Biographical history of northern Michigan containing biographies of prominent citizens, Part 97

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

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active and intelligent interest in local af- fairs of a public nature, while he has served his township in the office of highway com- missioner and has been treasurer of the school board of his district. In politics he gives his support to the Republican party.

In Flushing, Genesee county, this state, on the 17th of February, 1881, Mr. Mc- Master was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Brewer, daughter of Peter and Mary (Tearns) Brewer, who was born in Oakland county, Michigan. They have no children.

EDWARD L. PRATT.

In connection with the development of the natural resources of Clare county Mr. Pratt has attained distinctive success during the long years which mark his continuous residence in the county, of which he may well be termed a pioneer, and he is one of the most honored citizens and representa- tive farmers of Grant township, where he owns and occupies a finely improved estate of four hundred acres, representing the re- sults of his own well directed endeavors. It is altogether consistent that he be ac- corded special consideration in a publication of the province assigned to the one at hand, and accordingly a brief review of his career is herewith incorporated.

Mr. Pratt is a native of the dominion of Canada, having been born in Elgin county, province of Ontario, on the 19th of May, 1840. He is a son of Edward P. and Nancy (Parker) Pratt, the former of whom was born in Vermont, a descendant of stanch old colonial stock, while the latter was born in Canada. The father was a blacksmith

and cooper by vocation and followed this line of occupation for the major portion of his active life. Both he and his wife passed their declining years in the home of our subject and both attained venerable age, Mr. Pratt being summoned to his reward in the eighty-eighth year of his life, while on a visit to his old home in Canada, while his wife died, in the home of our subject, at the age of eighty-seven years. They became the parents of ten children, of whom five are living.

He whose name initiates this review passed his youthful years in his native county, where he received a good common- school education and where he learned the carpenter's trade under the direction of his honored father. For several years he worked at his trade, in connection with farming, and for a number of seasons he sailed on the great lakes, his home town of Port Stan- ley being a lake port. In the autumn of 1860 Mr. Pratt came to Michigan and lo- cated in Saginaw county, where he entered the employ of the extensive lumbering firm of Miller, Wright & Company, becoming foreman of their mills in the city of Sagi- naw and later holding a responsible posi- tion in their lumbering camps in that county. He there remained in the employ of this firm for a period of eight years, at the expiration of which he came to Clare county to assume the management and im- provement of the farm owned by A. W. Wright, a member of the firm. This place comprised four hundred acres, in Sheridan township, and within the ensuing four years Mr. Pratt effected the reclamation of about half of the same, the' tract having been cov- ered with the native timber. About the year 1874 he purchased a portion of his

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present fine homestead, and much of this property has been reclaimed from the primi- tive wilds through his energetic efforts. While residing on his farm and giving his attention to its management he was also engaged for a number of seasons as fore- man of the lumbering camp of the late W. S. Green, in Saginaw county. His original purchase of land comprised three hundred and twenty acres, to which he later added an adjoining eighty-acre tract, so that he now has a landed estate of four hundred acres, about two hundred and fifty of which are improved and under effective cultiva- tion, while he also gives no little attention to the raising of live stock. Upon his farm he has erected a commodious and attractive residence and other substantial and well equipped buildings, and thrift and prosper- ity are in evidence on every side, while dur- ing the long years of his residence in the county he has been known as a loyal and progressive citizen and has lent his aid and influence in the support of all measures for the general good and has contributed his quota to the development and advancement of this now favored and prosperous section of the old Wolverine state. Mr. Pratt takes an intelligent and lively interest in the is- sues and questions of the day and is a stal- wart advocate of the principles of the Re- publican party. He has served as highway commissioner and township treasurer but has never been ambitious for public office. He is not formally identified with any relig- ious body but Mrs. Pratt is a communicant of St. Cecilia's Catholic church, at Clare. In connection with his farming industry it may be stated that for several years past Mr. Pratt has been successfully engaged in lum- bering operations upon his own responsibil-

ity, in different parts of Michigan and in the province of Ontario, Canada, his long asso- ciation with this line of enterprise making him a good judge of values and of the proper methods of handling the products.

