Biographical history of northern Michigan containing biographies of prominent citizens, Part 50

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

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Mr. Foster was married at East Jordan to Kate Picard, daughter of Simeon Picard, of Leland, Leelanaw county, Michigan. Prior to her marriage she was engaged in teaching school in Leelanaw and Charlevoix counties and acquired an excellent reputation in that capacity. She is also accomplished as a painter, her work being mainly on china

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and plaques. To Mr. and Mrs. Foster have been born one child, Percy, age fifteen years. Fraternally the Doctor is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and he takes a deep and abiding interest in the wel- fare of these orders. Dr. Foster stands ad- mittedly in the front ranks of Charlevoix county's distinguished professional men, possessing a thorough knowledge of medi- cine and surgery and keeping in close touch with the trend of modern thought relating to the noble calling to which his life and en- ergies have been devoted. He has ever maintained his high standing, never de- scending beneath the dignity of his profes- sion nor compromising his usefulness by countenancing any but noble and legitimate practice. The apparent ease with which he has mounted to his present commanding po- sition in the healing art marks him as the possessor of talents beyond the majority of his brethren, and, being a close and critical student, he experiences no difficulty in sus- taining the high reputation which his pro- fessional abilities and marked success have earned for him.

CHARLEVOIX LUMBER COMPANY.

One of the concerns which has had in- portant influence upon the industrial and commercial upbuilding of the city of Char- levoix is the company whose name appears above, the same having been incorporated in 1891, with a capital stock of thirty-five thousand dollars, while the official corps comprises John Nicholls, president, and his

son, Harry, as secretary, treasurer and gen- eral manager. All the stock of the company is held in Charlevoix and all is practically in the name of the Nicholls family, with a collateral relationship implied in that held by the Lewis estate, F. E. Lewis having been a stepson of the president of the com- pany.

Though in a comparative way the com- pany is of recent organization, the enter- prise represented dates back to the pioneer era in this section of the state. The original lumber mill was built in 1867, by the White- water Manufacturing Company, which came here from Wisconsin, and in 1876 John Nicholls purchased the plant and business. The mill, as remodeled and equipped at present, has a daily capacity of thirty thou- sand feet of lumber, and the annual output averages from six to seven million feet of hardwood and hemlock lumber. The com- pany owns about thirty-five hundred acres of timber land, while each year there is pur- chased for manufacturing purposes such available timber as is placed in the local market by others. The equipment of the company includes a steam barge and one tug. and thus they are enabled to handle a large part of the output of the mill. In the saw- mill and planing-mill employment is afforded to about fifty workmen, and most of the logging is done by contract or jobbing sys- tem, while the importance of the enterprise to the city and county may be understood when we state that in wages and for timber the company pays out annually from sixty to seventy-five thousand dollars, a general line of lumber being turned out, while a re- tail trade is also carried on in the connection. As rapidly as the company's land has been

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denuded of its available timber the property is placed on the market for development into farms. Fremont Lewis, whose death occur- red in 1902, was vice-president of the com- pany from the time of its organization until his death, and he gave to the business his time and attention until he was summoned from the scene of life's activities.

Harry Nicholls, secretary, treasurer and manager for the company, is also president of the Charlevoix Sugar Company, and is one of the representative business men of the younger generation in this section of the state. He is a native of the Badger state, having been born in Galesville, Wisconsin, on the 19th of November, 1864, and having been educated in the public schools, while he early became associated in a practical way with his father's lumbering operations. He is one of Charlevoix's most loyal, progres- sive and public-spirited citizens, and the high regard in which he is held in the com- munity was shown in his having been chosen to serve as president of the village council for four terms. He is a stanch Republican in politics and is prominent in the local councils thereof, as he is also in the civic and social affairs of the community in which he has resided from his boyhood days.

PHILIPP ECKHARDT.

It is a fact patent to all that the United States can boast of no better or more law- abiding class of citizens than the great num- ber of Germans who have found homes within her borders. Though holding dear and sacred the beloved fatherland, they are none the less devoted to the fair country of

their adoption and should necessity require it would be willing to go forth to battle for the maintenance of its institutions. Among this large and highly respected class is the subject of this sketch.

