USA > Michigan > Branch County > A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan > Part 68
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In 1874 Captain Newberry was called to public office, being elected county clerk, in which capacity he served for six years, and then retired from office as he had entered it-with the confidence and good will of all. In the meantime he had entered upon the study of law and after careful preparation was admitted to the bar. He has held other offices in the line of his profession, having been city attorney, circuit court commissioner and prosecuting attorney, and these have brought to him wide experience in connection with the courts, while at the same time he has rendered capable and faithful service. He has also been a member of the school board of Coldwater. Still further political honors awaited him for in 1903 he was elected on the Republican ticket to the state legislature, receiving a vote of three thousand one hundred and thirty-nine. against that of nineteen hun- dred and ninety-seven cast for his opponent.
Captain Newberry has never ceased to feel a deep interest in military affairs, and in 1876 he joined the Michigan National Guard as a private of Company A, Second Infantry. He was captain from 1878 until 1886. in which year he became lieutenant colonel of the regiment, serving in that
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capacity for two years, while from 1887 until 1891 he was inspector gen- eral. In 1896 he re-entered the state service and in 1898 he enlisted with his company in the Thirty-second Michigan Volunteer Infantry for the war with Spain, being mustered out November 5, 1898. Three days later he was elected prosecuting attorney, but he resigned that office July 27, 1899, to accept a captain's commission in the Thirtieth United States Volunteer In- fantry, desiring to render active aid to his country in a military capacity. He served at this time for twenty-one months, sixteen of which were passed in the Philippines, and he was mustered out April 3, 1901, at San Fran- cisco, California.
Returning to his home in Coldwater, Captain Newberry resumed the practice of law and is now an active member of the bar, with a large client- age that connects him with much of the important litigation tried in the courts of this district. His careful preparation of cases is supplemented by a power of argument and a forceful presentation of his points in the court room and he never fails to impress court or jury and seldom fails to gain the verdict desired.
In 1867 Captain Newberry married Fannie Ellsworth Stone, prominent in literary circles of the state and of wide reputation as a writer. Their attractive home is the center of a large circle of friends.
MRS. FANNIE E. NEWBERRY.
Mrs. Fannie Ellsworth Newberry was born in Monroe, Michigan, May 7, 1848, a daughter of Hiram and Sophia (Harmon) Stone. Her father was a native of Onondaga county, New York, and in his boyhood he accom- panied his parents on their removal to Monroe, Michigan, where he was reared and educated. Following his preparation for the bar he was admitted to practice and became a leading member of the legal profession in his part of the state. He also gained distinction in public office, serving as county judge and for two terms as a member of the state legislature, although he was only thirty-two years of age at the time of his death. He was a man of superior intellect, and left the impress of his individuality upon the legis- lative and judicial history of the state. His widow was born in New York, about eighteen miles west of the city of Rochester, is now more than eighty- two years of age and makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Newberry. Her father was Ezekiel Harmon, a native of Vermont and a physician by profession.
Mrs. Newberry, in her girlhood days, made her home at different times in Monroe, Michigan, Chicago and Boston. She was a student in the Mon- roe Female Academy and received instruction from her mother and private tutors. She was graduated from the high school at Brookline, Massachu- setts, when seventeen years of age, and at the age of nineteen, at South Bend, Indiana, she gave her hand in marriage to Captain F. D. Newberry, whose personal sketch appears above. She is of studious nature and schol- arly tastes, has always been a great reader and has traveled quite extensively in this country, thus continually broadening her knowledge. Her first liter- ary production of any note was a story for the Saturday Evening Post, writ-
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ten when she was sixteen years of age. She has been a frequent contribu- tor to various papers and periodicals, but her chief literary productions for adults have been " Strange Conditions " and " Impress of a Gentlewoman." She has also written largely for young people. a list of her works including " Transplanted ": "Comrades ": "Brian's Home "; "Sarah, a Princess "; " House of Hollister "; " A Son's Victory "; "Into the Light ": "Bubbles " : " Not for Profit ": " Everyday Honor ": " All Aboard ": "Joyce's Invest- ments "; and " The Wrestler of Philippi," more than a million copies of the last named having been sold. Mrs. Newberry is an honorary member of the Michigan State Press Association and also of many other literary soci- eties.
