A twentieth century history of Berrien County, Michigan, Part 59

Author: Coolidge, Orville W
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1314

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SYLVESTER B. KIMBALL, whose actions have during his life been such as to distinctively entitle him to a place in this publication as a representative resident of Berrien county, is now practically living re- tired in Benton Harbor. His birth occurred in New York in 1843. His father, Benoni Kimball, was born in Vermont in 1814 and was a brick maker by trade, following that pursuit throughout his active business career, first in the employ of others and then on his own account. He served as a soldier in the Mexican war and subsequent to this time re-

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moved from the Empire state to Michigan, taking up his abode in Jackson county in 1849. There he engaged in the manufac- ture of brick, conducting a brickyard near the state prison there. He afterward re- moved to Brooklyn, Jackson county, where he again established a brickyard and sub- sequently he took up his abode in Hillsdale county, where he also engaged in the manu- facture of brick. At a subsequent date he purchased a farm in Jefferson township, Hillsdale county, and on leaving that place removed to Laporte county, Indiana, where he again engaged in the manufacture of brick. He next went to Carlisle Hill, where he conducted a similar enterprise and after- ward farmed forty acres near Winamac, Indiana, where he continued to make his home up to the time of his death. Close ap- plication and earnest purpose constituted the salient features in his career and won him a gratifying measure of success. He was married in the east to Miss Ruth A. Fairfield, a native of New York, who died in 1846 at the age of twenty-eight years. There were two children of that marriage, Walter F. and Sylvester B., both residents of Benton Harbor. After losing his first wife Mr. Kimball wedded Nancy McIntyre, who is still living in Benton Harbor. They had five children, Charles, Lewis, Baird, Fred and Francis. The father's death oc- curred in Winamac, Indiana, in 1888, at the age of seventy-four years.

Sylvester S. Kimball accompanied his father on his various removals until he set- tled in Jefferson township, Hillsdale coun- ty. He and his brother Walter F. then en- listed for service in the Civil war. The brother became a member of the First Michi- gan Engineers and Mechanics, a volunteer regiment being attached to Company H, for three years. He was born in New York in 1840 and was therefore in the early twen- ties when he joined the army. After serv- ing for about two years he was wounded at the battle of Perryville on the 8th of Octo- ber, 1862, two minie-balls piercing his left chest. One entered his right breast and four- teen years afterward was taken out of his arm. The other entered his left breast and is now in his back. He was in the hospital 27

at Louisville, Kentucky, for about two months. After the close of the war he lived in Iowa for twenty years and since 1887 he has made his home in Benton township, where he now owns and cultivates a farm.

Sylvester B. Kimball enlisted in 1862 in the Eighteenth Michigan Regiment as a pri- vate of Company F for three years' service. He remained with the army for only eight months, however, when he was discharged at Lexington, Kentucky, on account of ill- ness. On the 15th of March, 1865, he re- enlisted as a private of Company I, which participated in Sherman's march to the sea and the campaign under that intrepid leader until the close of the war. He was mus- tered out at Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1865, by general order of the war department. When his military service had ended Mr. Kimball went to Traverse county, Michi- gan, and was driver on the mail wagon from Traverse City to Benzona. He also took up a homestead in Traverse county. He drove the mail wagon for a year and then went to Lansing, Michigan, where he buried his wife. Subsequently he removed to Laporte, Indiana, where he worked with his father for a time in the brick manufacturing business. He next went to Goldfield, Iowa, where he continued for seven years and in 1875 he came to Benton Harbor, where he accepted the position of foreman with the Watkins Brick Manufacturing Company, serving in that capacity for three years. He then pur- chased a brick yard, which he conducted un- der the name of Kimball's Brickyard and the business proved a profitable venture but on account of ill health he was obliged to aban- don this enterprise and purchased the home which he now occupies on the Territorial road. He was commissioned notary public. in 1886 and has since continued to serve in that capacity. He was also justice of the peace for eight years and during that time not a case was ever reversed against his de- cision.

Mr. Kimball was married to Miss Eliza Harris of Benton township and has one child, Sylvanus B., who was born in Benton Harbor. By a former marriage Mr. Kim- ball had one son, George E., who is engaged in the transfer business in Benton Harbor

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under the name of Kimball's Transfer Line.