In the city of Saginaw, on the 9th of May, 1868, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Pratt to Miss Melissa Trombley, who was born in the city of Montreal, Canada, on the 25th of December, 1849, and who was reared and educated in Plainfield, Hast- ings county, Ontario. She is a daughter of Edward and Mary ( Volley) Trombley, both of whom were born in lower Canada. He died in Bay City, Michigan, at the age of eighty-five years, and his wife died, in Sagi- naw, at the age of eighty-six years, while of their eleven children nine are yet living, Mrs. Pratt having been the eighth in order of birth. Mr. and Mrs. Pratt became the par- ents of eight children, of whom four are living, namely : Farnam L., who is engaged in farming near Clare; Maude, who is the wife of Howard Leach, of Grant township, Clare county ; and Gertrude and Ethel (a teacher), who remain at the parental home. Three sons died in childhood and Arthur C. died at his home, in Clare county, on the 9th of January, 1901, at the age of thirty years, leaving a wife and two children, Claribel and Alvena.

WILLIAM CRAWFORD.

The two most strongly marked charac- teristics of the east and the west are com- bined in the residents of the section of coun- try of which this volume treats. The en- thusiastic enterprise which overleaps all ob-

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stacles and makes possible almost any under- the important battles of the great interne- taking in the comparatively new and vigor- cine conflict. In the engagement at Crab Orchard, Tennessee, he was wounded in the forehead but was not long incapacitated for active duty, and the history of his command is essentially the history of his honorable military career. ous western states is here tempered by the stable and more careful policy that we have borrowed from our eastern neighbors, mak- ing the combination one of peculiar force and power. It has been the means of plac- ing this section of the Union on a par with the older east, at the same time producing in business affairs a reliability and certainty frequently lacking in the west. Among those who have been prominently identified with the civic and industrial progress of Clare county is Mr. Crawford, who is one of the representative farmers of Grant township, where he commands unqualified confidence and regard by reason of his ster- ling attributes of character.

William Crawford is a native of the Emerald Isle but is essentially American in thought and animation, having been a resi- dent of the United States from his early childhood. He was born in Ireland, on the Ist of May, 1846, and later his parents immigrated to the United States and located in Lorain county, Ohio, where he was reared and educated, receiving such advantages as were afforded in the common schools of the locality and period. In 1861 he began sail- ing on the great lakes, continuing to thus follow a seafaring life until September 14th of the following year, when he gave evi- dence of his patriotism by tendering his services in defense of the Union, whose in- tegrity was imperiled through armed rebel- lion. He enlisted as a member of Company I. Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, with which he proceeded to the front and with which he served until the close of the war, making the record of a valiant and faithful soldier and taking part in many of

After the close of the war Mr. Craw- ford returned to Lorain county, Ohio, where he associated himself with his brother Rob- ert in the purchase of one hundred acres of timber land. They cut the timber and dis- posed of the same and finally sold the land. In 1868 our subject set forth for California, but stopped while en route to visit relatives in Michigan. Here he found employment in connection with the surveying of the route of the Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad, the result being that he abandoned his trip to the Pacific coast. Within the few months he was employed in the surveying work he looked over much of the country in the east- ern part of Michigan, and for a time he was engaged in speculating in land on his own responsibility and as agent for other persons. He finally determined to take up his perma- nent residence in the state, and his judg- ment led him to select Clare county as his place of abode. In the autumn of 1868 Mr. Crawford purchased one hundred and sixty acres of wild and heavily timbered land in section 12, Grant township, and the same is a part of his present finely improved landed estate of two hundred and forty acres, the major portion of which is under a high state of cultivation. He has been one of the energetic, progressive and public-spirited citizens of this section of the state and has clone much in connection with the develop- ment and upbuilding of Clare county, while his fine homestead stands in unmistakable

