USA > Michigan > Allegan County > A twentieth century history of Allegan County, Michigan > Part 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85
SIMON SIMONSON, a well known and prosperous farmer of Saugatuck township and one of the large fruit-growers north of the Kalamazoo river, manifests in his business career the unfaltering industry and perseverance which have ever been dominant characteristics of the Norwegian race. A native of the land of the midnight sun, he was born April 28, 1835, his par- ents being Simon and Carrie Hanson, both of whom were natives of Nor-
136
HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
way. In their family were six children, five of whom came to this country, namely, Hans, Andrew, Julia, Martha and Simon.
The last named remained a resident of his native country until about twenty-eight years of age and during that period acquired a fair education in his youth and was trained to habits of industry and frugality, which have in later years borne rich fruit in his active business life. The year 1863 witnessed his emigration to the United States and in 1871 he bought his first farm in Saugatuck township. The land was in its primitive condition but the sound of his ax soon awakened the echoes of the forest and the track of the plow had in a brief time soon crossed the fields. Thus the wild land was converted into a productive farm, which soon brought him substantial returns for his labor. To his original purchase he kept adding from time to time as his financial resources increased until he had acquired one hundred acres, the last purchase being made in 1886. He is one of the extensive fruit growers north of the Kalamazoo river and in former years he had eighty acres devoted to peaches and apples, but has reduced his peach orchards to five acres. He now has two hundred pear trees and four hundred cherry treees, besides much small fruit, including straw- berries and blackberries. In addition to his work along horticultural lines he carries on general farming on an extensive scale. He has erected a commodious and comfortable residence with a basement under the house and his is one of the attractive country homes of the locality.
January 26, 1866, Mr. Simonson was united in marriage to Miss Marie Olson, a daughter of John and Malena Olson. She was born in Norway, and with her parents came to the United States in 1855. Her mother died that year and her father married for his second wife Enger Peterson. There were six children by the first marriage and three by the second. He became the owner of eighty acres of land in this county, on which he resided from 1857 until his death, which occurred in 1884. His wife survived him until 1891. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Simonson have been born seven children: Charles, Caroline and Carrie, all deceased: Sophia, Josephine, Herman C. and Martha. The family are members of the Lutheran church and are highly respected by their neighbors as people of genuine personal worth. Mr. Simonson has lived a life of unremitting industry and unabating energy, acquiring all that he now possesses through his own labors.
JERVIS H. KIBBY seems to be fitted by nature for the hotel business, possessing a genial disposition and kindly spirit-qualities which are essen- tial to the successful hotel proprietor. He has conducted the Douglas House at Douglas, Michigan, since 1874, and has gained a wide reputation for the able manner in which he caters to the public taste. One of Allegan county's native sons. he was born in the village of Allegan on the 10th of December, 1843, his parents being Barton and Hannah (Star) Kibbv, the former a native of New York and the latter of Ohio. They emigrated to Michigan prior to their marriage, becoming pioneer residents of Allegan county, where they located in the early '50s. They became acquainted and were married here, and Mr. Kibby, who was a carpenter by trade and an expert mechanic in his line, became one of the useful and highly respected
137
HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
residents of Allegan. The family numbered three sons and two daughters : Lewis, William, Jervis, Mrs. Julia Knickerbocker and Mary, deceased.
Jervis H. Kibby has spent his entire life in the county of his nativity, and in his youth acquired a good English education in the public schools. He was about thirty-one years of age when he took charge of the Douglas House, of which he has since been proprietor. His hotel is large and of modern construction, thoroughly up-to-date in every respect. He can accommodate from forty to fifty guests, and since 1894 he has been largely entertaining city people who come to this locality for the summer. He has put forth every effort to make his house and its surroundings pleasing and attractive-a fact which his numerous guests appreciate to such an extent that the Douglas House is always occupied to its full extent through the summer months. Beside being a prosperous and popular host he is also a successful horticulturist and fruit grower, and owns eighty acres of excellent fruit land, situated in Saugatuck township, and known as the Uba Dam Fruit Farm. There are three thousand peach trees, one thousand pear trees, one hundred cherry trees and a large number of apple trees upon his place, and as he has raised his fruit from good nursery stock, the size and quality of his products are such as to secure a ready sale on the market. This farm has been in possession of Mr. Kibby since 1881, and has been carefully controlled and successfully managed by him.