Philipp Eckhardt was born in Germany on the 21st of March, 1842, and is the son of Philipp and Mary (Wagoner) Eckhardt, natives also of the fatherland. The subject's grandfather, John Eckhardt, who was a weaver by trade, was born, reared and died in Germany. Philipp Eckhardt emigrated to the United States in 1849 and first settled in Oneida county, New York, where he owned a splendid farm of ninety-seven and one-half acres and where he died in 1883. He was the father of four children, Philipp, Mary, George and Peter. He was a Demo- crat in politics and a faithful and consistent member of the Lutheran church. The sub- ject of this sketch accompanied his parents upon their emigration from Germany to the United States and as he was but a small child, he did not gain much school education until after his arrival in this country. He made up for lost time, however, by persistent and satisfactory application and this, to- gether with a lifelong habit of close reading, has made him an inteligent and well-in- formed man.

In 1874 Mr. Eckhardt left the Empire state and came to Michigan, settling in Kal- kaska county, when the village of Kalkaska had but one house. His first efforts here were in the lumber business, at which he con- tinued for eight years, being fairly success- ful, and at the end of that period bought one hundred and fifty-one acres of land in Forest Home township, which included all his pres- ent fine farm. He has added to this from time to time until he is now the owner of

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three hundred and twenty acres, of which one hundred and forty are under the plow. He has made a success of agriculture and keeps his farm in the highest condition of excellence. Mr. Eckhardt is now the pos- sessor of the finest orchard in Antrim county, comprising seventy acres, on which he has eight thousand fruit trees, including peach, apple, cherry, plum, pear and quince, be- sides many berries. His crop of apples average about three thousand bushels per year and other fruits in proportion. He also gives some attention to live stock, raising cattle and thoroughbred Duroc Jersey hogs, which he sells on the hoof. In all branches of his farm efforts Mr. Eckhardt has been practically successful, his success being due entirely to his own indefatigable efforts, and as the result of the eminent qualities ex- hibited by him, he retains the warm respect of his associates and acquaintances. On his farm Mr. Eckhardt has erected a fine resi- dence, costing about three thousand dollars, and the lumber used in the erection was cut by Mr. Eckhardt while he was engaged in the lumber business. As it was all selected by himself and carefully stored, it was in the best of condition and but few houses in this part of the state are as nicely finished as is this one. In addition to the improve- ments mentioned above, Mr. Eckhardt has a fine vineyard of one and one-half acres, from which he secures a large quantity of the finest grapes grown in this latitude.

Mr. Eckhardt takes a deep interest in political affairs and gives his support to the Democratic party, believing that it is the most conducive to the welfare of the American people. Aside from membership on the township school board, he would not accept of further political honors, preferring

to give his entire time and attention to his business interests.

On December 31, 1873, Mr. Eckhardt wedded Miss Jennie Winkler, daughter .of Anthony and Theressa Winkler, and to them have been born four children, Roy, Lydia B., Ledah M. and Lloyd.

Mr. Eckhardt has followed farming the most of his life and understands at its best that branch of industry. He has been suc- cessful beyond the lot of many and should be given credit for his industry and his honorable life. He and his wife have earned and occupy a noble standing in their com- munity, being numbered among its most prominent citizens and whose efforts are al- ways directed toward the moral, social and material uplifting of society.

JOHN PAPINEAU.

Among the earliest of the early pioneers of northern Michigan than whom none was held in higher respect in this section of the state, was he whose name appears above, and whose death took place at Charlevoix on the 5th of August, 1904. Mr. Papineaui had had previous trouble with his heart, but no seri- ous condition was apprehended until his sud- den death, which occurred at his boat livery dock in the rear of the Crouter Building.

