USA > Michigan > Allegan County > A twentieth century history of Allegan County, Michigan > Part 10
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"We have succeeded, as you know, in locating one industry ( the French Plate Glass Co., of which Mr. A. Wertzler is president), which we have reason to believe will be of great benefit to the town, and in securing the active co-operation and assistance of many public-spirited citizens in carry- ing out the object of the association.
"My experience in the past year makes me believe, and I would sug- gest, that the future work be divided to the following commitees :
"Home industries, to keep in touch with local factories, to aid and help them in difficulties, should any arise.
"Foreign Industries, to continue the work of interesting out-of-town manufacturers in Allegan as a location for business of any kind.
"Advertising, to keep the name of the town and its advantages before the public, and to do everything legitimate to boom Allegan.
"Finance, to provide funds for the backing of the association in its work.'
The new officers of the board of trade and the committees are named as indicating the men who are behind the movement of progress in the village :
President, Gustav Stern; vice-president, T. M. Cook; secretary, Fred Littlejohn; treasurer, Leonard Stein; board of directors. Messrs. Edwy C. Reid, C. W. Young, M. D. Owen, J. P. Badour, O. S. Cross, Ira Montague, W. W. Vosburgh, J. F. Marty, J. E. Young, A. L. Robinson.
Finance-F. I. Chichester, Dan Stern, F. H. Williams, C. G. Messinger, S. D. Pond, Fred Littlejohn.
Local Industries-J. E. Young, Siebe Baker, C. W. Young, J. J. Fire- stone, E. A. Post, H. D. Pritchard.
Foreign Industries-M. D. Owen, Edwy C. Reid, J. P. Badour, I. C. Montague, A. L. Robinson, David Burgess, H. H. Cook.
Soliciting-F. I. Chichester, Leonard Stein, Ira Montague, (). S. Cross.
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HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
Advertising-W. W. Vosburgh, C. F. Davison. O. S. Cross, Frank Andrews.
Railways-E. Williams, T. M. Cook. M. C. Sherwood. T. S. Updyke. Artus W. Sherwood.
Good Roads-Edwy C. Reid. Harry Lutts. G. L. Hicks, Chas. J. Morse. Charles E. Bond.
So long as a village consists of a collection of dwelling houses, stores, shops and mills, arranged more or less in order along streets, its class as a center of population must be considered rather that of the hamlet than that of a first-class village. Allegan, as already stated, was incor- porated with village government in 1838, so that it was the first center in the county to become independent in a measure of the township system. But for nearly thirty years this village government did not signify the village improvements that it does now. It was not till 1863 that the first practical effort was made to protect the village from fires. Fire protection is one of the first things sought in an organized community and without it a village cannot hope to grow or to induce valuable industries to locate. Allegan had many fires in its early history. One in 1836 destroyed some of the first buildings erected on the site. In 1863-4 equipment to the extent of a hand engine, hose, and hook and ladder, was purchased and installed in an engine house built on the southeast corner of the courthouse square. In 1869 occurred the conflagration which destroyed the west side of Brady street. This aroused the authorities to action. First, the fire department was thoroughly reorganized, and three companies, an engine. a hose, and a hook and ladder company were placed on effective footing and disciplined.
The second result of the fire, was the institution of water works. Nego- tiations took place between the village officials and the originator of the Holly system of water works, and in March, 1871, the citizens, by a vote of 225 to 130. favored the installation of the system and the bonding of the village to the amount of $25,000 to carry the proposition into effect. Double turbine-engines were first used for forcing the water, and mains were laid through the business district and gradually extended to the residence districts. By 1873 the works had been proved satisfactory, and the engine company of the fire department was then dispensed with, the pressure in the mains being sufficient. Before the system was complete nearly $50,000 had been expended by the village.
Even with water works and alert fire department, the village was not exempt from fire. March 12, 1884. the most disastrous fire in the village's history swept up the south side of Hubbard street, driven by a strong wind from its starting place in a wooden building about opposite the new Sher- man House, and when its progress was stopped by the fire wall at the corner of Brady and Locust, leaped to the north side and consumed most of the structures on both sides of Locust street north to Trowbridge. The fire wall alone is said to have prevented its progress toward the manufac- turing district.