In 1864 occurred the marriage of Jervis H. Kibby and Miss Jane Updyke, a daughter of David and Elizabeth Updyke, who were early settlers of Ganges township. Mr. and Mrs. Kibby have a daughter, Mrs. D. Plummer, now of Chicago. In his fraternal relations Mr. Kibby is connected with Dutcher Lodge No. 193. F. & A. M. He has served as trustee of the village of Douglas and in community affairs is deeply inter- ested. Not to know Jervis H. Kibby in Douglas and in this part of Allegan county is to argue one's self unknown. His circle of friends is co-extensive with the circle of his acquaintance and he possesses a genuine worth and genial disposition which have made him very popular.
F. H. HERBERT is proprietor of the Riverside Fruit and Stock Farm. To say that he is a practical and wide-awake business man is but just and merited praise, and in fact he deserves even more commendable language. for he is not a follower but a leader in the work of progress as manifest in the scientific agriculture and deserves classification with the leading representatives of horticultural and agricultural life in this part of the country. His farm is both attractive and profitable and has the appearance of being operated by a master hand. Indeed, every detail about the farm presents an appearance of thrift and neatness-a result which is due to the efforts of Mr. Herbert, whose labors are now most practical as well as of a progressive character.
A native of Illinois, F. H. Herbert was born on the-15th of Mav. 1858, and was brought to Michigan at the carly age of six years by his parents, Henry and Sophia (Herbst) Herbert, both of whom were natives of Germany. They crossed the Atlantic to the new world in 1853 and became residents of Chicago. The father is a tanner by trade and in early life also acquainted himself with the butchering business. He is now living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His family numbered eight children, but only
138
HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
two reached years of maturity, and the subject of this review is now the only surviving one of the family.
As previously stated, F. H. Herbert was brought by his parents to Michigan when a lad of six summers and was educated at Schoolcraft, this state. He learned the machinist's trade and followed that pursuit for five years, relinquishing it only on account of failing health. Removing to Saugatuck he continued a resident of that village for three years and thence went to Douglas, where he remained until 1878. In that year he made a trip abroad, visiting England, France, Germany, Switzerland and Holland, remaining in the old world an entire year, and visiting many points of historic and scenic interest. On his return he took up agricultural pursuits, but after a brief period he made a trip to South Bend, Indiana, and later to Racine, Wisconsin, spending three years in the latter city. He finally located in Grand Rapids, where for fourteen years he was engaged in the transportation business, and on leaving that city he came to his farm, whereon he has since resided. It passed into his control in 1894, at which time it was in a run-down state and needed many improvements in various ways. It is today a model property under a high state of cultivation, as the result of the well directed labors and keen business discernment of Mr. Herbert. He has upon his place apple orchards covering twelve acres, six acres of peaches, four acres of pears and one of plums, while one and a half acres is devoted to the cultivation of strawberries. The production of fruit is therefore an important branch of his business and the products of the farm because of the excellence of the nursery stock are of high quality and flavor, and bring a ready sale on the market. Mr. Herbert has also stocked his farm with the best blooded cattle and fleet-footed horses, and he likewise raises poultry and keeps very fine varieties of chickens. His farm contains sixty acres under cultivation and one hundred and twenty- five acres of bottom land, which he uses for pasturage.
On March 29, 1881, occurred the marriage of Mr. Herbert and Miss Annie Doornkaat, a daughter of Sebo and Alice Doornkaat. They now have one son, Joseph, who is upon the stage. Mr. Herbert is a member of various fraternal organizations, including the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of the Golden Eagle, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is likewise an active member of Dutcher Lodge No. 193, F. & A. M., and he and his wife hold membership relations with the Eastern Star. Mr. Herbert is a strong advocate of the cause of temperance, whose life is in conformity with a high standard of moral ethics and who in his business and other relations closely adheres to the golden rule. He is a self-made man in the best sense of the term, owing his education as well as his prosperity to his earnest and unfaltering labors, and while leading a busy life he manages to keep in touch with the trend of modern thought and progress. The Riverside Fruit and Stock Farm is now a valuable property and is the visible evidence of the thrift and energy which have found exemplification in the life of its owner.
