USA > Michigan > Allegan County > A twentieth century history of Allegan County, Michigan > Part 12
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In 1866 he was elected on the Republican ticket to represent the Alle- gan district in the state senate, and in the spring of 1867 he was elected a member of the state constitutional convention and aided in framing the organic law of the commonwealth. He served in that body as chairman of the committee on miscellaneous provisions and was on the committee of the judiciary. As a member of the latter he submitted a proposition for a di- vision of the state into judicial circuits for the purpose of providing three judges for each circuit which should alternate with one another in holding terms of court en banc which would relieve the supreme court of a very large amount of business at a very little expense. After some slight changes this proposition was adopted by the committee and became a part of the ill-fated constitution of 1867. In 1868 Mr. Williams was re-elected a member of the state senate and served in that body as president pro tem and as chairman of the judiciary committee. He was very active in the senate in this term, being recognized as one of its leaders and leaving the impress of his individuality upon the legislation that was enacted during that time. In 1868 he was made a delegate to the national convention at Chicago, and in 1872 he was appointed a member of what is now known as the state board of corrections and charities, in which capacity he served for about two years. Following the death of Congressman Foster he was elected to congress by the Republicans of the fifth district and served for two terms. retiring on the expiration of that period, on the 4th of March. 1877. In 1843 he was a member of the committee of the Pacific Railroad. In May, 1877. he was appointed commissioner of railroads of the state of Michigan and held the office for about six years. He was a Republican from 1855 until his death, and prior to the organization of the party he was a Whig, casting his first presidential ballot for General Winfield Scott, and loyalty and patriotism guided his every public act and he had the keen com- mon sense that enabled him to use the practical means at hand in working toward the ideal, so that he accomplished results and promoted the best in- terests of the commonwealth. He held membership in C. J. Bassett Post No. 56. G. A. R., and was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. serving as vestryman of the church in Allegan from 1858 until his demise. He was also a member of the board of trustees of the Ackley Institute. a church school at Grand Haven, Michigan, for young ladies, acting in that capacity from the organization of the institution.
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HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
In Rochester, New York, in September, 1855, William B. Williams was married to Miss Marietta Osborn, a niece of Nehemiah Osborn, the builder of the city hall in Detroit and of the state capitol in Lansing. In their family were five children: Marian L., the wife of Frank L. Rudd, of Detroit ; William B., who is living in Manitoba; Ella, the wife of T. S. Up- dyke, of this county; Theodore O., of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Frank Hawley.
The last named entered the common schools at the usual age and passed through successive grades until he was graduated from the high school of his native village in 1881. He spent the summers of 1881, 1882 and 1883 in working on his father's farm near Allegan, and in the winter of 1881-2 he was a student under H. W. Foster, preparing for the univer- sity. He taught in district schools and also as a substitute in the normal and high school's at Allegan in the winter of 1882-3, and thus earned enough money to pay his tuition for one year at the university, pursuing an en- gineering course. Because of limited financial resources he had to leave the institution at the end of the first semester in February, 1885, after which he became a clerk and student in the law office of his father. On the 21st of October, 1886, he was admitted to the bar and became a partner of the law firm of W. B. Williams & Son. He had charge of the Kellogg estate, which he controlled until his election to the office of judge of probate. In the summer vacations he made use of his engineering knowledge, and in the summer of 1887 was employed as transitman to survey the extension of the Columbus, Lima & Milwaukee Railroad to Saugatuck. He was also ap- pointed village surveyor of Allegan October 3, 1887, and was reappointed each year until March, 1891, and made a compilation of village surveys and a permanent record of the same. In May, 1891, he was appointed city en- gineer of Big Rapids, going to that place to do such work as was re- quired, and acting in that capacity until May, 1895. In March, 1894, he was appointed village attorney of Allegan, Michigan, hokling the office for one year. In March, 1896, he was re-appointed and served until March, 1898. On the 3d of September, 1896, after a vigorous campaign Mr. Williams was unanimously nominated for the office of probate judge of Allegan county, and was elected by a majority of nineteen hundred and seventy- two. At a meeting of the judges of probate within the district of the Kala- mazoo asylum he was elected secretary of a preliminary organization with a view to perfecting a state organization. At Lansing, in March, 1897, he was unanimously chosen as president of the state organization of probate judges and held that office until October, 1899. In 1900 he was made sec- retary and treasurer of the above society, which office he still holds. At the meeting in Detroit in 1898 he recommended that a committee be ap- pointed to revise the probate blanks of the state. The association adopted the recommendation with the provision that Judge Williams should appoint the committee and act as chairman. Judge Jewell, of Kent county, and Judge Maynard, of Eaton county, were named as his co-laborers on the committee and the second revision was carried through and adopted by the state. Judge Williams was unanimously renominated by the Repub- licans of Allegan county for a second term as judge of probate, August 22, 1900, and re-elected by majority of twenty-four hundred and thirty-six. He was again elected in 1904 with a majority of thirty-eight hundred and forty-
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one, and still holds the office. He was elected president of the village of Allegan in March, 1906.