In politics Mr. Kimball is a stalwart Republican and while living in Iowa served as township clerk. In this state he has been notary public and justice of the peace as be- fore mentioned, and his public service has given entire satisfaction. He is vice presi- dent of the Chicago Fraternal League and he is a member of Benton Harbor Lodge, No. 132, I. O. O. F., of which he was finan- cial secretary for two years. He also belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic and is a member of George H. Thomas Post, No. 14, at Benton Harbor. He was a true and faith- ful soldier in the dark days of the Civil war and has been equally loyal in citizenship in times of peace. His career has not been filled with thrilling incidents and yet prob- ably no biography published in this volume can serve as a better illustration to young men of the power of honesty, integrity and perseverence in insuring success.

WILLIAM L. BRUCE. The growth of a city depends upon the aggregate en- deavor of its business men and each individ- ual who faithfully performs his daily duties and exercises his talents to the extent of his ability, thus accomplishing the maximum re- sult possible, is a factor in the development and progress of the community which he rep- resents. William L. Bruce, engaged in the furniture trade, is recognized as one of the leading business men of Benton Harbor. His birth occurred in Shelbyville, Indiana, in 1871. His father, John T. Bruce, was a native of Kentucky, and spent the last five years of his life in Benton Harbor, after re- siding for a considerable period in Indiana. He married Miss Sally Ely, who was born in Ohio and who died about twelve years ago at the age of fifty-one years. Mr. Bruce, however, survived his wife until August 18, 1905, when at the age of sixty-five years he was called to his final rest. They had one daughter, who is now Mrs. R. P. Adams, a resident of Chicago, Illinois.

William L. Bruce, the only son, ac- quired his preliminary education in Indiana and completed his studies in Missouri. Dur- ing his early business career he acted as clerk for three years in a hotel in Kansas City and

subsequently he conducted the Pacific Hotel for four years in the same city. He then went to Chicago and was manager for the Ditner Catering Company for three years, following which he came to Benton Harbor in 1900 and conducted a restaurant at East- man Springs in Benton township through the summer season. In the fall of the same year he entered into partnership with C. E. Stone under the firm name of Bruce & Stone and opened a furniture and crockery busi- ness at Benton Harbor. Mr. Bruce, how- ever, is sole manager of the business and the store has become well known to the purchas- ing public as the "yellow front." He car- ries a large and carefully selected line of fur- niture of various grades and also crockery ware. He has the qualifications of a good salesman, which, combined with his enter- prise and laudable ambition to achieve suc- cess, have enabled him to develop one of the good business enterprises of the city and se- cure a large patronage.

In 1893, in Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. Bruce was united in marriage to Miss Inez M. Cummings, who was born in Missouri and has one child, John Lovell, whose birth occurred in Chicago and who is now six years of age. In his political views Mr. Bruce is a Democrat. He belongs to Lake Shore Lodge, A. F. & A. M., to Calvin Brittain Chapter, R. A. M., at St. Joseph, and also to the Malta Commandery, No. 44, K. T., at Benton Harbor. For the past two years he has been custodian of the building of the Masons at Benton Harbor and is one of the stewards of the lodge. He also be- longs to the Benevolent and Protective Or- der of Elks and the Modern Woodmen camp.

STEPHEN M. AUSTIN is proprietor of a restaurant and bakery in Benton Har- bor and thorough understanding of modern business methods and utilization of oppor- tunities has led to his present gratifying suc- cess. He was born in New York in 1848, a son of Eber and Cordelia (Lovell) Aus- tin, both of whom were natives of New York. The father came to Michigan in 1855, settling in St. Joseph, where he worked in the sawmills. Later he removed to

Oscar Damon and wife

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a farm in Hagar township, where he cleared forty acres of land from the dense forest and he is still engaged in agricultural pur- suits upon that tract. His wife passed away when sixty-four years of age. In their fam- ily were five children, of whom four are yet living, namely : Stephen M .; Elvira; Mrs. Emma Brace, who resides upon the old home farm in Hagar township; and Mrs. Julia Pratt, also living in that township.

