Biographical history of northern Michigan containing biographies of prominent citizens, Part 69

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

USA > Michigan > Biographical history of northern Michigan containing biographies of prominent citizens > Part 69

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

ticket, while in 1891 he was re-elected, on an independent ticket, thus serving in the shrievalty for four years and making an ex- cellent record in the connection. Thereafter he was identified with the manufacturing of broom handles until 1900, when he was elected register of deeds, on the Republican ticket, while two years later he was chosen as his own successor, so that he is incumbent of the office at the time of this writing, while his services in the connection have been most discriminating and systematic, gaining to him unqualified popular commendation and endorsement, so that his further retention of the office is practically assured. In politics Mr. Rainbow is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Republican party, in whose cause he has taken a deep interest.

EUGENE R. SLY.

A dry recital of a man's career can con- vey no proper notion of what manner of an individual he is in his methods, his ideals and his influence among his fellows. Only those who come in personal contact with Eugene R. Sly, the founder and leading spirit of the flourishing town of Bay Shore, can understand how thoroughly nature and training, habits of thought and action, have enabled him to accomplish his life work and made him a fit representative of the enter- prising business class of people to which he belongs. He is a fine type of the sturdy, conscientious American of today-a man who unites a high order of ability with cour- age, patriotism, clean morality and sound common sense, without stopping to think that his virtues are above the ordinary,

EUGENE R. SLY.

529

NORTHERN MICHIGAN.

doing thoroughly and well the work that he finds to do and asking praise of no man for the performance of what he conceives to be his simple duty.

Eugene R. Sly was born at Gaylen, Wayne county, New York, December 27, 1842, and when a child accompanied his pa- rents upon their removal to Illinois, in which state he grew to manhood. His father, Sen- eca Sly, was a grocer in his native common- wealth and in addition to that line of busi- ness spent considerable time as a lock tender on the Erie canal. He came west during the construction of the Illinois and Michigan canal and settled in Will county, Illinois, about three miles north of Joliet and one mile north of the place now the present site of Pendentry, where he purchased land and engaged in agricultural pursuits. His farm bordered on the canal and he added consid- erably to his means by selling wood which was shipped to the larger cities through which the water ran. The early life of the subject was spent in close proximity to the canal and he distinctly remembers seeing the first boat that plied the same, the "General Fry," which passed his home the spring fol- lowing the family's arrival in Will county. When old enough he was assigned the task of driving the horses which furnished power for his father's wood saw and when not thus engaged worked on the farm, attending of winter seasons the public schools of the neighborhood. When twelve years of age he went to Prairie Farm, where he remained until 1862, at which time he responded to President Lincoln's second call for volun- teers by enlisting in Company C, One Hun- dredth Illinois Infantry, with which he shared the fortunes and vicissitudes of war until taken prisoner at the battle of Chick-

amauga on September 20th of the following year, having previously participated in the battle of Murfreesboro and several minor en- gagements. Shortly after his capture Mr. Sly was sent to Libby prison, Richmond, Virginia, thence a few weeks later to Dan- ville where he remained until his removal to Andersonville in May, 1864. After spend- ing five months in the latter place he was transferred to Florence, South Carolina, where he continued in "durance vile" until the following February when he was sent with others to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he was paroled after seventeen months a prisoner of war. Unlike many of his comrades and fellow prisoners, Mr. Sly suffered little from the effects of his confine- ment, for the reason that he was unusually strong and healthy and could withstand without fatigue and break-down almost any amount of hunger, labor or indignity to which he was subject by his captors. Mr. Sly's military experience lacked but a few days of three years when he received his dis- charge and returned home, his mother hav- ing died while he was in prison, thus break- ing up the family. His father subesequently moved to Plainfield, Illinois, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying in that town at the advanced age of eighty-one years.