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evidence of the prosperity which has at- tended his earnest efforts. He assisted in the organization of the county and also of Grant township, being the first incumbent of the office of register of deeds of Clare county and the first supervisor of the town- ship mentioned, while he has held various other offices of public trust in the later years, ever retaining the esteem and good will of the people of the county and being known as one of the sterling pioneers of this favored section of the state. In politics he gives an unwavering allegiance to the Re- publican party, in whose local ranks he is an active worker, and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Congregational church at Dover, in Grant township, while he was one of those chiefly instrumental in effecting the erection of the handsome church edifice.

Mr. Crawford was married three times. His first wife, Miss Laura Hursh, died. His second union was with Miss Rith Fields, who died at the age of twenty-nine years, leaving three children, Minnie, Letta and James. On the 23rd of December, 1887, Mr. Crawford married his present wife, whose maiden name was Bertha Davis, and they have three children, Ethel, Eliza- beth and William T.

GEORGE W. MINCHIN.

In a publication which purports to touch upon the history of the men and forces whose contribution to the development and material prosperity of Osceola county has been of distinctive scope and importance, it is but consistent that mention be made of the

editor and publisher of the Evart Review. He has been of marked service to his· county and city through various avenues of useful- ness, and the paper of which he is the pro- prietor has wielded a wide and beneficent influence in the local field, while the enter- prise involved is one which can not be con- sidered other than a potent factor in con- nection with the industrial activities of this section of the Wolverine state.

George William Minchin is a native of Michigan, having been born in the city of Pontiac, Oakland county, on the 3d of Au- gust, 1854, and being a son of Thomas and Elizabetlı (Noyce) Minchin, both of whom were born in England, whence they came to America when young, their marriage hav- ing been solemnized in Pontiac, Michigan, where they continued to reside until their death, the father having been a laborer by vocation. The subject of this sketch re- ceived his early educational discipline in the public schools of his native city, and in Feb- ruary, 1880, he gained his initiation into the "art preservatve of all arts," entering the office of the Pontiac Bill Poster, where he learned the printer's trade, being made fore- man of the office before he had completed his three years' apprenticeship. In 1873 he went to Ludington, Mason county, where he assisted in the establishing of the Ludington Appeal, and later he became editor of the Reed City Clarion. In 1875 he became a member of the reportorial staff of the To- ledo Commercial, in the city of Toledo, Ohio, where he remained two years, and finally, in 1878, he became associated with his brother Jesse T. in the purchase of the Reed City Clarion, whose publication they continued until December of the following year, when they disposed of the plant and

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business. One month later they effected the purchase of the Evart Review, which they published until January 1, 1884, when our subject purchased his brother's interest in the enterprise, and he has since contin- ued editor and publisher of the paper, which is an ably conducted weekly, published on Friday, and being a six-column quarto. The Review has a wide circulation, espe- cially in the eastern part of the county, and is a recognized power in all matters of pub- lic discussion and polity. The paper is Re- publican in politics, and its publisher is one of the leaders of the party in Osceola county, where he has held various positions of public trust and responsibility. He was a delegate to the Republican national con- vention of 1896, in St. Louis, which nomin- ated President Mckinley, and he has been a delegate to numerous state, county and district conventions of his party, and has served on many committees. He was a member of the board of trustees of the vil- lage of Evart for a number of years, and was its president for two terms, while he has served as postmaster of the town since 1898. He is affiliated with the lodge, chap- ter and commandery of the Masonic frater- nity, and also with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Foresters. Both Mr. and Mrs. Minchin are prominent and valued members of the Presbyterian church of their home town, and he is a mem- ber of its board of trustees. He is also deeply interested in the public schools, hav- ing been a member of the local board of ed- ucation for the past twelve years and being its president at the time of this writing, while he is also a member of the board of commissioners of Forest Hill cemetery and president of the Pioneer Society of Evart.