Stephen M. Austin attended school in St. Joseph, being a student in the old school- house which is now used for a city hall. He was also a student in the district schools of Hagar township. Thinking to find commer- cial pursuits more congenial than agricul- tural life he embarked in business in 1878 as a grocer, conducting his store for one year on Pipestone street in Benton Harbor. In 1879 he purchased a lot on East Main street, where he is now located and erected a good business block, which he still owns. Here he opened a stock of staple and fancy groceries and carried on business in that line until 1884, when he sold his stock and leased the store. Four years later, however, he re-entered the grocery trade but in 1896 again sold out and in place of the grocery established a restaurant and bakery, which he has since conducted with much success, furnishing employment to a number of men in both branches of the business, his pay- roll amounting to sixty dollars per week outside of board for his help. He serves reg- ular meals and caters to the best trade of the city, and has a well kept, clean and attrac- tive restaurant, in which he serves good and wholesome food as well as all of the delicacies of the season. His bakery is well equipped with every modern appliance for carrying on the business and he has teams to deliver goods to all parts of the city.

In 1879 in Benton Harbor Mr. Austin was married to Miss Katherine Saunders, a native of New York. They attend the Uni- versalist Church and Mr. Austin is a Demo- crat in his political views, active in the local work of the party, his opinions carrying weight in its councils. He has served as alderman from the fourth ward, was a mem- ber of the board of public works for one term and has been supervisor for four terms.

He is likewise a member of Benton Harbor Lodge, I. O. O. F., and is connected with the Elks; the Patricians, of which he has been chairman of the board of directors for the past four years; and the Maccabees. In the last named organization he has held various offices and was one of the first to attend the grand lodge as a delegate when the order was established in Benton Harbor. In all of his business career there has naught been said against his honesty of purpose and the success that he has achieved is due not to any financial combination of circumstances but to genuine merit and earnest purpose, resulting from untiring industry.

OSCAR DAMON, living in Hagar township, is one of the honored pioneer settlers of the county and is familiar with the entire history of development of this part of the state. The people of the present, enjoying the advantages which civilization has brought, cannot real- ize the conditions that confronted the pio- neer settler a half century or more ago. At the time Mr. Damon arrived he lived among the Indians, who still regarded this part of the state as their hunting ground. There were no railroads and few white settlers had penetrated into this region to plant the seeds of civilization here. The district was cut off from the older settlements of the east by dense forests that grew in their primeval strength and the rivers were unbridged and the only roads were the old Indian trails.

Mr. Damon is a native of Fredonia, Pomfret township, Chautauqua county, New York, his birth having occurred on the 20th of March, 1826. His father, Martin Damon, was a native of Vermont and died when the son was but nine years of age. The mother, whose maiden name was Eliza Norton, was born in Fredonia, and died when Oscar Da- mon was but a lad of seven years. He made his home with different families until fifteen years of age, when, having an aunt in Ohio, he walked to that state. He remained in Ohio and Pennsylvania until twenty years of age and worked at farm labor and other kindred employment until his marriage. He here broke steers, matched them and sold them at a profit and this gave him his start.

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On the 21st of September, before he was twenty years of age, Mr. Damon was married to Miss Kate Stevens, a native of Pennsylvania. The wedding was celebrated in 1845 and during the next seven years they resided in Ohio and in the Keystone state, Mr. Damon being largely employed at farm labor by the day and month. At- tracted by the opportunities of the west, however, he came to Michigan in 1852, set- tling on section twenty-three, Hagar town- ship. Berrien county, trading his Ohio prop- erty for the land which he secured in Michi- gan. There was not a stick cut upon the place. All was wild and unimproved, but with characteristic energy he began the de- velopment of a farm. He purchased a team of young horses and built a hewed log house upon his place. He then began to clear his land and as this did not bring him in any ready money he began to trap, making wooden traps. He soon found that he could realize considerable money from the occu- pation and he hunted deer, fox, otter, mink and other animals whose skin could be utilized as a marketable commodity. has made as much as one hundred dollars per month in trapping, and this made him a living, while in the summer months he de- voted his attention to clearing his land. He has lived upon his farm for fifty-four years and owns eighty acres, which he has cleared and brought under a high state of cultivation. He burned up valuable timber, although he sold some at three dollars per thousand in the boom at St. Joseph. He has kept up his trapping to the present time, following it now more as a source of recrea- tion than for profit. Even though now well advanced in years he makes his way annu- ally into the forests and has been gone from home two weeks at a time, living in a tent.