After cultivating the homestead for a number of years, the subject purchased a farm in the same neighborhood and on the 16th of December, 1868, took to himself a wife in the person of Miss Emma J. Spicer. of Will county. Thereafter he set up his do- mestic establishment on the farm where he continued to live and prosper during the en- suing seven years, meantime adding to his real estate until at the expiration of the per- iod noted his holdings consisted of two

530

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF

hundred acres of fine land admirably adap- ted to the purposes of agriculture and live stock. At the end of the above time Mr. Sly discontinued farming and moved to Lockport where he engaged in the hay and straw pressing and shipping business, thence after a limited period went to Lexington in the interest of the Lockport Paper Company, which concern he continued to represent until 1884 when he resigned his position and came to northern Michigan, having previ- ously purchased land in this part of the state with the object in view of embarking in the manufacture of lime. Locating at Pet- oskey, where his brother, Rev. W. S. Sly, had settled some time before, he organized the Petoskey Lime Company, and at once began operations on his land which con- tained almost inexhaustible deposits of fine lime rock. From a comparatively small be- ginning the business soon grew to enlarged proportions and in the course of a few years became one of the leading industries of the lake region. A large number of men were given employment and in due time the com- pany's headquarters became the nucleus of a thriving settlement which continued to in- crease in population and importance until there grew up the thriving village of Bay Shore, one of the most beautiful and pros- perous business points on Lake Michigan. In the fall of 1900 this company consolidated with the Elk Portland Cement Company at Elk Rapids, since which time the business of the concern has been transacted from the general offices at Petoskey. In April, 1904, the subject was elected general manager of the combined business.

The town of Bay Shore contains two well-stocked general stores, cooper and

blacksmith shops, two churches, a graded school, a well-organized fire department and the best system of water works of its capac- ity of any town in the state. Also a mill for the manufacturing of lumber, broom handles and heading. The business of the place is under the immediate control of the company and the populace, which at the present time numbers about three hundred souls, obtains its chief support from the en- terprise which gave rise to the town and to which its growth and prosperity are almost wholly due.

Mr. Sly is entitled to much praise for the leading part he took in establishing the im- portant industry of which he was long the ruling spirit and in the management of which he has displayed executive ability of a high order, and still keeps in close touch with every interest of the company, giving it the benefit of his sound judgment and ripe experience and by his wise counsel and con- siderate methods contributing greatly to its success. As already indicated, he is a man of force and action, foreseeing with remark- able accuracy the future outcome of plans which are formed only after mature deliber- ation and executed with no thought of mis- carriage or failure to impede their progress. In political affiliations Mr. Sly is a Republi- can, but has never been a partisan, much less an office-seeker, being first of all a busi- ness man and making every other consid- eration subordinate thereto. In matters of public interest he has never been negligent and all worthy enterprises whether for the material advancement of the community in which he resides or for the social and moral welfare of the people have found in him an earnest and liberal patron. The family of

53I

NORTHERN MICHIGAN.

Mr. and Mrs. Sly consists of two sons and two daughters, whose names are as follows : Elliott M., Homer, Loraine, wife of O. C. Atwood, and Ruth, all doing for themselves except the youngest, who is still with her pa- rents.

CHAUNCEY C. JENCKS.

One of the representative citizens and leading members of the bar of Kalkaska county is Mr. Jencks, who is established in the successful practice of his profession in Kalkaska, the judicial center of the county. Mr. Jencks is a native of the Empire state of the Union, having been born near Dans- ville, Livingston county, New York, on the 25th of June, 1853, and being a son of Hi- ram C. and Rachel (Saxton) Jencks, who were likewise natives of that state, the for- mer having been born in Livingston county and the latter in Steuben. In passing it may be noted that the Jencks family is of stanch English stock, the original progenitors in the new world having been three brothers of the name who came to America in the early colonial era and settled in Rhode Island. The parents of our subject con- tinued to reside in the state of New York until 1878, when they came to Michigan and located in Lenawee county, where they remained until 1880, when they came to Kal- kaska county and took up their residence in the county seat, where the father passed the residue of his life, being summoned into eternal rest in July, 1893, at the age of seventy-one years. His widow still resides here, making her home with her daughter, Emma, who is the wife of Willis M. Solis.