Judge Williams was reared in the faith of the Republican party and has always remained as one of its stalwart advocates, casting his first presidential vote for Benjamin Harrison, in 1888. He was secretary of the Republican county committee from 1894 until 1896, was chairman from 1898 until 1900, and was delegate at large from Allegan county to the state convention held at Grand Rapids in June, 1900. He was made a Mason in 1893 and held many offices in Allegan lodge, No. 111, being elected master in December, 1898, serving for three years. He is now high priest of Eureka Chapter, No. 50, Royal Arch Masons, and chairman of committee on appeals in the Grand Lodge of the state. He has also attained the thirty- second degree of the Scottish Rite.
The specific and distinctive office of biography is not to give voice to a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments but rather to leave the perpetual record of establishing his character by the consensus of opinion of his fellowmen. That Judge Williams occupies a notable posi- tion among the able lawyers of Allegan county is shown by the many times his professional associates have honored him with official preferment in their fraternal organizations, and that the public accords him prominence is dem- onstrated by his re-elections to the position which he is now filling and also by the respect which is uniformly tendered him.
IRA CHICHESTER was a representative of one of the old families of the county. He was a son of Abijah and Betsey (Olmstead) Chichester, who were farming people. The father removed from Connecticut about 1805. and settled in Otsego county, New York, where, aside from his farm labors, he engaged in teaching school, winning a reputation in his community for strict integrity, as well as ability as an educator. In 1834 he left Unadilla, New York, and made his way westward to the town of Otsego, in Allegan county, Michigan, settling upon a farm which he had purchased four miles below the village. Here his wife died in 1837. He survived until 1856. when he passed away in Gun Plain, Allegan county. In their family were seven children, three sons and four daughters.
This number included Ira Chichester, who was born in Unadilla, Otsego county, New York, March 6, 1823. He was therefore about twelve years of age at the time of the removal of the family to the farm purchased in Otsego township, Allegan county. Upon this farm he was reared to man- hood, acquiring only such education as the early district schools afforded, but this he supplemented by much private study, and throughout his entire life he added to his knowledge by reading, observation and experience, be- coming a well informed man. In common with the other members of the family he experienced the hardships and privations incident to pioneer life. and shared with the family in the arduous task of developing a farm. He became also a teacher in the pioneer schools, and otherwise occupied him- self as a carpenter and joiner. His brother, Aaron Chichester, who was a surveyor by profession and for several years held the position of county surveyor, instructed Ira Chichester in that science, and he surveyed much of the county of Allegan. He afterward became county surveyor, in which capacity he served for several terms, during which time he made a
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trip to the Grand Traverse region to inspect and approve the construction of a state road. His home life was marked by constant industry. With the exception of the year 1860 he represented his township on the board of supervisors from 1858 until 1866, inclusive. During his service occurred the great Civil war, and the duties that devolved upon him were of a most arduous nature. The familics of deccased and disabled soldiers received his carnest aid, and all have cause to esteem him with gratitude for the assistance which he rendered in those days of trial and suspense. For ten consecutive years he held the office of county treasurer, being first elected in 1866, followed by four re-clections. In all of the political positions to which he was called he was chosen as a Republican, having joined the party at its formation in 1856. He continued his allegiance thercto until his death, and was always deeply concerned in its welfare and willing to help in party in- terests financially or otherwise. His interest in cducation was deep and sin- cere, and in both towns which he resided he gave much time to the care of the schools. Hc was director of the Otsego Union schools in 1861, and remained a director, or at least a member of the school board, until his re- moval to Allegan in 1867. Soon after he took up his abodc in the latter place his services were solicited