ARCHIE W. COLE.
Archie W. Cole, a leading stock farmer of this county living on sec- tion twenty-five. Batavia township, is the owner of the largest farm in this locality, his place embracing three hundred and thirty-four acres all in one body. While he tills the fields he more largely devotes his energies to buy- ing. feeding and selling stock and has found this a profitable source of income.
Mr. Cole is one of Michigan's native sons. his birth having occurred in Calhoun county on the 25th of September. 1868. His father. Newman E. Cole, was a native of Herkimer county, New York, and was about ten years of age when he came to Michigan with his mother. He was there- fore reared in this state and in his youth learned the tinner's trade, which he followed until about twenty years of age. He carried on the hardware business in Battle Creek, Michigan, for four or five years, and then bought a farm in Calhoun county, east of Battle Creek, comprising two hundred and eiglity acres. For a long period thereafter he carried on general agri- cultural pursuits, but in 1892 sold that property and bought the farm where- on Archie W. Cole now resides. The father was a resident of Coldwater at the time of his death, which occurred in his seventy-eighth year. He was a successful man who started out in life as a poor boy but by his industry. economy and earnest labor worked his way steadily upward to a position of affluence. When he first accepted this position his capital consisted of but twenty-five cents and at his death he was the possessor of a very desirable competence. His business principles and methods, too, were honorable and straightforward and his entire life was in harmony with his professions as a member of the Baptist church. He took an active and helpful part in church work and contributed liberally to its support. In politics he was a life-long Republican. His interest in matters of public progress was deep and sincere and was manifest in many tangible ways for the general good. He gave a house and lot to Kalamazoo College. valued at four thousand dollars, making this one of the bequests of his will. He had a very wide and favorable acquaintance in the county and his life record displayed such sterling traits of character that all who knew him honored and respected him. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Jennie Keith, was a native of. New York, and a daughter of Ozen Keith, who removed from the Empire
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state to Michigan at an early day, Mrs. Cole being at that time ten years of age. She was born in Herkimer county, New York, but was largely reared in Michigan, the family home being first established at West Hudson in Hillsdale county. Mrs. Cole was a devoted wife and mother and she passed away in Coldwater in 1893, when in her seventy-second year. In the family were seven children, three sons and four daughters: Clarence, who died when but ten weeks old: Nellie C., the wife of E. H. Percy, of Glen Blair, California : Fred, who died at the age of six months; Carrie E., the wife of WV. B. Moore, of Girard township, Branch county; Emma J., the wife of W. J. Hammond, of Fargo, North Dakota; and Ella M., the wife of L. J. Marshall, of Crookston, Minnesota.
Archie W. Cole is the youngest in the family and was reared in Cal- houn county, Michigan, while his education was acquired in the schools of Hillsdale. When he had completed his literary course he returned home and there remained until twenty-one years of age, when he went to Califor- nia, locating in Eureka, that state. There he was engaged in bookkeeping for a lumber company for one year and subsequently became bookkeeper for a wholesale and retail book and stationery firm, with which he continued for two years. On the expiration of that period he returned home and joined his father in business, being thus associated until the death of his parent. He had disposed of the milk business previous to his father's death, and concentrated his energies upon general farming and stock-raising, making a specialty, however, of the latter. He buys, feeds and sells stock and is an excellent judge of farm animals, so that he is seldom at error in ap- praising the value of cattle, horses or hogs. His farm of three hundred and thirty-four acres is the largest in Batavia township and is a splendidly improved property. He is one of the directors of the Batavia Creamery Association, and its president in 1906.
In 1897 Mr. Cole was married to Miss Alice M. Aldrich, a daughter of Edgar and Olive (Bickford) Aldrich, and a native of Algansee township, Branch county. They now have one son, Newman Ernest. Mr. Cole is an unfaltering advocate of Republican principles and he belongs to. Coldwater Tent, No. 157. K. O. T. M. His entire life has been passed in Michigan and the spirit of enterprise which has been the dominant factor in the up- building of this state has been manifest in his business career, for after all it is the aggregate endeavor of individuals that promotes public progress and improvement and the history of a community, state or nation is best told in the lives of its people. Mr. Cole is indeed a representative agricul- turist of Branch county, well deserving of mention in this volume.
