A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan, Part 42

Author: Collin, Henry P
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing
Number of Pages: 1198

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Mr. Bates is known as an earnest and stalwart advocate of Republican principles, being actively associated with the party in Branch county. He served as township clerk for seven years, was supervisor for four years, and has held several other township offices. He has taken an active part in public affairs in the various lines contributing to advancement, and his co-operation may always be counted upon for movements for the general good. He is a prominent Mason, holding membership in Tyre Lodge. No. 18, at Cold- water, and belongs to Temple Chapter No. 21 and Jacobs Commandery No. 10. In his life he shows forth the spirit of the craft, which is based upon mutual helpfulness and brotherly kindness. The fact that many of his warmest friends are numbered among those who have known him from his boyhood days down to the present is an indication of an honorable career.

JOHN JOHNSON.

Among the early settlers of Branch county is numbered John Johnson. now living on section fourteen, Union township. He was born in Erie county, Ohio, on the 8th of April, 1836. His father, J. D. Johnson, was a native of New York, born on the Ioth of April, 1799, the year General Washington died. He was married in that state to Miss Ida Squires, whose birth also occurred there. her natal year being about 1805. They removed from New York to Erie county, Ohio, about 1828, and lived on different farms in that locality. Mrs. Johnson died there in 1848 and in 1850 Mr. Johnson came to Branch county, Michigan, settling on section fourteen, Union town- ship, where he spent his remaining days. He passed away in 1885, having reached the advanced age of eighty-six years. His political support was given to the Democratic party in his early life, and on the organization of

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the Republican party he joined its ranks, continuing one of its advocates until his demise. Unto him and his wife were born eight children, all of whom reached adult age.

John Johnson, the sixth member of the family, was a youth of four- teen years when he came with his father to Branch county, settling in Union township. He had begun his education in his native state and he continued his studies in a log school house in Union township. There were many evi- dences of pioneer life to be seen here and hardships and privations yet had to be borne because of the remoteness of this district from the more thickly settled portions of the east. At the age of eighteen years he started out in life for himself and worked as a farm hand for about two years. On the Ist of January, 1863, he won a companion and helpmate for life's journey by his marriage to Miss Harriet A. Burnett, the daughter of Orris and Diantha ( Millerman) Burnett. Her father was born in New York and became one of the early settlers of Branch county, arriving here in 1835. at which time he took up his abode in Union township. He entered land from the government, his deed being signed by Martin Van Buren, then presi- dent of the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Burnett were married in New York, but with the exception of the eldest child their children were all born in Union township. There were eight in the family, of whom Mrs. Johnson was the third, and her birth occurred on section fourteen, Union township, on the 25th of October, 1839. She has spent her entire life in this township and in her early girlhood days was a student in a log school house. conning her lessons as she sat on a slab bench. There was a big fire place in one end of the room and the entire furnishings were primitive, while the methods of instruction were very unlike those of the present day.

At the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Johnson located on the farm where they now reside and where they have lived for forty-two years. They have become the parents of three sons: Leon A., who is represented on an- other page of this work: C. Herbert, who is a professor of music; and Glenn P., who is assisting in the operation of the home farm.

Mr. Johnson owns eighty acres of land rich and arable. He cut the first tree in the locality for a log house which was the first dwelling of the locality. and he is very familiar with the history of pioneer life here, not because he has been told of conditions that existed, but because he has been a witness of what has occurred and has also co-operated in many events which now find record on the annals of Branch county.

In politics he has been a Republican since the organization of the party and is now serving as justice of the peace, while for five years he was high- way commissioner. The Burnett family is also prominent because of pioneer connection with this part of the state. Mrs. Johnson's father and brother Franklin were the only settlers in the neighborhood when they took up their abode in Union township. There was one family about a mile distant, but they did not know it at the time. The nearest mill was at Branch, about thirteen miles away, and Mr. Burnett assisted in building the first mill in Union township, it being erected at Hodunk.

Je. Barber

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JULIUS S. BARBER.

