigan, he spent a short time in Detroit, from there going to Wind- sor, province of Ontario, Canada, where he located permanently. Be- ing soon admitted to the bar, he was there successfully engaged in the practice of law until his death, June 29, 1849. He married Sarah Hathaway Treacher, who was born in London in 1787, and died in Windsor, Canada, in 1867. To them ten children were born, as fol- lows: Robert T., Eliza, Rebecca, John, Samnel, Joseph, Sarah, Mary, Ann and James.
Receiving an excellent education in the public and private schools of Windsor and Toronto, James Mercer began his business career when sixteen years old as clerk in a store in Detroit, Michigan, the first years receiving his board, and having his laundry bill paid, the follow- ing two years receiving in addition one hundred and fifty dollars per annum. In 1850 Mr. Mercer became clerk on a steamer plying be- tween Cleveland and Sault Ste Marie, at the end of three seasons accepting the position of bookkeeper at the Sault Ste. Marie docks for the Chippewa Portage Company, with which he was associated a year and a half. Going then to Portage Lake, Mr. Mercer was clerk for the Albion & Montezuma Mining Company until 1857, when he located in Ontonagon. Establishing immediately a partnership with William Willard to do a general commission and forwarding business, the partnership continued until the death of Mr. Willard, in 1874. Mr. Mercer then continued the business alone until 1896, when the dock and warehouse was burned, and he gave up the business.
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In 1897 Mr. Mercer was one of the organizers of the Ontonagon State Bank, and served as its president until 1903, when it was closed. He then assisted in organizing the First National Bank, of which he was president until 1909, when he resigned the office, and has since lived retired from the cares of business at his pleasant rural home, which he established in 1869. In that year Mr. Mercer bought this es- tate, which consisted of one hundred and fifty-three acres of wild land, one hundred and thirty acres of which are now cleared and improved. In the care of his property, Mr. Mercer has spared neither time nor expense, each year adding to its beauty and its value. He planted a large variety of fruit trees, and has also set out over seven hundred evergreen and other forest trees. This beautiful home Mr. Mercer pre- sented to his daughter, Mrs. Parker, with whom he resides.
Mr. Mercer married, June 7, 1857, Grace M. Hill, who was born in 1838, in Lewiston, New York, and died in October, 1903, in Ontonagon, Michigan. Her father, Dr. Odanthus Hill, removed from Lewiston to Detroit about 1840, and was there engaged in the practice of medi- cine until 1845, when he went to Buffalo, New York, to assist in ear- ing for the cholera patients, and being stricken with the same dreaded disease there died. His wife had preceded him to the life beyond, and their daughter Grace and her sister, their only children, were brought up by their uncle, Dr. J. L. Whiting. Four children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Mercer, namely: Mary W., Robert Guy, John W., and Harry T. Mary W., wife of John G. Parker, has two children, Kate and Rees. Robert Guy, living in Tampico, Mexico, married Bessie M. Parker. John W., a mining engineer in Denver, is married and has one child, Alice. Harry T., of Painesdale, Michigan, also a mining engineer, married Bessie Osborne.
Fraternally Mr. Mercer is a member of Ontonagon Lodge No. 67, F. & A. M .; of Ontonagon Chapter, No. 26, R. A. M .; of Palestine Com- mandery, No. 48, K. T., of Houghton; and of De Witt Clinton Con- sistory, and the Saladin Shrine of Grand Rapids. In his youthful days his political sympathies were with the Whig party, but on the forma- tion of the Republican party he became one of its stanchest adherents, casting his first presidential vote for John C. Fremont, and has since been an earnest supporter of the principles of that party. Upon the organization of the village of Ontonagon Mr. Mercer was elected president, and was twice re-elected to the same position. In 1880 he was elected to the state legislature, and two years later, in 1882, had the honor of being chosen state senator, in the Senate serving on the Committee on Mines and Mining, and on the Committee on Railroads. He affiliates with the Unitarian church, but the family with the mother are Episcopalians.
