USA > Michigan > Gratiot County > Biographical memoirs of Gratiot County, Michigan : compendium of biography of celebrated Americans > Part 17
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In 1882-83 Mr. Vandercook held the of- fice of clerk of Pine River township, to which he was elected on the Republican ticket, a portion of the village of Alma, and the city of St. Louis, being then included in the township named. In 1889 and 1891 he was elected village clerk of St. Louis on the Republican ticket, and in 1894 was ap- pointed by the mayor as the first member of the board of public works, for a term of five years, in 1899 being re-appointed for a like period. In 1891 he was elected member of the school board and has since served con- tinuously. In 1896 he joined the Silver party, and was elected register of deeds of the county, being re-elected in 1898. In the latter election Mr. Vandercook received a majority of 339 votes in his home city, al- though the Republican party had an average majority of seventy-five votes.
In the newspaper business Mr. Vander- cook's experience has been varied. Estab- lishing the St. Louis Spy in 1878, he con-
J. m. Vandercook
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tinued that publication but a few weeks, then establishing the St. Louis Leader, which he published until 1883, when it was sold to E. S. Hoskins. Mr. Vandercook then re- moved to Ithaca, and established the Ithaca Times, which he sold a year later, on account of the illness of his wife, and returned to St. Louis. In 1885 he founded the St. Louis Republican, a semi-weekly, which in 1889 was sold to a stock company and con- solidated with the St. Louis Leader. In 1890 Mr. Vandercook again entered the newspaper field with the St. Louis Inde- pendent, which publication he has since con- tinued. In 1893 he established the first daily newspaper of St. Louis, which was published for three years, or until the elec- tion of its proprietor to the office of register of deeds.
Mr. Vandercook has a fine one hundred and twenty-acre farm near the city of St. Louis, the care of which, in connection with the publication of his paper, engages his time and attention. Mr. Vandercook's comfortable residence is located on Wash- ington avenue.
A LTON G. WILEY. This well known resident of Seville township holds in an enviable degree the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens, as has been shown by his election to local positions of trust and responsibility, and in each case that confi- dence has been justified by the ability and fidelity with which he has discharged the duties devolving upon him.
Alton G. Wiley was born in Arcada township, Gratiot county, June 1I, 1858. His parents were the late Alexander Wiley, who died in Arcada township in January, 1902, aged sixty-nine years, and Cordelia
(Adams) Wiley. There were five children in the family, Fernando, Frances, Alton G., Mattie and Edwin J., all of whom are living with the exception of the youngest son. Al- ton G. Wiley grew up with his brothers and sisters on his father's farm, experiencing the usual pleasures and trials incident to the life of a farmer's son, and the quiet routine of his days at home continued unbroken till he reached the age of twenty-three, at which time he assumed the responsibilities of mar- riage and began the struggle with life which faces every man who would maintain an independent stand. As farming was the work with which Mr. Wiley had had the most experience it was only natural that he should choose that as his vocation and his success in that line has demonstrated the wisdom of his action. He settled at first not far from his father's location, but in 1889 he decided that it would further his interests to leave Arcada township and so in that year moved to Montcalm county and resumed his farm- ing operations in Sidney township. Four years passed there and then, in 1893, Mr. Wiley returned to the county in which he was born and established himself in Seville township, on the farm where he is found to- day. This property consists of sixty-five acres of good farming land and practically all of it is now improved.
The lady whom Mr. Wiley chose to be the head of his home was a Mrs. Lavina Hillsinger, a native of New York State, who had moved to Michigan with her parents. Isaac and Margaret (Neer) Hillsinger. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Wiley was solem- nized April 3, 1881, and has been blessed with three children, although the oldest of these did not live more than a few months. He was named for his father, Alton, and the
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two surviving children are Lena L. and Claude A.
Mr. Wiley has ever manifested a marked interest in political conditions and situations and has furthermore put his interest into action, always working on behalf of the Democratic party, whose principles he up- holds. His services have been called upon for public positions and he has filled succes- sively the offices of school director, which he held for seven years, and of township treas- urer and justice of the peace. The two latter incumbencies he filled for terms of two years each. He is also a lodge man and belongs to Elwell Tent, No. 766, Knights of the Mod- ern Maccabees. Mr. Wiley is popular with his fellow townsmen and is regarded by them with much respect and esteem.
