USA > Michigan > Hillsdale County > Compendium of history and biography of Hillsdale County, Michigan > Part 19
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JOHN O. BARRINGTON.
Crowned with the good record of more than three score and ten years of useful life, fifty of which have been passed in helping to civilize and develop this county, and secure in the lasting esteem and veneration of the residents here who have seen the excellence of and shared in the benefits of his labors, John O. Barrington, of Cambria township, stands forth in the evening of his days one of the best types of American cit- izenship, illustrating in his long and worthy serv- ice to mankind the most admirable attributes of sterling manhood and elevated character. He is a native of Somersetshire, England, where the ancestors of his mother, whose maiden name was
Charlotte Barrington, lived for many gener- ations, and where he was born on August 23, 1812. His father, Sydenham Barrington, was born and reared in Devonshire, England, and was a stonemason and bridgebuilder. Changing his residence to Somersetshire, he there met and married his wife, and, while his son and only offspring, John O., was yet in his infancy, he was called from earth. His widow, by a sec- ond marriage, became the mother of two chil- dren, a son and a daughter. The family re- mained in their native land until 1849, and there Mr. Barrington learned the duties of life by ex- perience, receiving only a limited education in the public schools, which, however, he supplement - ed and enlarged by careful reading and study. He entered zealously into the public affairs of his country, taking an active interest in all that per- tained to its welfare. He was an interested spec- tator of the coronation of Queen Victoria, and his voice added to the tumultuous applause which welcomed that glorious sovereign to her long and beneficent reign. In 1849, the family, then consisting of the mother, stepfather and three children, came to this country and located near Norwalk, in Huron county, Ohio. There Mr Barrington was engaged in farming until 1853. when he removed to this county and purchased forty acres of land in Cambria township, being a part of the farm on which he now lives, which he has increased by suly quent purchases to 115 acres. On his new domain, which was as yet noth- ing but the primeval forest. there was a log cab- in, and, after two years of most diligent effort to make the property habitable and productive, in 1855 he returned to Ohio, and there was united in marriage with Miss Sarah A. Sparks, a native of New York, but for years previous to her mar- riage a resident of Huron county, Ohio. They became the parents of five children, who are now living : George E .; Martha E., wife of Ira Sny- der, of this county; Bertha B .. wife of Clifford Brown, of Cambria township: Mary A., wife of M. Watkins, of Reading, this county ; James L., living at home. At the venerable age of sixty- three years, their mother died on July 13. 1895. In politics Mr. Barrington has been a Repub-
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lican from the organization of that party, but has never been an active partisan nor accepted public office. For many years he and his family have belonged to the Presbyterian church and been potent elements in its works of beneficence and charity. Among the people of Hillsdale county no man is better known, or more highly respected, than is this patriarch and pioneer and none has more richly deserved an exalted place in public esteem and confidence. With fidelity and industry, without self-seeking or ostentation, he has performed the daily duties of life found ever at his elbow, being content with the con- sciousness of doing his part well and worthily.
DR. WILFRED BATES.
One of the pioneer physicians of Hillsdale county, whose life was ever a full current of active goodness, devoted to the service of his fellow men and which closed amid universal sor- row and regret when he was sixty-five years of age, Dr. Wilfred Bates, a native of the county, was born two miles east of Hillsdale, on Novem- ber 19, 1836. He was deeply and sincerely at- tached to the county. Within its borders his use- ful life began; among its people he lived and labored until his spirit passed on to the activities that know no weariness; in their midst he ac- cumulated property of much value, being person- ally benefited by the operation of the forces of im- provement and development he aided in starting and sustaining ; to their elements of moral, intel- lectual and social elevation he contributed a con- tinued active support and the vitalizing influence of a great example. [The Bates family of Mas- sachusetts claim descent from Clement Bates, the emigrant, of Weymouth, in 1838.] The par- ents of Dr. Wilfred Bates were Caleb and Maria (White) Bates, who were both born and reared in Massachusetts as farmers, coming to Michigan about 1834. Locating in Hillsdale county, they entered government land and began the arduous, but inspiring, labor of carving out a farm from the primeval forest, which farm became their permanent home and on which they died. The Doctor's grandfather was also Caleb Bates, and
he, too, came to this county, and, full of years and of esteem, here he passed away and was laid to rest under its sod. Dr. Wilfred Bates was the youngest of twelve children, only one of whom is living, a sister who resides in the state of New York.