On the 14th of September, 1880, Mr. Minchin was united in marriage to Miss Alice M. Bennett, of Ludington, this state. She was born in Columbus, Wisconsin, and is a daughter of Lafayette W. and Florilla Bennett. Mr. and Mrs. Minchin have nine children, namely : Nydia E., Flora M., Hat- tie E., Carrie S., deceased, Jessie H., Lucy A., Marguerite B., Josephine, deceased, and Katherine N.

JAMES A. REEDER, M. D.

Dr. Reeder ranks among the leading representatives of the medical profession in Clare county, for earnest, persistent labor and close application have been so co-ordin- ated with distinctive technical ability as to gain him marked prestige in his chosen call- ing, his residence being in the attractive and thriving little city of Clare, where his circle of friends is coincident with that of his ac- quaintances.

Dr. Reeder is a native of the dominion of Canada, having been born in Ridgetown, province of Ontario, on the 3d of February, 1863, and being a son of John H. and Han- nah (Scarlett) Reeder, the former of whom was born in England and the latter in On- tario, Canada, the ancestry on each side be- ing of stanch old English stock. The mother died in August, 1868. The father devoted the major portion of his active business life to agricultural pursuits and is a man of prominence and influence in his community. The subject of this review received his early educational training in the public schools of his native place, where he also attended a well conducted collegiate institute, in which

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he pursued the higher branches of learning. As a young man Mr. Reeder put his edu- cational acquirements to practical test and use by engaging in teaching, and he continued successfully to follow the pedagogic profession for several years, within which time he was principal of the public schools at Blenheim, Ontario, for five years. Later he was a member of the fac- uilty of Morgan Park Military Academy, in Chicago, Illinois, where he filled the chair of sciences. His early work as a teacher was done in county Kent. Ontario. The Doctor began the study of medicine in 1894 and finally was matriculated in the Detroit College of Medicine, in the city of Detroit, Michigan, in which well equipped institution he completed the prescribed course, being graduated as a member of the class of 1898 and receiving his well earned degree of Doc- tor of Medicine. He initiated the active work of his profession by locating in Cole- man, Midland county, this state, where he was engaged in practice for one year, at the expiration of which he came to Clare, which has ever since been the center of his able and successful professional endeavors. He has been unflagging in his devotion to his profession, has built up a large and repre- sentative practice and is recognized as one of the leading physicians and surgeons of this section of the state. He is a valued member of the Clare County Medical Soci- ety, of which he is secretary at the time of this writing, and is also identified with the Michigan State Medical Society. In his po- litical adherency the Doctor is stanchly ar- rayed as a supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and frater- nally he is affiliated with the Free and Ac- cepted Masons, in which he has attained

to the thirty-second degree, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, while both he and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian church of Clare.

In his home city of Clare, on the 22d of May, 1900, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Reeder to Miss Millie Holbrook, who likewise was born in the province of On- tario, Canada, her parents at the time hav- ing been residents of the city of Ottawa. Dr. and Mrs. Reeder have one child, Vernell. They are popular in the best social circles of the community and their pleasant home is one in which a refined hospitality is ever in evidence.

JAMES L. RAYFUSE.

One of the honored pioneers and influ- ential business men of Reed City, Osceola county, is he whose name initiates this para- graph, and he has risen to prosperity and independence through his own efforts, hav- ing been dependent upon his own resources ever since his boyhood days. He has held various offices of public trust in the county which has been his home for so many years, and as president of the village council of Reed City he gave a most admirable admin- istration, -- one that is frequently referred to as a model handling of municipal affairs.