Hon. Julius S. Barber, whose business interests alone would entitle him to distinction as one of the representative citizens of Coldwater, is also de- serving of mention because of the active part he has taken in promoting the public welfare, and by reason of his capable service as a state legislator and in other offices. His life record began in the little village of Benson, in Rutland county, Vermont, about three miles from Lake Champlain, on the 6th of April, 1824. His parents were Daniel and Cynthia (Dyer) Barber, both natives of the Green Mountain state and members of old New England fami- lies. When their son Julius was a youth of fourteen years they joined a colony composed of other Vermont families and came to the west, settling in Eaton county, Michigan, in the fall of 1838. The father had followed merchandising in his native state, but near the little village of Vermontville (founded by this colony) he carried on farming throughout his remaining days, passing away at the very advanced age of ninety-seven years. The mother of Julius Barber passed away in 1832, at the age of thirty-two years, and the father afterward marred Laura Dickinson. There were three chil- dren by the first marriage, but Julius Barber is the only survivor, and of the second marriage two daughters are living. The father was a Whig until the dissolution of the party, when he joined the ranks of the new Republican party. In religious faith he was a Congregationalist.

Julius Barber was fourteen years of age when the family came to Mich- igan, where he has since largely made his home, although he engaged in clerking in Whitehall, New York, for two years in early manhood, and later spent some time in California. On the 27th of January, 1849. attracted by the discovery of gold, he sailed for the Pacific coast, making the voyage around " the Horn " and landing at San Francisco, whence he proceeded to Sacramento. He returned home in 1854 by way of the Panama route, and in 1857 went the same way to California, again returning in 1859. During his first sojourn in the far west he first engaged in merchandising in Sacra- mento and afterward conducted a market garden near the city. On the second trip he acted as a clerk in a wholesale grocery and commission house, gaining experience, but little else, by his stay on the coast.

Mr. Barber took up his abode permanently in Michigan in 1859. He had become a resident of Coldwater in 1854 and had conducted a store here until 1857. Two years later he entered a law office, where he studied for a year and a half, when he again entered commercial life. In 1861 he joined H. J. Woodward in forming a partnership under the firm name of Wood- ward, Barber & Company for the conduct of a general store, in which at one time his uncle also owned an interest. In 1877 Mr. Woodward and the uncle withdrew and the style of the business firm became J. B. Branch & Company. This is to-day the leading firm in the city, conducting a large department store which occupies three floors and basement of a large double store, and carries dry goods, carpets, millinery and other lines of merchan- dise. The business has steadily grown and the house has ever maintained

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a policy in strict conformity with a high standard of commercial ethics. Mr. Barber is also a stockholder and director of the Michigan Southern National Bank, with which he has thus been identified since its organization thirty years ago.

Mr. Barber was married, in 1854, to Mrs. Emeline Baker, nee Chalmers, who died in Chicago, Illinois, May 21, 1904. He is a member of the Epis- copal church, in which he is vestryman, warden and lay reader, and in politics he is a prominent Republican, who has been called to public office by his fellow-townsmen, who recognize his ability and his devotion to the public good. He has served as city alderman and in 1874 was appointed postmaster of Coldwater, in which capacity he served for two terms. In 1867 he was chosen to represent his district in the lower house of the state legislature, and in the same year was elected a member of the constitutional convention. For four years he was assessor of internal revenue. Thus active in commercial and political circles, he is one of the public men of the city, who has done much to mold public thought and opinion and promote public progress. A review of his career is another proof of the fact that not in environment or conditions but in the man lies the possibility for accomplishment, and since coming to Michigan, at the age of fourteen years, Mr. Barker, through his force of character and strong determination, has not only provided for his needs, but has also labored along lines that have been of much benefit to his city and state.

WILLIAM MALLOW.

William Mallow is the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and fifteen acres on section eight. Noble township, where he has lived since 1878, and upon this place he has a nice residence that is surrounded by well tilled fields. He was born in this township May 13, 1844, his parents being Peter and Margaret (Peters) Mallow, the latter a daughter of one of the early settlers of Noble township, who arrived here in 1840. Peter Mallow, the father of our subject, was born in France and came to America in early life. He settled on section five, Noble township, Branch county, where he purchased eighty acres of land, and he added to this farm from time to time until he was one of the most extensive land owners of the county, his possessions aggregat- ing twelve hundred acres, which he divided among his children as they married. About four hundred acres of land lay near Athens, Michigan, while the remainder was in Noble and Bronson townships. Mr. Mallow carried on general farming, and also dealt extensively in stock, both buying and feed- ing. He was a most energetic, enterprising and sagacious business man, his judgment seldom. if ever, at fault in a business transaction, and as the years passed he became very prosperous. Beside the twelve hundred acres of land which he divided among his children he left an estate valued at forty- eight thousand dollars. During the last few years of his life he lived retired in the enjoyment of a well-earned ease, and he passed away in 1889, having for about five years survived his wife, who died in June, 1884. They were the parents of eight children: Peter, who settled near Athens; William, of this review: Henry, who made his home near Union City; Christina, the