by Allegan people in a similar capacity, and he was a member of the school board for eight or ten consecutive ycars, re- signing in 1887, when he went to Europe with most of his family, spending a year in travel. At the founding of the First National Bank of Allegan in 1871 Mr. Chichester became a stockholder, and so remained until his death. He was also a member of the board of directors, and was many times chosen vice-president. He likewise extended his banking interests to Pe- toskey, where his interests were cared for by his son Lcon. Save for the supervision of his invested interests and his connections in the banking business Mr. Chichester lived practically retired from active business after 1877
In June, 1854, when thirty-one years of age, Mr. Chichester was mar- ried to Miss Ann Mary Ives, daughter of Friend Ives, one of the most prominent citizens of Allegan county of his day. For twenty-six years they remained husband and wife, and Mrs. Chichester then passed away in New Hampshire, losing her life in an accident while traveling. In the family were four children, two of whom died in infancy, while two survive, Leon, of Petoskey, and Fred I. Chichester, of Allegan, both of whom were associated with their father in banking for some years prior to his death. On the 14th of December, 1882, Ira Chichester wedded Mrs. Esther E. Robinson, of Plainwell, who still survives him. He passed away in August, 1903. One who knew him well said of him: "Mr. Chichester was altogether a man of unique character. He was quiet in his ways of life and little inclined to controversy, yet he was a man of very positive opinions, and he had a highly terse and original way of stating them. He disliked shams as heartily as he was averse to display, and was as honest and unalloyed all through as he appeared to be at the surface. Geniality was a marked characteristic, which was heightened by his quickness of wit and his strikingly pithy ways of expressing his thought. He quickly grasped the fullness of a proposition or condition of things, and as readily formed an opinion, to which he stanchly adhered while manifesting full respect for the views of others. He was generous in his helpfulness to the needy,
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but of his charities and his assistance of those deserving help one would never hear from his own lips. He was the truest of friends and the gentlest of men in his treatment of others-charitable toward their failings. but with no tendency to condone wrong in them. Accumulating a consid- erable fortune, and for many years lending the money he gained by hard work and plain living, the writer in more than forty years' acquaintance with him never once heard the charge of oppression made against him by any debtor, and he never invoked the law until there was no other course remaining, while in many cases he subjected himself to actual loss rather than cause distress. While not accepting some of the dogmas of religious bodies and uniting with no church, he nevertheless was deeply religious in thought and of singular purity of life all his days. He was optimistic about everything, having an abiding faith that all things would work out final good; and as for the future he had that simple faith which Whittier ex- pressed in saying :
"'I know not where his islands lift Their fronded palms in air. I only know I cannot drift Beyond his love and care.' "
FRED I. CHICHESTER, cashier and largest stockowner in the First Na- tional Bank of Allegan, was born in Otsego, Michigan, August 28, 1866. Honored and respected by all, there is no man who occupies a more en- viable position in financial circles in this county, which fact is due not alone to the success he has achieved but also to the straightforward methods he has ever followed. It is true that he entered upon a business already estab- lished, but in the control of this he has enlarged its scope and developed it along modern lines, his success resulting from close application. indefat- igable energy and a thorough mastery of the principles of banking. He was only four months old when his parents removed from Otsego to Alle- gan, and he acquired his education in the public schools there, passing through successive grades until he had completed the high school course. He afterward pursued a law course in the University of Michigan with the class of 1887, but never engaged in the practice of his profession. He spent one year in traveling in Europe, and in August, 1888, entered the First National Bank as bookkeeper. Subsequently he became teller and later suc- ceeded his brother. Leon Chichester, in 1891, as cashier, in which capacity he has since served, and has the entire management of the concern.