Mr. Papineau, as before stated, took rank among the very early settlers of this region. He was a native of the Buckeye state, having been born in Cleveland about seventy-one years before his death. In 1849 he came to Beaver island, this being just be- fore the arrival of the Mormons there, and in 1852 he removed to Fox island. He did

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not long remain there, however, removing the same year to Washington island, in Green bay. In 1855 he went to Little Tra- verse, now known as Harbor Springs, but did not finally settle there until 1858. There he remained until 1871, when he came to Charlevoix and had since continuously re- sided here until his death. Besides his widow he left six children, Clifford, Emma, Joseph, May, George and Henry. In all of life's re- lations John Papineau was truly a man among men and nobly bore his part in the great task of reclaiming from the primitive wilderness the many splendid and highly productive farms which now characterize this section of Michigan. His was an active life, fruitful of good results and among his friends and acquaintances he held an honor- able position. Such men as he are eminently deserving of mention in a compilation as is the nature of this one.

MILTON M. BURNHAM.

This representative and honored citizen of Charlevoix county has been distinctively the architect of his own fortunes, has been true and loyal in all the relations of life and stands as a type of that sterling manhood which ever commands respect and honor. Mr. Burnham gained a leading position at the bar of this county and was here actively engaged in practice for many years, while he has also been concerned in the industrial de- velopment of this section, having reclaimed the fine farm upon which he now resides, the same being in practically immediate prox- imity to the thriving village of East Jordan, with whose upbuilding and civic progress he has been closely identified.

Mr. Burnham is a native of the old Em- pire state of the Union and a representative of a family whose name has been identified with American annals since the early colonial era. He was born in the township of Dayton, Cattaraugus county, New York, on the 22d of February, 1839, and while he was a mere child his parents removed to Nashville, Chautauqua county, where he passed his boyhood days, his father having there followed his trade of carpenter and joiner. There were four sons and all be- gan early to learn trades, our subject hav- ing initiated his active labors when a mere boy. When he was but ten years of age his father "gave him his time," as the expres- sion goes, his educational advantages in the meanwhile having been those afforded in the common schools. Thereafter he did not again attend school until he had attained to the age of eighteen years, though in the meantime he had devoted himself zealously to personal study and reading. When but ten years of age he started out in life on his own responsibility, making a trip to Michi- gan and remaining in Calhoun county for a short time, after which he passed some time in Ohio and Pennsylvania, finally returning to his old home in New York when sixteen years of age, and having thus been absent for a period of six years, during which he had met with varied experiences, the while applying himself industriously to whatever work he undertook. The next five years Mr. Burnham passed in the lumber woods of New York and Pennsylvania. In 1857 he was a foreman for a lumber company in Chautauqua county, New York, and in the meanwhile his ambition to secure an educa- tion had led him to closely apply himself to study during the evenings and odd hours.

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That he made good use of his time is evident when we revert to the fact that when eighteen years of age he secured a certificate entitling him to teach in the schools of his native state. He engaged in teaching dur- ing the winter term following his receipt of this certificate, and among his pupils were several who were farther advanced in scholastic lore than was he, so that he was compelled to do much work to keep pace and prove his eligibility for the position which he thus occupied. Mr. Burnham had in the meanwhile determined upon his future vocation, and forthwith began the work of technical preparation therefor, engaging in the reading of law at night and continuing his studies under effective preceptorship until 1863, when he was admitted to the bar of New York, upon examination before the supreme court, in Buffalo.

Mr. Burnham initiated the active prac- tice of his profession in the town of Waverly, Cattaraugus county, New York, and his first case was before a justice of the peace. His preceptor had taken the case and realized that his client had no just defense, and in order to give our subject due "practice" he requested him to appear. Under the exist- ing conditions it is scarcely necessary to state that Mr. Burnham's only possible means of gaining a victory was by virtual subterfuge or equivocation, and by taking advantage of an omission on the part of the opposing counsel he won the case. In 1867 Mr. Burnham returned to Michigan, and located in Holly, Oakland county, where he gained prominence and prestige as a repre- sentative member of the bar of that section. having there continued in active practice for nearly a score of years,-until 1886, in the spring of which year he came to East

