USA > Michigan > Branch County > A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan > Part 17
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At Bronson village is the cement plant, the largest manufacturing in- dustry in the western part of the county. Cement was first manufactured at these works in 1897, and the capacity has been increased to 1,200 barrels a day. The company owns about five hundred acres of low, wet land about
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the works, and both the clay and the marl are obtained from the land. The stratum of marl is found three feet below the surface, the top three feet being peat, which is removed by dredging.
The Bronson plant was first operated as the " Bronson-Kalamazoo Port- land Cement Company," but in 1905 it was made a part of the Chanute Ce- ment and Clay Product Company, the Bronson plant being known as the " Bronson Division" of the same. The officers in 1906 are: President. John F. Townsend, Akron, O .; vice-president and general manager, J. R. Patterson, of Union City; treasurer, Henry Robinson; secretary, W. E. Wheeler: Michigan agent, C. H. Powley, Bronson.
The history of the Coldwater Portland Cement Co., which was organ- ized May 25. 1898, and of its successor, thie Michigan Portland Cement Co .. which was organized June 30, 1898. is continued in the Wolverine Portland Cement Company, which was organized early in 1902, with a capital stock of $1.000.000. This group of companies has had a somewhat varied finan- cial history, but this has not prevented the steady production of cement under the Wolverine brand. The first company planned, the Coldwater, was a relatively modest affair, with a capital stock of $300,000. Soon the plans were enlarged, and the original company under the name of the American Construction Company took the contract of preparing the plant, turning in what it had done to the larger company, the Michigan Portland Cement Company, which issued a million dollars of bonds, covering the plant and the lands. In recapitalizing. $100 in six per cent bonds was offered with every $100 of stock for $100 cash. When, therefore, in the fall of 1901. interest failed to be paid on these bonds, foreclosure proceedings were begun, and as a result of the conference between the bondholders, who may be taken to represent the subscribing public, and the other creditors, prominent among which was the Construction Company, representing the promoters. the present company, the Wolverine Portland Cement Company, was formed.
The Wolverine Company control and operate both the plant at Quincy and that at Coldwater. The "Wolverine " brand of cement has been 011 the market since 1898, when the Coldwater plant was completed. and the " Eclipse " brand since 1900, when the plant at Quincy was put in operation.
The present officers of the Wolverine Portland Cement Company are : L. M. Wing, of Coldwater, president; Frank M. Rudd; of Bronson, Mich .. vice-president : and E. R. Root, Coldwater, secretary and treasurer.
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CHAPTER XVII.
BRANCH COUNTY BANKS AND FINANCE.
The history of banking in Branch county goes back to the days of " wild-cat " currency and reckless speculation, which set in shortly after Michigan was admitted to statehood. The old Coldwater Bank began its existence in December, 1837, when it was organized under the provisions of an act of the legislature passed in the preceding March. Some of the most prominent men of that day were directly concerned in its organization, the stockholders being Hanchett & Holbrook, William A. Kent, L. D. & P. H. Crippen, James H. Hanchett, Robert Baker, R. J. Champion, William Rey- nolds, H. Cowles, Ed Sloan, B. Crippen, Lewis Goddard of Detroit, John J. Curtis, Loren Marsh, John Conley, Martin Olds, Harvey Warner, Lot Whit- comb. J. S. Ware, Enoch Jones, L. Taylor and E. G. Fuller.
The bank was opened in a little one-story building on the north side of Chicago street, east of Monroe, where Sloman's and Flandermeyer's stores are located. L. D. Crippen was the first president. The directing spirits of the institution, however, were two men from outside the county, Goddard and Ware, whose business it was to organize banks and to manipulate the clever financial schemes of that day. Their theories as to banking and finance were so elaborate, yet so plausible, that the other stockholders and directors submissively put away practical opinions and every-day business methods and followed their lead almost without question. The bills of the. bank were issued to the amount allowed by law, with no specie in the vault to redeem them. The two promoters soon after carried away with them about fifty thousand dollars of these bills for the purpose of turning them into cash and, as they said, " creating specie." They did dispose of most of the bilis, but they never returned with the proceeds to Coldwater, and the honest pioneer stockholders who remained behind were left to pay the incoming bills as best they could. The Crippens struggled hard to main- tain the integrity of the institution, becoming personally responsible to the amount of twenty thousand dollars, but without avail, for the bank failed utterly within a year after it was founded.