EDWARD M. WATKINS.
Many of the respected and worthy citizens of Union City are those who in former years were active in business life and thereby acquired pros- perity that now enables them to live retired, enjoying in quiet the fruits of their former toil. Such a one is Edward M. Watkins, who was born in Ontario county, New York, the Empire State, June 21, 1830. His father, Alanson Watkins, was a native of Massachusetts, the Old Bay State, spent his
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Chloe. D. Watkins
Edward I Watkins
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boyhood days in that commonwealth and became a farmer and drover. He also followed merchandising and was connected with other business enter- prises, and whatever he undertook he carried forward to successful com- pletion. About 1870 he came to Calhoun county, Michigan, and purchased a farm, upon which he spent his remaining days, dying at the age of sixty- eight years. He had wedded Mary Griswold, a native of Connecticut, who lived to be about forty-two years of age. Their marriage was blessed with eight children. Following the death of his first wife the father afterward married her sister, Permelia Griswold, and there were eight children by that union. As will be noticed, Mr. and Mrs. Watkins descend from the New England ancestry.
Edward M. Watkins is the second child of the first marriage and he was reared in his native place until twenty-two years of age. He came to the west in 1852, settling in Calhoun county, Michigan. He secured em- ployment at the carpenter's trade in Battle Creek, but after a short time removed to Athens township in that county, where he continued building operations. Not long afterward he sought a companion and helpmate for life's journey and was married in Burlington, Michigan, October 26, 1859. to Miss Chloe Rogers, a daughter of Henry and Nancy (Tucker) Rogers. the former a native of Pennsylvania, the Keystone State, and the latter of Maryland. In their family were six children, of whom Mrs. Watkins is the youngest. Her father was a soldier of the war of 1812 and she had one brother who was a soldier of the rebellion. defending the Union cause. Mr. Watkins had two brothers who served in the Civil war. Mrs. Watkins was but seven years old when her father died and is now the only surviving member of the family. She was born and educated in Rushville, New York, and was engaged in teaching school for about nine years. Her eldest sister also engaged in teaching and her brother followed the same profession She came to the west in order to teach with her brother, and here she formed the acquaintance of Mr. Watkins.
At the time of their marriage they located in Burlington, Calhoun county. where he conducted a general store, and there they remained for about six years, coming to Union City in 1870. Here Mr. Watkins, with Mr. Charles W. Crocker, now of Chicago, Illinois, established a store and for many years was actively engaged with commercial interests. In 1897 he turned his attention to the grain business, which he carried on until 1900, and he was engaged in the lumber business at the time he decided to retire to private life. He is a man of resourceful ability, determined and ener- getic, and his life history most properly illustrates what can be attained by faithful and continued effort in carrying out an honest purpose.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Watkins was blessed with two children : Will D., who is a traveling salesman residing in Kalamazoo, Michigan; and Belle, who is a teacher in Toledo, Ohio. The son was born July 22, 1863. and pursued his education in Union City and at Lansing College. He is a prominent Mason and has held the highest offices in the Traveling Men's Association. For sixteen years he has been a representative on the road for the house of Sprague, Warner & Company. The daughter, Belle, ac-
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quired her early education in Union City, afterward studied in Chicago, took post-graduate work in Toledo College, and has been a successful teacher in Toledo for three years. Mr. Watkins proudly cast his first presidential vote for John C. Fremont and has since been a stalwart Republican, assisting in electing each president who has been the standard bearer of the party. He has been active and influential in local political circles and has served on the town board. For twenty-six years he has been a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. His wife is a member of the Eastern Star and of the Degree of Honor, and has taken quite an active interest in the work of those organizations, being now chief of the latter. She has also held offices in the Eastern Star and she is an earnest and devoted worker in behalf of the temperance cause, serving as superintendent of the Loyal Temperance Legion for a number of years. She was district superintendent of the work and during that time organized eighteen lodges. She has like- wise held a number of offices in the local, county and district organizations of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and her influence is ever on the side of right, progress, development, reform and truth. Her religious faith is indicated by her membership in the Congregational church. The family home has been maintained in Union City since 1870 and both Mr. and Mrs. Watkins are widely and favorably known. Integrity, activity and energy have been the crowning points of his success and his connection with various business interests and industries has been of decided advantage to this section of Michigan, promoting its material welfare in no uncertain manner.
