USA > Michigan > Cass County > A twentieth century history of Cass County, Michigan > Part 78
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the lake shore where he so long dwelt, and although not seeking gen- eral society, he was eminently sociable and hospitable. Ilis coming was always welcome, whether to assuage the pains of sickness or re- ceive the hospitality of his friends. He had passed so much of his life in that locality, devoting his talents and acquirements to the relief of others, and had proved himself so kind and true and so generous in his friendship that his loss was so keenly felt by the community as to se- cure among them an enduring and affectionate remembrance. He died at Canandaigua, New York, August 19, 1863, aged seventy-six years.
Charles F. Rosewarne, father of our subject, was a native of Corn- wall, England. and was only nine years of age when he accompanied his father, Dr. John V. Rosewarne, to America. He was reared in New York, and with the family came to Michigan in 1834. He re- mained for about ten years, after which he returned to New York. where he engaged in business as railroad contractor through the suc- ceeding decade. He built many railroads in the east, and was thus closely associated with the substantial improvement and development of that section of the country, for it has been said that railroad build- ing is the most important agency in the settlement of a community. furnishing the means whereby the natural resources of the county that have been transformed into marketable commodities can be placed in trade circles. In 1849 Mr. Rosewarne returned to Cass county and settled upon the farm where his son, Henry G .. now resides. His fath- er owned a sawmill and Charles F. Rosewarne was also engaged in the manufacture of lumber. He continued an active representative of in- dustrial interests in this county for a number of years, and died at the advanced age of eighty-one. His political allegiance was given to the Democracy, and he held various local offices in the township, including that of township treasurer. He was well known in the community, and was a recognized leader in public affairs, leaving the impress of his individuality and activity upon many measures for the public good. He was united in marriage to Miss Sarah -A. Smith, a native of Con- necticut and a danghter of Hezekiah Smith, who was descended from Mayflower ancestry, the family having been established in Massachu- setts during the period of early colonization in New England. Mrs. Rosewarne still survives her husband and is now seventy seven years of age. In the family were eight children, five sons and three daugh- ters. and with the exception of one son all are yet living.
Henry G. Rosewarne is the youngest of the family and the only one who now resides in Cass county. He was reared upon the old fam ily homestead and acquired his education in the common schools. devo ting his time to the labors of the field when not occupied with his text books. In 1888 he went to Chicago, and for four years was engaged in the hardware business in that city. In 1892 he returned to the old home- stead in Cass county, where he has since been engaged in general farni-
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ing. Everything about his place is in keeping with the ideas of modern farming, there being fair buildings, the latest improved machinery, well kept fences and highly cultivated fields. Mr. Rosewarne realizes that diligence is the basis of all success, and by his unremitting effort has won a creditable place among the substantial agriculturists of the county. The farm comprises one hundred and sixty-five acres, and Mr. Rosewarne is engaged in general agricultural pursuits and dairy- ing, having a good business in both departments.
On the 7th of September, 1898, was celebrated the marriage of Henry G. Rosewarne and Miss Eva I. Dinan, a daughter of John M. and Ellen (Smith) Dinan, who became pioneer settlers of Cass county, Michigan. They are still living, and yet remain residents of this coun- ty. Their daughter, Mrs. Rosewarne, was born in Jefferson township, Cass county, was educated in the home school and in the Ferris Indus- trial School. Prior to her marriage she successfully engaged in teach- ing for three years. Mr. Rosewarne has taken an active part in poli- tics and has held various offices, to which he has been called by his fellow townsmen, who recognize his worth and ability. He was treas- urer of Milton township in 1896-7, has been justice of the peace, and in 1900 was appointed to fill the vacancy in the office of township clerk. lle was then elected in 1901, and has been elected each succeeding year, so that he is still the incumbent in this position. His entire life has been passed in Cass county, and his record is as an open book which all may read. He has never attempted to take advantage of the neces- sities of his fellowmen, but has lived so as win their respect and con- fidence, and has made a creditable record in business and political cir- cles. Mr. and Mrs. Rosewarne have a copy of the parchment deed which was executed June 25, 1834, and bears the signature of Presi- deut Jackson, this being one of the valued documents of the county.