Some time after this experience in " wild-cat " finance, Lorenzo D. Crippen and Clinton B. Fisk opened the "Exchange Bank of Crippen and Fisk." This bank, though without a hint of the methods of its predecessor, had a very difficult career, for banking and finance were in a state of terrible confusion owing to the lack of uniformity and inadequacy of the laws. both state and national, that regulated such matters. Crippen and Fisk suspended payment in 1857, during the financial panic of that year, but the proprietors
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of the Exchange Bank settled with all their creditors in full and no stigma attached to their failure. The following partnerships successively operated the Exchange Bank after the suspension: Clinton B. Fisk and Henry C. Lewis: H. C. Lewis, Alonzo F. Bidwell, and I. G. Miles : Lewis and (George A.) Kellogg: Lewis and (George) Starr; Edwin R. Clarke and Starr; and David B. Dennis and Starr.
Coldwater National Bank.
Dennis and Starr were succeeded by the Coldwater National Bank. which with over forty years of continuous financial operation, not to men- tion its antecedents, is the oldest banking house in Branch county. It was organized May 30. 1865, with a capital stock of $100.000. The first officers and directors were: H. C. Lewis, president ; D. B. Dennis, vice-president ; George Starr, cashier, who had begun with the Exchange Bank in 1856. The directors were: H. C. Lewis, D. B. Dennis, George Starr, Artemus Allen, Charles Upson. C. B. Jones, A. Waterman, David Thompson, D. R. Coolev. C. G. Luce.
The Coldwater National Bank now has a capital and surplus of $135.000. Its present officers and directors are: L. M. Wing, president : Z. G. Osborn. vice-president :. H. R. Saunders. cashier. Directors. Louis Sloman. H. R. Saunders. K. R. Williams, F. W. Moore, John T. Starr. Z. G. Osborn, L. M. Wing.
Southern Michigan National Bank.
The Southern Michigan National Bank of Coldwater has a history of nearly thirty-five years of continuous and successful activity. A bank, when prosperous, comes to be regarded by the people generally as an " institution " and the personal character behind it seldom comes to light. None the less the strength of the institution depends on the directors and officers who control its affairs. and the confidence of the people in the bank is only another way of stating the reliability of the men responsible for its financial management. Many well known men of Branch county have been identified with the South- ern Michigan National Bank, and it is also noteworthy that some of the original stockholders and officials are still connected with the active control.
The names of the original stockholders are: Caleb D. Randall. Julius S. Barber. Cyrus G. Luce. Henry Safford. Lester E. Rose, Edwin R. Clarke, John O. Pelton, David C. Powers. Luther F. Hale. Charles A. Spaulding, Robert F. Mockridge. Simon B. Kitchel. Alonzo Waterman. Thomas W. Dickinson, Hibbard F. Jones, Olivia Safford, Isaac Mains. Emeline Barber, Thomas Smith. Noah P. Loveridge, Robert Reade, Daniel E. Dyer. D. C. Smith, J. Sterling Smith, Lois Smith. Mary Rodman. Orlando Wilder.
The first board of directors were: Henry Safford, E. R. Clarke, J. S. Barber, C. D. Randall. L. F. Hale, D. C. Powers, C. G. Luce. The present directors are L. E. Rose, J. S. Barber, E. G. Luce, R. E. Clarke, M. D. Camp- bell. A. S. Upson.
The first executive officers are: C. D. Randall, president; C. G. Luce,.
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vice-president : Lester E. Rose, cashier; A. Sidney Upson, teller and book- keeper. On the resignation of Mr. Randall, Mr. Rose became president, and the recent death of C. G. Luce necessitated the only other change that has occurred since the bank began business. The officers at present are: L. E. Rose, president ; J. S. Barber, vice-president : A. S. Upson, cashier.
In February, 1872, the Southern Michigan National Bank was opened for business in the Southern Michigan Hotel block, but since the fall of the same year has been located in the building erected by the banking associa- tion at the southeast corner of Chicago and Monroe streets. The capital stock is $165,000. and the surplus and undivided profits are $145,000.
The Branch County Savings Bank.