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wife of R. Snyder, of Athens; Sarah N., the deceased wife of John Green- wald; George, who is living in Bronson township; Mary, the wife of David Kline, of Bronson township; and John, who makes his home near Sherwood.

William Mallow was a student in the district schools in his boyhood days, and when not busy with his text-books he assisted in the work of the home farm, whereon he remained up to the time of his marriage. In 1875 lie was joined in wedlock to Miss Ella Boyer, of Noble township, a daughter of Andrew Boyer, and the young couple began their domestic life on their present farm, comprising one hundred and fifteen acres in section eight, Noble township. Mr. Mallow has erected all of the buildings here and has a nice residence containing eight rooms. In 1876 he built a barn thirty-two by forty-four feet, and he has erected other substantial outbuildings for the shelter of grain and stock. In 1878 he bought one hundred and sixty-five acres of the old homestead on section five. so that he now has two hundred and eighty acres of rich and productive land. He carries on general farm- ing, raising the various cereals best adapted to the soil and climate, and he also buys and feeds stock, his operations in that line being quite extensive. His long experience in the business which he makes his life work and his enterprise and energy make him one of the prosperous farmers of the com- munity.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Mallow have been born four children: Mary L., the wife of D. Benton, of LaGrange county, Indiana: Maggie, who wedded Carl Chesley, and they reside in Noble township: Clinton and Hattie. both at home. Althoughi reared in the faith of the Democratic party, his father having become a Democrat after being made a naturalized American citizen. William Mallow gives unfaltering support to the Republican party and its principles. He has served on the school board for one term, was highway commissioner, and has been constable for several years, and is a worthy and respected citizen of the community, active and influential in support of all measures which he deems of general good. He is one of the stockholders of the Burr Oak State Bank, one of the solid banking institutions, whose stock is quoted at one hundred and fifty dollars per share, and the bank has deposits of over one hundred and six thousand dollars.

ELIJAH GROVE.

Elijah Grove, farming on section nine. Batavia township, owns and operates one hundred acres of land which has been placed under a high state of cultivation and improved with modern equipments so that it is an attractive farm property and yields good harvests, making his investment a judicious and profitable one. His life record began in Royalton township, Niagara county, New York, his natal day being April 19, 1838. His father, Elijah Grove, was born in Pennsylvania, and in 1853 came to Branch county, settling in Batavia township, where he spent the remainder of his days. his last years being passed in Coldwater as a retired farmer. He was almost ninety years of age when he departed this life. In early manhood he had married Betsy Schoby, a native of New York, and she lived to be about forty-two

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years of age. There were nine children in the family, all of whom grew to manhood or womanhood. The father was married the second time to Charlotte Reynolds, who is also deceased. and by the second marriage there were eight children, five of whom are living, but none are residents of Branch county.

Elijah Grove, the eighth in order of birth of his parents' nine children, was a youth of fifteen when he came to Branch county. He acquired a dis- trict school education and in his youth gave his father the benefit of his services, working in field and meadow as his aid was needed in caring for the crops and the stock. He was married in 1860 to Eliza J. Loomis, the widow of Orson Burham. She was born near Rochester, New York, and by this marriage there have been two sons: Owen Glenn and Elijah Burdet.

For many years Mr. Grove engaged in the milling business and in 1864 he located on the farm where he now resides, having here one hundred acres of land. which has responded readily to the care and cultivation bestowed upon it, for the soil is naturally rich and productive. He has carried on gen- eral agricultural pursuits and he has made all of the improvements on this property, building the house and barns and adding other equipments. In 1905 he suffered the loss of his barn by fire. He has been persevering in all of his work, allowing no difficulties or obstacles to deter him in the path that he has marked out and as the result of his well directed labor he is now in possession of a comfortable competence. He has been a life-long Republican, interested in the work of the party and keeping well informed on the great questions which awaken national interest. He served as town- ship treasurer and also as highway commissioner, but has never been active as a politician in the sense of office seeking, preferring to leave that duty to others. He belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen at Coldwater and has a wide acquaintance outside of fraternal circles, for he has long been identified with Branch county and its development.

