USA > Michigan > Allegan County > A twentieth century history of Allegan County, Michigan > Part 35
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Mr. Dow has been a life-long Republican, casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln. He has never sought or desired office yet has taken an active part in assisting worthy friends to office, and delights in the victories of his party. Fraternally he is connected with Jacob G. Fry Post No. 46, G. A. R., of Ganges, and is a member of the Independent Order of ()dd Fellows, of the Knights of the Maccabees, and the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the degree of Knight Templar in the commandery. He is in hearty sympathy with the teachings and tenets of these organiza- tions which are based upon mutual helpfulness and brotherly kindness. From a humble financial position he has steadily worked his way upward and though he has met many difficulties and obstacles in his path he has displayed a resolute, determined spirit that has enabled him to overcome difficulties and disadvantages and gain a place among the substantial and prosperous residents of Allegan county.
JOHN TUCKER, who follows farming in Ganges township, owns one hundred acres of land which is devoted to the cultivation of fruit. He has operated this place since 1892 and brought it under a high state of cultiva- tion. One of Michigan's native sons, he was born in Wayne county in 1867, and was there reared and educated. His parents were Jolin and Margaret ( Beatty) Tucker, the former a native of England, and the latter of Ireland. The birth of John Tucker, Sr., occurred in 1831, and in the year 1851 he crossed the Atlantic to the new world. Soon after coming to Michigan he settled in Wayne county, where he lived for a number of years and in 1876 he removed to Allegan county, locating in Ganges township, where he bought eighty acres of wild land, at once beginning the arduous task of clearing and developing it. He vigorously prosecuted his work, placed his fields under a high state of cultivation and erected substantial buildings upon his property. He was an industrious man, whose life though eventful, was active and useful, for he won a gratifying measure of prosperity. He died in 1896, and is still survived by his widow who yet re- sides upon the home farm. The family numbered six children, all of whom reached years of maturity : William H., deceased ; George, Lorenzo, Amos, John and Alonzo, deceased.
To the public school system of Michigan John Tucker of this review is indebted for the educational privileges he enjoyed. At an early period in life he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits and has always followed farming, meeting with considerable success up to the present time. As stated, he located upon his present farm in 1892 and he owns here one
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hundred acres of land in Ganges township not far from South Haven. On this farm he has two thousand peach trees, three hundred pear trees, one hundred and seventy-five cherry trees and one hundred and twenty apple trees besides considerable small fruit. His annual products find a ready sale on the market and the work of picking and packing make the farm a very busy place during the summer months. He carries on his work along modern seientifie lines, in keeping with a knowledge that has been acquired in recent years concerning horticultural pursuits and the care of the trees.
In 1888 Mr. Tucker was married to Miss Bertha Lamour, a native of Michigan, and they now have three children, Basil P., Lawrence R. and Hildred M. The family are well known in the community where they reside and have a circle of warm friends.
CENTERS IN MANLIUS TOWNSHIP.
It will be remembered that Manlius township was the first township area to receive a separate eivil organization, although it continued so only a short time, when other town areas were added to it. This township was "promoted" in the early days, and its early organization and population were doubtless largely the result of this activity. John Allen, at the head of a party of capitalists, undertook, in 1836, to lay out a city on sections 7 and 8, naming the site Richmond. He secured the services of Ralph R. Mann to direet the work of improvement. It was proposed to erect a large saw- mill and around it build a thriving eity. A number of laborers were hired to begin the work, and the enterprise progressed to the point where a store and some houses were erceted and the mill raee begun, but the financial fail- ure of Allen, at a time when the entire country was in a crisis of hard times, doomed the undertaking to failure, and nothing remains of permanence to mark this ambitious attempt.
After the failure, R. R. Mann moved to a location south of the first site and erected a water-power sawmill on the ereck. This was the first practical milling enterprise in the township, and became the nucleus for a settlement that received the name of Manlius. A store was opened by John- son Parsons, and a tavern by John Roce. The place had some importance as long as the mill remained and before the railroad came. but was abandoned in 1874, and the village of New Richmond having received considerable impetus in the meantime. Manlius soon declined and in time was discontin- ued as a railroad station.