I RA BOVEE, a prominent farmer of North
Star township, Gratiot county, whose well-improved farm compares favorably with any in the locality, was born June 19, 1854, in Schoharie county, New York, son of Cor- nelius and Eva (Livingston) Bovee, natives of New York. Mr. Bovee's father died in Schoharie county, at the age of thirty-four years, and his mother was married to Elied Bovee. Mrs. Bovee died in Detroit, Michi- gan, at the age of sixty-five years.
Ira Bovee was the youngest member of a family of four children, and was reared in Schoharie county, New York, being eleven years old at the time he came to Michigan with his mother and stepfather. They set- tled in Northville, Wayne county, where Ira learned the brick mason's trade, at which he was employed for a time. He then located in Williamston, Ingham county, engaging in the grocery business for about two years, at the end of which period he removed to Ed-
more, Montcalm county, where he was in the grocery business for six months. He then located in Ithaca, remaining there as a con- tractor and builder until 1893, when he lo- cated in North Star township, where he has since been engaged in farming, also doing some masonry work. He owns sixty-four acres of good land in North Star township.
Mr. Bovee takes a great deal of interest in township and county affairs, and is known to be a man of strict integrity and reliability, no one in North Star township standing higher in public esteem. He is a member of Ithaca Lodge, No. 64, Knights of Pythias.
S TEPHEN THEODORE SPRAGUE. A list of the leading farmers of Pine River township, Gratiot county, would be decidedly incomplete without the name of Stephen T. Sprague. Mr. Sprague was born October 23, 1832, in Lysander, Onondaga county, New York, son of Samuel and Phoebe (Secoy) Sprague. He was the seventh member in a family of ten children, namely : Jonathan, Samuel, David, James, Eli, Henry, Daniel, Amos and Jonas, of whom, besides Stephen, only Daniel, Amos and Jonas are living. Amos and Jonas are farmers at Adrian, Michigan.
Mr. Sprague located with his parents in Lenawee county, Michigan, when thirteen years of age, and there received his educa- tion. He remained at home until he was twenty years old, and was then engaged as a farm assistant, working by the month one and one-half years. After that he rented a farm, which he conducted two years, and then, in Williams County, Ohio, purchased forty acres of land. He spent two years in improving his property, which he later sold, again renting a farm in Fulton county. In
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February, 1863, he located in Gratiot county, and purchased eighty acres of land in Sections 10 and 3, Pine River township, upon which he still resides. Mr. Sprague drew lumber from St. Louis with which to build a frame house on the section last named, and continued to cultivate and im- prove his land. He has contributed in a large measure to the improvement of the entire county, having cleared II0 acres of timber with his own hands.
Mr. Sprague was married in Lenawee, Michigan, March 10, 1853, to Miss Susan S. Packer, who was born March 13, 1828, in Clinton county, Pennsylvania, daughter of Eli and Annie (Thomas) Packer, and to this union the following named children have been born: William T .; Annie, who became the wife of William Sandall, and died in Pine River township, May 23, 1895 ; Hadsell; Dora, who married Charles Dolp; Thomas, who survives, and Harry, who died in infancy. Mr. Sprague is a prominent Democrat, and takes much interest in the affairs of his township and county. He and his esteemed wife are members of the Chris- tian Church.
C HRISTOPHER C. WONDERS, whose residence in Gratiot county covers two periods separated by more than a score of years, has lived in Seville town- ship, since 1896. He is a native of Ohio, born in Seneca county, October 17, 1842, the only son of Christopher and Electa (Desmond) Wonders. The latter was left a widow and afterward married David Strouse. Her death occurred in Newark township, Gratiot county, at the age of seventy years.
When Christopher C. Wonders was a
child of two years of age, his parents moved from their home in Seneca county, Ohio, to Sandusky county, in the same state, and there the boy grew up. When he reached the age of eighteen, he left home and began to earn a livelihood on his own account. Going to the adjoining state of Indiana, he spent about five years there engaged in var- ious occupations and at the end of that time in June, 1866, he removed from.Indiana to Michigan and became a resident of Gratiot county for the succeeding ten years, his first sojourn in that section of the State. From 1876 to 1879 Mr. Wonders was located in Dushville, Isabella county, and then tried several different localities until in 1896 he returned to Gratiot county, and settled down in his present home in Seville township. During all these years, with their attendant changes, Mr. Wonders has not been confined to one employment, but spent twelve years at work as a blacksmith, another period in running a sawmill and still another in farm- ing. At the time of the Civil war he enlisted in Company H, Twenty-first Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, and served for a term of three months. In his political views he has al- ways been a Democrat and active in the local work of his party .. While in Isabella county he held the office of township drain commis- sioner for a year, and since becoming a resi- dent of Seville township, has filled the posi- tion of highway commissioner for several years.
