A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan, Part 47

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

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Kirkland B. Etheridge was educated in the schools of Quincy and was reared to farm life, remaining upon the home farm until eighteen years of age. The Civil war being then inaugurated, he responded to the country's need and enlisted as a member of Company E. Fourth Michigan Volunteer Infantry. under command of Captain John W. Spear. He served with that company for two years and was in the Army of the Cumberland in Rose- crans' Brigade, Third Division, Fourth Army Corps. He went to the front as a musician and was mustered out as corporal at Houston, Texas, June 13. 1866, receiving an honorable discharge at Detroit. This was one of the last regiments discharged from the service.

When the war was over Mr. Etheridge returned to Branch county, where he worked at the cooper's trade, and afterward at carpentering. but eventually he returned to the farm and has since carried on general agri- cultural pursuits, although at the present time he is not active in farming operations, having rented his land in Quincy township, comprising a tract of one hundred and five acres. In the fall of 1903 he bought the knitting factory and transformed it into a mill, fitting it up with machinery for the grinding of all kinds of feed, so that he now conducts a feed and exchange mill.

In 1875 Kirkland B. Etheridge was married to Miss Emma Newberry, a daughter of Peter and Hannah Newberry. Mrs. Etheridge was born in Quincy in 1849. There is one son by this marriage, Moreau Newberry Etheridge, who was born in Quincy, August 12, 1884, and is a graduate of the high school here of the class of 1904. In the fall of the same year he entered into partnership with his father, under the firm style of Eth- eridge & Son.

Mr. Etheridge, his wife and son are members of the Baptist church. in which they take a very active interest. He has served as trustee of the church for thirty years. His parents were charter members of the Quincy Baptist church, and the father was its first clerk and for many years served as one of its deacons. Mr. Etheridge is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and has been commander of C. O. Loomis Post No. 2, the

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oldest post in the state of Michigan, because of the fact that Coldwater Post No. I lost its charter. He is a Republican in politics, and while in the army, although only eighteen years of age, cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, obtaining his right of franchise from the fact that he was doing duty as a soldier. He is a member of the Quincy school board, and the cause of education finds in him a warm friend. His entire life has been passed in the village or surrounding district, and he is therefore well known and is best liked wherever best known. His attention has been largely con- centrated upon his business affairs, with the result that he is now controlling a profitable enterprise, while his farm also yields to him a good financial return.

ALONZO B. ALLEN.

The farming interests of Branch county are well represented by Alonzo B. Allen, one of the enterprising and prosperous agriculturists of Coldwater township, whose property interests comprise two hundred and forty acres of rich land, the greater part of which is under a high state of cultivation. Mr. Allen has now passed the seventy-sixth milestone on life's journey, but in spirit and interests seems yet in his prime. He was born in Pittsford, Vermont, on the IIth of July, 1829, and is a representative of an old New England family. His father, John Allen, for many years a leading agricult- urist of Branch county, was born in the town of Sudbury, Rutland county, Vermont, April 29, 1801, and was descended from. Revolutionary ancestry, prominent among whom was Ethan Allen, the daring commander of the " Green Mountain boys " at the time of the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. William Allen, great-grandfather of our subject, was a native of Connecti- cut and soon after the close of the war for independence removed from that state to Vermont, becoming a resident of the town of Orwell in Rutland county. He made his home there with his eldest son William and died at an advanced age. In early life he learned the shoemaker's trade, which he followed as a source of livelihood for many years. He took an active part in the Revolution, serving under his illustrious cousin, Colonel Ethan Allen, with the Vermont troops.