The Branch County Savings Bank at Coldwater was organized Decem- ber 9, 1890, with the following officers: President, B. S. Spofford; first vice-president, F. L. Burdick; second vice-president, B. R. Moore; cashier, C. T. Gilbert ; directors, B. S. Spofford, B. R. Moore, N. A. Reynolds, C. T. Gilbert, W. S. VanBlarcum, H. J. Woodward, F. L. Burdick, G. W. Van- Aken, R. G. Chandler. The bank proved a success from its inception, its savings feature being particularly attractive to the small depositor-an im- portant branch of the banking business too often overlooked by many banks. A general banking business is conducted in all of its branches and the out- side connections of the Branch County Savings Bank are extensive. The present officers of the bank are B. S. Spofford. president; F. L. Burdick, vice-president ; M. W. Wimer, cashier. The directors are B. S. Spofford, A. Milnes, J. W. McCausey, F. L. Burdick, S. H. Clizbe, N. Baldwin, G. W. VanAken, N. A. Reynolds, Harry P. Woodward. The capital and surplus are $65,000.
Union City National Bank.
The building of the railroad through Union City was, as told on other pages, a powerful impetus to business and growth of all kinds. Further proof of the statement is found in the fact that the village's oldest bank was established about that time. The Union City National Bank was organized under a charter, May 17, 1871, with the following officers: President, David R. Cooley; vice-president, Dr. Wm. P. Hurd; cashier, Ira W. Nash; directors, S. P. Williams, I. W. Clark, Ezra Bostwick, J. B. Tucker, H. H. Hitchcock. Mr. Cooley was president for three years when he was succeeded by Dr. W. P. Hurd, who filled the position in a satisfactory manner until his death in 1881. Mr. Ezra Bostwick succeeded to the office and was president until his death in 1895. Mr. J. W. McCausey, who had been cashier of the institution since 1883, was then elected president, a position which he still fills. The bank is situated in commodious quarters of its own at the corner of Ellen street and Broadway, where steel vaults and safes of modern construction afford safety to the funds of the institution. A general banking business is done, and that the bank possesses fully the confidence of the public is evidenced by the large volume of business transacted. The
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present officers are as follows: President, J. W. McCausey: vice-president, Isaac Tower; cashier, J. S. Nesbitt : teller. L. F. Holcomb: directors, J. W. McCausey, Isaac Tower, Mrs. C. E. Hurd. M. F. Buell, Henry Seymour, Warren Baker, W. H. Tower.
Farmers National Bank of Union City.
The Farmers National Bank was incorporated October 4. 1877, with the following officers: Thomas B. Buell. president; H. F. Ewers, vice- president : H. T. Carpenter. cashier: T. B. Buell, R. F. Watkins, Rufus Osborn, H. F. Ewers, H. T. Carpenter. D. R. Cooley, H. L. Bisbee, directors. Thomas B. Buell continued as president until his death in 1900, when he was succeeded by his son D. D. Buell. Ever since its organization the bank has been under the management of its cashier, H. T. Carpenter, whose long record in the same position is not excelled in the history of Branch county banking. The present officers are: D. D. Buell, president : J. P. Fox, vice- president : H. T. Carpenter, cashier. According to one of its latest state- ments, the Farmers National has a capital stock of $50,000, surplus and undivided profits of nearly $18,000, and deposits of nearly $200,000.
First National Bank of Quincy.
In April, 1877, the banking house of Lee and Hannan was established in Quincy. Four years later, in 1881, Mr. Charles R. Hannan organized the First National Bank of Quincy, which now, at the close of its twenty- fifth year, is the oldest bank of Quincy and one of the most successful in the county. Its management has been solid and conservative throughout, and it has the record of never having paid a cent of interest on deposits. Its deposits in April, 1906, were nearly one hundred thousand dollars.
Associated with Mr. Hannan in the establishment of this bank were the first president, B. F. Wheat; the vice-president, John H. Jones, while Mr. Hannan took the post of cashier. One instance of the solidity of the bank is to be found in the length of service of the men now officers. Mr. C. H. Winchester, the president, has been with the bank about fifteen years, following Mr. Wheat; the vice-president, E. B. Church, has a record of twenty years with the institution, while Mr. C. L. Truesdell, the cashier, has stood regularly at his window for twenty-three years.
Quincy State Bank.