This was the last large fire in Allegan. The burned district was cleared . of debris and, like American communities in general, the work of rebuild- ing soon commenced. Thus it is that the business portion of the village is quite new, most of the brick blocks being less than twenty years old.
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HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
The village hall and fire house, on Trowbridge street, dates from 1888. The resolution calling for its construction was offered in the council December 2, 1887, and the following September the contract was awarded at $6,450. The first floor contains the hose carts and hook and ladder and other apparatus, while the upper floor is for council rooms and clerk's office.
The water works have been from time to time improved and extended. In March, 1896, the village voted an issue of bonds not to exceed $7,000 for repairing and improvement. September 11, 1901, at a special election, it was voted (242 to 67) to bond the village to the amount of $15,000 for the installation of new pumps at the water works.
In April, 1903, the proposition carried by popular vote to bond the village $26,000 for the improvement of the water works and the water power.
THOMAS E. STREETER, SR .- No history of Allegan county would be complete without mention of Thomas E. Streeter. His residence in the village covers a longer period than any other citizen, while his interest in public life and his enterprise in business have constituted an important factor in the substantial upbuilding and improvement of this portion of the state. Wherever he is known he is honored and he is best liked where best known.
He was born in Rochester, New York, July 9, 1832. His father, Elias Streeter, was a native of Phelps township, Cattaraugus county, New York, where his parents, Thomas and Ruth Streeter, spent a number of years. His early life was passed uneventfully. He had good home training which developed those qualities of fortitude and perserverance which enabled him in later life to fill so successfully the role of a pioneer. He early engaged in lumbering pursuits in the Empire state and while still a resident of the east he was married. It was in 1825 that he wedded Miss Julia Ann Bowen, of Springville, Cattaraugus county, New York. He first came to Michigan in the interests of the Boston Company as its representative in the lumber business and he was also actively connected with building opera- tions and in furthering the interests of the village of Allegan in many substantial ways. He arrived here in 1835 when the county was largely a wilderness, which had been punctured to only a slight degree by the white settlers who had come to the west to plant the seeds of civilization in a region which had hitherto been under the domain of the red race. Mr. Streeter co-operated in many movements for the public good and he left the impress of his individuality upon the general upbuilding and development. He was likewise known as a representative and enterprising business man and was an expert in building dams, constructing many of them in the county during the years of his active business career here. His wife was identified with the Society of Friends or Quakers and was a lady who exemplified in her life the spirit of kindliness and gentleness inculcated by that religious sect. In the family of this worthy couple were five sons and five daughters, but only four of the family are now living: Thomas E., of this review; Mrs. Jane Currie, of Ohio; and Mrs. Nellie Davis and Mrs. Mary Fosdick, twins. The father died in Allegan, July 22, 1868, and thus passed away one of the representative pioneer settlers of the county.
Thomas & Struter is wife
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HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
Thomas E. Streeter was only three years of age when brought by his parents to Michigan, at which time there was but one house in the village of Allegan. Mr. Streeter is without exception the oldest resident of the village, his connection therewith antedating that of any other settler by ten years. He has watched the transformation of this part of the state from a wilderness into a rich farming district and has seen the village developed from a tiny hamlet into a thriving town. There were Indians living in Allegan county at the time of his arrival and there were many wild animals that roamed through the forest, while various kinds of wild game, including deer, and many fowls were to be had in abundance. It was amid such environments and surroundings that Thomas E. Streeter spent his boy- hood days, sharing with the family in the hardships and privations incident to pioneer life, and also enjoying many pleasures that are unknown in this day. He acquired his early education in the first school established in Allegan, it being located on what is now Brady street, just north of the City Hotel, the first teacher being a Mr. Warner. Mr. Streeter continued to attend the schools of his time until he reached the age of seventeen years. After coming to young manhood he worked in a sawmill and later, when his financial resources had become sufficiently large, he made purchase of a farm which is now within the village limits. For some time he was thus actively connected with general agricultural pursuits and later he engaged in the hotel business, conducting first the old Exchange Hotel. which he afterward sold and purchased the Allegan House, which he owned for sixteen years, carrying on the business there during most of that time.