Mr. Wonders' domestic life has had shadows as well as sunshine, for death has visited his home. Married early in the seventies to Miss Lucinda Down, six chil- dren were born to them, before the wife and mother was called from this life, February 24, 1883, during the residence of the family
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in Sumner township, Gratiot county. They were: Lillian, the oldest daughter, mar- ried Burdette Southwell; Laura became the wife of Albertus Johnson; Burrill and Al- zada were the next in order of birth; Jennie married Egbert Willett; and Jesse is the youngest. On September 14, 1885, Mr. Wonders was married a second time, Mrs. Alma Franklin Emsley becoming his wife; she was the daughter of John and Lucy (Carter) Franklin, and the widow of Emanuel Emsley. By her first marriage she had had three sons, John .F., Arthur and George, the two last named being de- ceased. After her union with Mr. Wonders a son, Ernest M., was adopted. The family are well-known in Seville township, and are among its esteemed residents.
W ILLIS W. WILLIAMS. Occasion- ally one meets a man whose abilit- ies and force of character have enabled him to make such good use of somewhat limited opportunities during youth that one wonders what might have been achieved under more favorable conditions. To illus- trate-Willis W. Williams, a well-known agriculturist of Washington township, re- ceived only a common-school education, but has so successfully borne himself in life that he has won the confidence of the community in a marked degree, and has more than once been called upon to fill positions of trust and responsibility.
Mr. Williams was born in Wheatland township, Kenosha county, Wisconsin, De- cember 16, 1861, son of Joseph L. and Elizabeth (Howlett) Williams, natives of New York State and Illinois, respectively. The father was born December 5, 1814, and the mother, October 28, 1828, their mar-
riage occurring May 2, 1846. After a few years they removed to Wisconsin, where the father engaged in farming. In 1884 he retired from agriculture, and located at Burlington, Racine county, where both he and his wife died-the former April 2, 1900, and the latter April 27, 1888. Joseplı L. Williams, as a man of sound general judgment and practical intelligence, was far above the average, and his fellows readily admitted his superiority; calling upon him to fill such offices as justice of the peace, supervisor, school trustee and town treas- urer.
Ten children were born to Joseph L. Williams and his wife, as below : Edwin A., November 9, 1847, a lawyer of Neenah, Wisconsin; Clarence, May 14, 1849, who died March 3, 1853; Harvey L., August 7, 1850, who died January 3, 1852; Julius P., September 7, 1852, now a South Dakota farmer ; Ida E., October 18, 1854, who died August 22, 1856; Lyman A., April 14, 1857, a farmer residing in Kansas; Charles E., October 17, 1859, a farmer of Kenosha county, Wisconsin; Willis W., December 16, 1861; Herbert N., April 19, 1863, also a farmer of Washington township, Gratiot county ; and Mary L., November 7, 1868, who married C. L. Gleason, and died Sep- tember 16, 1902.
Willis W. Williams, the eighth of the ten children, was educated in Wisconsin and Illinois, and when of age chose farming as his occupation. For the first six years he was content to undertake no responsibilities of his own, but worked for others, thus gaining a sound basis of experience for later independent operations. A further period of seven years was spent on his father's farm in Kenosha county, Wisconsin, a tract
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Willis Ih Williams
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of two hundred and sixty acres which was put entirely under Mr. Williams's manage- ment, and which he conducted most success- fully. In the spring of 1888, during his residence in that county, he was elected township clerk, and served one year; subse- quently, for two terms, he held the office of supervisor.
From Kenosha county, Wisconsin, Mr. Williams removed to Gratiot county, Michi- gan, with which, as a permanent resident, he has since been identified. He owns a fine property in Section 33, Washington township, consisting of eighty acres of specially good arable land. The place is well equipped with all the buildings re- quired for carrying on farming operations, and most of them have been erected by Mr. Williams himself.