Reuben Allen, grandfather of our subject, was born in the town of Union, Tolland county, Connecticut, in October, 1763, and was but sixteen years of age when he enlisted for service with the American army in the Revolutionary war. He rendered valuable aid in the struggle for inde- pendence and when the republic was an achieved fact he went from Connecti- cut to Vermont, becoming a resident of Pittsford, Rutland county. There he was married in 1790 to Miss Rebecca Rhodes, a native of Rhode Island, and he established his home upon a farm in the town of Sudbury, the young couple taking up their abode in a log cabin which Mr. Allen built, but which he replaced in a few years by a more commodious frame residence. His time and energies were devoted to general agricultural pur- suits and he cleared and cultivated forty-four acres of his land, after which he sold this place and went to Salisbury, Addison county, Vermont, where he resided until 1832. That year witnessed his removal to the state of

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New York, and his last years were spent in the home of his son. John Allen. his death occurring in 1836. His wife survived him several years and passed away at the home of her daughter. They were people of genuine worth and respectability, whose many excellent traits of character won them the confi- cience and esteem of those with whom they were associated. Their family numbered three daughters and three sons, namely: Clara, Sarah, Reuben, John, Saloma and Elisha.

John Allen, whose birth occurred in Sudbury, Vermont. April 29. 1801. was there reared and educated. He early became familiar with farm labor and remained on the old homestead until twenty-two years of age, when lie began farming on his own account, purchasing fifty acres of land in Salis- bury, Addison county. The tract was covered with a dense growth of tim- ber and there were no improvements upon the place, so that his first work was the erection of a small frame house. He then commenced to clear and improve the farm. which he afterward sold, taking up his abode in Pitts- ford. Rutland county, where he remained until 1832, when he became a resident of Orleans county, New York. He made the journey between the two towns with a team as far as Whitehall and thence by way of Lake Cham- plain and the Erie canal to his destination. Taking up his abode in the town of Murray, he resided there until 1843. when, attracted by the advantages that Michigan offered to settlers, he decided to make his way to this state. Accordingly arrangements for the journey were made, and in company with his wife and ten children he traveled westward in a wagon drawn by horses. On reaching his destination he purchased one hundred acres of land now in- cluded within the city limits of Coldwater, a part of it being occupied by the railway station. The tract, however, was raw and unimproved at that time. and again his first work was the building of a house. When this was done he began to clear and cultivate his fields, and year after year saw a larger tract plowed and planted, while in the autumns good crops were harvested. Upon that place he resided until 1856, when he sold his property and pur- chased the farm upon which he continued to reside until his death. His second farm he also greatly improved through his careful management, un- tiring diligence and capable effort, and he erected thereon good farm build- ings, including a commodious and substantial dwelling. In all of his farm work he was practical and progressive, and as the years passed. success crowned his efforts. Mr. Allen was married three times. He first wedded Miranda Kelsey, who was born in Salisbury, Vermont, in October. 1800, and died in June. 1826, leaving two children. John Edward and Clarissa Miranda. For his second wife he chose Esther Blackmer, and they became the parents of eight children, three of whom are yet living. as follows : Alonzo, Franklin and Martha. The third marriage of Mr. Allen was to Mrs. Britana (Jackson) Phetteplace, a native of Oswego county, New York.

Mr. Allen lived to the advanced age of ninety-three years, passing away on the 29th of September, 1891, while his third wife died a few years pre- vious. He lived to see many changes in his adopted county and in the count- try as well, for he was a pioneer settler here. His life record covered the

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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY

period of wonderful invention in the United States, including the introduction of the telegraph and telephone, of the railroad and the wonderful uses of electricity in many departments of labor. In the early days he performed his farm work with the machinery and implements such as were common at the time, but he also lived to see much change in these as well as invention brought new and improved machinery. In politics he was always a Demo- crat, never faltering in his allegiance to the party. All who knew him re- spected him for his genuine worth and his fidelity to principle. As a pioneer he aided materially in the growth and progress of this section of the state and was among those who assisted in laying broad and deep the foundation for the present development of Branch county.

Alonzo B. Allen, whose name introduces this review, was only three years old when his parents removed from Vermont to New York, and there he began his education in the public schools, which he attended through the winter months, while in the summer seasons he worked upon the home farm. His time was thus occupied until he attained the age of fourteen years, when the family removed to Michigan, their home being established in Branch county. Mr. Allen continued his education as a public school student in Coldwater and afterward in Hillsdale College at Hillsdale, Michi- gan, thus acquiring a good education, which enabled him at the age of twenty- two years to become a teacher.

