USA > Michigan > Allegan County > A twentieth century history of Allegan County, Michigan > Part 37
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Mr. Heazlit was married May 2, 1872, to Miss Ella E. Lewis, daughter of George F. and Eliza Lewis, and two children were the result of this union : Ray L. is a successful cotton broker at Mobile, Alabama, and the daughter, Dora E., holds a responsible position as bookkeeper in the same southern city. The latter is a graduate of the Wayland high school and of the Kalamazoo Seminary. Mrs. Heazlit, who has been a faithful helpmeet for her husband. is a member of the Congregational church and of the Ladies' Aid Society in connection therewith. Fraternally Mr. Heazlit is a member of the local Masonic bodies and of the A. O. C. W.
Although he is essentially a very busy man, nevertheless he has found time to perform his duties of a public nature and has served upon the village council and as village treasurer. He has always wisely considered his inter- ests as identical with those of the whole village of Wayland and in conse- quence he has always labored for the advancement of the place in every way. He is public spirited and has ever been a friend of the public schools and other institutions of learning, while to those who have been unfortunate in life he is always ready to extend a helping hand.
DR. EDWARD O. HANLON .- In the medical profession in Michigan today we find a number of young physicians who have not only been highly suc- cessful in the practice of their particular profession, but who have also become interested in various outside enterprises which are of benefit to the communities in which they reside and the duties of which bring to them needed change and relaxation from their regular arduous duties. Such an example we find in Dr. Edward O. Hanlon, a leading physician of Wayland, whose career thus far in life has been a most successful one.
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Dr. Hanlon is a native of Middleville, Barry county, Michigan, where he was born November 21, 1869. His father, Dr. Amos Hanlon, has been a general practitioner of medicine in Middleville for the past thirty-five years and where he is still located, his life being a busy one, filled with the cares of his practice, his duties as a member of the Board of Pension Examiners for Barry county and in the operation of a farm at Middleville. The son, Edward O., obtained his early education in the public school of Middleville and graduated in the high school there. His spare time was spent in the drug store of his father, with whom he also began the study of medicine. With the practical and useful knowledge thus obtained it was natural that he should wish to continue his studies and accordingly he entered the Hahnemann Medical College at Chicago, where he took a most thorough course, graduating with honors in the class of 1893. Although always closely associated with his father all his life, he resolved to establish himself independently and accordingly soon after his grad- uation he came to Wayland and opened an office. That his choice was a wise one has since been demonstrated, for success has been his from the start. He is a general practitioner of the healing art and his ministrations cover a very wide territory hereabouts. He is also well known beyond the immediate confines of his home and is a member of a number of medical societies, including the State Medical Society and the Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo District Medical Society. He owns a small farm upon and within the borders of the village of Wayland and a portion of this is already platted into town lots. His residence, in fact, stands upon a portion of this farm, although close to town and upon Main street. Dr. Hanlon has been president of the Wayland State Bank ever since its reorganization as a state institution, and he is interested in other local enterprises. Politically he is a Republican and alive to the best interests of his party, being active in conventions and other political gatherings. His interest in educational affairs has led to his selection as a member of the village school board, a position which he still holds. Like other intelligent men he knows that our public schools are the Nation's bulwark and he believes in a liberal support of the same.
Dr. Hanlon was united in marriage October 10, 1894, with Miss Louise Hudson, the step-daughter of Mr. E. W. Pickett, and their wedded life has been a particularly happy one. They have three interesting children- Russell, Harold and Margaret. Fraternally Dr. Hanlon is affiliated with the Masons, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of the Maccabees. He is prominent in business circles, is devoted to his profession and is ever working for the best interests of Wayland. Although not a lifelong resident here, he believes in the future of the town and is highly pleased with his own prospects.
DEWITT CLINTON SHATTUCK .- One of the oldest merchants in Allegan county is DeWitt Clinton Shattuck, who, although long past the allotted years of three score and ten, is still to be found managing his large mercan- tile establishment at Wayland, where he has been located in the same line for over a quarter of a century. During the seventy-odd years of his life Mr. Shattuck has had varied experiences and has been engaged in many different enterprises, in nearly all of which he has succeeded.