For twenty-five years New Richmond was the principal railroad sta- tion and supply point for all the country along the river between that place and the lake. The site was chosen as a station because of its convenience to Saugatuck and Douglas both by river and overland, and as soon as the railroad was completed in 1871 postal and passenger communication was opened between these points and a connection established that lasted until the interurban line from Holland to Saugatuck gave a quicker means of access to the villages at the mouth of the river. H. F. Marsh laid out the village of New Richmond, and was proprietor of the first sawmill and store. Two taverns were opened, Gilbert Lamoreaux opened another store, and the business activity of the hamlet increased. The stages that ran from this place to Saugatuck added to the liveliness of the village, and with lum-
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bering and an increasing fruit-farming vicinity New Richmond enjoyed considerable prestige. Its activity is now confined to fruit and grain ship- ping, besides several stores and the usual institutions of a place of its size.
A part of the Fennville village site lies in Manlius township, but be- sides this the only center worthy of mention is East Saugatuck, near the north line of the town, a station on the Pere Marquette Railroad. East Saugatuck is a village growth resulting from the settlement of Hollanders that overspread this portion of the county. The first settlement had been made there about 1859. but lumbering remained about the only industry of that vicinity until the railroad came. On the completion of the latter a store was opened at the station and in 1873 a postoffice established. The business of the village has never been large, but it is a well defined locality and has long been one of the centers of the Reformed church.
JOHN LUBBERS, merchant and postmaster of East Saugatuck, Michigan, is a widely known and popular citizen of Manlius township, of which he has been a resident since March, 1876. His birth occurred in Ottawa county, Michigan, October 9, 1849.
Mr. Lubbers is a son of George and Maria (Kolvoord) Lubbers, both natives of Holland, who immigrated to this country in 1847, and were among the first to locate in a settlement which has been since largely occupied by their countrymen in Ottawa county, Michigan. Here the elder Mr. Lubbers purchased one hundred and thirty acres of good farming land. During his residence at this place he held a number of township offices, among them that of school director and highway commissioner. He was the father of nine children, seven of whom reached maturity, and of the latter number six are living, viz .: John, Tryntje, Ralph, Gradus, John L. and Kate.
John Lubbers was raised in Ottawa county, and there learned the wagon-maker's trade, which he still carries on at East Saugatuck, his son acting as manager. He has been postmaster of East Saugatuck since 1897. at which time he also opened a grocery store in that place, adding the next year the busines of undertaker. His general wagon repair shop is exten- sively patronized and has grown to a lucrative business.
Mr. Lubbers has attained a great popularity among his fellow citizens and they have honored him with numerous public offices. He has been a school officer since 1871 ; township treasurer in 1886-7; two years a high- way commissioner, supervisor of the township since 1890, being re-elected each year since; in 1898-9 chairman of the board of supervisors, which office he has filled with marked ability, and for the last four years has been chairman of the committee on claims, and was a member of the building committee when the Sheriff's residence and jail was built in Allegan in 1905 and 1906. He has also been for more than twenty years a director of the Ottawa and Allegan Fire Insurance Company.
He was married, in 1876, to Miss Gertrude Sprik, and to them eight children have been born, six of whom are living: G. John, George, Mary, Ada, Andrew and Gertrude. The Lubbers family are members of the Reformed church, in which church Mr. Lubbers holds the office of deacon. His daughter, Miss Mary, is assistant postmaster and notary public.
MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM H. STOW
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HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
WILLIAM H. MCCORMICK .- Perhaps no man is better known in his vicinity than William H. McCormick, whose family has always held a high place in the respect and confidence of the people of Allegan county. The father of our subject, James McCormick, came from Niagara county, New York, in 1837. and was the first white man to take up land in the township of Manlius. This land was heavily timbered, and comprised a quarter- section, costing one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. Upon this prop- erty James McCormick built a log house, and began immediately to clear and improve the land. He was an enthusiastic hunter. and on intimate terms with the Indians, with whom he enjoyed many days' sport, deer. bear, wolves, foxes and turkeys being in abundance. As time passed, and Michigan became more settled, the home of Mr. McCormick became the stopping place for the incoming homeseeker in that part of the state, and with the characteristic habit of the Scotchman at large he extended hospital- ity to all. In 1853 he built a modern frame house, in which our subject now resides. He was married to Maria Billings, to whom thirteen children were born, six of whom are living, viz .: William H .. George C., Robert C .. Mrs. Belle Pullman. Nathaniel, of Fennville, and Mrs. Ella Braithwaite. His death occurred July 24, 1892, at the age of eighty-seven years.