The Quincy State Bank was incorporated January 20, 1899. With the exception of the office of vice-president, which for the first three years was held by H. W. Whitmore, the principal officers and the directors have remained the same to the present time. They are: F. A. Roethlisberger, president; N. H. Andrus, vice-president ; M. S. Segur, cashier ; directors, S. M. Golden, N. H. Andrus, M. S. Segur, Harvey Chase, F. A. Roethlis- berger. Charles Harphan was assistant cashier two years, L. T. Etheridge for one year, and Pearl Power now holds that position.
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Sherwood.
The Farmers' and Merchants' Bank at Sherwood was established in 1883. It is capitalized at $10,000. The president is Henry Seymour and the cashier George H. Seymour, who are the owners of the institution. Sketches of these business men will be found elsewhere in the volume.
BRONSON BANKS.
The L. Rudd & Son private banking business was begun in 1883. Laurendus Rudd, the founder, who was born in New York in 1815, and died in Bronson, December 27, 1884, came to Bronson in 1854 and was foremost in business affairs until his death. His was the first banking house in the village. The firm are now the only bankers in the county who are mem- bers of the American Banking Association. F. M. Rudd, the son, now car- ries on the principal interests in succession to his father and has also enlarged the scope of his business efforts.
The Exchange Bank, also a private bank, was established in 1897, the original firm name being Coward & Monroe Brothers. In 1902 Wallace Monroe sold his interest, and the firm became Coward & Monroe. Richard Coward and William Monroe are now the proprietors of this bank, which has a capital of $50,000 and large deposits and is in a substantial condition. Mr. Coward, who is of English birth, has lived in Branch county since 1865.
FARMERS' MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY.
One of the oldest and best known financial institutions of Branch county is the Farmers Mutual Insurance Company of Branch County, which has had a continuous and successful existence since the date of its founding, January 21, 1863. The mutual plan has always been strictly adhered to, and the insurance reports issued from the state have always given the com- pany favorable mention, which is substantiated in the sworn statements of business. The founders of the company are named in the first official list, namely : Philo Porter, president; John S. Strong, secretary ; and Asahel Brown, Stuart Davis, Moses V. Calkins, George W. VanAken, E. W. Phet- tiplace, directors.
The company has written policies for more than forty years. Its im- portance as an individual financial institution is shown in the erection, during the year of this writing, 1906, of a brick building on Division street opposite the court house, which will be devoted to business offices for the company.
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CHAPTER XVIII.
RAILROADS, TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION.
The laying out of the Chicago Road and the operation of the line of stages from Detroit to Chicago had a tremendous importance in the devel- opment of southern Michigan. But the time came when the last coach rim- bled along this thoroughfare, and the stage-coach era passed on beyond the Mississippi river. Following it, as one phase of progress follows another, came the railroad period. The very fact that the transition from one to the other was a gradual process, covering some years, partly obscured the sig- nificance of the event even to its actual beholders, while to people who have never lived out of hearing of the locomotive whistle, imagination affords a dim idea of the epoch when the stage coach and the Conestoga wagon were the only means of transportation.
Railroad building was extended westward in the wake of the great emigration movement of the thirties and forties. Although the first rail- road in the United States was not built until the decade of the twenties, each year thereafter increased the railroad mileage by hundreds and then by thousands of miles. Branch county was fortunate in being on the route of westward extension which finally bound the east and the west by trunk lines, and in 1850 was traversed by one of these lines and twenty years later by a second.
It was not until 1837 that the Michigan pioneer could make any part of his journey in this state by rail. The Erie and Kalamazoo Railroad, the oldest of the original companies which are now embraced under the name of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, was incorporated in 1833, was built between Toledo and Adrian, a distance of thirty-three miles, and opened for traffic in 1837. The motive power was furnished by horses until a loco- motive could be obtained. This road had many difficulties, and its owners finally, in August, 1849, leased it to the Michigan Southern.
In 1837 the then new state of Michigan launched out in a grand scheme of internal improvements, providing for a loan of five million dollars (an enormous sum at that time) for the improvement of rivers, construction of canals, and for three railroads-a Southern, a Central and a Northern Rail- road. The Southern Railroad, it should be noticed, was planned to start at Monroe, on Lake Erie, traverse the southern tier of counties. and ter- minate at St. Joseph on Lake Michigan. The Central was to cross the state and terminate on Lake Michigan at a point further north. At the time these roads were planned, Chicago was little more than a trading post, but long before either of them was completed it became obvious that the value of each
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road depended on having its western terminus in Chicago. The Central, af- ter the state relinquished its control, was constructed rapidly and across the prescribed route of the Southern through New Buffalo and along the south- ern shore of Lake Michigan, its arrival in Chicago anticipating that of the Southern by several months.