On February 21, 1888, Mr. Williams was married to Miss Mary Hibbard, then a resident of Washington township. Miss Hibbard was the only daughter of George and Rhoda ( Harrison) Hibbard, the former a native of New York, and the latter of the State of Ohio, where the daughter also was born, in Morrow county, June 8, 1867. The family removed to Gratiot county, Michi- gan, in 1880, and settled in Washington township, remaining there until the fall of 1894, when they located in Clinton county, Michigan, where they now reside in peace- ful retirement. The father was born July II, 1838, and the mother March 27, 1834, and they have therefore reached the age which entitles them to relief from the heavy burdens of life. They are both faithful members of the Evangelical Church.
Mr. and Mrs. Williams have one child, Ethel, born October 1I, 1896. Both are members of the Evangelical Church and are
entirely in accord as to its work, being, per- haps, especially active in the Sunday-school. Mrs. Williams is a woman of rare character, and her husband has been unusually for- tunate in his domestic relations.
A strong Republican on all political is- sues, Mr. Williams has always proved his faith by his useful party work, and the value of his services has been recognized by his appointment as supervisor of the township. The ability and straightforwardness which he has evinced in the conduct of that. office have earned him general confidence and popularity. He was first appointed to the position in 1902, to complete an unexpired term, and was so acceptable to his consti- tuents that he was elected in 1903 and 1904, and was obliged to refuse the nomination in 1905. Mr. Williams has also served as school trustee for District No. 4, of Wash- ington township, and for a period of two years was a member of the board of review- ers. His interest in all township affairs is keen and intelligent, and his many warm friends and constituents alike recognize in him a public spirited and able citizen.
W ILLIAM BARTLEY. Among the representative farmers of Gratiot county William Bartley stands prominently as a good citizen, an enterprising business man, and. a farmer of the first class. He resides on his 119-acre place in Lafayette township, situated in Sections 6 and 7. He was born January 10, 1843, in Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, son of Anthony and Catherine (Young) Bartley.
Anthony Bartley was born in Germany, while his wife was a native of Pennsylvania. They had three children, of whom William is the only surviving member, and they died
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in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania. Wil- liam Bartley was reared in that county, and when nineteen years of age enlisted in Com- pany C, Seventy-eighth Pennsylvania Vol- unteer Infantry, serving with that regiment from August, 1862, until June 19, 1865. He participated in the battles of Chattanooga and Chickamauga; many minor engage- ments and skirmishes; was in Sherman's campaign through Georgia, when he re- ceived a slight bullet wound; and served gallantly throughout the war, receiving his honorable discharge.
After the war Mr. Bartley returned to Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, where he remained a short time, and in the spring of 1866 he located in Michigan, where for two years he lived in Newark township, Gratiot county. He then took up his home on Sec- tions 6 and 7, in Lafayette township, where he owns one hundred and nineteen acres, highly improved and supplied with good, substantial buildings. Mr. Bartley was mar- ried in Lafayette township, August 8, 1871, to Jane Edgar, born in Scotland July 30, 1849, daughter of Stewart and Margaret (Dunn) Edgar, natives of Scotland. Mr. and Mrs. Bartley have had these children : William E., who married Lena Halbert and has three children; James A .; Maggie E., the wife of Frank Clegg and mother of three children; Mary E., who married .Peter Mc- Adam and has had three children, one of whom is deceased; Katie; Janie; and Amanda Florena, who died at the age of three months.
Mr. and Mrs. Bartley are members of the Presbyterian Church. He is a man of the strictest integrity and a high sense of honor, and gains the confidence and respect of all with whom he has business dealings.
F FRANCIS M. FREAR, one of the prom-
inent residents of Pine River township, Gratiot county, and an honored survivor of the Civil war, was born in Simcoe, Ontario, May 12, 1843. He is a son of James and Clarissa (Shaver) Frear, natives of New York, who died in Grass Lake, Jackson county, Michigan, the father September 3, 1869, at the age of sixty-three, and the mother, March 6, 1874, aged fifty-eight years. James Frear was a carpenter and joiner by trade, and he and his wife were both members of the Baptist Church. Their children were: Harvey J., killed in the Civil war; Michael N., a resident of Jack- son county, Michigan; James H., an under- taker at Henriette, Oklahoma; George W., a carpenter at Junction, Oregon; Francis M .; Harriet N., widow of H. M. Ward, of Bath, Michigan; and Clarissa I., Mrs. Wil- liam Simmons, of Westfield, New York. Joshua M. Frear, the paternal grandfather of Francis M., was a native of New York, of French extraction.