MALCOM AA. CAMPBELL.
Malcom . Campbell is serving as alderman from the third ward in Dowagiac and is closely associated with industrial interests here through his conduct of a blacksmith and wagon shop. He is also en- gaged in the sale of buggies and wagons and has a business which is proving profitable. Moreover he deserves the success which comes to him because his life has been characterized by close application and un- faltering diligence. "Through struggles to success" is the usual rule of the business world and this axiom finds verification in the life of Mr. Campbell, who has worked his way upward, winning a fair measure of prosperity and at the same time making a record for business in- segrity that any man might be proud to possess.
A native of Canada, Mr. Campbell was born in Lampton county, Ontario, on the 16th of September, 1861. His father. Duncan Camp- bell, is supposed to have been a native of Scotland and settled in
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Canada in early life. There he cleared a tract of land and followed farming until his death, which occurred when he was about fifty-seven years of age. Ile had married Sarah McCalpine, also a native of Scotland, who still resides upon the old homestead in Canada. By her marriage she became the mother of eight children, five daughters and three sons, all of whom reached adult age.
Malcom .A. Campbell, who name introduces this record, was the fourth child and second son in that family, and was reared upon the old homestead farm in his native county. At the usual age he en- tered the country schools and therein acquired a fair English educa- tion, and when not busy with his text books he aided in the work of the fields, but, thinking that he would prefer a trade rather than to follow the plow, he began learning blacksmithing when sixteen years of age at a small town called Aughrim. He served an apprenticeship of three years, and after completing his term of indenture started out to work as a journeyman. following blacksmithing at different places in Canada and the United States. His first work in the states was in 1886 at Saginaw. Michigan. He was afterward employed in other points, and subsequently he returned to Canada, where he remained for about three years, on the expiration of which period he went to Nebraska, locating at Plum Creek, where he resided for a short time. He then again went to Canada, and the period of his residence at this time cov- ered about six years. Again crossing the border into the United States, he settled at Detroit, Michigan, and afterward removed to Ply- mouth, this state. whence in 1894 he came to Dowagiac, where he has since made his home. He was employed at journeyman work by the man that owned the shop which is now Mr. Campbell's property, being thus engaged for two years, at the end of which time he embarked in business on his own account on Pennsylvania avenue, where he re- mained for one year. He was also in business on Front street for four years. at the end of which time he removed to his present location, having purchased the property here about two years before. This is the shop in which he first worked on coming to Dowagiac, and here he carries on blacksmithing and the manufacture of wagons, doing all kinds of repair work as well, and at the same time he engages in the sale of wagons and buggies. He likewise has the agency for the Ala- mo gas and gasoline engines. His business has reached considerable extent at the present time, and his energy and watchfulness of all de- tails pointing to success have contributed to a very gratifying pros- perity.
Mr. Campbell was married in 1886 to Miss Julia Brown, a daugh- ter of Dugald and Mary ( McCullum) Brown. Mrs. Campbell was also born in Canada. and by this marriage there are three children : Gordon Lloyd, John Harvey and Grace.
Mr. Campbell has been interested in public affairs to the extent
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of becoming a co-operant factor in many plans formulated for public progress and practical improvement. He is a stanch and earnest Re- publican, and is now serving as a member of the city council, repre- senting the third ward, in which connection he exercises his official prerogatives to promote measures of reform and improvement. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Order of For- esters and the National Protective Legion. There have been no excit- ing chapters in his life record, but he possesses those sterling traits which work for good citizenship, for activity and honor in business and for fidelity in private life.
WILLIS M. FARR.