CAPTAIN JOHN G. STEPPER.

Captain John G. Stepper, no longer active or engaged with business in- terests but well entitled to the rest which he is enjoying because he earned it through unremitting industry and perseverance in former years, is en- titled to representation in this volume because of an honorable career and by reason of his fidelity to duty when upon the battlefields of the south he defended the Union cause. He was born in Wellenburg, Germany, Septem- ber 24. 1834, and remained in the fatherland until 1848, when at the age of fourteen years he came to America with his parents. John G. and Catherine (Sindlinger) Stepper. The family home was first established in Thompson township, Seneca county, Ohio, and there they remained for about four years, after which they removed. to St. Joseph county. Michigan, where the father purchased a farm. The mother died there and the father afterward came to Branch county, where he spent his last days.

Captain Stepper remained under the parental roof throughout the period of his minority and assisted in the operation of the home farm. At the call

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of his adopted country for aid he put aside business and personal considera- tions. his patriotic spirit being aroused by the unwarranted attack of the south upon the government at Washington. He enlisted in Company G. First Michigan Infantry, for three months' service, and on the expiration of that term he re-enlisted as a member of Company B of the same regiment. He was first made orderly, afterward commissioned second lieutenant, later first lieutenant and subsequently became captain of Company B, serving with that command until September 26, 1864, when he received an honorable dis- charge, having for three years and three months been an active soldier on the battlefields of the south. He participated in the engagement at Antietam, and was taken prisoner in August, 1862, at the second battle of Bull Run. He was then incarcerated in Libby prison and after a week was parolled and sent to Annapolis, Maryland. In the first battle of Bull Run he was wounded, being shot through the right leg, and at Fredericksburg on the 13th of December, 1863, he was shot through the upper part of the leg. He was then transferred to Washington and taken to the Harwood hospital, where he remained for thirty days, after which he was granted a thirty days furlough, and because he was still in ill health at the end of that time he was granted sixty days more, so that three months had passed when he re- joined his regiment at Sharpsburg, Virginia.

After being mustered out Captain Stepper returned to the north and was married in January, 1865, to Miss Rachel Miller. " He then located on a farm in Burr Oak township, St. Joseph county, Michigan, purchasing a tract of land on which he made his home until the death of his wife in 1873. He then remained single for about a year, after which he married Almira Fallace, but he has now been a widower for twenty-four years. He has one son, Charles William, who resides in Quincy, Michigan, and a daughter. Catharine, the wife of Smith Clizbe.

Captain Stepper is a member of Butterworth Post No. 109, G. A. R., at Coldwater. He has always been an advocate of Republican princi- ples, but would never accept office of any kind. He belongs to the German Benevolent Society, and in every relation of life in which he has been found he has made warm friends and discharged every duty with promptness and fidelity. In 1883 he purchased a farm in Coldwater township, continuing its cultivation and improvement until 1887, when he sold that property and re- tired from active business life. establishing his home in Coldwater, where he now lives. Progress and patriotism might be termed the keynote of his character, having been the motive force in all of his connections with public and business life.

GENERAL JOHN G. PARKHURST.

General John G. Parkhurst, a distinguished citizen of Michigan whose talent, ability and patriotism won him leadership in affairs of state and nation, died suddenly at his home in Coldwater May 6, 1906. He was widely recognized as a man of unswerving fidelity to duty, and no hope of per- sonal gain or preferment could ever turn him from the path which he be- lieved to be right. Although a native of New York he had resided in

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Michigan since 1849, in which year he came to Coldwater to practice law.