CHRISTOPHER SCHULTZ, a well-to-do farmer of Saugatuck township, owning one tract of land of fifty acres on section 21, and another tract of sixty acres on section 22, carries on his work along most practical lines, resulting in success. Born in Germany in 1841, he is a son of Fritz and
139
HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
Sophia (Gustoff) Schultz, both of whom were natives of the fatherland. In 1852 they emigrated to the United States with their family, settling first in Chicago, where they remained for three years, while in 1855 they came to Saugatuck, Michigan, where the father purchased forty acres of land adjoining what is now the village of Douglas. The tract was formerly owned by Jonathan Wade, and the land was still in its primitive condition but was cleared during the occupancy of Fritz Schultz, who, however, subsequently sold it to a Mr. Williams in 1864, and purchased a part of the land now owned and operated by his son Christopher, becoming owner of a forty acre tract. Only about three acres of this had been cleared, so he again took up the arduous task of reclaiming raw land and transforming it into a productive tract. Christopher Schultz came into possession of the farm in 1887 upon the death of his mother, his father having passed away some years previously. There were two sons in the family, but Frederick is now deceased, leaving Christopher Schultz as the only survivor.
When a youth of fourteen years he accompanied his parents on their removal to Saugatuck township. He was, however. a youth of only eleven years at the time of the emigration to the new world. His education was acquired to some extent in Germany, in Chicago and in Michigan, and from the age of fourteen years he has continuously resided in or near Douglas. Previous to inheriting his present farm he purchased forty acres on section 21, and on coming into possession of the old homestead he took up his abode there and now owns one hundred and ten acres situated on sections 21 and 22, in Saugatuck township. On the sixty-acre farm he has five acres set out to fruit and on the fifty-acre farm a tract of fifteen acres is devoted to horticultural pursuits. In the raising of both fruit and grain he is quite successful and now has a well developed and productive property. In 1888 he erected his present residence, which is a modern home, built in tasteful style of architecture.
In 1867 Mr. Schultz was united in marriage to Miss Emma Albright, a daughter of Henry and Emma Albright, and they have become the parents of seven children-Frederick, Henry. Lewis, George, Charles, William and Minnie, the last named the wife of Thomas Bennet. Mr. Schultz has held the office of road commissioner for three years and has been a member of the school board for two terms. No trust reposed in him has ever been betrayed in the slightest degree and on the contrary he is ever conscientious in the discharge of his public duties, which he prefers to do to the best of his ability. Socially he is connected with the Knights of the Maccabees.
LIEUTENANT WILLIAM WHITE .- The gentleman whose name intro- duces this sketch bears a most honorable record in both military and private circles, and his honesty and integrity is ever above reproach. He is one of three brothers who emigrated to the United States, one of whom, David. is a resident of Saugatuck, and whose parents were George and Jane (Desson) White, both of whom were natives of Scotland. but later took up their abode in America, making their home in Nova Scotia, where both the father and mother passed away. Their family numbered six sons and five daughters, but one of the number has passed away.
William White was born in Nova Scotia March 2, 1836, and was there reared and educated to the age of nineteen years. Having heard favorable
140
HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
reports concerning the United States and the opportunities which it offered to young men of ambition and enterprise, Mr. White, in company with his brother David, decided to try his fortune in this country, and accord- ingly, in 1855, made his way to Michigan, locating in Saugatuck township. and both he and his brother have since continued their residence here to the present time. After a decade had passed, Mr. White, having saved his earnings, was thus enabled to start out in life on his own account and made a purchase of eighty acres of land, which was in its wild and uncultivated state. He at once set to work to clear his land and develop his fields, and soon his property was placed in a productive and improved condition. . He plowed his fields, planted his crops, and each year annually harvested crops, and as time passed and his financial resources permitted he further improved his property by the erection of good buildings, which are modern and con- venient in their construction and thus add materially to the value of his farm. He later increased the boundaries of his farm by the purchase of an additional twenty-acre tract, so that his place now comprises one hundred acres of good land, which has greatly increased in value since coming into his possession and today it ranks second to none in Allegan county. He has a fine orchard, containing one thousand peach trees, four hundred pear. trees, three hundred apple trees, one thousand plum trees, twenty-five cherry trees and twelve hundred currant bushes, and thus it will be seen that fruit growing is an important branch of his business. In addition he carries on general farming and altogether has met with unbounded success in his business venture.