Willis M. Farr, a well known representative of industrial inter- ests in Cass county now living in Dowagiac, was born at New Haven in Macomb county, Michigan, August 1, 1844. His father, Henry FF. Farr, was a native of New York and in his boyhood days came to Michigan with his father, Sammel Farr, who was a pioneer of this state. The grandfather traveled westward with an ox team and located first in Macomb county, where in the midst of the forest he built a log cabin and improved a farm, giving his attention to the cultivation and development of his land up to the time of his death. Henry F. Farr was but a smail lad when the family took up their abode upon the old homestead property in Macomb county and the occupation to which he was reared he made his life work, carrying on farming in that county until he. too, was called to his final rest. He married Julia Ann Clemens, a native of New York, in which state she remained until about twenty years of age, when she came to Michigan with her par- ents, who settled in Macomb county. There her remaining days were passed. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Farr had a family of four sons, of whom two died in infancy. The brother of our subject, M. S. Farr, is a stock raiser and ranchman of Venango, Nebraska. He there owns eleven square miles under fence in Perkins county and is one of the leading stockinen of his part of the country.
Willis M. Farr, the eldest of the four children, was reared in the place of his nativity until eighteen years of age, when he went to New York, where he spent the succeeding year in teaching school. He then returned to Michigan and attended school in Mount Clemens, after which he resumed teaching. In the spring of 1864 he went to Chicago and after tramping the streets of the city for two weeks in search of employment he secured the position of bundle boy in a wholesale and retail store. Ile was thus engaged for about six months. at the end of which time he responded to the country's call for aid, enlisting as a member of Company C. Fifty-ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry as a private. He served for thirteen months and participated in the cam- paign under General Thomas from December, 1864, until June. 1865.
Hro Willes Ho Fan
Willis I Farr.
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
He was never excused frem duty during the service . nowant fill ness or from any other canse, but always faithfully remermedit luis post and at the close of the wai received an honoral'e discharge at San Antonio, Texas.
When the country no longer needed his aid Mr. Farr returned to Chicago and soon afterward went upon the road as a commercial tray- eler, spending two and a half years in that way in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. His next venture was as a wholesale merchant, dealing in notions, and at one time he utilized three wagons in the trade. He continued in that business for about ten years, meeting with very grat- ifying success. After disposing of his stock of notions he purchased a fourth interest in the business of the firm of Warner, Tuttle, Farr & Company, the original manufacturers f the shoe grain drill at Dowagiac. He remained with the house for about a year and then sold out his in- terest, after which he formed a partnership with Mr. Stark for the manufacture of the common sense sand band. Later he bought out MFr. Stark's interest and is now sole proprietor of the business, which is rec- ognized as one of the productive industries of this part of the state.
Mr. Farr was married June 26, 1873. to Miss Sarah Doolittle, a daughter of Lorin and Phoebe ( Worth ) Doolittle. She was born at Huron, Wayne county, New York, and was there reared. Mr. Farr is a member of H. C. Gilbert Post, No. 47. G. A. R., and he has taken an active and helpful part in its work. In 1880 he served as a member of the city council of Dowagiac. He is well known in the county and his co-operation has been given to many movements which have had direct and important hearing upon the welfare and progress of the county. He has been greatly interested in the promotion of the movement for the erection of a soldier's monument and but for him this movement would never have succeeded. In all matters of citizenship he manifests the same loyal and patriotic spirit that characterized his service as a soldier upon the battlefields of the south.
ABRAM CONKLIN.