THEODORE W. EDWARDS .- Utilizing his natural talents in a practical manner, Theodore W. Edwards early mastered the art that has proved the most direct and effectual method of reaching the public mind, and as foreman of the Baraga County Publishing Company is offi- cially associated with one of the most important industrial organiz- ations of L'Anse. A son of William L. Edwards, he was born, April 27, 1889, in Fewsville, Baraga county, Michigan, of English lineage.
His grandfather, Thomas William Edwards, was born, reared and married in England. Immigrating with his family to America, he set- tled in the "copper country" of Northern Michigan. and here spent his remaining days.
William Edwards was born in England, came with his parents to
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the Upper Peninsula, and is now an esteemed and respected resident of Baraga. He married Elizabeth St. Arnold, a daughter of Edward St. Arnold, a pioneer settler of Baraga county, Michigan.
Going at the age of nine years to Oklahoma to attend an Indian school, Theodore W. Edwards spent several years in that locality, while there obtaining an excellent education, and learning the trade of a printer. In 1906 he returned to Michigan to accept a position with the Keweenaw Printing Company. At the end of a year he entered the employ of the Baraga County Publishing Company, and proved himself so efficient and capable as a printer that he was sub- sequently made foreman of the establishment, a position for which, in spite of his youthfulness, he is amply qualified.
JOHN A. FALK .- Prominent among the business men of Manistique is numbered John A. Falk, a general merchant. He was born at Hede Grinstad, Sweden, February 6, 1864, and his boyhood days were spent in his native place on his father's farm until he attained his fifteenth year. He then began the battle of life for himself, working at farm labor until he was eighteen, and he then set sail for the United States and landed in the harbor of New York City, April 1, 1882. Going at once to Corning, New York, he secured employ- ment on one of the Vanderbilt railroads, and from there after a short time went to Stokesdale, Pennsylvania, resuming his railroad work. On the 28th of September, 1882, he came to Manistique, Michigan, and entered the employ of the Chicago Lumber Company in their old mill. During his two seasons there he worked in the mill during the summer months and in camp No. 7 during the winters. In 1885 he was transferred to the general store of that company as chore boy, thus working for about a year and a half, and he was then made the second clerk in that department. But after five years Mr. Falk resigned his clerkship to go to Chicago to attend a business college there one winter, and then returning to Manistique he re- snmed his connection with the Chicago Lumber Company as a scaler in their mill. But after one season there he was again made the second clerk in the store, and he remained in that capacity until the Ist of July, 1895, when he resigned his position to engage in business for himself in Manistique. As a member of the firm of Falk and Anderson he established a grocery store on the east side of the river in the building formerly occupied by Frank Clark and Company. After three years and a half on February 6, 1899, Mr. Falk sold his interest in that business, and a short time afterward, on the 20th of February, 1899, he bought an interest in the firm of E. W. Miller and Company, grocery merchants located in the store formerly occupied by the Weston Lumber Company. On July 19th of the same year he bought the entire business, and he has since continued under the firm name of John A. Falk. After a time he added hard- ware, paints, oils, etc., to his grocery department, and he first con- ducted business in a rented building, but later on was able to pur- chase the store in which he is now located, and to which he has made many additions and improvements. He now carries a large stock of general hardware, groceries, paints and oils, queensware, feed, grain, hay, etc., and he is also one of the directors in the First National Bank and the owner of a farm near town. He is one of the present members of the board of public works, as he has formerly served as village elerk, as treasurer of Manistique township and as a member of the city school board. Throughout the period of his residence in
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Manistique he has taken an active part in all movements for its up- building and advancement. He is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees, and a stanch supporter of Republican principles.
In 1904 Mr. Falk was married to Elvira A. Blackwell, and a son, Paul Adolphus and a daughter, Elizabeth Pauline, have been born to them. Mr. Falk is a member of the Swedish Baptist church, and he is one of the trustees of the Upper Michigan Conference of that denomination.