In the meantime the state was proceeding with the construction of the Southern Railroad also. The road was opened from Monroe to Petersburg, eighteen miles, in 1839, to Adrian in 1840, to Hudson in 1843, and to Hills- dale in 1843, in all a distance of 66 miles. That was all of the Southern Railroad built by the state. Michigan's experience in the construction of great internal improvements was unfortunate, and in less than ten years it seemed the part of wisdom to turn over such enterprises to private capital. In 1846, accordingly, the state sold its Southern road to a company for five hundred thousand dollars, to be paid in ten equal annual installments.
This was the status of the railroad question at the time when we may begin to view it from the standpoint of the people of Branch county. Despite the constant agitation on the part of the citizens, the mass meet- ings, the memorials to the legislature, the western terminus of the railroad remained at Hillsdale for nearly seven years. The inhabitant of Coldwater who wished to go to Detroit must make the first twenty-two miles of the journey by stage, and the trip was not at all tempting to one bent on a holiday excursion. The railroad question was vital. Hardly an issue of the Cold- water Sentinel during the late forties did not contain an editorial of protest against the delay. The progress of negotiations was followed in great detail, and at a time when newspapers gave scant attention to matters of local inter- est this fact is significant of the importance that marked the building of the railroad in contrast with all other affairs.
THE TELEGRAPH.
The villages of Branch county were placed in communication with the world by means of the telegraph a year before the railroad came. In 1845 the first commercial use was made of the telegraph. Four years later its wire threads were being carried across the continent, enabling the people of Coldwater to know what had occurred in New York two hours before. "On Tuesday, Nov. 6. 1849, the office of the Southern Michigan Telegraph line in this village was put in operation." But while marking this as an im- portant day in the history of Coldwater, the editor of the Sentinel in the same issue sagely comments that, despite material inventions and improve- ments, the disposition of men remains about the same. "We have wit- nessed," he says, "the anxiety of our citizens when the lumbering stage coach was the only medium by which news was conveyed. We saw no less anxiety when the stage coach gave place, in part, to the locomotive as it rolled along its iron track. An increase of speed had increased their expec- tations. And now, when they can talk by lightning, send their communica- tions and receive answers in less than no time, they are more dissatisfied than ever. There was more anxiety depicted on the countenances of the
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crowd in waiting Tuesday evening and Wednesday, while the election re- turns were coming in, than we ever saw manifested by a postoffice full of politicians when they had waited patiently a week or ten days without any intelligence. Lightning was too slow, and we were convinced that the more men have, the more they want."
THE FIRST RAILROAD.
But now the attention of the press and the people became concentrated on the railroad situation. The rivalry between the Michigan Southern and the Michigan Central was by this time intense, and each company was using all the means in its power to prevent the other from reaching Chicago. As already mentioned, the Michigan Central had been diverted southward from its original course. The Southern people were fighting in the legislature for the privilege likewise of diverging from the straight course across the southern tier of counties and building a large part of their line across north- ern Indiana. The interest in this matter was not confined to the legislative halls and railroad circles. In March. 1850, a mass meeting of citizens was held in the Branch county court house, long series of preambles and reso- lutions were adopted. of which the main tenor was a protest against the monopoly of the Michigan Central and an emphasizing of the uselessness of constructing the Michigan Southern to a terminus within the state of Michigan instead of to Chicago.
The agitation here and elsewhere bore fruit. Goaded to action by an aroused constituency, the legislature in the closing days of its session of 1849-50 passed a bill, two important features of which were that the South- ern road should be extended from Hillsdale to Coldwater by the fall of 1851. and requiring the road to strike the St. Joseph river before it should be diverted from the state. The line was to be equipped with a heavy T-rail instead of the strap rail, " so that trains may whiz along at thirty miles an hour." to quote again from the Sentinel.
The railroad now became an immediate and definite prospect for Branch county. By the latter part of October, 1850. trains were running to Jones- ville, with the grading between Coldwater and Jonesville nearly ready for the track. On December 6. 1850. the eager readers of the Sentinel saw this item : " We saw the locomotive come snorting through Quincy on Monday last, with a load of iron; a somewhat unusual sight, but with all the noise and confusion, an agreeable one."
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