He followed the profession for several terms, spending the winter months in the school room, while in the summer seasons he worked in the fields. Throughout his entire life he has been identified with agricultural pursuits, and he made his first purchase of land in 1852, becoming owner of a tract lying on sections 35 and 26, Coldwater township, and still included within his present farm. Only fifteen acres of the original tract had been improved and upon this a small log cabin and a log barn had been built. At the time of his marriage Mr. Allen took up his abode on this place, building a wagon house, in which he lived until he could erect a frame dwelling.

It was on the 13th of December, 1860, that Mr. Allen was united in marriage to Miss Hannah Mary Barnes, who was born on the 28th of Octo- ber, 1836, in Saratoga Springs, New York, a daughter of Smith Barnes, also a native of the Empire state. Being left an orphan when a young lad, her father went to reside with an uncle in Saratoga county, New York, where he made his home until 1851, when he came to Branch county, Michigan, set- tling in Coldwater township. Here he purchased eighty acres of land on sec- tion twenty-seven and resided there until called to his final rest. He had married Miss Deborah Loantha Morehouse, a native of New York and a daughter of Aaron and Delora (Reynolds) Morehouse. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have become the parents of four children, but only two are now living : Smith Allen, born September 28, 1861, married Katie Brown and they reside near his father. Nellie Allen, born August 26, 1872, was married October II, 1893, to Thaddeus R. Follett, and she and her son, Allen T. Follett, born April 6. 1895, reside on the old homestead with her father, for whom she acts as housekeeper, for Mrs. Allen, the wife and mother, passed away Sep-

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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY

tember 18, 1904. Esther M., who was born March 8, 1864, died September 27, 1868, and Mary Allen, who was born September 27, 1868, died on the 3rd of August, 1887.

In his political views Mr. Allen was an earnest Democrat from the time · he cast his first presidential vote for Stephen A. Douglas until 1876, when his political opinions underwent a change and he became an advocate of the Greenback party. He still keeps in touch with the questions and issues of the day and holds decided opinions upon the matters which affect the wel- fare of the country. He has at various times been an officer in his schoo! district and has represented his town three terms on the board of supervisors. All matters that tend to advance the interests of the county and promote its progress and upbuilding receive his endorsement and many times his active co-operation. He is today one of the honored pioneer settlers of the county. having for more than six decades resided within its borders, during which time the greater part of its growth and improvement has been accomplished until the county today bears little resemblance to the unimproved district into which the Allen family made their way so long ago. Mr. Allen relates many interesting incidents of early pioneer times, his mind being stored with reminiscences of the early days, yet no man rejoices more largely in what has been accomplished by the county as it has taken on all the evidences of an advanced civilization. In farm work he has always been active, energetic and successful and is today the owner of valuable property interests.

CHRISTOPHER SCHAFFMASTER.

Christopher Schaffmaster, whose life of industry and enterprise has been crowned with success and who is now the owner of a good farm in Bronson township, was born in Germany in 1828, his parents being John Henry and Margaret Christina ( Rosenbroke) Schaffmaster. The father was a brick manufacturer. When Christopher Schaffmaster removed to Michi- gan in 1853 his father came to America with his family and lived with his two sons, Christopher and Fritz, for two years, but about 1855 removed to Matteson township, where he rented forty acres of land that he afterward purchased. Subsequently he added another forty-acre tract. He had a fam- ily of eight children, namely: Anna; Christopher ; Fritz; Henry ; Margaret, who died at the age of two years; Barney, who died in 1864; Margaret, who was the second of that name; and George. The father continued to reside upon his farm until a few years prior to his death. which occurred in Jan- uary, 1885, when he was eighty-two years of age, his birth having occurred on the Ist of January, 1803. His wife survived him for a number of years. passing away in 1899.