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Mr. Shattuck's ancestors came from Wales about the middle of the eighteenth century, when two brothers, John and David Shattuck, came from that country to America and settled in the state of New York. John had no children and the Shattucks in this country are all descended from the other brother, David. This David Shattuck secured a tract of land on Ashford Mountain, which later passed into the hands of his son, David, the paternal grandfather of our subject. Our subject's father, Steven Shat- tuck, was born on Ashford Mountain, although this tract of land was afterward sold and another large tract bought by the family near Albany, including an island in the Hudson river. During the War of the Revolu- tion this land near Albany was sold and payment for the same made in Continental currency, which was then good, although afterward the govern- ment repudiated the currency and thus the family lost a large amount of money. In this connection it is interesting to note that after Steven Shat- tuck's death our subject, DeWitt C., found among his effects an eight-dollar bill of the Continental currency, probably a portion of the money paid for the old family estate, and the finder, considering the bill absolutely worth- less, excepting as a curiosity, gave it to a minister of the gospel in the Empire state, who expressed a desire to have it. A few years ago Mr. Shattuck discovered that this bill, as a relic, had a very large monetary value and that he might have obtained a very large sum for it. After the sale of the Albany tract the family removed to Oswego, New York, and from this time there can be traced two distinct lines of the family. The old country practice of leaving the bulk of the family property to the eldest son prevailed and thus one branch of the family rolled in wealth while the other line were in only moderate circumstances. To this latter branch belonged the subject of this review, hence he has been compelled to make his own way in life, achieving, however, a great measure of success.
DeWitt C. Shattuck was born in Oswego, New York, August 8. 1829. and his early life was passed there. At the age of eighteen years he accom- panied his brother, Seth, to Michigan, and soon after their arrival they established a general store at Kalamazoo. In his younger years DeWitt had learned the shoemaker's trade, and at the age of fourteen years he had been bound out to work for a storekeeper in the east, so that he was very well versed in these lines, with a particular aptitude for the mercantile line. Seth in a few years was obliged to retire from the business and for a number of recent years he has lived at Cadillac, this state. DeWitt returned to New York and for the next two years conducted a general store at Martville, that state. Then he returned to Kalamazoo and in a few years purchased a farm in Barry county, where he remained for eighteen years, during which time he cleared one hundred and forty-five acres of new land. While a resident of Barry county that great conflict, the Civil war, began. Being of a patriotic nature he enlisted in the First Michigan Cavalry. Although enlisting as a saddler, he was soon detailed as assistant surgeon and this was his work during nearly the whole of his period of service, which was two years. During the first month of his enlistment he had the small-pox and upon recovering his surgeon recom- mended him for hospital duty. He was surgeon of the small-pox ward at Remount Camp, Pleasant Valley, Virginia, and here he had charge of forty small-pox patients. In 1865 he was sent to Salt Lake City, Utah, for
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hospital service and was there at the close of the war. After the war he returned to his Barry county farm, where he remained until 1876. Then he purchased a farm in Wayland township and remained thercon until 1882, when he established a general store in the village of Wayland, con- tinuing in this line ever since and conducting business at the same location.
In the fire of 1892, which burned a number of stores in Wayland, his store and stock of goods were destroyed, entailing a loss of seven thousand dollars. The insurance rate was almost prohibitive and he was without any protection of this character. With commendable courage and enter- prise Mr. Shattuck at once rebuilt a store upon the old site. The building is as nearly fireproof as it is possible to make one, it having two double walls of cement blocks, with a three-inch air space between. The structure is admirably adapted to the purposes for which it is used and it contains a remarkably well assorted stock of general merchandise which will inventory ten thousand dollars or more. Here can be found anything usually carried in a store of this character and a fine trade is enjoyed, the sales reaching twenty-five thousand dollars per year.
Mr. Shattuck was married at Kalamazoo in 1865 to Miss Maria Antoinette Wilcox and their wedded life of nearly forty-five years was a particularly happy one, terminating in 1901 by her death. Although eight children were born to them, only two reached mature years: Florence is the wife of Charles M. Slas, of Wayland; Hugh, the son, is associated with his father in business. Hugh is married to Alice E. Crittenden and they have two children-Vere G. and Jerome C.