Jordan, where he has ever since made his home. He had previously visited this sec- tion and was led to remove hither in hope of benefitting his health, which had become much impaired. He soon assumed a com- manding position as a member of the local bar and had to do with much of the im- portant litigation in the courts here for many years, having continued in active prac- tice in East Jordan until the Ist of January, 1893, when he practically retired, having since given the major portion of his time and attention to the management and super- vision of his fine farming property. He was prosecuting attorney of Charlevoix county in 1891-2, and in the connection made an enviable record, the first grand jury in the county having been summoned during his in- cumbency of the office mentioned. It had been realized by the better class of citizens that criminal matters in the county de- manded immediate attention, as there had been much of unrestrained lawlessness and crime, while the malefactors continued their course with apparent impunity. Under these conditions a citizen's ticket was brought into the field at the county election, and on the same Mr. Burnham was the nominee for prosecuting attorney, receiving a majority of three hundred, while the normal Repub- lican majority in the county at the time was six hundred. Judge Ramsdell was then on the circuit bench and he ordered the grand jury, in response to a petition signed by more than five hundred citizens. Forty-one indictments were found, but defendants se- cured postponements on various pretexts so that no cases came to trial within the term of the subject of this sketch. Though but few convictions were secured the action taken was such as to bring about a radical change

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in largely doing away with crime in the county.

In 1886 Mr. Burnham erected his pres- ent attractive residence, his fine farm com- prising nearly one hundred and sixty acres and being most eligibly located just north of East Jordan and bordering on the beautiful South Arm. When he secured possession of this land it was a wild tract, the timber having largely been cut off but the stumps remaining, and he has here developed one of the best farms in the county, having given his personal supervision to the reclamation and improvement of the place. Mr. Burn- ham's health has been somewhat impaired for several years past, and he has had to bear otherwise a heavy burden by reason of sick- ness in his family, his first wife having been virtually an invalid for the last fifteen years of her life and having demanded much of his personal attention and care, his solicitude and devotion in the connection being un- reserved.

The subject of this review has been a wide and appreciative reader of the best literature and is a man of broad information. He has taken much interest in agricultural affairs in his section and has contributed valuable articles to various periodicals de- voted to the noble art of husbandry, while he also has furnished crop reports to the state and national agricultural departments. He has not only been one of the successful agriculturists of this section but has also devoted special attention to the raising of high-grade live stock, giving preference to the Galloway cattle and Shropshire sheep, both of which he introduced into Charlevoix county. In politics Mr. Burnham maintains an independent attitude and fraternally is an

appreciative member of the Masonic order, with which he has been identified since 1863. For fifteen years he was secretary of Mystic Lodge, No. 379, Free and Accepted Masons, at East Jordan, and he is affiliated with the chapter and council of the order at Holly, and with Ivanhoe Commandery, Knights Templar, in Petoskey, being the only sir knight in East Jordan at the time of this writing.

In 1863, at Persia, Cattaraugus county, New York, Mr. Burnham was married to Miss Julia A. Babcock, who died at Holly, Michigan, on the 9th of July, 1883. Two children were born of this union, Marion Mab, who died at the age of eighteen years; and Olive L., who is the wife of Dr. John C. Wilde, of Petoskey. In 1884, at East Jordan, Mr. Burnham was united in mar- riage to Miss Achsah M. Babcock, a sister of his first wife, no children having been born to this union.

DANIEL S. PAYTON.

