Biographical history of northern Michigan containing biographies of prominent citizens, Part 96

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

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NORTHERN MICHIGAN.

In Bracebridge, Canada, on the 14th of June, 1893, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Shaw to Miss Edith Pratt, who was there reared and educated, her parents hav- ing been of English birth. Mr. and Mrs. Shaw have four children, Eleanor, Harold, Clarence and Norman.

HIRAM LUCAS.

The subject of this brief sketch has long enjoyed distinction in the locality of his resi- dence, Lucas village, Richland township, Missaukee county, Michigan, having been named in his honor, and he has in many other ways merited the respect which is uni- versally accorded him. Mr. Lucas is a na- tive of the kingdom of Hanover, Prussia, where he was born on March 23, 1830. His early years were spent on a farm and he was given the benefit of attendance at the pub- lic schools. At the age of seventeen years he came to America with his parents and located in Allegan county. He is the son of Stephen and Gertrude Lucas, natives also of Prussia, who came to America in 1847 and made their homes in Allegan county, this state, until their deaths. They were the parents of six children. After reaching this country the subject was for about ten years employed at farm labor in the vicinity of Kalamazoo, but in 1855 he settled in Fillmore township, Allegan county, where he engaged in farming and continued there until the spring of 1882, when he came to Missaukee county, and settled in section 16, Richland township, where he has since re- sided. He purchased forty acres of land and improved it in many respects, erecting a

good set of farm buildings and cultivating the land in the most practical manner, so that he has been enabled to realize a large .. success in the enterprise.

In Kalamazoo, Michigan, on September 7, 1853, Mr. Lucas was united in marriage with Miss Nancy Kools, a native of the Netherlands. To them have been born the following children: Sarah is the wife of Herman Fredericks; Katie is the wife of William Fredericks; Abraham; Thomas, de- ceased; Simon; Henry; Mary; Dick; Josie, who is the wife of H. Hamming. In local public affairs Mr. Lucas has evinced a live in- terest and has been honored by election to the positions of highway commissioner and justice of the peace, performing the duties of these positions to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. All in all, he has ·exhib- ited in every avenue of his life's activities the elements which commend a man to his fellow men and few residents of Richland township occupy a more exalted position in the regard of the people generally.

ABRAHAM. LUCAS.

Among the representative and progres- sive farmers of Richland township, Missau- kee county, Michigan, none are held in higher regard than the gentleman whose name heads this brief article. Mr. Lucas was born in Fillmore township, Allegan county, Michigan, on December 24, 1857, and is the son of Hiram and Nancy (Kools) Lucas, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. The subject was reared on the parental homestead in Allegan county, where he also attended the common schools,

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receiving a fair education. In the fall of 1882 he came to Missaukee county and set- tled in Richland township, where he has since been a resident. For about twelve years of this time he operated a saw and shingle mill at Lucas, aside from which farming has been his main occupation. He is the owner of eighty acres of good land, about sixty-five acres of which he has im- proved and brought up to a high standard of agricultural perfection. He has a nice house, good barn and well-kept fences, the general appearance of the place indicating the owner to be a man of good taste and sound judgment. He is up-to-date in his methods and has realized a gratifying suc- cess in the enterprise.

Mr. Lucas was married in Allegan county, this state, on October 1, 1882, to Miss Jane Rabbers, a native of this state, and to them have been born the following children : H. Robert, John, Evart, Nellie, Cornelius, Sarah A. and Thomas. In local public affairs he has always taken a com- mendable interest and has served six years as township clerk, three years as township su- pervisor and as justice of the peace for many years. He is a Republican in politics, and a man highly regarded by all who know him.

BENJAMIN F. GOOCH.

Mr. Gooch, who died on July 7, 1904. was one of the pioneers of pioneers in Osce- ola county, with whose organization he was concerned and with whose upbuilding and development he was prominently identified, so that the following incidental or reminis- cent paragraphs are particularly apropos in

this connection. Osceola county was origin- ally attached to Mecosta county, of which it comprised one-third, being designated as Green township. In 1860 Mr. Gooch was made pathmaster of the road district com- prised of the present Osceola county, then a district of Green township, Mecosta county, and thus he was the first county officer in Osceola county, his district having com- prised the entire county, while at the pres- ent time it is interesting to note that there are several road districts in the relatively small area of Richmond township. In 1860 the only thoroughfare in the county was a logging road which traversed this section. This data is secured from a copy of the Her- sey Clarion, published in June, 1894.