His private business interests were interrupted when, in 1862, the call was made for loyal men who were willing to give their service in defense of the Union at the time of the Civil War. Mr. White willingly responded, for he had formed an attachment for his adopted country. He enlisted as a private in Company I, Fifth Michigan Volunteer Cavalry, but was soon promoted to the office of first sergeant in 1863. In 1864 he was taken prisoner at Stevensville, Virginia, and was sent to Andersonville prison. where he was held for one year. after which he was exchanged and returned to his regiment. In 1865 he was promoted to the office of second lieutenant, and when he received his discharge was serving as first lieutenant. With the exception of the year he was held as a prisoner he took part in all the battles and skirmishes of his regiment, and during his service was never ill or wounded and never missed a meal. At the close of hostilities he returned home. having made a most creditable military record.
Mr. White was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Martin, a daughter of Josiah and Amy Martin, who were numbered among the carly pioneer settlers of Allegan county. Unto our subject and his wife have been born three daughters-Mrs. Jennie Marwedel. Mrs. Mary A. Koning, and Bessie, the wife of William G. Tisdel. Mr. White has served as justice of the Union at the time of the Civil war. Mr. White willingly responded. supervisor for two years, being the present incumbent in that office. He holds membership relations with the Grand Army of the Republic. in which he has served as senior vice-commander and has also been aide-de-camp on the state staff, thus maintaining pleasant relations with his old army comrades. Mr. White has led a very busy life and is honored by all with whom he has been associated, for he is known for his reliability and
141
HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
straightforward dealing, and a review of his life history will show that his private and political relations have, like his military record, been creditable and honorable.
HERMAN CLAUSEN .- Experiment and scientific investigation have com- pletely revolutionized the business of fruit growing in the last quarter of a century and wonderful results have been produced through the utilization of modern methods. Herman Clausen is among those who, keeping in touch with the spirit of modern progress, are winning success as orchardists in Allegan county. He resides in Saugatuck township and his thrift, enter- prise and close application have caused him to gain a position of prominence in the line of business activity, to which he is devoting his time and energy,
A native of Denmark, Mr. Clausen was born March 12, 1855. He is a son of Christian P. and Dorothy (Clausen) Clausen, who were also natives of Denmark. Their family numbered three children, but our subject is the only survivor and is the only one that emigrated from Denmark. He was reared and educated in that land, receiving liberal advantages in the Latin school at Schleswig, but as the years passed by, leaving their impress upon his mind, his plans changed and his thoughts turned into another direction. While yet in his teens he served in the Prussian army under Frederick in the Ninth Army Corps of the Flying Artillery for one year. He emigrated to the United States in 1872, attracted by the broader oppor- tunities and greater advantages of the new world. Making his way to Chicago, he entered upon business life in this country as a traveling sales- man and was thus employed for a number of years by the National Biscuit Company. When his savings justified his embarkation in business on his own account he established a grocery and market, which he conducted successfully until 1904. and in the meantime he had made judicious invest- ment in property in Chicago, where he still owns considerable realty. In the meantime, however, he became owner of farm land in Saugatuck town- ship, Allegan county, Michigan. His present farm was purchased in 1902 and is known as the R. M. Moore farm. Locating upon this place, Mr. Clausen here owns one hundred acres of first-class land and also rents forty acres, so that he is now cultivating one hundred and forty acres. On his own farm he has seven thousand peach trees, four hundred pear trees, three hundred cherry trees, three hundred apple trees and two hundred plum trees, while two acres are devoted to small fruits, including blackberries and raspberries. Mr. Clausen intends pushing his fruit-growing industry to a high state of perfection and of magnitude, and has already gained a place among the prominent agriculturists of Allegan county.
Mr. Clausen was happily married to Miss Belvina, a daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Stratton, on the 22d of April. 1881. She was born in Allegan county in 1863. Her father was a successful lumberman and farmer of this part of the state and owned and operated one hundred and twenty acres of fine land. He died in 1902, but the mother still survives.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Clausen is an Odd Fellow, in sympathy with the principles of that organization. He has served his township as path master and is looked upon as one of the worthy and valued citizens of his adopted country. A man of business ability. he is sagacious and far- sighted, readily recognizing and utilizing opportunities. The alert and
142
HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
enterprising spirit which characterized him in his business relations in the western metropolis has been manifest in the promotion of his agricultural pursuits in Allegan county and argues well for a successful future in this line.