The history of a county or state, as well as that of a nation, is chiefly a chronicle of the lives and deeds of those who have con- ferred honor and dignity upon society. The world judges the character of a community by those of its representative citizens and yields its tributes of admiration and respect to those whose works and actions constitute the record of a state's prosperity and pride. Among the prominent citizens of Charlevoix county, Michigan, who are well known be- cause of their success in their private busi- ness affairs and the part they have taken in

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public affairs, is he whose name appears at the head of this article. Daniel S. Payton was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on the 2d of November, 1856, and is the son of Daniel and Julia (Hand) Payton, the former a na- tive of Hart county, Kentucky, and the lat- ter of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The sub- ject secured a good common-school educa- tion in Louisville and Cincinnati, which was supplemented by a course in Bryant & Strat- ton's Business College of Cincinnati, from which he graduated in 1878. The family liad removed from Louisville to Cincinnati in 1870, and in 1880 they came to the sub- ject's present home in Eveline township, Charlevoix county, Michigan. Mr. Payton first purchased sixty acres of land, but has added to this from time to time until the farm now comprises one hundred and twelve acres, the greater part under the plow and in a high state of cultivation. Since coming to Michigan Mr. Payton has spent the greater part of his time on his farm and has a well-earned reputation as a progres- sive and successful agriculturist. About the year 1882 Mr. Payton went to Arizona, where for three or four years he was en- gaged in dealing in lumber and in mining supplies.

In politics Mr. Payton is a firm and un- compromising Republican and has been honored by the voters of his township and county with several offices of trust and re- sponsibility. In 1895 he was elected su- pervisor of Eveline township and so satis- factory was his discharge of the duties of this office that he was successively re-elected to succeed himself for ten years, being chairman of the board for two terms. He resigned this position in order to accept the office of county treasurer, to which he was elected on November 8, 1904, and which

position he is now acceptably filling. He was also for four consecutive years presi- dent of the Charlevoix County Agricultural Society, declining a fifth term. In all mat- ters affecting the welfare of the township or county Mr. Payton has taken a deep in- terest and his influence is always given to all movements looking to the community's ad- vancement, materially, morally or educa- tionally. In religious sympathy, the family are Baptists. Fraternally, Mr. Payton is a Mason, being a past master of Mystic Lodge, No. 379, the Knights of the Maccabees, and the Grange, having been master of the latter for three years.

On August 10, 1882, Mr. Payton was married to Miss Minnie French, of New- port, Kentucky, the daughter of John and Sarah (Moller) French, and to their union have been born two children, Minnie and Vernon S. Mr. Payton's father died in August, 1890, and his mother now makes her home with him. Whatever success has attended Mr. Payton's efforts is due entirely to his own energy, industry and ability. From small beginnings he gradually attained a prominence in his county which entitles him to be regarded as one of its leading citi- zens. His reputation is that of a man of business integrity and he is esteemed by all who know him.

RALPH WILTSE.

This name is well known in Antrim county, Michigan, where Mr. Wiltse has maintained his home from his youth, his par- ents having been numbered among the repre- sentative pioneers of the county, and he is not only recognized as one of the leading

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agriculturists of Banks township, where he has a fine farm property, but he has also been a prominent figure in public affairs of a local nature and has been incumbent of of- fices of distinctive trust and responsibility. He has been signally faithful to his concep- tion of the duties of citizenship, ever striv- ing to advance the moral, educational and material welfare of the community in which he has lived and labored. Mr. Wiltse is a native of Canada, having been born in the province of Ontario on the 3d of December, 1856, and is the son of Edward and Phebe (Mason) Wiltse, the former born at Far- mersville, Ontario, and the latter at Frank- town, the same province. Both parents are deceased, the father's death occurring on September 20, 1889, and the mother's on April 7, 1895. The subject attained the common schools in Canada until he was eleven years of age when the family removed to the present homestead near Central Lake, in Banks township, Antrim county, Michi- gan, the date of their arrival being April 20, 1868. He then attended the district schools here until eighteen years old, receiving a good practical education. He then entered upon active farming operations and upon the death of his father he entered upon the management and personal operation of the homestead farm. He now resides on the ad- joining farm to the old homestead, and has here developed one of the fine farms of the county, everything about the place bespeak- ing thrift and prosperity and indicating the energy, discrimination and good judgment brought to bear by the owner. Mr. Wiltse does not confine his attention to any one line of products, but raises all the crops com- mon to this section of country, for which he finds a ready market.

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Biographical history of northern Michigan containing biographies of prominent citizens, Part 50

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