In a review of the early history of the county road before the Aurora Old Settlers' Society, in February, 1897, the following pertinent references are made to Mr. Gooch :

"In 1857 he brought the first pigs to the county, getting them from a Mr. Clarke, at Sparta, who, being a Democrat, said, 'I don't know what breed they are but there isn't an abolition hair in them.' In 1860 he stayed over night at Gooch's house, and a litter of pigs, descendants from the original ones he had. supplied, were shown him. There were several spotted pigs and Gooch showed him the abolition blood cropping out. Times were hot, and Gooch said to Clarke 'Abolition is in the air and you had just as well acknowledge the south is wrong.'

"Mr. Gooch killed deer at Davenport Landing, practically within the present cor- porate limits of the city of Grand Rapids. In early times he met men hauling wheat from Clinton county to Detroit, where the product would command fifty cents per

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bushel. One man, who drove an ox team, in reply to the query as to whether he was loaded with wheat, said: "Yes, by -! I'm hauling wheat to Detroit to buy tea. I'll drink tea as long as I can get a pound for three bushels of wheat, but when I have to give more than three bushels I'll quit, by -! ' "

Upon Lincoln's call for troops to aid in suppressing the southern rebellion, Mr. Gooch walked to Grand Rapids and en- listed, being the first volunteer soldier ac- credited to Richmond township, Osceola county. He participated in some of the se- verest campaigns and bloodiest battles of the war, among which may be mentioned the Peninsula campaign, Williamsburg, siege of Yorktown, first and second battles of Bull Run, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spottsyl- vania, Cold Harbor, and North and South Anna rivers. He was mustered out on June 20, 1864, as a non-commissioned officer, and returned to his home and resumed the avoca- tion of peace. He was a charter member of the Grand Army Post, and later its com- mander and quartermaster. He was a stanch Republican in politics.

Mr. Gooch was twice married. In Ionia. on the 17th of October, 1865, he wedded Miss Desdemonia Harrington, and she died on the 5th of April, 1895, of pneu- monia. She had been a very successful teacher prior to her marriage, having taught in the schools at Grand Rapids and Newago. She was a woman of high intel- lectuality and broad information, and during her life accumulated much valuable material bearing upon subjects of interest to her, having several volumes of scrap books care- fully systematized. She had made a study of medicine but never engaged in practice.

No children were born of this union, but an adopted daughter, Sylvia, is now the wife of Frederick Kincaid, of Hersey. On the 28th of September, 1898, Mr. Gooch was united in marriage to Mrs. Caroline Yerkes, widow of Norman Yerkes, who died on the 4th of August, 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Yerkes came from Canada and settled in Hersey at the time of its inception. Mr. Yerkes became identified with lumbering and other interests and did much for the advancement of local interests, having, among other en- terprises, erected a substantial business block in the village.

JAMES M. SAUL.

This representative farmer and honored citizen of Grant township, Clare county, claims the old Buckeye state as the place of his nativity, since he was born in Williams county, Ohio, on the 18th of August, 1841, being a representative of one of the sterling old families of that commonwealth. . He is a son of George and Esther (Fetters) Saul, both of whom died in the county of his birth, the father having been a farmer by vocation and a man of unwavering integrity and honor. This worthy couple became the parents of twelve children, of whom our subject was the second in order of birth, while of the number nine are living.