In 1859 Mr. Streeter with two companions, furnished an outfit con- sisting of a team and a saddle horse, which they shipped across the lake to Chicago, and from that point proceeded overland to Denver, Colorado. going by way of the Platte river to Fort Kearney, Wyoming, and thence to their destination. On arriving in Denver their joint capital consisted of one dollar and a quarter. They disposed of their saddle horse for a barrel of whiskey and some plug tobacco and, having tents, they located there and erected a shanty for a store, after which they sold the goods for which they had made the trade. Subsequently Mr. Streeter engaged in building operations there and built many of the crude houses of the early day in Denver, residing there for two years. He was very successful in his busi- ness undertakings in the west. He returned to Allegan, where he has since lived. He tells of many exciting experiences in the west with the Indians and relates many events connected with the establishment of the now prosperous and beautiful city of Denver. He conducted the first trial ever held in Denver, he being instrumental in securing the judge, prosecut- ing attorney and jury, while he acted as counsel for the defense, who was charged with the theft of a gun. Through Mr. Streeter's efforts he was acquitted. This proceeding was conducted strictly in keeping with pioneer and frontier conditions, and came to pass before the days of the vigilance committee. In 1863 he entered the army as a sutler and so continued for about a year. In all that he undertook he met with success and his pros- perity is attributable in large measure to the fact of his ready recognition and utilization of opportunities.
He has been particularly prominent in the improvement of the village both through private business interests and also furthering any movement
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instituted for the general good. In 1884 he built the Allegan Opera House, which he still owns, while his son, Thomas E. Streeter, Jr., is now acting as manager. He also has about forty acres of land on Miner Lake in Allegan township, which he has converted into a fine summer resort. He has there a number of boats, also sheds for horses and all conveniences for the entertainment of large or small parties who desire to spend the day there. He is likewise building at this place at the present time a summer residence of cement blocks thirty by thirty-two feet, and containing seven rooms, to be occupied by his family during the summer months.
Mr. Streeter is recognized as one of the most influential and substantial residents in the county and village of Allegan and has long been recognized as a leader in those movements which have had direct bearing upon the welfare and progress of the county. His fellow townsmen also called him to a number of local offices. Prior to the Civil war he was constable of the village of Allegan and also deputy sheriff under Sheriff Benjamin Pratt and Sheriff Jacob Grover. He was likewise marshal of the village of Allegan for two different terms.
On January 24, 1864, in Allegan, was celebrated the marriage of Thomas E. Streeter and Miss Eliza MI. Streeter, a daughter of William and Sarah R. ( Bullard) Streeter, of New York. They had three children, of whom two are living, Jennie having died in early girlhood. The sons are Thomas E. and Horace V. The former, born in Allegan, married Nellie Hinton, of Salem township, this county, while Horace V., also a native of Allegan, wedded Jennie Cary, of Mendon, Michigan, who died leaving three children, Faith, Violette E. and Paul H.
Mr. Streeter has from time to time invested in property here, making judicious sales also, and has always owned more or less real estate. In his business interests he has been usually successful. No man has been more closely associated with the history of the county, and from among the ranks of quiet, persevering, yet prominent citizens-prominent on account of what he has accomplished-there is no man more deserving of mention in a volume of this character. His acquaintance is very wide and he numbers his friends among young and old, rich and poor, for his social nature and a genial disposition have made him popular.
GENERAL B. D. PRITCHARD .- For a life of general and widely varied activity and conspicuous success and prominence in his different roles, per- haps no man in Allegan county is better known than Benjamin D. Pritchard. Past the age of seventy, after fifty years of unremitting activity he stands hale and hearty, the picture of health and vigor in life's decline.
Born in Nelson, Portage county, Ohio, in 1835, he received his early education in the public schools and in Western Reserve College, and in 1856, at the age of twenty-one, came to Allegan. He was one of a re- markable group of men who came to the village before the war, and became active factors in the history of the village in succession to an earlier group that may be called the real pioneers, conspicuous among whom were the Elys and Littlejohns and others. Mr. Pritchard began the study of law in 1858, and after graduating from the law department of the State University in 1860 came home to enter a partnership with the la ... Williams, who had also come to the village in the middle fifties and Was
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already entered upon that career of political and legal success which places him among the conspicuous figures of the village and county.