Our subject was born in Manlius township, in 1840, and was the first white child born in that section of Allegan county, remaining there until grown. During the dark days of the rebellion when the call went out for volunteers William McCormick was one of the first to offer himself, and joined Company A. Third Michigan Cavalry, with which command he fought during his entire term of service, being promoted to the rank of Sergeant for valor. He underwent many hardships and dangers during the term of his service, and had three horses shot under him, but escaped injury himself, and was honorably discharged in November, 1864.
Upon returning to civil life Mr. McCormick again turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, and is now one of the representative fruit growers of the great "fruit belt" of Michigan, owning three hundred and twenty acres of land, on which are planted ten thousand fruit trees of various kinds. beside other small fruits.
In 1867 Mr. McCormick was wedded to Helen M .. daughter of A. M. Crawford, and to them one daughter has been born: Vernina E., now wife of W. S. DuVall, present station agent at Fennville. In politics Mr. McCormick is a Democrat, and has filled the office of commissioner of high- ways for fourteen years and of justice of the peace for four years. He is a member of Damascus Lodge, No. 415. F. and A. M., and Allegan chapter. also of the I. O. O. F. and the Grand Army of the Republic, of the last named being past post commander.
WILLIAM H. STOW, whose birth occurred in Manlius township October 4. 1874, is proprietor of "Rover's Rest Ranch and Resort." located six miles above Saugatuck on the Kalamazoo River. His ranch is an ideal one and beautifully situated. Here, in days gone by, the warriors of the Pottawat- tamie tribe of Indians used to camp. for it was one of their favorite resorts. On a prominent point, commanding a magnificent outlook, our subject con- templates building a large hotel. This site was occupied, years ago, by an Indian fort, the Indians realizing not only the beauty of the location but
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that it was admirably adapted to defend. Mr. Stow is a young man of enterprise and enthusiasm, and recognizing the superior advantages of his resort-both by reason of its location and surroundings-intends making it still more accessible by running. a launch to and from Saugatuck, on the Kalamazoo River.
Our subject was raised and educated in Manlius township, and after having come to man's estate traveled extensively. He is now engaged in farming, fruit growing, market gardening, and dairying, conducting all these occupations with marked success. His farm consists of about fifty- eight acres, the same being part of his father's farm. He is a son of Ed- ward J. and Sarah M. (Lamoreux) Stow, the former having been born in Stow, Summit county, Ohio, March 18, 1822, and dying in the year 1903, the latter being a native of New York state and dying the same year as her husband, but two months later. Edward J. Stow, whose father died when he was but a small boy, was an only son. His grandfather, Captain William Stow. of Connecticut, who with his family removed to Ohio in an early day, was the founder of the village of Stow, in Summit county of that state. The husband of Harriett Beecher Stowe was related to Captain Stow ( whose branch of the family had dropped the final "e" from their names ). and they were also connected with the Beecher family, the sister of Lyman Beecher having married one of the Stows. The family has been distin- guished in the history of the United States and traces its ancestry back to the Pilgrim fathers who came to this country in the historic Mayflower.
The father of our subject moved from New York to Michigan in 1844, but did not settle in Manlius township until 1859. It was almost an unbroken wilderness at that time, but he took up two hundred acres, and during his lifetime fifty acres of it were cleared. Timber was very accessible in those days and the elder Mr. Stow devoted some time to lumbering on the Kalamazoo river, seven years in all. In 1859 he took a trip to Colorado, riding to and from that state on horseback, and consuming a year on the journey, visiting among other points of interest the famous Pike's Peak. In 1861, during our long and bloody Civil war, the call went out for volunteers, and he joined the Union Army as a corporal in Company I. Thirteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry. With this command he served his country faithfully and well. He was wounded by bushwhackers during the war and carried some buckshot till the time of his death. Ile has the distinction of having been the first man in his part of the country to set out a peach orchard : truly a distinction, as this same section has now the repu- tation among unbiased judges of producing the finest peaches to be obtained in the United States. The senior Mr. Stow was highly respected by his fellow citizens, who showed their confidence by conferring upon him most of the township offices, electing him, among other offices, as the first school director in the township. Socially he was a member of the A. H. Fenn Post of the Grand Army of the Republic at Fennville, of which post he was senior vice.