Christopher Schaffmaster acquired a good education, attending school until fifteen years of age, when he went to work in his father's brickyard and mastered the trade, becoming familiar with it both in principle and de- tail. In 1847, at the age of nineteen years, he came to America, hoping that he might find better business opportunities in the new world where competi- tion was greater, but where advancement was also more quickly secured and

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where labor gained its just reward, unhampered by caste or class. Landing on the Atlantic coast he made his way to western New York, settling in Orleans county, where lived his uncle, who was a contractor in stone and was also a manufacturer of lime. Mr. Schaffmaster of this review was em- ployed there from October, 1847, until January, 1848, but in the meantime . he determined to become a farmer and resolved to work away from German associations so that he might learn the American language, knowing that if he remained among German friends he would continue to use the speech of the fatherland. He therefore entered the employ of an American farmer, with whom he worked for three years. Later he spent two more years in the service of other farmers of that locality, at the end of which time he and his brother Fritz, who also came to America, started for Branch county, Michigan. This was in 1853. Mr. Schaffmaster saved seven hundred dol- lars and his brother Fritz saved five hundred dollars, which they invested in ninety-five acres of land on section four, Bronson township. They cleared this land, cultivating it together for six years and building thereon a resi- dence at a cost of one thousand dollars. Both were energetic, industrious men, and their labor soon wrought a marked change in the farm which they owned.

In 1860 Mr. Schaffmaster was married, and they began their domestic life upon this farm. The following year Mr. Schaffmaster purchased his brother's interest, and with a new impetus for energetic and unremitting labor he so directed his efforts that in 1864 he was enabled to extend the boundaries of his farm by additional purchase, adding a tract of sixty-four acres. He continued to make his home upon his farm until 1899, when he removed to Bronson. In all of his farming operations he was practical, per- severing and progressive and he developed a splendid property. He had purchased forty acres of land on section three, Bronson township, and about 1887 had purchased fifty-three and a half acres adjoining the town of Bron- son, known as the Milo Clark farm. About 1898 he bought forty acres on section eleven of the same township, known as the Frances Ruggles farm. thus becoming the owner of two hundred and ninety-three and a half acres, besides their handsome town property in Bronson. He yet retains possession of all of this and is therefore one of the extensive land owners of his local- ity. He has followed general farming with excellent success and he feeds all of his grain to his stock. Mr. Schaffmaster gives his personal super- vision to his property, which he works on the shares, though he is now well advanced in years and leaves the active work of the farm to others.

On November 14, 1860, Christopher Schaffmaster was united in mar- riage to Miss Mahala La Due, who was born in Fishkill-on-the-Hudson, and was but a little child when her parents removed to Monroe county, New York, near Rochester. She was born May 21, 1840 and she is the third in a fam- ily of five children, two sons and three daughters, born to Cornelius and Margaret M. (Ostrander) La Due. All are living, namely : Mary L., wife of Charles Caveney, a resident of Bronson, Michigan, and an agriculturist by occupation, and both are members of the Methodist Episcopal church; Henry A., a resident of Byron, New York, and was married three times, the

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present wife having been Mrs. Buchanan; Mrs. Schaffmaster is next in or- der of birth; Arcelia. wife of John Auten, a farmer of Matteson township; Willie Jasper, a resident of Monroe county, New York, also follows agri- cultural pursuits and is married. Father La Due was born in New York and was of French lineage. Mother La Due was also a native of New York, born in the same locality as her husband, and in an early day removed to western New York. The following memorial appeared at the death of Mr. La Due: "Cornelius S. La Due, of the town of Sweden, Monroe county, New York, exchanged worlds June 18. 1884. in the seventy-fourth year of his age. His father was a Methodist local preacher. He was converted in early life and continued to live a consistent Christian until the summons came, 'come up higher.' He esteemed very highly the public means of grace, remarking, as life was drawing to a close, that he should go to the house of God as long as he was able to go anywhere, hence he has often been at church during the past year, while so feeble as hardly to be able to speak for want of breath; expressing in class by joyful countenance and a few words his pleasure to testify to the goodness of God. When the church of his early choice departed in practice from the teachings of the early Meth- odist fathers he saw fit to come out and identify himself with those who still believe the world will never find a better creed to lead a man to the skies. if believed, experienced and practiced, than that taught by John Wesley. The companion of his youth survives him. May the blessing of God rest upon her and upon the five children, all grown to mature years, and may they follow in their father's ways as he followed Christ." Mrs. Schaffmaster has always been an able helpmeet and associate to her husband in the years past and gone, and she has always stood by his side in counsel and advice. She raised her children to lives of usefulness, and they today fill honored posi- tions in the social circle of their native county. Mr. and Mrs. Schaffmaster began their lives with small capital, but by energy and filial living they have accumulated a goodly competency. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Schaffmaster have been born three children, but Cornelius La Due died at the age of twenty months. John, who is living on the home farm, married Miss Jennie Fowler. and has three children: George F. : Homer C., and Esther. Dora is the wife of George Carter, a resident farmer of Bethel township.