Soon the war came on, involving momentous decisions in the life of every man. The natural leaders in civic life were expected to take the lead in directing the people in war. and it was soon a question with the firm of Williams and Pritchard which one should take the field. Though Mr. Williams was urgent in demanding the sacrifice for himself, Mr. Pritchard considered his own independence and comparative freedom from re- sponsibilities as superior reasons for being the first to enter active service, and he was soon engaged in the recruiting of a company of Allegan county men for the cavalry service. This became Company L of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry, of which he was commissioned captain August 13. 1862. His military career was brilliant. In active service through the south, he was promoted from captain to lieutenant-colonel of his famous regiment. and as its acting commander took part in the culminating event of the war, the capture of the deposed president of the Confederacy, for which achievement he was brevetted a brigadier-general of the United States Volunteers. The capture of Jefferson Davis and the subsequent contro- versy over that episode made General Pritchard a national figure. For some fifteen years after the war the capture of the Confederate president in disguise excited a profuse and often bitter discussion between the partisans in the north and south. In General Pritchard's report to Washington he told in detail the story of the capture of Davis, and some fifteen years later he felt it proper to say a final word concerning his part in the matter. The article which he then wrote, and which was published in the Allegan Journal, is still in his judgment the most accurate version of the affair. This account, which has not before been published in the history of the county, has been deemed of sufficient importance to be reproduced in its es- sential details, and is quoted at the conclusion of this personal sketch.
At the close of the war General Pritchard returned to Allegan and resumed practice of law with Mr. Williams. But as elsewhere stated. General Pritchard's success had been gained principally in other lines than the law. In public life he has been eminent. In 1866 he was elected on the Republican ticket commissioner of the state land office. being re-elected two years later. He was elected state treasurer of Michigan in 1878. also holding this office two terms.
In business General Pritchard is best known as a banker. In 1870 he organized the First National Bank of Allegan and was its presi- dent until 1905, since which time he has been president of the First State Bank, as mentioned on other pages of this work. He also owns a farm south of the village, and keeps in active touch with these and many other interests.
In 1864 General Pritchard married. in Ohio, Miss Mary B. Kent, a native of that state. Mrs. Pritchard died in 1890, leaving two children. Bertha P., wife of C. R. Wilkes. of Allegan, and Harry D .. cashier of the First State Bank. The latter married Miss Gale Wheeler, of Allegan, and they have two children, Dudley H. and Kent B.
General Pritchard is one of the prominent Odd Fellows of the state. having been grand treasurer of the order for the past twenty-five years.
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He is a charter member of Bassett Post No. 56, G. A. R., having served several terms as its commander.
GEN. B. D. PRITCHARD'S ACCOUNT OF THE CAPTURE OF JEFF DAVIS .- The orders under which I acted were received from Col. R. H. G. Minty, commanding the second division of the cavalry corps, military division of the Mississippi, and from whom, on the afternoon of Sunday, May 7, 1865, I received direct orders to report immediately to him in person for instruc- tions. On my arrival he detailed to me the information received by Gen- eral Wilson from his forces in the direction of Augusta, regarding the movements southward of the principal parties connected with the Con- federate government and the desire to effect their capture, if possible, direct- ing me to proceed with my regiment, the 4th Michigan cavalry, from its camp near Macon, Georgia, down the southerly side of the Ocmulgee river a distance of 75 or 100 miles, to take possession of all the fords and ferries Udlow Hawkinsville, and to picket the river and scout the country north and south of the river as thoroughly as the strength of my command would permit. Certain places appearing upon the maps were thought to be de- sirable points for establishing the headquarters of my regiment, but that matter was left to my own discretion upon arriving upon the ground; and, if pursuit became necessary, I was authorized to disregard all points and communications, and pursue as far as might be deemed necessary even to the gulf or the ocean. In obedience to the orders above stated, which were verbal and strictly secret, I moved with my command from camp at Macon at 8 o'clock the same evening, pursuing the main highway leading down the south side of the Ocmulgee river, in the general direction therewith, leav- ing everything in camp which might in any way impede our free and rapid movemer.t. As this article is not intended to describe in detail the inci- dents of the march, I will simply say that we pressed forward by rapid forced marches, night and day, only halting long enough to feed and rest our horses, until on the 9th day of May at 3 o'clock p. m., when we arrived at Abbyville, 75 miles from Macon, where we first struck the trail of what proved to be the train of the Davis party, and which had gone on in the direction of Irwinsville the night before. Here we also met Lieut .- Colonel Harnden, commanding a detachment of the Ist Wisconsin cavalry, with whom a brief consultation was held, when it was decided that we could not plan any concerted action for the two commands, and that each had better act independently; and then we separated, Col. Harnden with his command pursuing the train on the direct road to Irwinsville with the announced intention on his part of pressing through to that place that night before going into camp. I continued my march down the river after sending Company H of my regiment, under Lieut. Fisk, to take possession of Brown's ferry, one mile and a half above Abbyville.