His children numbered four: Frank, deecased : Allen C., who mar- ried Miss Dessie Knickerbocker and is the father of two children, Samuel E. and Candis : William H., our subject ; and M. Adella. The two latter are unmarried. They are both respected and efficient members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Fennville.
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HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
CHARLES N. GIDLEY, of Manlius township, a representative farmer and fruit-grower of that locality, owns a fine farm of eighty acres, with two thousand fruit trees of various kinds, all in a fine state of cultivation, and testifying to his skill and thrift as a farmer. He was born in Manlius township in 1854, and has resided there continuously since. Mr. Gidley is a son of A. P. and Lucinda ( Mecker) Gidley, natives of New York and . Pennsylvania, respectively. A. P. Gidley, in company with his parents. John S. and Jerusha (Petitt) Gidley, left New York state for Michigan in 1842 and purchased eighty acres of land. the same composing the farm now occupied by our subject. It was virgin forest at that time, but was almost entirely cleared before the death of John S. Gidley, the grandfather of our subject. A. P. Gidley, the only child of John S., and the father of our subject, was only seventeen years of age when he came to Michigan in company with his father, as aforementioned. There were born to him three children : Charles N., John and Robert. deceased.
Charles N. Gidley was married in 1881 to Miss Junia Mills, and while this is a pleasant union yet no children bless it by their presence. Mr. Gidley holds the full confidence of his fellow citizens and has held the office of township treasurer for two years and is now in the sixth year as township clerk. In politics he is a Republican and a staunch and ardent supporter of his party. Socially he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which order he has passed through the chairs.
WILLIAM MICHIN, a well known farmer of Manlius township and pro- prietor of the "Evergreen Fruit Farm," was born in Buffalo, New York, July 13. 1840. He is a son of William and Ellen Michin, who were both natives of Ireland, the former of whom died in 1842. Their family con- sisted of five children, three of whom are living. Our subject was the fourth of these children in order of birth.
William Michin, our subject, came to Michigan from Niagara county. New York, in the early sixties and settled on his present farm. In 1863 he entered the employ of the government as wagon master and in that capacity served one year.
He was united in marriage in 1874 to Miss Agie Warren, by whom he has had two children : J. W., who married Miss Ann Jenson, and Minnie. Mrs. Agie Michin is also a native of New York state, having been born in Ontario in January of 1840.
Mr. Michin is an extensive and practical farmer and his farm, thirty acres of which lies in Manlius township and sixty-five in Saugatuck town- ship, shows the care and skill that he has expended on it, making it one of the most attractive farms to be seen in that vicinity. This farm has four thousand peach trees, two hundred apple trees, one hundred pear, and fifty cherry trees upon it, and is a very choice piece of property from a fruit- grower's standpoint. although Mr. Michin has not devoted himself exclu- sively to the production of fruit, but has gone in for general crops and has developed his farm into a substantial and good-paying proposition. The buildings on this farm are very attractive and are among the finest struc- tures to be found anywhere in the township.
EDWARD LAMOREUX, one of the representative farmers of Allegan county, was born in Manlius township in 1851 and has resided there con-
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tinuously since. He is a son of Ebenezer and Harriet E. (Thornton) Lamoreux, both natives of New York, who moved to Michigan in 1844 and purchased the farm on which our subject now resides. It was then in a primitive state, but they set about clearing and improving it, and even at that early date set out ten acres of peaches. They erected the buildings which still stand on the property and prepared the farm for its present pro- cluctiveness. Ebenezer Lamoreux, whose father was a native of France and whose mother was born in England, was born in 1827 and died October 12, 1894, aged sixty-seven years. His wife, Harriet E., died in January, 1902. There were six children born to them, of whom our subject is the eldest: Edward, Daniel (deceased), William (deceased), Eliza J., Frank (deceased), and Margaret.