The Doctor received his elementary and pre- liminary scholastic training in the good country schools, and, after leaving them, had the ad- vantage of a year passed in study at Hillsdale College. He then entered the office of Dr. Frank- lin French as a medical student and remained under his competent instruction for two years. At the end of that period he passed one year at the Ann Arbor Medical College, after which he matriculated at Rush Medical College, Chicago, and from that institution he was graduated in 1860. He had, however, practiced prior to his graduation, and, on leaving college, at once re- sumed professional activity at what was then known as Ransom Center, in this county. There he continued in a busy and increasing practice until his death, on November 16, 1891, his prac- tice and his business acumen making him a large real-estate owner at his death, but, throughout his life, he was attentive to every duty, with pri- mary reference to the general good, rather than to his personal benefit. In 1865, before the close of the Civil War, he was commissioned assistant sur- geon of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry, and started to join his regiment for field duty, but was unable to do this, being detained four months in hos- pital work at Nashville, Tennessee. He then returned to his home and resumed his practice. In 1861 he was married to Miss Harriet Eggles- ton, a daughter of Bradford and Harriet (Hicks) Eggleston, the former a native of England and the latter of New York. Her father came to the United States in infancy, and in 1849 settled in Lenawee county, this state, where he died. Dr. and Mrs. Bates were the parents of three children, two of whom are living, James W., one of the leading business men of Hillsdale, and Glenn M., living at home with his mother, who is still a resident of the city. The second son, Rea W., who died in early manhood, was a graduate of the Detroit Medical College and
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for eighteen months before his death practiced in association with his father. Doctor Batcs was an ardent Republican, but never accepted public office. He belonged to the State Medical So- ciey and to other kindred organizations. He was also a Freemason and an Odd Fellow.
WARNER J. SAMPSON.
Warner J. Sampson, one of the oldest and most successful lawyers at the Hillsdale bar, is a native of this county, born on August 27, 1847. His parents were john W. and Mary (Court- wright) Sampson, natives of Wayne county. New York, pioneers of 1844 in Michigan. Prosperous farmers they continued in active management of their farm until 1865, when they retired from ac- tive pursuits and took up their residence at Hills- dalc, where the father died in 1892 and the mother is now living at the age of cighty years. Mr. Sampson's paternal grandfather was Newland Sampson, of New York state, who learned and worked at his tradc as a carpenter for a number of years, then entered the ministry in the Metho- dist church, and, during a large part of the rest of his life, was actively engaged in preaching at various places. He came to this county in 1855, remained ten years, removed to Porter county, Ind., and again worked at his trade and also preached at times. He had a large family of sons and daughters, all of whom are deceased, onc son losing his life at the terrible battle of the Wilderness in the Civil War. Mr. Sampson him- self had two sisters, one of whom is dead, and the other lives in the state of Alabama.
Warner J. Sampson was educated in the pub- lic schools of this county and at Hillsdale Col- lege, entering this institution in 1860, when he was but little more than twelve years old. In 1865 he began ·business for himself as a grocer and he continued in this line of mercantilc life for four or five years. In 1871 he started a cigar factory in partnership association with H. H. Frankinfield, which he helped to conduct until 1873, when the firm was dissolved and he went to Kansas, soon thereafter moving to southern Indiana, where he remained until 1875. He then
returned to Michigan, and, locating at Marcellus, in Cass county, began the study of law under the direction of Judge Carr, the present circuit judge of that county, was admitted to practice at the Cass county bar in 1879, and continued profes- sional labors in that county until 1890, when he came back to Hillsdale county. In 1891 he was appointed patent clerk in the office of the Secre- tary of State, but, while he held this position, he continued to practice law at Hillsdale. In Oc- tober, 1897, the firm of Sampson & Barre was formed and was continued until October, 1902, when Mr. Barre retired. Fred O'Melay was then admitted to a partnership in the business, which is still in active life and practice, with Mr. Samp- son at its head, a large body of patrons in its clien- tele and a rank at the bar that is second to none.