Mr. Rayfuse is a native of the county of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, where he was born on the Ioth of May. 1852, his father having been a farmer and lumberman in that locality, where he died when our sub- ject was but six years of age. Mr. Rayfuse secured his early educational discipline in the public schools of his native province

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and when but fourteen years of age initiated his independent career, turning his hand to whatsoever occupation he could secure and thus providing for his own maintenance. When about eighteen years of age he re- moved to the city of Boston, Massachusetts, and in that vicinity he secured work on a farm, remaining thus engaged for one season. He then located in Bedford that state, where he served an apprenticeship at the blacksmith trade, becoming a skilled ar- tisan in the line. For three years he was employed as a journeyman in the old Bay state, having received three dollars a day while thus working in the city of Lowell and having saved twelve hundred dollars in two years. When the panic of 1873 wrought such havoc in industrial affairs in New Eng- land Mr. Rayfuse decided to seek "fresh fields and pastures new," and taking two hundred dollars of his savings he went to Florida, where he remained a short time, finally locating in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, where he remained about two years. Florida was at the time largely filled up with northern young men, who could find employment only in the orange groves, the majority not being able to even defray the expenses of their board and lodging. There was not to be found in Atlanta a sin- gle white blacksmith at that time, and our subject found it inexpedient to array him- self with the negroes as a journeyman, so he secured employment at piece work, realiz- ing four dollars per day from his efforts. When he returned to Massachusetts he took with him about the same amount of money with which he had fortified himself when starting for the south, so that his sojourn in that section returned profits in experi- ence rather than financial gain. In Massa- 48

chusetts he found that journeyman black- smiths were receiving only one dollar and seventy-five cents per day, and his ambition was such that he could not satisfy himself with this stipend, so that in 1877 he came to Michigan, arriving in Reed City on the 18th of June. He had been attracted here by the reports given by a local harnessmaker, Harry Smith, a young man whom he had known in Lowell, Massachusetts. Soon after his arrival in Reed City Mr. Rayfuse purchased a half interest in an established blacksmith shop, eventually becoming sole owner and remaining actively concerned in the conducting of the enterprise for a period of four years. He worked with untiring en- ergy, handling much heavy work, and slow- ly but surely advanced toward the goal of definite prosperity. His capitalistic re- sources at the time of taking up his resi- dence here were represented in the sum of about two thousand dollars, but he was not compelled to withdraw from this source in erecting his substantial brick residence, in which he established his home in June, 1879, his marriage having occurred about one year previously. In the early years of his residence here he had excellent opportuni- ties to invest in timber lands, but he pre- ferred to hold himself on familiar and well tried grounds, and thus continued to devote his attention to the work of his trade. Upon retiring from the blacksmithing business Mr. Rayfuse purchased a hardware establish- ment in his home town, the consideration in- volved being less than three thousand dol- lars, and about fourteen months later he dis- posed of the stock and business for five thousand dollars. His arduous and unceas- ing toil had greatly impaired his health, and he found it practically imperative to seek a

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change of occupation. Thus, after dispos- ing of his hardware business he erected a warehouse and engaged in the handling of agricultural implements and machinery, founding the first enterprise of the sort in Reed City, in the year 1883. He continued to be actively identified with this important line of business for a decade, developing a large and representative trade and gaining prestige as one of the leading business men of the county. The enterprise had its incep- tion in a modest way and under the effective control and management of our subject it grew to large proportions and represented one of the important industrial undertak- ings of this section. In the meanwhile Mr. Rayfuse had made judicious investments in town realty and had improved much of the same by the erection of good buildings, and this led to his turning eventually to the real- estate business as a vocation, his retirement from the implement business having taken place in 1892. Since that time he has given his attention principally to the real-estate business, collections, loans, etc., being at the present time owner of several properties which yield him good income. In more re- cent years he has invested in farming lands in Osceola and Lake counties, owning sev- eral tracts, besides a considerable amount of town property.

While in no sense a politician Mr. Ray- fuse has ever accorded a stanch allegiance to the Republican party and has manifested a loyal interest in the furtherance of its principles and policies. He has been called upon to serve in various township and vil -. lage offices, notably that of president of the village council of Reed City, of which office he was incumbent for three terms. During his regime he was specially insistent and

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Biographical history of northern Michigan containing biographies of prominent citizens, Part 97

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