James M. Saul was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and duly availed him- self of the educational advantages afforded by the common schools. When the dark cloud of civil war spread its pall over the national horizon he tendered his aid in the suppression of the rebellion and proved a

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brave and loyal son of the republic. In the yielding excellent returns for the labors ex- autumn of 1862 he enlisted as a member pended. Mr. Saul is a man of energy and good judgment and is ever found loyal to all the duties and obligations of citizenship, being a stanch Republican in his political proclivities but having no ambition for offi- cial preferment. of the First New York Sharpshooters, hav- ing been a resident of the Empire state at the time, and with the same he continued to serve until practically the close of the war, save for the period during which he was held in captivity by the Confederates. He On the 24th of December, 1867, in Hillsdale county, this state, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Saul to Miss Mary Hoyer, who was born in Hancock county, Ohio, on the 2d of August, 1843, being the second of the nine children born to Samuel and Rebecca (Stahl) Hoyer, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania and both of whom died in Steuben county, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Saul have five children,-Samuel A., Frank E., Garfield A., Josephine Ellen and Myrtle V. The elder daughter is the wife of Roy A. Hoover, and Myrtle is the wife of Leamon H. Hoover. participated in a number of the most spirited and important engagements incidental to the progress of the great conflict, and at Peters- burg, Virginia, in the autumn of 1864, was_ taken prisoner and held in captivity about six and one-half months, during which he experienced the privations and horrors inci- dent to incarceration in Libby Prison and the prisons on Belle Isle and in Salisbury, North Carolina. He was finally released and received his honorable discharge after victory had crowned the Union arms. He retains a lively interest in his old comrades in arms and signifies the same by retaining membership in the Grand Army of the Re- public.

After the close of his military service Mr. Saul returned to his native county, where he continued to devote his attention principally to agricultural pursuits until the autumn of 1874, when he came with his family to Clare county, Michigan, and be- came one of the pioneer farmers of Grant township, where he has ever, since main- tained his home and where success has crowned his efforts during the long inter- vening years. He purchased forty acres of wild land in section I, and has since added to the same until he now has a fine home- stead of one hundred and twenty acres, im- proved with excellent buildings, including a modern residence, while about one hundred acres of the place are under cultivation.

THOMAS R. McSWEEN.

The subject of this memoir impressed his individuality upon the business and so- cial life of Reed City and his name was a synonym of integrity and honor, so that he gained and retained the confidence and es- teem of all with whom he came in contact. He was for many years prominently identi- fied with local affairs and is to be considered as one of the pioneers of Osceola county. He served as station agent of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad at Reed City for more than a quarter of a century, being in- cumbent of this position at the time of his death, and it is signally fitting that in this publication be incorporated a tribute to his

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memory as a worthy and representative citi- zen.

Thomas Robb McSween was born in Southampton, province of Ontario, Canada, on the 8th of May, 1855, being a son of Angus and Charlotte (Robb) McSween, the father of stanch Scottish lineage and the mother of English lineage. The father was a native of Scotland, whence he came to America when young, becoming a success- ful merchant in Ontario, where he continued to reside for many years, finally coming as a pioneer to Reed City. He was engaged in the dry goods business in Leamington, Can- ada, but lived a retired life after coming to Reed City until his death, in June, 1889, at the age of sixty-five years. His devoted wife still resides here, being held in affec- tionate regard by all who have come within the sphere of her influence. She is a prom- inent and zealous member of the Congrega- tional church, as was also her husband, and though now approaching the psalmist's span of three score years and ten she is still active in the various departments of church work and is frequently called upon to serve as delegate to its conventions. Of her chil- dren only three, two daughters and one son, are living, Charles being a representative business man of Leamington, Canada.

The subject of this memoir passed his boyhood days in his native province, and re- ceived his early educational discipline in the public schools, being for a time a student in an excellent educational institution at Strathroy, Ontario. In 1873 he entered upon an apprenticeship to learn the art of telegraphy, in the town of Windsor, just across the river from the city of Detroit. Michigan, and within that same year, hav- ing become a skilled operator in the mean-

while, he came to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he was employed in the establishment of Foster & Company until the autumn of 1874, when he became telegraph operator in the office of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad at Traverse City. In the autumn of the next year he was transferred to Reed City, where he was operator until the spring of 1876, when he was made local agent for the company, remaining in tenure of this position until his life's labors were ended. He was signally true and faithful in even the less important duties devolving upon him, and was trusted and honored by the officials of the company which he so long served, while his unfailing courtesy and loyalty of character gained to him warm and abiding friendships, which he 'ever appreciated and held inviolate. He was summoned into eter- nal rest on the 26th of August, 1902, and the community felt a sense of personal loss and bereavement when this well known and popular citizen was thus called from the scene of his endeavors.