Mr. Damon is thoroughly familiar with the work of progress that has been carried on in his part of the state. He erected his own home about thirty-five or thirty-six years ago and it is therefore one of the old landmarks of the county. The first settle- ment in Hagar township was upon the farm which he now occupies and Mr. Holly lo- cated here sixty-seven years ago, at which time he built a cabin near a spring. He

lived among the Indians for there were no white settlers in the locality at that time. At length he sold the property to James Proctor, who intended to dam the Paw Paw in order to establish a mill. It was of Mr. Proctor that Mr. Damon purchased the farm. In those early days he would find many bee trees, finding three swarms of bees in a single day. The first child born in Hagar township was Mary Jane McCray, who is now more than sixty years of age and is still living in this township. She married a Mr. Muldoon and is now a widow. Her father was killed by the falling of a tree. As the years went by Mr. Damon gave his time and energies to general agricultural pursuits and later began the cultivation of fruit. He has grown peaches for many years, making a start in this way by bring- ing peach pits with him from Pennsylvania. He has also grown berries and started his strawberry beds with a wild strawberry. He has continued in the work until he has grown acres of strawberries from a single plant to start with. He gave his berry the name of Queen and as the years passed gath- ered a large amount of fruit, each year find- ing a ready sale for it on the market. While cultivating his fields and orchards in the summer seasons he has spent the winter months in trapping.

On the 23d of January, 1882, Mr. Damon was married to Miss Ida Schuster, a daughter of Andrew and Martha Jane (Austin) Schuster, and a native of Roches- ter, New York. During her infancy she was brought by her parents to Hagar town- ship and has lived all her life within two miles of her present home. Her father cut out a farm there in the midst of the forest and is still residing in Hagar township on the lake shore. His wife died in February, 1905, at the age of seventy-nine years. The daughter Ida was but eighteen years of age at the time of her marriage. There have been three children born of this union : Eliza is the wife of John Maile. of Benton Harbor, who is head burner in Miller's brickyard, and they have one child, Ida. Julia is the wife of Will Perry, a farmer of Hagar township and they have one child, Pearl. Mrs. Perry had a daughter by a

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former marriage, Ida Mardell Cowell, who is now living with her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Damon. Oscar D., twenty years of age, married Elva King, a daughter of De Golier King, of Benton township, and they live on the King farm. All of them married well into good families.

Mr. Damon is an advocate of the Democracy but is not strictly partisan, oc- casionally voting for the men of the op- posite party where local questions are in- volved. He has always been a strong temperance man and uses neither tobacco nor liquor. He is well known in this part of the state and is a notable figure as a repre- sentative of pioneer life and of trapping interests, which were in early days the chief source of living to the settlers. Not from hearsay but as a matter of actual experience can he relate many interesting tales of early life in Michigan, concerning the time when the pioneer blazed the way for the settlers who afterward came to gather the results but have followed the utilization of the nat- ural resources of the state-the lumber and mineral interests and the agricultural pos- sibilities. Mr. Damon has himself kept pace with the uniform progress in farming and fruit-raising circles and as the years have gone by has secured a good home in this way.

WAKEMAN RYNO, M. D. has since 1891 actively engaged in practice in Benton Harbor and is recognized as an able member of the profession. Moreover he has dis- played a love of scientific research and is a gentleman of considerable literary talent, as is manifested in his writings. He was born in Ovid, New York, in 1849, and came to Michigan with his parents when but seven years of age. His paternal grandfather, John Stites Ryno, was born in Westfield, New Jersey, and died in 1825 when his son, John Boice Ryno, was but four years of age. The latter was born in Ovid, Seneca county, New York, April 2, 1821, and in 1851, when thirty years of age, disposed of his property in the Empire state, trading it for a quarter section of wild land in Hagar township, Berrien county, Michigan, now known as Pottawatomie Park. He was married in