J. H. VANNUYS.
J. H. VanNuys, residing on section twenty, Matteson township, was born in Ovid township, Seneca county, New York, Jannary 6, 1848, and is of Holland lineage, his paternal grandfather having been born in the "land of the dykes." The father, Simon VanNuys, was a native of New Jersey and there spent his boyhood and youth. After his first marriage he removed to Seneca county, New York, locating in Ovid township; where he fol- lowed farming until 1857, when he came to Michigan, settling in Franklin township, Lenawee county. There he devoted his attention to general agri- cultural pursuits until 1859, when he came to Branch county, settling in Ovid township, where he carried on farming. Later, however, he removed to Bethel township, where he bought a small tract of land of ten acres and upon that place he spent his remaining days, dying when about seventy years of age. He married Miss Sarah Wickoff for his second wife. She was a native of Seneca county, New York, where she was reared and mar- ried and she is now eighty-one years of age, making her home at Orland, Indiana. By the father's first marriage there were seven children and by the second there were nine children.
J. H. VanNuys is the eldest of the nine and was nine years of age when he came to Michigan, arriving in Branch county when a youth of eleven years. Upon the home farm in Ovid township he was reared, at- tending the district schools of the neighborhood and he remained at home
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until 1865, when at the age of seventeen years he enlisted for service in the Union army as a private of Company H. Eleventh Michigan Volunteer In- fantry, with which he served until the close of the war. He then received an honorable discharge on the 16th of September, 1865, and returned to Ovid township, where he worked for his father until he had attained his majority. He was afterward employed by the month as a farm hand and thus he made his start in the business world.
On the 5th of December. 1874, Mr. VanNuys was married to Miss Lucinda Evans, a daughter of John W. and Elizabeth ( Harmon) Evans. She was born in Floyd county, Indiana, in the town of New Albany. Au- gust 29, 1846, and when eleven years of age went with her parents to Law- rence. Kansas, where she remained until 1863, when she came with her parents to Michigan, where she has since resided save for a period of two years immediately following her marriage, this time being passed in Indi- ana. In 1876, however, Mr. and Mrs. VanNuys came to Branch county. settling in the village of Branch, where they remained until 1881. when they located on the farm which is now their home. There were but few improve- ments on the place but Mr. VanNuys has erected large and substantial barns, also built a fine residence and has carried on the labor of the fields until he has a splendidly improved property. He has also made a specialty of rais- ing Guernsey cattle and now has good stock upon his place. His farm em- braces eighty acres of land which is rich and arable.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. VanNuys have been born two children. Arthur J., who was born in Branch, June 12, 1877. was reared and educated in Matteson township. and Della G., born on the farm where Mr. VanNuys now resides, on the 2nd of October. 1882, is the wife of James Neil Coch- ran, a resident of Coldwater, and they have a little son, J. T. Cochran.
Mr. VanNuys votes with the Democracy and has been elected and served as road commissioner and as a school director. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church of Colon and is active in its work. For thirty years he has been a resident of Branch county and in its progress and im- provement has been deeply interested, withholding his co-operation from no movement for the public good.
JEFFERSON S. CONOVER.
Jefferson S. Conover, long known as one of the distinguished citizens of Michigan, active in business circles of Coldwater and prominent in the state as a representative of the Masonic fraternity, was born in the village of Cato, Cayuga county, New York, April 20, 1841. He was a son of George M. Conover, who traced his ancestry in the paternal line back to the Dutch Koven Hoven family that settled in New Jersey about 1650. In the maternal line he was descended from a son of Lord Reader of Ireland, who, having been disinherited for marrying a girl in the lower station of life, came to America, where such class condition was unknown. George M. Conover wedded Fannie Carter, whose parents removed from Vermont to New York at an early day, establishing their home near Cato.