Francis M. Frear, in 1849, as a boy of six, accompanied his parents to Michigan. While living at home on his father's farm, in March, 1862, Mr. Frear enrolled himself in that grand army of young men who with one impulse arose in defense of their coun- try's flag and union. He enlisted in Com- pany K, First Regiment, United States Sharpshooters, and served three years, being mustered out of service at Petersburg, Vir- ginia, March 16, 1865. Mr. Frear partici- pated in many serious battles and important campaigns, including Yorktown, the Penin- sular campaign under General McClellan, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilder- ness and Spottsylvania. It would be un-
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likely that a soldier should pass through so much danger without injury, and Mr. Frear still bears the marks and effects of wounds. On June 4, 1864, at the battle of Cold Har- bor, not mentioned in the above list, he re- ceived a wound in the head, and was con- fined to the hospital for some time, rejoining his regiment in front of Petersburg at the time of the capture of the Weldon railroad; he also participated in many minor engage- ments. After the close of his army service Mr. Frear returned to Jackson county, Mich- igan, in the winter of 1865, locating in Gra- tiot county, where he worked in the lumber camps. In June, 1866, he returned to Jack- son county, where he was a farmer and car- penter for two years, attending school dur- ing the winter months, after which he spent a year in Osceola county.
On December 24, 1869, Mr. Frear was married to Miss Frances E. Reeves, born in Lyons, Ionia county, Michigan, Novem- ber 4, 1847, daughter of William and Lucy Jane (Miller) Reeves, natives of New York, the former of whom died in Gratiot county, while his wife passed away in Tennessee. They were the parents of three children, of which family Mrs. Frear was the second member. She was reared in Ingham county, at the age of fourteen years locating in Gra- tiot county with her parents, who settled in Pine River township, being among the pio- neers of that locality. One year after mar- riage Mr. Frear settled in Gratiot county and purchased the farm which he now oc- cupies. He has erected substantial build- ings on his property, and the land is fertile and productive. The farm is a tract of one hundred and fifty-three acres, and compares favorably with any in the township. Mr. and Mrs. Frear
have been the parents of five children, viz .: Lida J. (wife of W. S. Osborn), James WV., Martin E., Floyd E. and Frankie M. Mr. Frear has been highway commis- sioner of Pine River township for two terms and has also served as constable and school director of his district. He belongs to the Union Veteran Union and is a member of the Masonic fraternity. Both as a business man and as a citizen he is generally and highly esteemed and is considered one of the substantial and representative men of Pine River.
G EORGE S. NALDRETT, one of the large land owners anl prominent ag- riculturists of Gratiot county, Michigan, who has been a resident of this section for many years, is a native of England, born October I, 1834, son of Clement and Hannah (His- cock) Naldrett, also natives of that country. The parents came to America in 1849, and settled in Livingston county, Michigan, whence they removed three years later to Newark township, Gratiot county. There they lived about twenty-three years, at the end of which time they removed to Eaton county, where the remainder of their lives was spent.
George S. Naldrett was but fifteen years of age when he accompanied his parents to the New World, and on locating in Michigan he worked on his father's farm until twenty- one years of age. At that time he purchased eighty acres of wild land in Section 31, Newark township, and to this he has since added by purchase, now owning 253 acres of land. When he located on his farm in New- ark he erected a small frame house, which his family occupied until 1881, in which year he erected a fine brick residence. He has
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been in former years extensively engaged in stock raising, and is now one of the leading agriculturists of his township. In his po- litical sympathies he is a Democrat, but has always declined to hold public office, prefer- ring to give his time and attention to his farming interests. Mr. Naldrett is a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity.
On January 15, 1857, Mr. Naldrett mar- ried, in Gratiot county, Miss Caroline Jones, youngest daughter of Simon and Lydia (Kirby) Jones, natives of Vermont and Massachusetts, respectively, who settled in New York State and later went to Ohio. In 1856 they became residents of Fulton town- ship, Gratiot county, where they spent the re- mainder of their lives. Mrs. Naldrett was born in Seneca county, Ohio, July 18, 1839, and lived at her father's home until her mar- riage to our subject. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Naldrett, namely : Charles S., Ida M., Clement, Laura J. (de- ceased), and Lydia J.
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