Biographical history of northern Michigan containing biographies of prominent citizens, Part 3

Author:
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 966

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF

corner of section 17, Kearney township, to Inter- mediate lake. In fact, Mr. Hemstreet, sitting com- fortably before the fire in his large brick store, is proud to state that whenever necessity de- manded it, he did whatever came to hand, and in these first few years did about every kind of work to be found excepting the cutting of cordwood. About ten years ago H. A. Snyder took an interest in the business, the firm being known as Hem- street Brothers & Company. About a year later Mr. Snyder sold out and Dr. C. V. Hinman came into the firm, with the name changed to Hemstreet Brothers & Hinman. Five years ago this coming April (1904) H. M. Hem- street retired from the firm to become one of our progressive farmers, and the firm name then became Hemstreet & Hinman, under which title the enterprise has since been successfully contin- ued. For a dozen years the Hemstreet grocery firm have carried on more or less extensive opera- tions in timber and lumber, and much of this busi- ness Mr. Hemstreet has personally looked after, keeping himself vigorous and rugged through the trips taken in estimating or scaling. About two years ago Hemstreet & Hinman became identified with E. D. Muckey in the manufacture of brick in this place, under the title of the Bellaire Brick Company, and last season their product became so well known that the call for brick is coming from far and near.

In 1896 the old store building with which Mr. Hemstreet had so much difficulty at the time of its erection, twenty years ago, was abandoned by his firm, having long since become too small for the demands of the business, and a brick block was built and the stock of groceries moved to the same. The second floor, it may be remarked in passing, was built especially for the use of the local organizations of the Masonic fraternity, and at the time of its erection this block was the only one in the town that figured as the headquarters of a firm dealing in groceries and provisions.

The foregoing excerpt indicates the suc- cess which Mr. Hemstreet has gained since casting in his lot with the people of Bel- laire, and also gives evidence of the prestige which is his as a loyal and progressive citi- zen and representative business man of the town. He realized the value of success, for he has worked for it, and no man has a

greater respect for honest toil and endeavor than does he. He took up his residence in Bellaire on the Ist of March, 1884, and no citizen has been more worthy of popular confidence and regard than has this able merchant and pioneer. He is the owner of a considerable amount of real estate in the county, including his attractive modern resi- dence and a one-third interest in the store building. In politics he accords a stanch allegiance to the Republican party, and while ever manifesting a helpful interest in local affairs of a public nature, he has never sought or held office. He is one of the repre- sentative members of the Masonic fraternity in his home town, being affiliated with the lodge, chapter and council, and also with the chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star.

On the 17th of June, 1876, in the village of Portland, Ionia county, this state, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hemstreet to Miss Carrie Estella Marble, who was born in New York, being a daughter of William G. and Mary (Amsden) Marble, who came to this state from that of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Hemstreet have one child, Leola L., who is the wife of Dr. C. D. Hinman, who is associated with the subject in busi- ness, as junior member of the firm of Hen- street & Hinman, while he is also an able member of the medical profession and is actively engaged in practice.

JOHN W. MORSE.

The potency of consecutive industry and determined purpose is well exemplified in the career of the subject of this sketch, who is one of the honored pioneers and pros-

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perous farmers of Antrim county, where he has resided for the past thirty years. He came here a poor man and by well directed effort has gained a competency, being one of the popular and influential citizens of Cen- tral Lake township.

Mr. Morse is a native of the old Em- pire state, having been born in Seneca county, in the beautiful lake district of New York, on the 30th of June, 1838. He is a son of Daniel and Mary (Ganoung) Morse, the former of Welch and the latter of Scotch and French lineage, while both were born and reared in New York state. They came to the state of Michigan when the subject was about five years of age and the father became one of the representative farmers of Calhoun county, where he con- tinued to reside for many years and where his wife died in the year 1854. He passed the last twelve years of his life in the home of the subject, and was there accorded the utmost filial solicitude. He was summoned into eternal rest in 1893, at the venerable age of eighty-two years. His life was one of carnest toil and endeavor and he merited and received the respect and confidence of his fellow men. His children were ten in num- ber and five are living at the present time, the names of the ten being here entered in order of birth: Justus, Purvis, Daniel, Elizabeth, Wilmer, Martin, John W., Cor- nelia, Louisa and Philip.