REV. JAMES F. TAYLOR .- "The world is better for his having lived," was the universal verdict when the Rev. James F. Taylor passed from this life. Really the whole of his manhood was devoted to the work of the church and yet this did not entirely cover the field of his activity, for he stood for progress and improvement in all those lines of life which are of benefit to men and continually broadened his knowledge by reading and investigation. He did much to promote the horticultural interests of Michigan in his later years, and was an active worker in the State Horti- cultural Society. Far-reaching and beneficial was his influence and many lives have been helped by his wise counsel and his words of encourage- ment and truth. He was born in Penn Yan, New York, November 4, 1824, and came of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He was named in honor of his grandfather, James Taylor, who came from Lough Brickland, county Down, Ireland, and settled at New Windsor, Orange county, New York, about 1770. When the colonies attempted to throw off the yoke of British oppression he joined Washington's army and participated in the battle of White Plains and other engagements with the British troops along the Hudson river that led up to the final victories that crowned the American arms and established American independence. In 1816 he removed to western New York, and a year later took up his abode in Yates county. His son, William Taylor, became a farmer of western New York and wedded Margaret Coleman. Three members of their family are still living: William M., of Penn Yan; H. R., of Clifton Springs, New York; and Mrs. Sarah Rappleye, of Bellona, New York.
The boyhood and youth of James F. Taylor were spent upon his father's farm, and the outdoor life bringing vigorous exercise, undoubt- edly laid the foundation for the strenuous work which he was able to perform in his later professional career. He prepared for college at Franklin Academy, at Prattsburg, New York, and matriculated in Amherst College in 1848. He was graduated from Union College, at Schenectady, New York, in 1852, and afterward pursued theological and post graduate courses at Princeton and Yale, thus being provided with the most liberal educational privileges. His was a mind well trained in the severest school of investigation and to which close reasoning became habitual and easy. In June, 1902, he had the pleasure of celebrating at Union College with six of his classmates the fiftieth anniversary of their graduation. He was ordained to the ministry of the Congregational church at Pekin, Niagara county, New York, January II, 1855, and served as pastor of churches of that denomination at Pekin from 1854 until 1856; at Newark, Illinois, from 1857 until 1859; at South Bend, Indiana, in 1859 and 1860; at Chelsea, Michigan, from 1860 until 1867; and at Saugatuck from 1868 until 1877. During his pastorate at Chelsea, which covered the trying period of the Civil war, he was engaged for a time on work for the Christian Commmission with the Union army in Kentucky. After the close of the Saugatuck pastorate he was frequently called upon to supply
143
HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
vacant pulpits in that vicinity and, up to the date of his death, continued active in the work of the church and Sunday-school, having resigned the superintendency of the Sunday-school of the Congregational church in Douglas only January 1, 1903, after twenty years of continuous service. His wide acquaintance with the earlier settlers in western Allegan county caused him to be called upon to officiate at weddings and funerals in their families long after he gave up the active work of the ministry, so that he was personally known to a very large portion of the people of the lake shore region. Impaired health having warned him of the necessity for an out-of-door life, in 1872 he purchased the farm on the lake shore southwest of Douglas, to which he removed his family from Saugatuck village in 1877. There he established a very successful orchard and nursery, which he continued to direct until the time of his death. He was one of the organizers, as well as one of the strongest supporters of the Saugatuck and Ganges Pomological Society, and for many years was an active worker in the State Horticultural Society. In all his connection with these and similar organizations he stood for advanceemnt and progress along conservative lines. His interest in educational matters caused him to be chosen continuously for many years a member of the school boards of Saugatuck and Douglas villages, and he was for many years a member of the county board of school commissioners. Through his educational work he was continuously in touch with the younger people as they grew up around him and came to exert a wider influence upon the community than falls to the lot of most men, many young men and women having received their stimulus toward effort for self-improvement and progress from him and his beloved wife. Modest and unassuming in demeanor, he was everywhere recognized among those who knew him as a man of sterling worth, sound judgment and most kindly disposition, whose loss is most keenly felt by the community. His health in recent years was such as to cause his friends but little concern until the present summer, and his sudden death, after only two or three days of distinct sickness, came as a severe shock to his many friends.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.