FRANK SCADDEN .- Talented, well educated and industrious, Frank Scadden has for many years been actively identified with the develop- ment and promotion of the mining interests of the Upper Peninsula, and is now a respected and valued resident of Crystal Falls, his home, Cedar Castle, being one of the most picturesque residences in the city. It is a commodious structure, built of whip-sawed cedar logs, bark side out, with a fine interior finish, surrounded by fine grounds, and, being situated on an eminence, commands a fine view of the city and of the surrounding country. Mr. Scadden was born in parish Gwinear, county Cornwall, England, which was also the birthplace of his father, Thomas Scadden, Jr., of his grandfather, Thomas Scadden, Sr., and the parish in which his great-grandfather, Henry Scadden, spent his entire life of one hundred and four years.
Thomas Scadden, Sr., was born, reared and married in county Corn- wall, until seventy-six years of age, when he sailed for Australia. While on the voyage he was taken ill with pneumonia, and died twelve hours before the vessel reached port.
Receiving excellent educational advantages, Thomas Scadden, Jr., began work at the mines after completing his studies, and was captain or superintendent. the remainder of his life. Ile was, with the excep- tion of a few months spent, in 1893, in this country, a life-long resident of county Cornwall, his death occurring, in 1908, at the venerable age of eighty-seven years, while he was still a hale and hearty man, with unimpaired mental and physical strength. He married Caroline Clark, who was born in Cornwall, England, where her father, Samuel Clark, spent his entire life, being employed as a mining engineer. She passed away in 1882, leaving three children, Elizabeth, Frank, and Thomas.
Frank Scadden was brought up and educated in Gwinear. Emigrat- ing to the United States in 1878, he lived for a year and a half in Vir- ginia City, Nevada, being engaged in mining and stock dealing. Going from there to San Francisco, he sold pianos for a year, and was then just on the point of sailing for Australia when he received word that his sister, Mrs. William Medlin, of Negaunee, Michigan, was danger- ously ill, and he hastened to her bedside. Mr. Scadden subsequently remained at Negaunee as a music teacher until 1882, when he located at Crystal Falls, which had just been started. All of the country roundabout was heavily wooded, and any person buying a lot in the city limits was forced to chop down some of the giant progeny of the forest to make room for a house. Here Mr. Scadden began his career as a clerk for the Paint River Iron Company. In 1885 he taught school one term at the "Blazing Stump," just across the river from the town. Occasionally a heavy rain would cause the river to overflow its banks and the bridge, and then he would have to carry the smaller scholars across the bridge. At the close of the term, he resumed his former employment as a clerk at the mine, continuing until 1888, when he crossed the ocean, visited his old home, and toured Europe.
After an absence of seven months, Mr. Scadden returned to Crystal
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Falls, and was made assistant superintendent of the Paint River Mine, and served in that capacity until 1890, when he was promoted to su- perintendent. He has since served as superintendent of different mines, at one time superintending the Paint River, the Lamont, and the Co- lumbian. In 1896 Mr. Scadden superintended the changing of the course of the Michigamme river, pumping the water from the mine at Mansfield. and subsequently recovering the bodies of several men that were drowned when the mine was flooded. Mr. Scadden is now super- intendent of the Hollister Mine.
On February 28, 1897, Mr. Seadden married Ethel Vivian, who was born at Gwinear, county Cornwall, England, where her parents, Al- bertus D. and Caroline Vivian, were life-long residents. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Scadden, Andrew Vivian, is mentioned in a His- tory of Camborne and its People, which says "Richard Trevithick was the first to make high pressure steam. He was assisted by Arthur Viv- ian. the first Camborne banker, who assisted him throughout all of his experiments." Mrs. Seadden's great uncle, William Bickford, invented the first safety fuse.
Mr. and Mrs. Scadden have three children, namely: Vivian, Clive, and Frank Ethelbert. Fraternally Mr. Scadden is a member of Crys- tal Falls Lodge, No. 385, F. & A. M .; of Crystal Falls Chapter, No. 129, R. A. M .; of Hugh MeCurdy Commandery, No. 143, K. T .; of Ahmed Temple, Mystic Shrine; and of the Grand Rapids Consistory. Politically he is identified with the Republican party.