In politics Mr. Sampson is an ardent Demo- crat, devoted to the interests of his party, eloquent and forceful in advocacy of its cause. He is a captivating and convincing speaker, a strong reasoner, a shrewd and resourceful tactician, an effective organizer ; he has been the candidate of his party for the office of prosecuting attorney and for other positions, but has always led a for- lorn hope, going to defcat because of the large Republican majority in the county. In 1867 he was married to Miss Emma J. Allison, who died in 1891. They had three children, of whom but one, their daughter, Jessie M., wife of C. J. Bradt, of Marcellus, is living. Their two sons, Edward and Wilford, died in 1879, onc aged seven and the other nine years. Mr. Sampson's second marriage was to Miss Mary E. Avery, a native of this statc, and occurred in 1893. He be- longs to the Masonic fraternity in both lodge and chapter organizations, is also an Odd Fellow and Knight of Pythias.
HON. HENRY WALDRON.
Among the men who were forcmost in help- ing to develop the rich resources of southern Michigan and lifting it into prominence as one of the rising communities of the West, none has a more enviable record or is entitled to a higher re- gard than Hon. Henry Waldron. As a civil en-
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gineer in his early manhood, a promoter and de- veloper of industrial and transportation enter- prises, a banker and financier, a judicious and broad-minded dealer in real estate, a public serv- ant of distinguished ability and usefulness, he stands forth in each field of service, conspicuous in the admiration and esteem of the whole people, who venerate his memory with a full and unre- served respect. He was born on October II, 1819, at Albany, N. Y., where his father was a prominent and a successful merchant, who died when his son was but thirteen years old. The latter was, however, carefully educated, pursuing his studies at the Albany Academy until he was fifteen, then entering Rutger's College, from which he was duly graduated two years later. In 1837 he came to Michigan, which had just then assumed the dignity of statehood, and he was at once employed as a civil engineer in the prelimin- ary surveys of the Michigan Southern Railroad. He remained in the service of this enterprise un- til-the completion of the road, after which he took up his residence at Hillsdale and continued to live in that city until his death. Deeply interest- ed in the development of this section of the state, foreseeing with the clearness of vision for which he was noted through life, its possibilities in a commercial and industrial way, in 1843 he built and operated the first warehouse on the line of the railroad, and, from 1846 to 1848, served the road as a director. He was also active in the con- struction of the Detroit, Hillsdale & Southwest- ern Railroad rendering service as its first presi- dent. He was one of the founders of the Second National Bank of Hillsdale. He conducted its af- fairs as its president from its organization until 1876, when he became president of the First Na- tional Bank, a position which he held until his death. The interests of this bank and his large real-estate operations engaged his time and facul- ties almost exclusively in a business way during the closing years of his life.
In politics Mr. Waldron was first a Whig. When that party yielded place to the Republican, he joined the new organization, adopting its prin- ciples with earnestness, and he adhered to them loyally through life. In 1842, when but twenty- three years of age, he was elected to the lower
house of the State Legislature, and, in 1848, he was one of the electors on the Taylor and Fill- more ticket. In 1854 he was chosen to represent his district in the National House of Representa- tives, and was thereafter twice reelected to this exalted position, serving six consecutive years at that time. His service covered a most impor- tant period in our history and he met the require- ments of the situation in a masterful manner, giv- ing his constituents great satisfaction while their representative.