In a reminiscent way it may be stated that at the time when Mr. McSween as- sumed charge of the telegraph office in Reed City the service afforded was over a single wire to Traverse City, while the railway sta- tion here was a small and primitive struc- ture. This building was destroyed by fire in the year 1882, when a somewhat better building was erected, the same being later utilized for other purposes, after the erec- tion of the present attractive depot. When he assumed control of the local business of the railroad company the duties of the office were not great. as Reed City was but a small village and the surrounding districts but slightly developed. He witnessed the sub- stantial growth of the town and the in-

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crease in the business of the railroad com- pany kept pace with the march of develop- ment and improvement, so that he was in- cumbent of a very important executive office at the time of his demise, seven assistants having been demanded in handling the of- fice and manual work about the station.

In his political proclivities Mr. McSween was a stalwart Republican and ever took an intelligent interest in the questions and is- sues of the hour, while he was a public- spirited and progressive citizen, ever ready to give his aid and influence in support of all measures for the general good of the town and county. He served one term as president of the village council, but was never a seeker of official preferment. He was a charter member of the local lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, being worship- ful master of the same at the time of his death: the impressive services of the Ma- sonic order were utilized in the conducting of his funeral. While master of his lodge it was the privilege and marked pleasure of Mr. McSween to confer the three degrees of the ancient-craft Masonry upon his elder son, who is likewise an appreciative mem- ber of this time-honored fraternity. Mr. McSween was also an active member of the local chapter of Royal Arch Masons, while he and his wife were charter members of Reed City Chapter. No. 265, Order of the Eastern Star. He served for nine consecu- tive years as a member of the board of edu- cation and was a prime factor in the build- ing of the high school, and at all times showed a loyal interest in local affairs and in furthering the material and civic prog- ress of the town in which he so long main- tained his home. The railroad company

tendered him more lucrative positions on several occasions, but his interests were cen- tered in Reed City and he did not accept the overtures, having also been tendered good positions with western railroad companies. Mr. McSween was a devoted and consistent member of the Congregational church and an active worker in the same, having held various official positions and having ren- dered most acceptable service as superin- tendent of the Sunday school.

On the 24th of April, 1878, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. McSween to Miss Olinda Kingsley, a daughter of Judson Kingsley, of Kingsley Station, near Trav- erse City. Mr. Kingsley was one of the honored pioneers of that section, having re- moved thither from Sycamore, Illinois. He developed a fine farm in the midst of the virgin forest, and on his original home- stead was laid out the village which was named in his honor. He was one of the influential men of his county and was en- gaged in the general merchandise business at Kingsley Station for a number of years prior to his death, which occurred in De- cember, 1884. Mrs. McSween has served as telegraph operator at Kingsley Station and upon the promotion of her future hus- band to the office of station agent at Reed City she was promoted telegraph operator here, continuing to serve in this capacity for one year after her marriage. One son sur- vives the honored father and still remains with the mother at the pleasant home in Reed City. The children, in order of birth, being as follows: John M. was killed in a railroad wreck at East Paris, four miles from Grand Rapids, December 26, 1903; Ethel M., deceased, and Warner K. Mrs.

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McSween is a devoted member of the Con- gregational church and is prominent in its work and also in the social affairs of the town, where she has a wide circle of friends.

CARL C. STOLL.

In the anxious and laborious struggle for an honorable competence on the part of the average man fighting the every-day bat- tle of life, there is but little to attract the idle reader in search of a sensational chap- ter; but for a mind fully awake to the real- ity and meaning of human existence there are noble and immortal lessons in the life of the man who without other means than a clear mind, a strong arm and a true heart conquers fortune and gains not only the tem- poral rewards of his toil but also that which is greater and higher, the respect and confi- dence of those with whom his years of ac- tive labor have placed him in contact. America is distinctively a cosmopolitan na- tion ; she has drawn from the four quarters of the world and rapidly assimilated the het- erogeneous elements. To no country. how- ever, does she owe more than to Germany, from whose provinces have come men of sturdy integrity, determined purpose and marked intellectual vigor,-men who have proved both builders and conservators. The German-American is in the average case im- bued most thoroughly with the spirit of our national institutions and brings to bear his strength of manhood in perpetuating and advancing the higher interests of the repub- lic. The subject of this sketch is known and honored as one of the representative and public-spirited citizens of Clare county,