Abram Conklin, who after long and close connection with farming interests in Cass county is now living retired in Dowagiac, is one of the worthy citizens that the Empire state has furnished to southern Michi- gan. He was born in Otsego county, New York. August 18, 1845. and is the third son of Abram and Belinda ( Gilbert ) Conklin, of whom mention is made on another page of this work in connection with the sketch of Simeon Conklin. The subject of this review was but a small boy when he came to Cass county with his parents, and on the old homestead farm in Silver Creek township he was reared. He attended the Indian Lake school, thus acquiring a fair education, as he mastered the branches of learning there taught. He also spent one season as a student in Dowagiac. Through the summer months he assisted in
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the labors of the field and meadow and became familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for stock. He continued to give his father the benfit of his services until the time of his marriage, which important event in his life occurred in 1878, the lady of his choice being Miss Nellie Flickinger, a daughter of Peter and Mary (Smith) Flickinger. Mrs. Conklin was born in Medina county, Ohio, and became a resident of this county when a young lady of about nine- teen years, her parents locating on a farm in Silver Creek township. At the time of hier marriage Mr. Conklin took her as a bride to a farm in the same township, and he was there afterward engaged in farming until 1900, when he put aside the work of the fields and took up his abode in Dowagiac, but still owns a good farm property, comprising one hundred and forty-eight acres of land, which is well improved, being supplied with good buildings and modern equipments. It is all under the plow with the exception of eight acres. He has improved this place and made it what it is today-a valuable farm property - Mr. Conklin personally clearing all of it with the exception of twenty acres.
Unto our subject and his wife has been born a son, Lee A., who is attending business college at Battle Creek, Michigan, and who for two years was a student in the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin, Ohio. He also spent two years in the Musical Conservatory of Chica- go, and has thus been provided with excellent privileges for the culti- vation of his talent in the line of his art. Mr. Conklin has been a resi- (lent of Cass county for a half century, and his mind bears the impress of many of the historic events which have occurred here. He has al- ways voted the Republican ticket, and is known as a man fearless in de- fense of his honest convictions, politically or otherwise. The family is a representative pioneer one of the county, and Mr. Conklin wears worthily the honored family name.
JOHN A. LINDSLEY.
The lumber interests of Michigan have always been an important source of the state's revenue and have formed one of the leading ele- ments in its business development and commercial progress. The vast forests have furnished excellent opportunities for the lumberman, and in every community in the state men of enterprise have been connected with the trade in its various branches and its kindred industries. Mr. Lindsley is a well known lumberman of Dowagiac, where he is also operating a planing mill. He was born in AAllegany county, New York, January 15. 1858. His father, Leman Lindsley, was also a na- tive of the Empire state and was a farmer by occupation. He came to Michigan in 1863. locating in Hartford, Van Buren county, where he carried on general agricultural pursuits up to the time of his death. which occurred when he was forty-five years of age. He was of Scotch-
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Irish descent and displayed in his life many of the sterling . haracteris- tics of his ancestry. He wedded Miss Mary Engle, also a native of New York, who died in Michigan when sixty-five years of age. In the family were three children, of whom John A. is the eldest. The second son. Edwin M., is a partner of our subject in the manufacture and sale of lumber in Dowagiac, while Washington, the youngest son, is a resident of Decatur, Indiana.
John A. Lindsley spent the first five years of his life in the state of his nativity and then came to Michigan with his parents, the family settling in Van Buren county, where he was reared and obtained his education. He pursued his education in the schools of Hartford and later pursued a business course in the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso. Returning to Michigan, he entered upon his business career in 1880 as a lumber merchant at Hartford, where he continued until 1885, when he sold out there and removed to Dowagiac. Here he established a lumber yard and has continued in business for more than twenty years. He also owns and operates a planing mill, and his trade has long since reached extensive proportions, making his business one of the profitable enterprises of the city. This is due to individ- val energy and careful management, Mr. Lindsley possessing in large measure the qualities of success, which are carnestness, diligence and perseverance.
In 1880 was celebrated the marriage of John A. Lindsley and Miss Mary Spalding, a daughter of A. N. Spalding of Hartford. They have a family of five children: Mrs. Lula Estell; John Victor, who is manager of the mill work department for the extensive house of Sears, Roebuck & Company of Chicago; Augustus R., who is clerk in The Fair at Chicago: Leman O., who is attending a business college at South Bend, Indiana; and William.
Mr. Lindsley exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Republican party and is deeply interested in its success and growth, doing all in his power to promote its influence and secure the adoption of its principles. He served as supervisor of the first ward and has been al lerman several times. He is recognized as one of the leading men of his town and country. He has garnered in the fullness of time the generous harvest which is the just recom- pense of indomitable energy, spotless integrity and unflagging enter- prise.