1847 in New York to Miss Sabra Garrett, a daughter of James H. Garrett, of Trumans- burg, New York. The family took up their abode upon the newly acquired Michigan property in 1856, and there resided until 1859, when Mr. Ryno exchanged his wild land for an improved farm a half mile south of Coloma in Watervliet township. He was a blacksmith by trade, having learned the business when but seventeen years of age. He followed that calling until 1860, when an accident caused him the loss of one eye and he then abandoned his trade and concentrated his energies upon the work of general farm- ing. His early political allegiance was given to the Democratic party, but at the time Lincoln was made the candidate of the newly organized Republican party he became one of his stanch supporters and ever after- ward continued to affiliate with that great political organization. He never aspired to public office, but was interested in any plan or movement calculated to benefit his town- ship, county or state. He was a wide reader and discriminating student and kept well informed on all questions of the day, politi- cal or otherwise. He regarded it as the duty as well as the privilege of every citizen to cast his ballot in support of measures which he believed would best promote good govern- ment and he never failed to make his way to the polls on election day. There were many sterling traits in his character, in- cluding his loyalty in citizenship, his reli- ability in business affairs and his fidelity in friendship. He died upon the home farm in Watervliet township on the 18th of April, 1900, when seventy-nine years of age. He had survived his wife for several months, her death having occurred in 1899. In their family were seven children, as follows : Wakeman ; Belden S .; who is living in Colo- ma; Suydam B., also a resident of Coloma ; Mrs. Henry Archer, who is living in Chi- cago; Mrs. John K. Brown, of Hagar town- ship, Berrien county ; Mrs. John Hames, of Chicago ; and Smith, who is living in Coloma.

In the district schools at Coloma, Wake- man Ryno acquired his early education and later continued his studies in New York. Subsequently, having determined upon the practice of medicine as a life work, he began

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preparation for that calling by matriculating in the University of Michigan and was graduated from the medical department with the class of 1872. He then practiced for nineteen years in Coloma, after which he sought a broader field of labor, removing to Benton Harbor in 1891. Here he opened an office and has since practiced with much success. In 1874 he pursued post gradu- ate work in Bellevue Hospital in New York city and he has kept in touch with the onward march of the profession through his persual of medical journals and the contri- butions to medical literature which appeared from time to time and are accepted as authority upon such subjects. He maintains a high standard of professional ethics and in his practice is actuated not only by a laudable desire for personal gain but also by a broad humanitarian spirit and deep interest in his profession.

In January, 1875, Dr. Ryno was mar- ried in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to Miss Hannah Jane Rose, who was born in Hagar township and is a daughter of Wallace Rose, who was a veteran of the Civil war and was held as a prisoner at Libby, where he died. Dr. and Mrs. Ryno have become the parents of one son, Corydon Mott, who was born in Coloma and has been liberally educated. He is a graduate of Rutgers College of New Jersey of the class of 1898 and is numbered among the alumni of Yale College of 1891. He completed a course in the medical depart- ment there in that year, after which he spent one year in Europe upon his wedding jour- ney, having been married on the 16th of July, 1902. to Miss Ida Eder, of Chicago, Illinois. They have an interesting daughter, Dorothea, now two years of age. Dr. C. M. Ryno is practicing with his father in Benton Harbor and the firm is an especially strong one.

In his political views Dr. Ryno is an earnest and stalwart Republican. He was for twelve years a member of the board of health and for three years a member of the board of education of Benton Harbor and his co-operation can always be counted upon for the furtherance of progressive public movements in his adopted city. He has

been very successful in his practice, accumu- lating a comfortable competence. Each year he makes a trip to Florida and he spent the winter of 1905-6 in that sunny climate, be- ing enabled to leave the north by reason of the fact that his son assumes the manage- ment and relieves him of the care of their practice. Dr. Ryno is a man of scholarly attainments and strong native intellectuality. He has always devoted much of his leisure to reading and research on historical and scientific as well as professional lines and he is now preparing a historical and genealogi- cal work upon the Paw Paw valley and like- wise has in progress of compilation a gene- alogical record of the Ryno family.

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A twentieth century history of Berrien County, Michigan, Part 59

Author: Coolidge, Orville W Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1314

Author: Coolidge, Orville W
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1314