During his long residence in Wayland Mr. Shattuck has always assisted in the building up of the town and he possesses the confidence of the citi- zens as well as of the residents of a wide territory. He is a pioneer in mercantile circles, but keeps ever abreast with modern ways. Upon numer- ous occasions he has been solicited to fill offices of a public character, but has persistently refused, feeling that his own business should receive all of his time and attention.
ELI F. CLARK .- The life history of Mr. Eli F. Clark, one of the leading citizens of Wayland, is in its way a history of the development of the great middle west of our country from pioneer conditions to its present high status of intelligence and prosperity. Originally of English ancestry, the Clarks were among the sturdy frontiersmen who pushed their way from the older eastern states into the mysteries of the forests lying west of them, and in doing so aided materially in the development of Ohio, Michigan and other neighboring states. Our subject's paternal grandfather was Jason Clark, a native of Connecticut, who was one of the very first settlers of Geauga county, Ohio, which was at that time a part of the great Western Reserve. He acquired several farms in Geauga and Lake counties, Ohio, and was also the owner of Clark's Mountain, where our subject's father, Jaimison Clark, was born, and which has retained the Clark name to this day. The date of Jaimison Clark's birth was July 3, 1818, and he passed the early part of his life in Ohio, where he owned a farm in Lake county which had formerly been the property of his father, Jason Clark. Here he was married to Louisa Brewer, a native of England, who came to this country with her parents when about twenty-two years of age. From this
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union there were four children, who grew to maturity: Eli Foster Clark, the subject of this review; Charles E., who entered the Civil war and died in 1866 from the effects of army life when only twenty-two years old ; Ellen, who was the first primary school teacher in Wayland and who thus taught for many years until her health failed, she passing away in 1878: Elva, the youngest, who has also been a school teacher for years in this locality.
In 1854 Jaimison Clark sold his farm in Ohio and started for Michigan with his family, traveling. as was the necessity in those days. by wagon. When near Blissfield, Lenawee county. Michigan, his wagon broke down. and as it was late in the season and work presented itself, he decided to stay there during the winter. In the following spring several families who had been their neighbors in Ohio, the Allens and the Tanners, passed through Blissfield on their way to seek homes in Illinois, and they persuaded the Clarks to accompany them there. This they did, locating at Marengo, about seventy-five miles northwest of Chicago. After three years' residence here Jaimison Clark, tired of the prairie and believing that the Michigan pine air would be good for him, he disposed of his Illinois interests and started for Michigan, finally locating at Wayland, where he and his family made a permanent home. The old neighbors who had traveled with them to Illinois also came to Michigan and settled near Wayland. Jaimison Clark was not a man of robust health, but in spite of this he was a hard worker and accomplished a great deal in life. When the Mormons were at Kirtland. Ohio, he was active in maintaining order during the troubles incidental to their presence there and helped to save much property. In this connection it is interesting to note that the old Mormon temple still stands at Kirtland, it now being used as a town polling place. Jaimison Clark's death occurred August 18, 1869, while his widow survived until October 10, 1891. Both were people of force and character and Mrs. Clark was a member of the Congregational church.