John W. Morse was reared on the old homestead farm in Calhoun county, this state, where he early learned the lessons of industry, and his educational advantages were such as were afforded in the primitive schools of the locality and period, the old log school house, with its modest accessories, having been the "institution of learning" in

which he gained his rudimentary instruc- tion, while in the long years of an essentially active and useful life he has gained the valuable lessons which are always to be learned under the direction of that wisest of head masters, experience. Upon initiating his independent career he continued to be identified with farming operations to a great extent, continuing to reside in the southern part of the state until about three years after his marriage. He then, in 1874, came to Antrim county, arriving in April, and here he purchased sixty-two acres of railroad land, the same being covered with the native timber and entirely unimproved. His initial effort was made in clearing a sufficient plot upon which to erect his little board shanty, and after thus providing a domicile he began the strenuous task of reclaiming his land to cultivation, having been numbered among the early settlers of Central Lake township and having done his share in furthering its material and civic development, making it one of the most attractive sections of this fine agricultural district. From time to time he made improvements on his house, and in 1892 erected his present substantial and com- modious farm residence, while the other im- provements on the place are of excellent order. Mr. Morse has about fifty acres of his farm under cultivation, and two acres are devoted to orchard purposes, apple trees being in preponderance and giving good yields. In addition to raising the various cereals he has been very successful in the raising of vegetables, especially potatoes, for which this section of the state has a high reputation. He also has a good grade of live stock on his farm, and each department of the enterprise is conducted with energy and discrimination. Mr. Morse assisted in

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF

the construction of the early roads through the county and also aided in other public enterprises through which the march of civilization and progress was accelerated, and he has ever been known as a loyal and public-spirited citizen. He has taken a marked interest in the cause of education, having been one of those prominently con- cerned in the establishing of the first schools in the county, and he has rendered effective service as a school official. In politics he maintains an independent attitude, giving his support to those men and measures which meet the approval of his judgment. His wife is a consistent and valued member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and for nearly a score of years he has been affiliated with the Grange of his county. Mr. Morse had practically nothing in the way of capitalistic reinforcement when he came to Antrim county, and in the early days he and his good wife practiced the utmost economy and self-denial. For the first six years after coming here they were not even able to keep a cow, and for nine years he carried on his work without a team, while his first team was a yoke of oxen, which he raised. These statements seem somewhat incongruous when one adverts to the fine farm property, with its air of thrift and prosperity, which is owned by the subject today, and so worth- ily has he worked for independence and a competency that none can begrudge him suc- cess.

In 1870 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Morse to Miss Frances E. McCready, daughter of Jesse and Mary (Carlisle) Mc- Cready, at that time residents of Portage county. Ohio, where Mr. McCready was en- gaged in farming. Concerning the seven children of Mr. and Mrs. Morse we enter

the following brief record: Alva G. still remains beneath the parental roof, as does also Jesse, the next in order of birth; Guy has charge of a livery stable in the village of Central Lake; Della is the wife of John A. Dawson, a successful farmer of this county ; Charles, who married Miss Effie Dawson, is a prosperous farmer of his home county ; Otto is employed in the village of Central Lake, in the same livery of which his brother has charge; and Hattie died in 1898, at the age of seventeen years. The two older sons, Alva G. and Jesse W., are teachers in this county.

JAMES LARUE.