In 1868 Mr. Waldron was a delegate from Michigan to the National Republican Convention, which nominated General Grant the first time for the presidency, and was the Michigan vice-presi- dent of the body. In 1870 he was again elected to Congress, then serving three consecutive terms in the great legislative assembly, in 1876, declin- ing a fourth term, on account of his pressing pri- vate business. In the exalted forum, wherein he was so long a conspicuous figure, he displayed the same manly qualities of courage, stability, enter- prise, industry and masterful grasp of conditions, that made him so successful in his private busi- ness, and to his public duties he gave as consci- entious and devoted care and serviceable atten- tion as he bestowed on his personal affairs. He so bore himself in public life that he won and re- tained the lasting respect of his political oppon- ents as well as the cordial esteem of his aids and supporters. In all her brilliant history Michigan has never had a more zealous, high-minded, faith- ful, or a more upright representative in the halls of Congress, a more energetic, far-seeing or capa- ble business man or a more public spirited, prog- ressive or patriotic citizen. Mr. Waldron was married on July 18, 1844, to Miss Caroline M. Bard, a native of Port Byron, N. Y., in Hillsdale. She was a daughter of Joseph and Phoebe (Haz- zard) Bard, also natives of New York, who came to Michigan in the fall of 1843. Settling at Hills- dale, her father engaged in the milling business. He died in 1849, while crossing the plains on his way to California. His wife died in Hillsdale in 1885. Mr. and Mrs. Waldron had one child, which died in infancy. Mr. Waldron died on September 13, 1880, and his wife passed away from earth on March 22, 1889.
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HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
WILLIAM WALDRON.
The strong, true men of a people are always public benefactors. Their usefulness in the im- mediate and specific labors they perform can be defined by metes and bounds. The good they do through the forces they put in motion and through the inspiration of their presence and ex- ample, is immeasurable by any finite gauge or by any standard of value. The death of any one of such men is a public calamity, because by it the country loses not only his active energy, but the stimulus and fecundating power of his present personal influence. There is, however, some compensation for this loss in the memory of his services, the effect of his example, and the con- tinuing fruitfulness of the activities he quickened into life. The late William Waldron, of Hills- dale, was such a man. To fully tell the story of his life and describe his character within the lim- its which this work allows is impossible to mor- tal utterance. The most that can be done within the allotted compass is to briefly epitomize the sal- ient points and leave to inference the coloring of the narrative.
Mr. Waldron was a native of Albany, N. Y., born in November, 1824, and his death occurred at the Cleveland Water Cure Sanitarium on De- cember II, 1877. Yet, although he fell beneathı the fatal shaft at the comparatively early age of fifty-three, the record of his achievements in a public way and in private life is one of which many an octogenarian would be proud. It so impressed the age and body of his time, that not - withstanding more than a quarter of a century of time has passed since he surrendered his trust at the behest of the Great Disposer, his memory still lingers as a fragrant and living potency in the business world, of which he was in life so es- sential a part, and his influence on mercantile and fiscal conditions is still felt and heeded. He was reared and educated in his native city, and, in 1843, came to Hillsdale as a young man of nine- teen years. For a time he was here employed as a clerk in a commission warehouse owned and operated by his brother. Subsequently, in part- nership with Chauncey W. Ferris, he conducted
a merchandising business for a few years. In 1850 he purchased the interest of his partner and formed a new firm in association with James B. Baldy. They continued the business along the sante lines as heretofore conducted, and it stead- ily increased in volume and value, until this firm controlled the largest trade in the county, embrac- ing in its sweep not only operations in general merchandising, as the term is usually understood, but also extensive dealings in wool, wheat and various other commodities. In 1860 these enter- prising gentlemen closed out their mercantile in- dustry, and, three years later, organized the First National Bank of Hillsdale, with Mr. Waldron as president and Mr. Baldy as cashier.
The banking business was more in accordance with the tastes and the genius of Mr. Waldron. Giving this institution his close and careful per- sonal attention, he established it firmly on a broad basis of sound business principles, inspiring its management with a spirit of liberality, breadth and progressiveness that soon made it a potent factor in the commercial world of the community and laid all the surrounding country under trib)- ute to its prosperity. To the day of his deathí. Mr. Waldron continued to manage and direct its policy as its president, keeping it ever in the front rank of banking institutions, enlarging its scope and multiplying its functions to meet the require- ments of every new condition in the domains of finance, exhibiting also in a marked degree all of the attributes of a prompt, positive, upright and inflexible business man. It was one of his in- variable rules to settle all disputes in business out of court, if that were possible without a sacrifice of principle or of honor; in consequence of this rule he presented the remarkable example of a man actively engaged in business on an enormous scale for a period of thirty years without ever being himself, or having any establishment with which he was connected, either a plaintiff or a de- fendant in a legal proceeding of any kind.