Jefferson S. Conover spent his boyhood days in Cayuga and adjoining
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counties and was a student in the district schools until about fifteen years of age, after which he spent two terms in Perry Academy, at Perry, New York. A few years later he pursued a brief business course and this termin- ated his advantages in school, but through experience and observation his knowledge was greatly broadened and he became a man of wide, general information and of much force of character. At the age of nineteen years he began teaching school and in the spring of 1860 he accompanied his par- ents on their removal to the west, settling with them in South Bend, Indi- ana. The Civil war was inaugurated early in the following year and Jef- ferson S. Conover was among those who early responded to the country's call for aid, but his constitution proved unequal to the hardships of a sol- dier's life and after less than a year of service, three months of which had been passed within the walls of army hospitals, he was discharged and re- sumed the profession of teaching. In July, 1866, he became a resident of Coldwater, Michigan, where he continued to make his home until his death. Through the succeeding five years he conducted a business college here and then devoted a year or two to journalism. On the expiration of that period he established the business of fine job and color printing, to which he gave his attention for fifteen years, establishing an enterprise which has devel- oped into the Conover Engraving & Printing Company. Upon its organiza- tion he was chosen president and continued at its head until his demise, mak- ing this one of the large and profitable productive industries of the city.
Mr. Conover was a man of varied activities, resourceful and energetic, and his loyalty to the Masonic tenets and teachings combined with natural ability led to his selection for high honors in connection with the fratern- ity. He became a Mason in 1880, taking the three initial degrees in Cold- water Lodge, No. 260, and after two and a half years he was elected mas- ter, serving until the consolidation of that lodge with Tyre Lodge, No. 18, about 1898. He became a Royal Arch Mason in Temple Chapter, No. 21, November 7, 1881. He received degrees of royal and select master in Mount Moriah Council, No. 6, March 11, 1882; dubbed and created a Knight Templar, March 2, 1882; received the Scottish Rite grades to S. P. R. S .; thirty-second degree in Michigan Sovereign Consistory, June 17, 18, 19, 1883, and was crowned an honorary member of the supreme council, thirty- third degree, at Cleveland, Ohio, September 16, 1890. On the 18th of June, 1892, he joined a caravan that crossed the burning sands of the desert at that time, and became entitled to wear the fez and sport the tiger-claws of the " Shriner." He presided over all the Masonic bodies of his home city, and at one time occupied the three responsible positions of worshipful mas- ter, high priest, and eminent commander. In 1892 he was elected grand commander K. T. of Michigan, and served for one year with zeal and earn- estness. When William P. Innes was elected grand master, in January, 1892, Mr. Conover was elected to succeed him as grand secretary, and to that responsible position he was annually elected for eleven years. After accept- ing this office, he withdrew from all active participation in business matters and devoted his undivided attention to his official duties as grand secre-
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tary. Upon the death of William P. Innes, in August, 1893. Mr. Conover, who was then grand king in the grand chapter, was appointed grand secre- tary of that body, and, resigning the office of grand king, took up the work of grand secretary for the Royal Craft in this state, and in January, 1897. he was elected grand recorder of the grand council Royal and Select Masters. The duties of these three offices occupied his whole time and to them he gave the best energies of his nature. Mr. Conover was also an active member of the Order of the Eastern Star, was elected grand patron of Michigan. October 9. 1884, and re-elected in 1885. The following year he was elected most worthy grand patron of the general grand chapter O. E. S. of the United States.
On the 13th of May, 1863, Mr. Conover was married to Mary I. Wharton of South Bend, Indiana, and they resided in that city and in Lafay- ette and Indianapolis for short periods. In July. 1866, however, they came to Coldwater, Michigan, which was thereafter his place of residence. His devoted wife preceded him to the home bevond only a few months, passing away December 25, 1902. Their children were as follows: Charles A., L. Lenore, Kate B., Mara W. and George W., but the last named died in in- fancy. Mr. Conover became a member of the Christian church when a young man and for thirty-six years was an active member of the Presby- terian church of Coldwater, his funeral service being held in this house of worship. He departed this life April 15. 1903, and the burial service was conducted by the officers of the grand lodge of his beloved fraternity.
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