Another of the representative farmers and sterling citizens of Antrim county is James Larue, whose well improved and at- tractive homestead is situated in Central Lake township. He is a native of the old Empire state, having been born in Onondaga county, New York, on the 19th of May, 1859, and being a son of Harvey and Jane (Rice) Larue, both of whom were born and reared in the state of New York, where they passed the major portion of their lives, the father having been a skilled mechanic and having been a contractor and builder by occupation. The family came to Michigan when the subject of this sketch was about twenty years of age, and in 1874 the father. located in Barry county, where he purchased land and turned his attention to farming, in which connection he met with marked success, continuing to be identified with agri- cultural pursuits until his death, which oc- curred in 1899, in the city of Jackson,

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where he had lived retired for several years, having also been the owner of a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Jackson county. He was a man of strong individu- ality and impregnable integrity, and in poli- tics was a stanch advocate of the principles of the Democratic party. He was of French lineage, his father having been a native of France. The mother of the subject was sum- moned into eternal rest in 1866, and is sur- vived by six of her twelve children.

James Larue passed his youth in Onondaga county, New York, and his edu- cational discipline was secured in the public schools. As a young man he secured em- ployment in a planing mill, becoming fa- miliar with the business in all its details and continuing to be identified with this line of enterprise for eighteen years, within which time he resided in various towns in Michi- gan. In the year 1897 he came to Antrim county, and he has since continued to make his home in Central Lake township, where he has a well improved farm of one hundred and twenty-one acres, of which he has re- claimed ninety acres. The place is devoted to diversified agriculture and horticulture, and the energy and good judgment which the owner has brought to bear in the prose- cution of his farming enterprise have in- sured to him the maximum of success. In 1903 he raised twenty-eight hundred bushels of corn on his farm, while his average yield of potatoes is about five hundred bushels annually. He also has a considerable num- ber of choice fruit trees on the place, apples being the principal orchard crop, and in the live-stock department of his enterprise he gives preference to Durham cattle and Chester White swine. In politics he is a. stalwart Republican, and he takes an intel-

ligent and active interest in the questions and issues of the hour and is ever ready to lend his influence and aid in the promotion of local measures for the general good. He served two years as pathmaster in his town- ship, but has never sought local office. Mrs. Larue is a Baptist in religion.

In 1881 Mr. Larue was united in mar- riage to Miss Nellie New, who was born in Barry county, this state, being a daughter of George and Martha New, the former of whom was a representative farmer of Barry county. To Mr. and Mrs. Larue have been born eight children, of whom six are living, namely : Maude, Gladys, James, Doris, Grace and Irving. Blanche, the second child, died at the age of ten years, and the third child died in infancy.

CLARK TAGGART.

It is no mere assumption that energy and consecutive application will eventuate in success in nearly every instance, and proof is afforded in the case of Mr. Taggart, who is one of the well known pioneers and pros- perous farmers of Antrim county, his well improved farm being located in Central Lake township.

Mr. Taggart is a native of the province of Ontario, Canada, where he was born on the 21st of March, 1859, and he is a son of Robert and Eliza (Wiley) Taggart, the for- mer of whom was born in Ireland and the latter in Scotland, while both passed the closing years of their lives in Huron county, Michigan. The father was a weaver by trade but devoted the greater portion of his active career to agricultural pursuits, being

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF

in independent circumstances and being a man who ever held the confidence and esteem of those with whom he came in contact.

The subject of this review passed his youthful years in his native province of Ontario, where he learned the lessons of practical industry by aiding his father in the work of the farm, and his educational privileges were those afforded in the public schools. In 1879, at the age of twenty years, he came to Michigan and located in Huron county, and thereafter he devoted his atten- tion to labors of various descriptions until 1890, when he came to Antrim county and settled in the village of Central Lake. For two years thereafter he was identified with lumbering enterprises here, and he then, in 1897, located on his present farm, to whose cultivation and improvement he has since devoted himself, having developed one of the valuable places of the county. His farm comprises one hundred and sixty acres, of which one hundred and twenty have been made available for successful cultivation, and he raises the various products best suited to the soil and climate, also having a good orchard, while he has made the raising of live stock a profitable phase of his farming enterprise, giving preference to the Short- horn and Durham types of cattle and the Chester White and Poland China hogs. Mr. Taggart purchased this property in 1897 and at that time the greater portion of the place was covered with the native timber, which has been cleared off through his own efforts, while he has also made all of the im- provements on the farm, which is equipped with good buildings and bears evidence of unmistakable thrift and prosperity.