On the 18th of June, 1890, Mr. Chichester was united in marriage, in Allegan, to Miss Clara B. Sherwood, a daughter of Austin W. and Cath- erine (Mayhew) Sherwood. By this union there is one child, Leon S., who was born in Allegan. Mr. Chichester is a Republican with intimate knowl- edge of party issues, yet without aspiration for office. He is a worthy scion of his race, and while keeping in touch with modern conditions of life and of business activity, he yet manifests many of the sterling traits which characterized his father and made Ira Chichester a leading and most respected citizen of Allegan county.
FRED LITTLEJOHN, now engaged in the mortgage, loan and real estate business in Allegan, was born in this village December 30, 1868, and is a
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HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
representative of one of the old and prominent pioneer families, the name of Littlejohn being associated with the county's history from an early epoch in its development. The father, John Littlejohn, was born in Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and came to Michigan with his parents in pioneer times. The grandfather was P. O. Littlejohn, a son of Colonel John Littlejohn, who was born at Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, October 10, 1790. He ae- quired an academic education, and before he attained his majority had gained considerable reputation as a teacher in the district schools of his na- tive place. After the outbreak of the war of 1812 he offered himself as a volunteer defender of the Union and was commissioned lieutenant. He was wounded at the famous battle of Lundy Lane, and was commended for his bravery by General Scott, the commanding officer. Following the close of hostilities he engaged actively in business, being connected with the eon- struetion of the Erie eanal and sueeessfully executing large contracts and winning an enviable name for integrity, honesty and upright character. To him belongs the credit of building the most difficult link in the first impor- tant railroad in this country-the inclined plane between Albany and Schenectady, New York. He was also conspicuous in the building of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the James river and Kanawha eanal. About the year 1840 he removed to Allegan, where he invested considerable eap- ital, taking up the work of developing the resources of this place with his customary energy and enterprise. One of the commendable results of his business capacity and diligence was the building of the first flour mill of considerable size in the county. Impaired health, however, obliged him to live retired from active business during the last decade of his life and he passed away while on a visit in Omaha in January, 1868. Colonel Little- john was twice married. He first wedded Miss Amy Dewey, who died seven years later, and in 1823 he wedded Miss Eleanor Newkirk, of Mont- gomery county, New York, where she was born November 23, 1799. She lived to an advanced age.
P. O. Littlejohn, the grandfather of our subjeet, removed from the south to Michigan, clearing a farm in Allegan county, upon which he lived until his death. He was very active in township, county and state affairs, and a prominent and influential man in his day, leaving the impress of his individuality for good upon the public life and improvement of this portion of the state. He married Ellen Kerby in this eounty, and they became the parents of three children, of whom John J. Littlejohn was the eldest. The two living are Mrs. W. F. Clarke, who resides in Allegan county, and Mrs. Dr. F. M. Calkins, who is living in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
John J. Littlejohn was brought to Allegan county when about five or six years of age and was reared amid the wild scenes and environments of the frontier. He acquired his education in this county, where he followed farming for many years and the latter part of his life was devoted to the livery business in the village of Allegan, in which he was engaged at the time of his death, which ocurred in 1899, at the age of fifty-eight years. He held various township offiees and like his father and grandfather was an in- fluential factor in publie life and one whose aid could be counted upon to further any progressive publie movement. He married Miss Emma Defendorf, who was born in Rochester, New York, and came to Michigan
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Philip Padyhan
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with her parents, Nelson and Mary (McKelvey) Defendorf. Unto Mr. and Mrs. John J. Littlejohn were born two children.
Fred Littlejohn, the only living representative of the family at this writing, pursued his education in the schools of Allegan, passing through successive grades until he had become a high school student. In his youth and early manhood he followed various occupations and later engaged in the livery business, with which he was connected from 1887 until 1904. In the latter year he turned his attention to the mortgage, loan and real estate business, in which he has prospered, having dealt quite extensively in farm land. He is thoroughly conversant with realty values in this part of the state and has negotiated many important property transfers.