Mr. and Mrs. Schaffmaster are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Bronson, in which she is steward and he is trustee, and both have been teachers. As soon as possible after coming to America he took out his naturalization papers, and when the right of franchise was conferred upon him he became a staunch Republican, and has never faltered in his allegiance to the party. He was loyal to his adopted country in her time of need, and took a man to Kalamazoo and paid eight hundred and ten dollars for a sub- stitute, although not drafted. He has been a man of principle, and with the aid of his good wife has accomplished great success. He has been a member of the school board for several years and was highway commissioner for one year. Whatever the duty that has devolved upon him. it has been faithfully performed. and he has always stood for progressiveness in citi- zenship as well as in private life. In his farming operations he has done

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much to advance a high standard among agriculturists. He resolved to be a leader rather than a follower, and he has been the first to introduce much improved farm machinery in this part of the county. He had the first binder and had a windmill upon his place twelve years before any other was found in the locality. He also had in his home the first organ in the township. Whatever has tended to promote his work and to facilitate farming interests has received his endorsement and attention. and he has been quick to adopt any new methods which promise of practical value. Having now passed the seventy-fifth milestone on life's journey he is largely enjoying rest from further labor and is surrounded by all of the comforts and many luxuries which go to make life worth the living and which have been secured through his own well directed efforts. He wisely determined in early manhood to come to the " land of the free," and here, where labor finds its just reward, he has worked persistently and energetically until he is today one of the prosperous farmers of Bronson township.

SIMON B. KITCHEL:

Simon B. Kitchel was born at Auburn, Cayuga county, New York, in the year 1839, and died at Coldwater, Michigan, July 31, 1905. About the year 1870 he was married to Theresa M. Jordan, and to them was born one son, Hiram Kitchel, who survived his father, an only child. In the year 1892 his wife, Mrs. Theresa M. Kitchel, died, and in the following year he married Miss Carrie Krebs, who survived him as his widow. Much de- served credit was always accorded these faithful companions by Mr. Kitchel for the great assistance they rendered in the successes that came to him.

Simon B. Kitchel, considered from his boyhood to the day of his death, was a typical American citizen of the Nineteenth Century. As a boy his pathway was beset with all the hardships and privations of poverty. His parents were poor. He had no influential friends except such as he must attract by his own efforts and worth. Through work and self denial he sup- ported himself and not only obtained a good primary education but attended for a few terms a neighboring academy.

August 21, 1862, he enlisted as a private in the Eighth Independent Company of New York State Sharp Shooters, and for his great gallantry and coolness while with this organization was specially mentioned and compli- mented in the history of the regiment. When the Forty-third Regiment of United States Sharp Shooters (colored troops) was organized, the prejudice of the Confederate army was so great against the use of colored troops by the North that it was not easy to obtain efficient officers who cared to face the dangers of capture. Young Kitchel, however, was ready to enlist and by reason of his proficiency and capacity he was promoted from time to time, until on the Ioth day of April, 1864, he was made first lieutenant of Com- pany I in the above regiment. He was in numerous engagements, twenty- five or more, during the service, including the capture of Richmond April 3, I865.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan, Part 47

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