The subject of this sketch secured his

early educational training in the public schools of his native county, and effectively supplemented this by a course of study in the New York State Normal School in Gen- eseo, Livingston county, where he was grad- uated as a member of the class of 1873. He also completed a course in the Eastman Commercial College, at Poughkeepsie, New York. He put his scholastic acquirements to practical test and utilization, having for twelve years devoted his attention to teach- ing school, in which work he met with marked success. He taught one term after coming to Michigan, having accompanied his parents on their removal to this state. He began reading law in the office and under the direction of Milton M. Perry, of Lowell, one of the representative members of the bar of Kent county, Michigan, and was admit- ted to the bar of the state in 1888, by Judge Silas S. Fallas. Mr. Jencks forthwith initi- ated the active practice of his profession, and he has been most successful, winning distinc- tive prestige and retaining a representative clientage. He has had to do with much important litigation in the local, state and federal courts and holds high rank among the able members of the bar of northern Michigan. In politics Mr. Jencks accords an unwavering allegiance to the Republican party in the promotion of whose cause he takes an active interest. He has served as a member of the board of supervisors of Kal- kaska county and as circuit-court commis- sioner, while for the past twenty-three years he has served consecutively as a member of the board of education, save for an interim of one year. He was elected to the office of county commissioner of schools, and con- tinued incumbent of this important and ex- acting office for eight years, and he is prose-

532

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF

cuting attorney of Kalkaska county at the time of this writing, having also served several years as village attorney. He is a frequent delegate to the conventions of his party, local and state, and is an ardent ad- vocate of its principles. At one time he was a member of the firm of Ramsey, Morgan & Jencks, dealers in general merchandise at this place. In a fraternal way he is identi- fied with the Knights of Pythias, being past chancellor of the local organization.

On the 18th of October, 1880, Mr. Jencks was united in marriage to Miss Net- tie M. Kellogg, who was born in Allegany county, New York, being a daughter of Albert T. and Jane (Thompson) Kellogg, and of this union have been born five chil- dren, all of whom are attending school, ex- cept the youngest, their names, in order of birth, being as follows: Leonanie, Marga- ret M., Ramona Marie, Frances Louise and J. Donald.

JAMES M. FLAGG.

When it is stated that the subject of this sketch has served consecutively as county clerk of Kalkaska county for a full score of years the significance is so patent that noth- ing further need be said as indicating the hold which he has upon the confidence and esteem of the people of the county. As an able official and representative and popular citizen we are pleased to accord in this work a sketch of the life of Mr. Flagg, who is one of the sterling pioneers of this section of the state.

James M. Flagg is a native of the old Green Mountain state and is a scion of

stock planted on American soil in the early colonial epoch. He was born in the vil- lage of Elizabeth, Essex county, Vermont, on the 20th of September, 1842, and is a son of Arlo and Maria (Spaulding) Flagg. His father, who was a farmer by vocation, died when our subject was a child of three years, and when he had attained to the age of eight years he accompanied his widowed mother on her removal to Michigan. They located in-Eaton county, where he was reared to maturity, passing a considerable portion of his youth on a farm, while he was afforded the advantages of the common schools, gaining an excellent foundation for the broad and exact fund of knowledge which he was later to rear as a superstruc- ture, through personal application and through the lessons gained under the wise headmaster, Experience. He was still resid- ing in Eaton county at the time when the dark cloud of Civil war obscured the na- tional horizon, and his intrinsic loyalty was forthwith made manifest. In 1861 he en- listed in the regiment known as Merrill's Horse, or Second Missouri Volunteer Cav- alry. Captain Merrill, of the United States army, organized a company as body guard to General Fremont, and this was the nu- cleus of the regiment mentioned, the members being recruited from various states of the Union. The command proceeded to the city of St. Louis, Missouri, and upon the removal of Fremont it became known as the Second Missouri Cavalry, having many Missouri men in its ranks. Mr. Flagg served in this regiment for a period of four years, during the entire western campaign, and proved a faithful and valiant soldier, being made quartermaster's sergeant. On the 6th of August, 1862, in an engagement

533

NORTHERN MICHIGAN.

at Kirksville, Missouri, he was very severely wounded and still carries the leaden mis- sile lodged in his body. He was one of eleven men detailed to ride through the town mentioned for the purpose of discovering the location of the enemy, and in essaying this perilous task volley after volley was fired at the intrepid little band, three of whose number were wounded.