GEORGE W. ORR, M. D .- In no other light than as a benefactor to humanity can be viewed Dr. George W. Orr, for the state is indebted to his efforts for the beautiful and commodious Lake Superior General Hospital, which was built by him in 1895 at Lake Linden. He now acts as resident physician and surgeon of this institution and employs an experienced corps of physicians and nurses. His judgment, executive ability and general efficiency make him an ornament to the profession.
Dr. Orr's ancestry is very interesting and has a record on American soil of three generations. The Orr family was founded in this country by Dr. Orr's grandfather, who came from the north of Ireland in 1770 and located in Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, where the father was born. The mother, Sarah Sweetland, was a descendant of William Sweetland who came to this country from England in 1703 and resided in Salem, New London county, Connecticut. Luke Sweetland, the moth- er's grandfather, during the massacre of Wyoming, when Pennsylvania was invaded by Tories and Indians under Butler, was captured by the redskins and kept prisoner with them for fourteen months. Dr. Orr's father, Charles M. Orr, was an early settler in Michigan, arriving at Walled Lake, Oakland county, about 1835.
George W. Orr was born February 18, 1847, at Walled Lake, Michi- gan, and attended the district school in company with Joseph B. Moore, now judge of the Supreme court. He worked on the farm during the spring and summer and attended school winters until the fifteenth year of his age, when he was sent to the Wyoming Seminary at Kingston, Pennsylvania, where he remained until the spring of 1864. He there- upon returned to his native state and attended a select school at Com- merce, Oakland county, as usual employing his summer months in farm work. In the fall of 1870 he entered the University of Michigan and took his degree in medicine in 1877. He was especially well equipped for the practice of his profession, both by natural inclination and by the thoroughness of his education. He opened an office at Pontiac, Michi-
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gan, and practiced for two years, at the same time holding the office of city physician. In the summer of 1879 he received the compliment of appointment as physician and surgeon for the Central Mining Company of Lake Superior. He remained with the company until June, 1885, when he removed to Lake Linden and established an independent practice. In 1889 he received an appointment as physician and surgeon for the Tama- rack and Osceola Mills, and in 1895 he built the Lake Superior General Hospital and established the Lake Superior Training School for Nurses, truly a great achievement.
Dr. Orr stands high in Masonic circles, holding membership in the Knights Templar and Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine in Detroit. He is supervisor of Schoolcraft township, having served in this capacity for a number of years.
The marriage of Dr. Orr took place in 1876, Miss Sarah Park, daugh- ter of John H. Park of Pontiac, Michigan, becoming his wife. They have two daughters, Hazel and Ruth.
DR. DAVID N. KEE, a prominent physician and surgeon of Gladstone, Michigan, was born near Toronto, Canada, November 26, 1860. His father, David Kee, a native of Ireland, came to America with his parents when a small boy and was reared and educated in Ontario, Canada, and there married Margaret Clifton, who was born in Ire- land and who was brought to America when an infant. They lived in Canada and there reared their family, and here Mr. Kee died at the age of sixty years; his widow died in Fayette, Michigan, at the age of eight-one years. Their seven children all reached maturity, and the first of them who died was a son who had reached the age of fifty years; the youngest child now living is forty-two. David N. is the third son and fifth child.
The boyhood days of Dr. Kee were spent on a farm in Canada ; he received his early education in the common schools of Huron county, Michigan. He attended high school at Goderich, Ontario, also Normal School at Toronto. He received his medical education in McGill University at Montreal, from which he was graduated in 1890. He began his professional career at Garden, Delta county, Michigan, where he remained three years. After spending one year at Esca- naba, he located at Gladstone, where he has successfully practised his profession the past sixteen years. He has won the confidence and esteem of the community, and built up a large practice. Dr. Kee is an influential citizen of Gladstone, and has always taken an active interest in public affairs; politically he is a Republican and he served about five years as a member of the school board. He belongs to Delta County, State, Upper Peninsula Asociation, American As- sociation of Railway Surgeons and American Medical Association, and stands well in his profession. He is local surgeon for M. St. P. & S. S. M. Ry. Co. He belongs to the Masonic order and to the Knights of the Maccabees.