Edward Lamoreux was united in marriage on November 22, 1881, to Elenore Enders, of which union have been born the following children : Louis, February 16, 1883 ; Hattie A., November 18, 1884: Levi E., Novem- ber 24. 1886; Floyd E., July 18, 1889; Tressie, April 10, 1892; Arthur D., April 8, 1895: Claude M., September 6, 1897; Lovel and Lucille (twins), April 23, 1906, and two other children, now deceased, one of whom was a twin of Floyd. Mrs. Lamoreux was born at York, Pennsylvania, in 1864. Her parents, both natives of Pennsylvania, came to Michigan in 1866 and located near White Pigeon, where they followed farming as an occupation. They moved to Allegan county in 1877 and located in Clyde township, on a farm of eighty acres. Mrs. Enders is dead, but Mr. Enders still survives, and is now, 1906, in his eightieth year. They were the parents of twelve children, eight of whom are still living, three of them in Allegan county : Mrs. Lamoreux, Mrs. Elizabeth Truax and William Enders.
AUGUST KLUCK, a farmer of Manlius township, whose postoffice is Fennville, was born in Germany in 1844. In accordance with the law of the "fatherland" he served for three years in the German Army, but in 1870 emigrated to the United States and has since been a loyal citizen of the land of his adoption. He came directly to Chicago, where he remained for a short time, and then moved to Allegan county, where he has since resided.
Mr. Kluck was married in 1877 to Miss Kate Orther, a native of Indiana and a daughter of Jacob and Barbara (Nedwinger) Orther, both of whom were born in Germany, coming to this country in the fifties and reaching Michigan in 1864. To this union ten children have been born, seven of whom are living: Thomas F., August J., Maggie, Christopher, . Louis, Jacob and Charles.
As is characteristic of Germans as a race, Mr. Kluck is thrifty, economi- cal and industrious, and his farm shows in its appointments and in the satisfactory returns from the sale of its produce the painstaking care and thought that he has expended in improving it. The farm comprises sixty- nine acres, set to apples, pears, plums, cherries, and including two acres devoted to the raising of strawberries. This is the second farm that our subject has owned in this township, the first, consisting of eighty acres, having been disposed of to Mr. E. L. Hutchinson.
Mr. Kluck and his sister, Mrs. Pauline Geske, wife of August Geske,
MR. AND MRS. AUGUST GESKE
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HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere, are the only members of their father's family that came to this country.
AUGUST GESKE, whose postoffice is Fennville, is a member of the Fruit Growers' Association and a representative farmer and fruit grower of Manlius township. He was born in Germany and spent the early years of his life there. In conformity to the German military law he was pressed into the army service when he arrived at the proper age and served his native country for five years, being in active service in the German-Austrian war. Again in 1870-71 he took part in active service in the war between Germany and France, and was twice wounded in engagements.
In 1873 Mr. Geske began to feel a great longing to see the United States, and as many another German farmer has done packed up his belongings and emigrated to America, settling in Douglas, Michigan, where he resided until 1881, moving in that year to Manlius township and settling on the farm on which he now resides. This farm at that time contained but sixty acres, but he has added to it from time to time until now it con- tains one hundred and twenty acres of choice farming and fruit land, brought to its present high state of cultivation by the energy and enterprise of Mr. Geske.
He is one of the largest and most scientific fruit-growers in the "fruit belt" of Michigan, but has not devoted his entire thought to that branch of agriculture, doing instead general farming, which has proved satisfactory and lucrative.
Mr. Geske was married to Miss Pauline Kluck, to whom seven children have been born, five of whom are living: Frank, August, John, Rose and Mary, all of whom were born in Allegan county.
GEORGE A. HARE, proprietor of the "Walnut Grove Farm" in Manlius township, was born in the township in which he now resides in 1859. Here he was raised and received his education. He is a son of Adolphus and Hannah (Daily) Hare, the former of whom is a native of New York state and the latter born in Ohio. They moved to Michigan in 1845 and pur- chased eighty acres of uncleared land as a homestead. This was entirely cleared and improved before their death. Adolphus Hare was a veteran of the Civil war, having served as a member of Company H, Third Michigan Cavalry. His death occurred July 22, 1864. at Duvalls Bluff, Arkansas, his wife surviving him until 1902. Their family consisted of twelve children.
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