In 1903, in Allegan, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Littlejohn and Miss May Damerell, who was born in Kalamazoo, and is a daughter of W. J. and Mary (Mills) Damerell. They now have one child, Virginia, born in Allegan. Mr. Littlejohn is a Democrat in his political affiliation and is socially connected with the Masons and the Knights of Pythias of Allegan, and the Elks of Kalamazoo. His entire life has been passed in the village where he yet resides and where he has so directed his labors that his record is in harmony with that of his ancestry-one of the most prominent and honored pioneer families of Allegan county.
JUDGE PHILIP PADGHAM, who since the Ist of January, 1893, has oc- cupied the bench of the circuit court, stands as an able defender of the rights and liberties of the people, for his knowledge of the law is broad and comprehensive, and he discharges his duties with a sense of conscien- tious obligation that has received the endorsement of the general public with re-election. Judge Padgham was born in Wittersham parish, in County Kent, England, March 24, 1839, his parents being Thomas and Elizabeth (Underdown) Padgham. The father was a farmer and laborer and came from England to the new world with his family in the year 1851, settling at the town of Farmington, Ontario county, New York, where he resided for a time. In the family were twelve children, who are now widely scattered over several states of the Union, including Ohio, New York, Iowa, Michigan and South Dakota.
Judge Padgham attended the boys' school in Wittersham parish until ten years of age. His curriculum embraced little beyond reading, writing and spelling, and with his parents he left England for America in March, 1851. His father had always been used to hard labor and did not think it necessary for a boy to have more education than the judge had acquired up to the time he left England. He was a poor man with a large family, so that the son was put to work as soon as they reached the United States. Judge Padgham therefore did not attend school very much for a number of years, but when about seventeen years of age, realizing the necessity and value of an education if one would win advancement in life, he re- solved to further attend school. Contrary to the wishes of his father he obtained a chance to do chores for his board and the privilege of attending school in the village, and for two terms was a student there. In the fol- lowing year he spent two terms in the academy at Macedon, New York, and in the fall of 1858 came to Michigan, where he secured a situation as teacher, being thus employed until March, 1859, at Blissfield, Lenawee
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county. In the spring of the latter year he removed to Centerville, St. Joseph county, Michigan, where he entered the high school as a pupil, and the following autumn he engaged in teaching in Burr Oak township, in St. Joseph county, where he remained as teacher for two years. In June, 1861, he was married, and on the Ist of September, of the same year, he entered upon his work as a teacher in Centerville school, where he remained until 1868. Ambitious for further advancement along intellectual lines, while teaching in Centerville he devoted his evening hours to reading law and in June, 1868, was admitted to the bar. He practiced for a short time in Centerville, and in June, 1869, removed to Plainwell, Allegan county, where he formed a partnership with Silas Stafford, an old lawyer of that place. The relation was maintained until May, 1873, when Judge Padgham withdrew and entered into a partnership with the late Judge Dan J. Arnold, who was afterward elected circuit judge of the county and circuit. In the meantime Judge Padgham was elected and served for two terms as prosecuting attorney for Allegan county and built up a large practice, in which he continued actively until January 1, 1893, when he succeeded Judge Arnold upon the bench of the circuit court. He has since presided over this court and his record on the bench has been in harmony with his record as a man and also as a lawyer-distinguished by unswerving in- tegrity and a masterful grasp of every problem presented for solution. In early youth Judge Padgham became imbued with a desire to become a lawyer and by many years of hard study and by depriving himself of many pleasures that other young men enjoyed, he at length prepared for the bar and entered upon a practice which proved very satisfactory both from a pecuniary and professional standpoint. It was not confined to Allegan county alone but reached out into many of the adjoining counties of the state and also to the supreme court of the state. He prepared his cases with great thoroughness and care, presenting his cause in a strong, clear light, reasoning and common sense, and through his logical arguments and sound deductions he won many notable forensic contests and became recognized as one of the ablest members practicing at the bar of southern Michigan. The offices which he has held have largely been in the line of his profession. In 1870 he was elected circuit court commissioner of Allegan county and served for two terms. In 1874 he was chosen by popular suffrage to the office of prosecuting attorney and also acted in that capacity for two terms. He was president of the village about 1888, after having served for a term as a member of the city council. In politics he has always been a stalwart Republican and up to the time he went upon the bench was usually on the stump during the state and national campaigns.
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