Upon receiving his honorable discharge from the service of his country Mr. Flagg returned to Michigan, and he continued to reside in Eaton county until 1871 when he came to Kalkaska as a pioneer, taking up a homestead in Boardman township and set- tling on the same on the 12th of November, 1871. At that time no more than twenty settlers were to be found within the limits of the township; Kalkaska, the county-seat, was not marked save by the virgin forest ; South Boardman had no settler; even the lumbering enterprises, later so important, had not been inaugurated, and, in fact, the whole section still remained a sylvan wil- derness. Our subject instituted the reclam- ation of his land, his original dwelling being a rude shanty, and there he continued to re- side until his election to office, as will be later noted. He still owns the property mentioned, the same being one of the well improved, highly cultivated and valuable farms of the county. He assisted in the organization of Boardman township, and served for a number of years as its clerk, while he also was called to the office of supervisor and treasurer, while he was a. member of the board of school directors of his district from the time of its organization until he left the farm. In politics Mr. Flagg accords a stanch allegiance to the Republi- can party, in whose cause he has long taken

an ardent interest, while he has been one of the leaders in its contingent in Kalkaska county for many years. In the autumn of 1884 he was elected to fill the dual office of county clerk and register of deeds of Kal- kaska county, and by successive re-elections he continued incumbent of both offices for a period of twelve years, at the expiration of which a separation of the two offices was made, and he was retained in that of clerk, in which position he has ever since con- tinued, and for several years having prac- tically no opposition, and on one occasion having received the endorsement of the Democrats, on whose ticket his name ap- peared, though he was the regular candi- date on the Republican ticket. Mr. Flagg has most effectually systematized the work of the office of which he has so long been in tenure, and his records are models of accu- racy and neatness, while his system has the advantage of being simple and specially practical in all its workings, facilitating reference recourse and insuring the maxi- mum of general excellence in all respects. Within his long regime as county clerk the business of the office has increased ten fold, and it is needless to say that he is a recog- nized authority on all matters pertaining to the same and one of the best informed of all who have had to do with county affairs, while he has given undivided attention to his official duties, through which he has gained the acquaintance of the people in all parts of the county, while incidentally his popular- ity is of the most unmistakable type. For nearly a decade and a half Mr. Flagg has served as a member of the local board of ed- ucation, and as such was one of those prom- inently identified with the preliminary work which secured the local county normal

534

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF

school, which was established in 1903. He is a stockholder in the Kalkaska foundry, and in addition to his farm is the owner of town realty, improved and unimproved, in- cluding his attractive residence property. He is affiliated with various fraternal and social organizations, notably, the Grand Army of the Republic, the Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Masonic fraternity. He and his wife are members of the Congregational church.

In June, 1869, in Eaton county, this state, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Flagg to Miss Maria L. Day, and they have four children, namely : Arlo, who is a resi- dent of the city of Chicago; Howard, who is a chemist, following the profession in the East; Zora, who is the wife of Claude Cole, a well known merchant of Kalkaska, and Lena, who is a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of her home town.

JAMES GREACEN.

There is all of consistency in incorpora- ting in this publication a review of the career of this honored pioneer and representative citizen of Kalkaska, with whose rise and ma- terial and civic upbuilding he has been most intimately identified, having been one of the first merchants in the embryonic town and having here maintained his home for the past thirty years. He is a veteran of the Civil war and has done a large and import- ant business as a pension attorney, while he is conducting an enterprise of wide scope and importance in the handling of real es- tate, giving special attention to dealing in timber lands, having control of large and

valuable tracts in the leading lumber districts of the Union; he is also agent for a number of leading insurance companies.