Dr. Kee married in 1898, Elizabeth, daughter of William Smith, of Ontario, Canada. She died in 1908, leaving one son, David N., ten years of age.
EDWARD CARROLL .- Distinguished as a native born citizen of On- tonagon, Edward Carroll is actively identified with the business inter- ests of this part of the Upper Peninsula, being an insurance agent, and a dealer in real estate. He was born in this city, August 10, 1868, of pure Irish stock, his grandparents on both sides of the house having been life-long residents of Ireland.
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Peter Carroll, his father, was born in Tipperary, Ireland. When a young man, about 1855, he emigrated to this country, being the only member of the parental household to leave the Emerald Isle. He first located at Fond du Lac, in the Territory of Minnesota, where, taking up a tract of government land, he built a log cabin in the wilderness, and began the improvement of a homestead. Selling out in 1864, he removed to Hancock, Houghton county, Michigan, and the following year, in 1865, located in Ontonagon, where he was subsequently vari- ously employed until his death, in 1868, while yet in manhood's prime. He married Anna Bannon, who was born in county Waterford, Ire- land, and was the only member of her father's family to cross the Atlantic. She died in 1876, leaving six children, namely: Peter, James M., Mary, Patrick, John, and Edward.
Leaving school at the age of sixteen years, Edward Carroll was de- livery clerk for a grocer the following three years, after which he was salesman in a general store three years. Starting then in business for himself, he has since been actively and profitably engaged in the insurance business, representing some of the standard companies of the United States, and is also engaged to a considerable extent in the real estate business.
Mr. Carroll married, in 1895, Mary E. Sullivan, who was born in Greenland, Ontonagon county, Michigan, a daughter of Michael and Helen (Power) Sullivan, natives of Ireland. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Carroll are valued members of the Holy Family Catholic church. A Democrat in politics, Mr. Carroll has served as village assessor for four- teen years, and is now serving his thirteenth year as township clerk. Fraternally he belongs to Hancock Council, No. 692, Knights of Col- umbus.
PHILIP B. T. KIRKWOOD .- No more worthy representative of the native-born citizens of Negaunee, Marquette county, can be found than Philip B. T. Kirkwood, who has succeeded to the business of his father, the late Philip Boys Kirkwood, and is now one of the leading druggists of Northern Michigan. He was born January 19, 1877, of honored Irish ancestry. His grandfather, Dr. Kirkwood, an Irishman by birth and breeding, studied medicine in the old country, and there began the prac- tice of his profession. Leaving a part of his family in Ireland, he emi- grated with his wife to America, settling first in Canada, later locating in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where he was for several years an active and successful physician. On retiring from practice, he went back to Can- ada, and there spent his last days.
Philip Boys . Kirkwood was born in Dublin, Ireland, November 26, 1842, and was there educated. In 1857 he and his brother Arthur joined their parents in Canada, afterward moving with the family to Oshkosh, Wisconsin. There entering the employ of W. L. Williams, a druggist, he remained with him until 1866, when he made his way to Negaunee, and for four years worked in the drug store belonging to Dr. L. D. Cyr. In 1871 Mr. Kirkwood formed a partnership with Dr. Cyr under the firm name of Cyr & Kirkwood. Later in the year, still retaining his interest in the Negaunee store, he went to California looking for a favor- able location. He made up his mind to settle permanently on the Pacific coast, but the location proved unfavorable and he returned east and bought about $6,000.00 worth of stock for a Negannee drug store, in the meantime stopping at the old Tremont House, in Chicago. There, on that memorable night, October 9, 1871, during the great conflagration that destroyed so much of the city, his stock of drugs, his money, and his
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