Eli Foster Clark was born in the old Mormon town of Kirtland. Lake county, Ohio. July 5. 1841, and he accompanied his parents to Illinois and on their return to Michigan. Although nearly all his life on the farm, more or less. his principal avocation has been in connection with the lumbering and timber interests. In 1864 he spent six months at Nashville, Tennessee, as an employe of the government, but aside from this his life has been mainly spent in the vicinity of Wayland. In his early manhood he worked at any respectable employment that offered itself, attending school when possible in the winter time. In 1867 he engaged in the mercantile business at Wayland in company with F. B. Henika and continued in this line for twelve years. Then he turned his attention more to timber and did an extensive business in this line for years. He purchased the interest of Mr. Gamwell in the bending works of Hick & Gamwell and an extensive busi- ness was done. A large sawmill was built. Over two million feet of pine was cut here and when this variety of timber was gone attention was paid to other varieties. The bending works turned out vast quantities of wagon material and the Battle Creek threshing machine factories were also supplied with the frames for their machines. Hemlock and other timbers were shipped in from the northern counties and were manufactured into useful material. All this has given Mr. Clark a most valuable experience and he
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is today acknowledged one of the leading timber authorities of this part of the state. In 1899 Mr. Clark sold out his lumber manufacturing interests, since which time he has devoted his attention to farming and fruit growing, in which he first became interested some fifteen years ago. Mr. Clark has a most productive farm two and one-half miles southeast of Wayland, which is devoted to peach and plum growing, and in which his son, Charles Arthur Clark, is also interested. This farm lies high on a hill, natural peach ground, and has produced as high as three thousand bushels of fine peaches in a single season. Mr. Roland Morrill, the Benton Harbor fruit expert, pronounces the Clark farm as making as good a showing as any fruit farm in Michigan. Another farm of sixty-five acres close to Wayland is devoted largely to onions, and here is a marvellous production. The average yield is three hundred and fifty bushels per acre, while from one acre there were secured eight hundred bushels.
Mr. Clark was married December 23, 1868, to Miss Mary Jane McMartin, daughter of Daniel and Jane A. (Powers) McMartin, who were pioneer residents of Gun Plains township, Allegan county. Mr. McMartin was a native of New York state, while Mrs. McMartin was born in Vermont, coming with her family to Michigan in 1833. Mr. and Mrs. McMartin were among the very first to locate in this part of the state and she was one of the first school teachers in Allegan county. Mrs. Clark's father, Daniel McMartin, was always an ardent Republican and he was frequently elected to public office, being justice of the peace for Allegan county and also serv- ing his district in the state legislature in 1862. The McMartins were Scotch Presbyterians and they were always active in church work. One sister, of Mrs. McMartin married Rev. George M. Smith, a missionary to the Indians, who devoted his life to this work. He was at Black Lake until the Hollanders came and then accompanied his Indian friends to Northport and spent the remainder of his life among them. A sister of Mrs. Clark's married William E. Hoyt and resided at Wayland until his death, since which time she has lived at Bearden, Arkansas. Mrs. Clark's parents removed to Kalamazoo in 1865, where the remainder of their lives were passed.
Mr. and Mrs. Clark have two sons, Charles A. and Glenn E., both of whom are associated with their father in the conduct of his farms. Charles A. married Miss Lizzie Avery.
Mr. Eli F. Clark is a staunch Republican, a political faith of which Mrs. Clark is also a firm adherent. She is active in social and society work and is a member of the Ladies' Library Association of Wayland. She first came to Wayland as a school teacher, at a time when her husband's father was director of the district, and thus began an acquaintance which finally ripened into love and a lifelong union. She has taught music for twenty- five years and being possessed of considerable literary ability and being interested deeply in this portion of the state has assisted in writing a local history which possesses much of interest.
Mr. Clark has always been an ardent sportsman. A part of the present farm was once a runway for deer, and many times has Mr. Clark watched there for the coming of these timid animals. He is a member of the Gun Lake Hunting Club and his outings are enjoyed at Gun Lake, where he has fished every year but one for the past forty-nine years. This estimable
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couple have performed much of life's arduous labors, but they still have a keen zest for the best in life and their comfortable home is the center for much enjoyable hospitality.
DR. J. E. BRYSON .- The history of the medical profession in Wayland contains the names of a number of good physicians and it is interesting to note the advancement the profession has made here as well as elsewhere and to compare the pioneer experiences with the present day conditions. It is related by the older residents that when the first physician located here, Dr. Remington, the inhabitants were so notoriously healthy that the gentle- man could not secure enough patients to make a living, so he put in his spare time working in Hoyt's shingle mill. But later years. with its increase in population and the demand for capable men, have brought intelligent and able members of the medical profession who have established themselves here, winning the confidence of the public and building up for themselves lucrative practice.