where he has maintained his home for more than thirty years and where he has attained success through his well directed efforts in connection with the great basic art of agri- culture, his well improved and valuable farm being located in Grant township. He came from Germany to the United States when a young man and has made his life count for good in all its relations, while he has so ordered his course as to merit and receive the unqualified confidence and re- gard of his fellow men. He is at the pres- ent time a member of the board of super- visors of his county and has held other of- fices which have signified the confidence re- posed in him by the people of. the commu- nity in which he has so long maintained his home.

Mr. Stoll was born in Wittenburg, Ger- many, on the 26th of April, 1846, and in the excellent schools of his fatherland he se- cured his educational training. He was married in his native land and in the au- tumn of 1868, at the age of twenty-two years, he emigrated thence to America, in company with his wife, believing that in the new world were offered superior opportuni- ties for the attaining of success through in- dividual effort. He came to Michigan and located in Washtenaw county, where he continued to be identified with agricultural pursuits until 1873, when he came to Clare county, first settling in Sheridan township, where he resided about three years and then removed to Grant township, where he has ever since continued to reside, his fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres being located in section 10, while about sixty-five acres of the same are under a high state of cultiva- tion. The improvements on the farm are of the most substantial and attractive order and

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include a fine brick residence, which was erected by Mr. Stoll.

In politics our subject accords a stanch allegiance to the Republican party and he has shown a lively interest in public affairs of a local nature, while he has been called upon to serve in various offices of trust and responsibility. For the past several years he has been the representative of his town- ship on the board of county supervisors, of which he has proved a conservative, practi- cal and valuable member, while for many years he has been school director of his dis- trict. He was for two years incumbent of the office of treasurer of the township, while for one year he served as township clerk, and in each of these offices his course was marked by the utmost fidelity, good judg- ment and discrimination.

In his native land Mr. Stoll was united in marriage to Miss Katherine Stopper, whose death occurred at the home in Grant township, in the autumn of 1890, at which time she was forty-six years of age. In 1891 he married Miss Sophia Bauer, who presides most graciously over his attractive home. Of the seven children in the family seven were born of the first marriage and none of the second, their names, in order of birth, being as follows: Fredericka, Sophia, Carl, John, Mary, Frederick and Julius.

DANIEL McMASTER.

One of the representative farmers and highly esteemed citizens of Clare county is the subject of this review, whose well im- proved homestead is located in section II, Grant township.

Mr. McMaster is a native of the prov- ince of Ontario, Canada, where he was born on the 18th of March, 1848, being the second in order of birth of the eight chil- dren of John and Flora (Fraser) McMas- ter, who died in Canada. When our sub- ject was about seventeen years of age he removed to Saginaw county, and there he was reared to maturity, having received a common-school education and having early assumed the practical responsibilities and duties of life. His father enlisted in the Union army during the war of the Rebel- lion and sacrificed his life while in the serv- ice, being attacked with illness which re- sulted in his death while at the front. Dan- iel McMaster has good cause to appreciate the dignity of honest toil, for he has been a hard worker from his youth up, having been employed in the lumber woods of the state of Michigan. for the long period of thirty-two years, during which time he was constantly in the employ of one man, being entrusted with responsible duties and ever proving faithful to the trust reposed in him. He continued to reside in Saginaw county until the spring of 1880, when he came to Clare county and assumed the management of the farm of A. P. Brewer, in Grant town- ship. In the spring of 1888 he located on his present farm, which comprises eighty acres, of which forty-five acres are available for cultivation at the time of this writing. Mr. McMaster has erected excellent build- ings on his place and has made other sub- stantial improvements, so that it is one of the valuable farm properties of the county, while his management is such as to secure the maximum returns from the labors and capital expended. He is essentially loyal to all the duties of citizenship and takes an

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Biographical history of northern Michigan containing biographies of prominent citizens, Part 96

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