In the matter of politics Mr. Taggart is found stanchly arrayed as a supporter of the

Republican party, and he has served in various local offices of trust, including that of pathmaster and also that of member of the school board of his district. In a fra- ternal way he is identified with the tent of Knights of the Maccabees at Central Lake and with the organization of Orangemen, having been reared in the Protestant faith and being of stanch Irish lineage. He has reason to be gratified with the success which he has gained here, for he came to the county a poor man and is now numbered among the substantial farmers and popular citizens of Central Lake township.

In the year 1890 Mr. Taggart was united in marriage to Miss Hulda A. Mathers, who was born and reared in Central Lake town- ship, being a daughter of John Mathers, who was a farmer by vocation and who passed the closing years of his life in Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Taggart have seven children, namely : Mary E., a daughter of his first wife, John R., William T., Peter M., George M., Henry E. and Elizabeth G.

PETER S. WEAVER.

This venerable and honored pioneer of Antrim county is a veteran of the Civil war and in the "piping times of peace" has ever shown the same fidelity, loyalty and earnest- ness of purpose which so signally character- ized his course while a soldier on the battle- fields of the greatest of all internecine con- flicts, the war of the Rebellion. He has been a resident of Antrim county since 1869, and is thus numbered among the oldest living pioneers of this section of the state, while he has done his share in the great work of

PETER WEAVER.

M. M. WEAVER RESIDENCE.

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development and aided the march of pro- gress, while he has not been denied that suc- cess which is the just reward for years of earnest endeavor.

Mr. Weaver was born near Newton, now known as Elmira, Chemung county, New York, on the 19th of February, 1825, and will thus have reached the age of four score years by the time this work is published. He is a son of Henry and Polly (Gardner) Weaver, both of whom were likewise native of the old Empire state, where the latter passed her entire life. The father, when well advanced in years, removed to Wiscon- sin, passing the closing years of his life in the home of our subject. Of the six children in the family none but the subject are living, and three of the sons rendered yeoman service in defense of the Union during the Civil war.

Peter S. Weaver was reared to manhood on the old homestead farm in Chemung county, New York, and his early educational advantages were such as were afforded in the common schools of the locality and period. He continued to reside in his native county until he removed to Wisconsin, lo- cating in Manitowoc county, where he was engaged in engineering at the time of the outbreak of the rebellion. In response to President Lincoln's call for troops, he en- listed, in 1862, as a private in Company K, Twenty-first Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, with which he continued in active service two years and eight months, having been disabled by a severe wound in his right elbow and having been on this account granted his honorable discharge in 1863, at which time he was in the city of Chicago. His regiment was assigned to the Western Army and served under General Rosecrans,

and he participated in a number of the spirited battles in which that division of the federal armies took part, the wound pre- viously mentioned having been received in the battle of Perryville, Kentucky.

After the close of his military service Mr. Weaver returned to Wisconsin, where he continued to be engaged in engineering until 1869, when he came to Antrim county, where he has ever since resided, having been one of the first settlers in Custer township and having here developed a farm in the midst of the primeval forest, reclaiming his land largely through his undivided labors and working earnestly and indefatigably to gain a worthy success and independence. He has not been denied this consistent re- ward, and in the golden evening of his life is enabled to enjoy the fruits of his long years of toil and endeavor. He has eighty acres of land, of which fifty-five are under cultivation, and the buildings and other per- manent improvements on the place are of substantial order and betoken good manage- ment and distinctive thrift. In addition to raising the various cereals he has also de- voted much attention to the growing of fruits of various varieties, having a good orchard, and also raising large crops of po- tatoes and other horticultural products. His son Milton resides with him and now has the general supervision and management of the farm. In political affairs Mr. Weaver has given an uncompromising allegiance to the Republican party from the time of its organization to the present, and is a stalwart advocate of the principles of the "grand old party." He is a valued member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and both he and his wife have long been members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF

In 1848 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Weaver to Miss Elizabeth Lathrop, who was born and reared in the state of New York, being a daughter of Alfred Lathrop, who was of French lineage. Of this union have been born seven children, namely : Henry, who is deceased; Keziah, Milford, Marian, Charles, Florence and one who died in infancy. Keziah is the wife of C. H. Kemp, a farmer of this county ; Mil- ford M. is at home and has charge of the farm; Marian is the wife of Nathan Jackson, a farmer in this county ; Charles married and is a stone mason and plasterer in this county ; Florence is the wife of Clarence Lane, a farmer of this county.