PETER HANNAN.
Peter Hannan, now living retired in Dowagiac, dates his residence in Cass county from 1854. Ile was in former years closely associated with industrial and agricultural pursuits, and is still the owner of a valuable farming property in Silver Creek township. He was born in Geneseo. Livingston county, New York, on the 12th of May, 1820. and was one of a family of four sons and two daughters, whose parents
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
were Peter .mnd Mary Hannan, the former of Irish lineage and the lat- ter of French descent. Peter Hannan, Sr., was a native of Ireland. and came to America at the time of the rebellion in his own country in company with three brothers. They located in Livingston county. New York, and Peter Hannan, Sr., there followed the occupation of farming for a number of years. While living in the east his wife died during the early boyhood of their son Peter. The father afterward disposed of his interests in the Empire state and removed to Wiscon- sin, where he spent his remaining days, reaching, however, the ad- vanced age of seventy-nine years. All of the children grew to man- hood or womanhood, but only two of the family are now living. Will- iam llannan being a resident of Wisconsin.
Peter Hannan, whose name introduces this record, was the fourth member of his father's family and the second son. He was reared in the state of his nativity. spending the first eighteen years of his life uikdler the parental roof, when he left home and has since been depend- ent upon his own resources for a livelihood and for the success that he has achieved. He had acquired a fair knowledge of the common branches of English learning in the public schools, and through the summer months had worked in the fields upon his father's farm. When he started out for himself he was employed as a farm hand by the month, and in this way made his start in life. As a companion and helpmate for life's journey he chose Miss Mary McStravich, whom he wedded in 1852. They located on a farm in Livingston county. New York, where they resided for about two years, when, in 1854. they came direct to Cass county, Michigan, settling in Dowagiac. Here Mr. Hannan turned his attention to the manufacture of baskets, which he followed successfully for about seventeen years, developing a large and important industry. On the expiration of that period he turned his attention to farming in Silver Creek township. Cass county, and continued in active agricultural work for a number of years. He still owns this property, which is a well developed farm. Although his at- tention was given to the work of tilling the soil and caring for the crops, he continued to reside in Dowagiac, and has lived in the same house for over forty years. It is situated in what is known as Ham- ilton's addition to the city, and the deed which he holds was signed by Patrick Hamilton and his wife. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hannan have been born three sons, who are yet living: W. W., of Detroit, who is a prominent real estate dealer of that city; Charles R., of Boston, Massa- chusetts, who is representative for Swift and Armour at a salary of twenty-five thousand dollars per year: and Frank E., who is engaged in the real estate business with his brother. W. W. Hannan. There were two children. John and Mary, who passed away. Mr. and Mrs. TTannan celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary in 1902. The occasion was a most delightful one and will long be remembered by
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their many friends who participated therein. To then dofdren they have given excellent educational advantages, and their sons are college graduates, W. W. Hannan having completed a course of study in the Michigan University at AAnn Arbor, Charles in Yale College, at New Haven, Connecticut, while Frank completed his education at Orchard Lake, Michigan. The two older sons ace millionaires and their present enviable positions in business circles are attributable to their own efforts and capability.
Mr. Hanman has been a resident of Dowagiac and Cass county for more than a half century and has been closely identified with its growth and development. He has supported both the Democratic and Republican parties. In early manhood he was a Douglas Democrat. but in 1864, when the country was involved in the Civil war, he be- lieved in sustaining the policy of the president and cast his ballot for Abraham Lincoln, since which time he has supported each nominee at the head of the Republican ticket. while his sons have followed in his footsteps in this respect. He is a member of Dowagiac lodge. No. 214, A. F. & A. M., and is well known in the county as a man of genuine personal worth, whose life has been guided by high and manly princi- ples, characterized by consideration for the rights and privileges of others. He has likewise upheld his honest convictions unswervingly, and now at the age of seventy-seven years he receives the respect, ven- eration and regard of all with whom he has been brought in contact.
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