One of these is the subject of this review. Dr. J. E. Bryson, who has a high standing in the profession in this vicinity. Dr. Bryson was born Octo- ber 15, 1861, at Hillsborough, Highland county, Ohio. When only five years of age he removed with his parents to a farm near Greenfield, Ohio, and here his father died four years later. At twelve years of age he accom- panied the family to Antwerp. Ohio, where he grew to young manhood, and in 1880 he went with his mother to Washington Court House, Ohio. Here he worked at the carpenter trade for three years. Believing that the west held forth better inducements for getting on in the world. he went in the fall of 1883 to Pilot, Nebraska, where he took up one hundred and sixty acres of government land. At Broken Bow, Nebraska, July 15, 1885. he was united in marriage with Miss Blanche E. Benton, of Fort Wayne. Indiana, and from that time until 1890 they resided upon their Nebraska homestead, where their two children were born. Then removing with his family to Indianapolis, Indiana, Dr. Bryson became interested in the healing art and decided to take up the study of medicine. Accordingly he began a course at the Physio-Medical College of Indiana, located at Indianapolis. and attended lectures for three years, when he graduated in the class of 1895. Following his graduation in March, he in May of the same year removed to Bradley, Michigan, and began the practice of his profession. After six years' residence at Bradley he came, in June of 19or, to Wayland, which has since been his home. Here Dr. Bryson has been eminently successful. He is devoted wholly to his practice, is a close student and keeps ever abreast with the great advancement in the medical world. Thus, with his great natural ability it is no wonder that his services are in demand not only in Wayland alone, but for many miles around. He is probably the only practicing physician in Allegan county who is a graduate of the Physio-Medical College of Indianapolis, an institution which has turned out some excellent practitioners.
Two daughters have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Bryson: Gladys, the eldest, is a graduate of the Wayland high school, and Goldie, the younger, is now a student therein. Dr. Bryson has for a number of years been affiliated with the Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
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ARTIIUR H. CLARK .- The lumbering business has been an important industry in the state of Michigan for many years, and, although the opera- tions are not of such magnitude as in former years, nevertheless it is of great importance still, and engaged in this line of trade we find some of the leading men of the state. Mr. Arthur H. Clark was brought up in this line and his many years' experience has given 'him a most valuable knowledge of all branches of the work. Mr. Clark was born in Castile, New York, July 20, 1855, and he was a resident of the Empire state until he had reached the age of eleven years, since which time his home has been in Michigan.
His father was Henry B. Clark and his mother's maiden name was Nancy M. Smith. Henry B. Clark was a pioneer lumberman in Wyoming county, New York, where he was engaged in this line for a number of years, owning the first planing mill in the town of Castile. Seeing the possibilities in Michigan timber he came to the Wolverine state in 1866 and spent the remainder of his life here, where he was always more or less interested in the line of lumber manufacturing. The senior Mr. Clark was also a noted apiarist and all his life he gave a great deal of attention to bee culture. At one time he owned nearly eight hundred colonies of bees, which were stationed in different parts of Allegan and Barry counties, and his annual output of honey reached several tons. His interest in bees and his connection with the manufacture of lumber led him to invent and manufac- ture improved bee hives and sectional honey compartments, and it is said that his sectional hives were the first to be produced in the United States. The Clarks came to Wayland in 1878, where they built saw and planing mills and turned out vast quantities of bee supplies. Here also Henry B. Clark passed the remainder of his life, passing away in 1898 at the age of seventy-two years.
Brought up as he had been in the lumbering business and having been for so many years associated with his father in the latter's various enter- prises, it was but natural that the son should continue in the same lines. In his young manhood he had learned the trade of wagon maker and this he followed during the early part of his career. In 1882-83 he had charge of a stave mill in Saginaw county, but later he returned to Wayland and again engaged in business with his father. The manufacturing end of the business was kept up and much done in the bee line while the planing mill turned out large quantities of work for interior finishing and some other specialties. In 1892 a retail lumber yard was started in connection with the other business and of late years this has been an important adjunct. As is generally the case with saw and planing mills, Mr. Clark suffered serious losses by fire and has been three times burned out, his total losses in this line being not less than ten thousand dollars. Each time, however, he has with indomitable courage and energy rebuilt his mills and now he has arranged his buildings at some distance from each other, so that in case of fire there is a chance to save some of the property. Mr. Clark is thoroughly versed in lumber, is a good business man and his enterprises have been of inestimable value to Wayland and vicinity.
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