At Oneida Castle, New York, General Parkhurst was born on the 17th of April, 1824, and was therefore at the time of his death eighty-two years of age. His ancestors were early settlers of Massachusetts and were of English and Scotch lineage,. The name Parkhurst is of Norman and French derivation, being formed of the word parc, the French for park, and hurst, the Anglo-Saxon for wood. His family name can be traced back to the time when William the Conqueror invaded England. Representatives of the family emigrated from the Isle of Wight in the early part of the fifteenth century and built the Parkhurst Manor in Surrey county, England. The earliest progenitor of the family known was George Parkhurst of Guilford, England, and one of his descendants, also bearing the name of George Park- hurst, came to America in 1635. He settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, and became the progenitor of the family in the new world, the line of descent being traced down through Joseph Ist, Joseph 2d, John Ist, John 2d and Stephen Parkhurst to General John G. Parkhurst of this review. In the Revolutionary, war eleven members of the family fought for the independ- ence of the colonies, and true to the spirit of patriotism which characterized his ancestors General Parkhurst has won honors on the battlefield in defense of his country. His parents were Stephen and Sally (Gibson) Parkhurst, the former a native of New Hampshire and the latter of Massachusetts. Mrs. Parkhurst was a granddaughter of a Scotch sea captain, who died on one of the West India islands, and she died when her son John G. was but seven years of age, leaving eight children.

General Parkhurst was thus left to the care of his sisters, to whom he is indebted for his early moral and religious training. He was reared in Oneida Castle, New York, to which place his parents had removed soon after their marriage. He attended the Oneida Academy, acquiring a thorough literary education, and at the age of nineteen years entered the law office of N. F. Graves, under whose preceptorship he studied four years, being admitted to the bar of New York in 1847. After two years of successful practice in his native place he came to Michigan, locating at Coldwater in 1849. Here he practiced law uninterruptedly until 1861, and during a part of that time was a partner of George A. Coe, who afterward became lieutenant governor of Michigan.

A sterling Democrat, influential in his party, in 1860 General Park- hurst was chosen a national delegate and was made secretary of the Charles- ton National Democratic Convention, which, after ten days' session and fifty- seven ballots, failed to make a nomination, later reconvening at Baltimore, where, on the sixth day's session, Stephen A. Douglas was finally nominated. Following his return home Mr. Parkhurst prepared and published the pro- ceedings of this historic convention. While thus engaged he astonished friends by declaring that the south intended to have a government of its own, that the result would be war, and that his assistance would be required in behalf of the Union. The foresight of his prediction was soon proved, and after Fort Sumter was fired upon and the call for volunteers was made,

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General Parkhurst, at the first war meeting held in Branch county, called upon all loyal citizens to prepare immediately to defend the Union. As soon as he could arrange his business affairs he gave his services to the govern- ment and was appointed by Governor Blair to the rank of lieutenant-colonel of the Ninth Michigan Infantry, being mustered into service September 10. 1861. In October of that year he reported with his regiment to General Sherman in Kentucky. After building a fort on Muldrough's hill at the mouth of Salt river, he was ordered to engage in the advance on Nashville. In the battle of Murfreesboro in July. 1862, after holding his position eight hours against a force seven times as large, and losing one-third of his com- mand in killed and wounded, Colonel Parkhurst was taken prisoner and was detained by the rebel forces for four months. He was then exchanged in time to report to General Thomas before the battle of Stone River, and owing to the reputation the Ninth Michigan had achieved by its gallant fight at Murfreesboro General Thomas selected this command as his provost guard and appointed General Parkhurst provost marshal for the Fourteenth Army Corps. From December, 1862, until the close of the war he was on the staff of General Thomas as provost marshal general, having, a part of the time, the Ninth Michigan, two other regiments and a battery. as provost guard under his command. In that capacity he engaged in all the battles of the Army of the Cumberland, and at the same time had supervision of the conductors on the military railroads of the Department of the Cumberland. all the prisoners of war and all the provost marshals and their officers. For heroism and bravery displayed in the battles of Stone River and Chickamauga he was recommended by General Thomas for the rank of brigadier general of volunteers, and was brevetted as such in January, 1865. There were incidents in his military career that would enlist much interest, but limited space in this connection forbids further delineaton here. An indication of the government's appreciation of his efficient service, however, in that san- guine conflict is the fact that in the national park at Chickamauga there has been erected and dedicated, in 1895, a statue of General Parkhurst. This was an unusual honor, for seldom is a statue erected by the government in honor of a living man, and it indicated in unmistakable terms a high appreciation of his gallantry and bravery on that field of battle.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan, Part 42

Author: Collin, Henry P Publication date: 1906 Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Number of Pages: 1198

Author: Collin, Henry P
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing
Number of Pages: 1198