Mr. Greacen is a native of the Emerald Isle and is a scion of stanch old Irish stock, the name having long been identified with the annals of county Caven, Ireland, where he made his debut in the drama of life on the 12th of April, 1841, being a son of John and Eliza (St.Clair) Greacen, who immigrated to America in 1847, when our subject was about six years of age. His father settled in Oakland county, Michigan, later removed to Wayne county and finally returned to Oakland county, where both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, the father having devoted the major portion of his active career to agricultural pursuits.

James Greacen, the immediate subject of this review, was reared in Oakland and Wayne counties, and was afforded good edu- cational advantages, attending the public schools until he had reached the age of sev- enteen years, and having been a resident of Milford, Oakland county, at the time of at- taining his legal majority. When turbulent rebellion menaced the integrity of the Union young Greacen's intrinsic loyalty and pa- triotism were quickened to definite action, and on the 14th of August, 1862, at the age of twenty-one years, he enlisted as a private in Company I, Twenty-second Michigan Volunteer Infantry, with which he forthwith proceeded to the front, the regiment being assigned to the Army of the Tennessee. The young soldier was not compelled to wait long before receiving his baptism of fire in the full tumult of battle, and on the second day's fighting at Chickamauga he received three wounds, and only good fortune saved his life on this occasion, for a rifle ball struck

535

NORTHERN MICHIGAN.

the brass plate on the cartridge box strapped over his breast and was deflected, passing through the sleeve of his coat. He has pre- served the old eagle breast-plate and the relic shows the unmistakable impact of the bullet which so nearly brought an untimely end to our subject's career. The goodness of fortune did not continue to further smile upon Mr. Greacen, however, since on the same day which thus marked his escape from serious injury he was captured by the enemy. He was taken to Libby prison, in which no- torious pen he was held in captivity for two months, later being confined at Danville, and on the Ist of May, 1864, being taken to Andersonville, being one of the first federal prisoners in that place, which became so odious in the history of the great civil con- flict. Later he was taken to Florence, South Corolina, where he was kept in a stockade similar to Andersonville and where he was finally parolled on the 26th of November, 1864, having been confined for fourteen months and ten days in the rebel prisons. The hardships and other horrors endured by the brave boys in blue who suffered in these southern prison pens have baffled de- scription, but the experiences were such as to merit careful record in the pages of his- tory. Thus it is gratifying to the publishers of this work to announce that Mr. Greacen has been prevailed upon to contribute a brief article descriptive of his experiences during that eventful period in his life, and the in- teresting account will be found on other pages of this work. After being parolled our subject started for the Union lines, reaching the same on the Ist of December. He was soon afterward granted a thirty days' fur- lough, at the expiration of which he re- joined his regiment, at Chattanooga, Ten-

nessee, and thereafter continued in active service until victory crowned the Union arms and the perpetuity of the national in- tegrity had become assured at so great sac- rifice.

Within a few months after the close of his honorable and notable military career Mr. Greacen was married, and he thereafter gave his attention to farming in Oakland county until 1874, in the spring of which year he came to the embryonic village of Kalkaska and numbered himself among its pioneer merchants, having instituted busi- ness in October of that year. A. T. Kellogg had established a general store here some time previously, and when our subject en- tered business here his was one of the three stores in the town, whose population at the time did not greatly exceed two hundred persons. In the meantime he became the owner of eighty acres of wild land in Excel- sior township, and in 1876 he initiated its improvement, locating on the place and be- ginning to cut off the timber, which was principally elm and basswood, while the land is known as specially excellent in the super- iority and integrity of its soil, this section being one of the best in an agricultural sense that the county can show. He developed and improved a valuable farm and continued to there make his home until 1888, when he turned his attention more specially to the manufacturing of lumber, erecting a mill in Excelsior township and conducting opera- tions upon rather an extensive scale, the products being shipped to the city of Grand Rapids. He handled principally hardwood lumber and the enterprise proved a success- ful one, being continued about two years. In 1890 Mr. Greacen again took up his resi- dence in Kalkaska, where he has since main-

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Biographical history of northern Michigan containing biographies of prominent citizens, Part 69

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