After moving three miles further we met persons who gave us addi- tional information regarding the character of the train, and also of the roads. Learning that there was another road leading into Irwinsville from a point known as Wilcox's Mills, about 15 miles below Abbyville, I decided to press forward by this road in the direction of Irwinsville, believing that if Mr. Davis was traveling apart from the train, as he was reported as doing, communicating with it from time to time, he would be likely to be
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HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
traveling on the road which I proposed to take ; and if Col. Harnden pressed through to Irwinsville as he expected to when we separated we would place them between us and thus greatly increase the chances of a capture. I accordingly ordered a detail of 150 of the best mounted men of my regi- ment, and seven officers beside myself, but the full detail of enlisted men was not filled owing to the jaded condition of the horses. At 4 o'clock I put the column in motion, moving still down the river road a distance of 12 miles to Wilcox's Mills, where a halt of one hour was made to feed and cool the horses. From thence we proceeded by a blind woods road through an almost unbroken pine forest for a distance of eigliteen miles, to Irwinsville, where we arrived at about 1 o'clock on the morning of May Ioth. The roads were first closely examined in all directions, but no traces could be discovered of the passage of a train or a mounted foree, at which we were much surprised, as we had confidently expected to either meet Col. Harnden at that point or fall in rear of his command and concluded at first that the train must have taken some other course ; but, upon inquiry, and passing ourselves as Confederates, we soon learned that a considerable party had gone into camp just at dark the evening before, about a mile and a half out of town on the Abbyville road. I at first thought it must be the Ist Wisconsin, but upon further inquiry learned that they had tents and wagons which I knew was not the case with Col. Harnden's command. I at onee turned the head of the column in that direction, impressing a negro for a guide, moving my command up to within about a half mile of the camp, where I halted under cover of a small eminence and dismounted 25 men and sent them under command of Lieut. Purinton, with instructions to make the circuit of the camp and gain a position on the road in rear of the enemy, to cut off escape in that direction, to gain the position desig- nated, undiscovered if possible, but, if discovered and alarm was raised, I would charge the camp from the front, and he was to move upon the camp from any position he might then hold; but if no alarm was raised I should take it for granted that he had successfully executed his orders. where he should remain quiet until I should assault the camp, as I had not then decided whether I would attack at once or delay until the appearance of daylight-but finally determined upon the latter course as the moon was getting low and the deep shadows of the forest would render it easy for parties to elude us in the darkness. After waiting in our position about an hour and a half, and until the appearance of early dawn, I put the col- umn quietly in motion and was enabled to approach within a very few rods of the tents before discovery, when a charge was ordered, and in an instant the camp, with its inmates, was wholly within our power without the necessity of firing a shot. The surprise was so complete that not the slightest show of resistance was made, the men not even having time to grasp their weapons which were lying at their sides. The camp was located in the thick pine forest close by a small swamp. A chain of mounted sen- tries, composed of a force specially designated for that duty, swept rapidly around the camp on the instant when the main force dashed into it, thus barring all possibility of escape after the completion of the circuit. This chain of sentries, under the command of an officer, were to maintain their position until all of the prisoners were gathered in and placed under guard. Immediately after taking possession of the camp my adjutant, Lieut. Dick-
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