Mr. Waldron was twice married, in 1848 to Miss Mary Moon, of Lima, Ind. ; in 1874 to Miss Carrie Osband, of Cleveland, Ohio. At his death he left a widow and three children as his surviv- ors. His private life was as beautiful as his busi-
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ness career was successful and productive. He was liberal in support of public enterprises and private charity, and, if royal often in dispensing his bounty, he was likewise princely in the silence he maintained concerning it. In friendships he was firm, loyal and enduring; in social life an ornament and an inspiration to society ; at his do- mestic hearth he was the soul of hospitality, the compass and the anchor of the family, the exem- plar and sustenance of every moral and educa- tional force. No man of his day stood higher in public estimation, none was more cordially es- teemed in the circles of personal friendship ; none had a cleaner record in business, none a more ex- alted ideal in private character.
EDWARD BAILY.
For fifty-seven years a resident of this county in Litchfield township, for seventeen years an efficient supervisor of the township, Edward Baily has been a potent force in the development and progress of the county and is widely known and respected as one of its makers and builders. He is a native of Orleans county, New York, born on December 9, 1842, the son of William and Sarah (Weed) Baily, the former English by nativity, born and reared in Somersetshire, and the latter a product of Fairfield county, Con- necticut, who first saw the light of this world at Stamford. The father was a farmer in Connec- ticut, whither he came as a young man, and later in New York. In 1844 he brought his young family to the wilds of Michigan, armed with a resolute heart and high hopes of future compe- tence and consequence, furnished with the ener- gy, persistence and the capability to win his way even through the hard conditions of frontier life with its inevitable privations, dangers and con- stant calls for stern endurance. He located first in Scipio township in this county, but, after a res- idence of two years in that location, removed to Litchfield township, where he settled on forty acres of wild land which he purchased, it being a part of the highly developed and well-improved farm on which his son, Edward, now resides.
As he got his land cleared and under cultiva- tion he purchased additional tracts until he owned 115 acres, and, at the time of his death, he had all of this in a good state of fertility, pro- vided with comfortable buildings and with other improvements. His life ended in 1885, that of his widow in 1898. They had three children, two sons and one daughter, of whom Edward and one sister, Mrs. A. H. Knapp, are residents of Hillsdale county. The maternal grandfather, Ebenezer Weed, was a soldier in the Revolution, who upheld the family name with credit on many bloody battlefields of the memorable struggle for Independence. Since his day, whether in peace or war, the representatives of both sides of the house, wherever they have been found, have sus- tained the cause of their country and aided ma- terially in the promotion of its best interests.
Edward Baily grew to manhood on his fa- ther's farm and assisted in clearing and cultivat- ing it, having the usual allowance of opportunity enjoyed by country boys in his day and section for common-school advantages, and, it must be said to his credit, that he made good use of them. At the death of his father he inherited . the farm, on which he has since lived, adding to its extent from time to time by purchase, until it comprises 206 acres of excellent land, adding also to its value otherwise, by careful and pro- gressive husbandry, until it has become one of the most desirable and complete farm homes in this part of the county. He was married in Mon- roe county, New York, in 1869, to Miss Lucinda Fuller, a daughter of Holloway H. and Miriam B. (Watson) Fuller, prominent farmers who lived and died in New York, where the father. was born and whither the mother mnoved from her native state of Maine, Mr. and Mrs. Baily have one child, their daughter, Marion. While he has been a lifelong Republican in political faith, true and loyal to his party, and, while he has a deep and abiding interest in public affairs involving the welfare of the community, Mr. Bailey has not sought office ; he has, however, on occasion consented to serve the township and county in important places, and has served it well. He was for ten years a justice of the peace and for seventeen a supervisor, and in both
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positions contributed materially to the preserva- tion of law and order among the people and the advancement and elevation of their best interests in every way. He very capably served as chair- man of the county board of supervisors for sev- eral years, also being the president of the Farm- ers' Mutual Insurance Company of Hillsdale county for a definite length of time. In frater- nal relations he has for many years been a mem- ber of the Masonic lodge at Jonesville. As he has been one of the most serviceable citizens of the township, so he is now one of the most re- spected for his ability and worth.
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