SILAS B. ANWAY.

This gentleman is one of the honored pioneers of Antrim county, and has been an active factor in connection with the in- dustrial, material and civic development and progress of this section of the Wolverine state, while he has been concerned with the broad interests which have to do with the welfare of the community. A veteran of the Civil war, an upright, enterprising citi- zen, and a man of marked ability, he is specially worthy of consideration in this volume.

Mr. Anway is a representative of one of the old and honored families of Ohio. His grandfather, William Anway, came from Cayuga county, New York, to Seneca county, Ohio, soon after the land sales of 1821, and took up his abode in Scipio town- ship, where he entered a tract of three hun- dred and twenty acres of government land,

becoming one of the honored pioneers of that section. The work of improvement and development was at that time scarcely begun, and he rendered substantial aid, as did also his son, the father of our subject, in laying broad and deep the foundations for the opulent prosperity now in evidence in that favored portion of Ohio, where many of his descendants still remain. The subject was born on the old ancestral homestead in Seneca county, Ohio, on the 9th of March, 1839, and is a son of Harvey and Eunice (Brown) Anway, the former of whom was born in Seneca county, New York, in 1815, while the latter was born in the same state, in 1820, while she died in 1844, at which time our subject was but six years of age. Harvey Anway was one in a family of seven sons and three daughters, all of whom ac- companied their parents on the removal from New York to Seneca county, Ohio, and they took up their abode in the forest wilds, where the Indians were more in evidence than the white settlers. There the father of the subject was reared to maturity, having all the experiences of pioneer life and becoming a man of vigorous and productive energy. He devoted the major portion of his life to agricultural pursuits, while he was also identified with the lumbering in- dustry to a considerable degree, having been the owner and operator of sawmills. Dur- ing his active career he lived in several states of the Union, passing the last six years of his life in the home of our subject, in Antrim county, where he died on the 29th of April, 1897, at the venerable age of eighty-two years. In politics he was originally an old-line Whig, but he espoused the cause of the Republican party at the time of its organization, ever afterward sup-

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porting its principles. He was a zealous and earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was a man whose life was un- shadowed by wrong in thought, word or deed. He was three times married, and the children of the first union were as follows : Silas B. (subject of this sketch), Phoebe, Bethana, Samuel H. and Eunice. The maiden name of his second wife was Maria Lewis, and she died in 1878, seven children having been born of this union, namely : Eliza, Elmira, Ann, John, Charles, Zella and Fanny M. Mr. Anway was again married to Mrs. Kellogg, of Seneca county, Ohio, no children having been born from this union.

The subject of this review was reared to maturity in the old Buckeye state, assisting in the work of the farm and duly availing himself of the privileges afforded in the common schools of the locality and period. In 1854 he came to Michigan, where he re- mained until 1859, when he returned to Ohio, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits at the time of the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion. In 1862 he enlisted as a private in Company H, One Hundred and First Ohio Volunteer Infantry, his com- pany being commanded by Captain Shriver, and he thereafter continued in active service until practically the close of the great strug- gle through which the integrity of the Union was perpetuated. His command became a part of the Army of the Cumberland, and he participated in the battles of Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga, and the various skirmishes of that campaign and in all other manoeuvers in which his regiment was con- cerned, being fortunate in escaping serious wounds or illness. He received his honor- able discharge on the 20th of June, 1865,

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Biographical history of northern Michigan containing biographies of prominent citizens, Part 3

Author: Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen Number of Pages: 966

Author:
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 966