USA > Michigan > Hillsdale County > Compendium of history and biography of Hillsdale County, Michigan > Part 31
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JOHN T. REED.
John T. Reed, of Allen township, Hillsdale county, Michigan, is the second man in this lo- cality to bear the honored name of John Reed and the son of John S. Reed, one of the early residents of the township, who came here with his parents during the harvest time of 1829. Thomas Reed, the father, moved from Pennsylvania to Richland county, Ohio, and some years later to this coun- ty, settling at the White Marble Springs in Allen township, one and one-half miles west of the village of Allen, on the Chicago road. These springs, a dozen or more in number, remarkably clear, pure and beautiful, are features of the lo- cality and of great value to the people, and were of considerable advantage to the early settlers al- so, furnishing them with an abundance of excel- lent water for themselves and their stock, adding thereby much to the value of the untamed land which they took up and began to prepare for cul- tivation and fruitfulness, at the same time giving picturesqueness and interest to the landscape. Mr. Reed purchased 160 acres of land from the gov- ernment and began to improve it and make it habitable for himself and his family. Some years later he gave eighty acres of his purchase to his son, John S. Reed, who added to this tract by a farther purchase of forty acres from the government. Thomas Reed was one of the im- portant and influential citizens of the section. He aided very materially in organizing the county, and Allen township, and died on his farm in 1850.
His family consisted of two sons and three daughters, all of whom are now deceased. His elder son, John S. Reed, was a mere lad when he became a resident of the county, but, the exigen- cies of the time, which laid everybody under trib- ute for a strenuous exercise of every faculty, ex- acted of him a man's work on the farm, leaving him little opportunity for anything else. He aided in clearing the homestead and in carrying on its operations, ministered by his labors to the com- fort of the family all the time, and often he was obliged to make the long trip to Detroit for pro- visions, driving an ox team for the purpose and camping out on the way, risking the danger of attack by wolves and other wild animals, and by Indians as well. One dangerous and thrilling ex- perience was well impressed on his mind unto his dying day. He was once chased by hungry wolves to within forty yards of his house while returning home from Jonesville one night, the brutes being then driven off by his dogs. During his residence there his farm was long one of the favorite resorts of the neighborhood, being always a storehouse of bounteous hospitality.
In 1873 Mr. Reed left its management to his son, John T., and moved to the village of Allen, where he died on August 31, 1892. He was mar- ried in 1841 to Miss Hannah Broughton, then of Quincy, in Branch county, a native of New York state, who died in Allen in 1896. They had three children, John T., now the owner and manager of the homestead ; Ellen I., wife of A. B. Whit- more of Allen ; Lydia A., who died at the age of eighteen years. The father was a soldier in the Black Hawk War, who, from his early youth, was earnestly interested in the development and prog- ress of the county and his township. He gave active support to every enterprise tending to this end, being ever one of the leading citizens of this part of the county, taking up the work of public advancement in every good line of improvement where his father dropped it and pushing it for- ward with energy and intelligence. When he came to the county with his parents, they brought their household goods in a lumber wagon drawn by two yokes of oxen, he having two cows to drive or lead. The now much-traveled and well-known
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highway, the Chicago road, which was their course to this part of the state, was then not much more than an Indian trail, winding around old stumps, fallen trees and other obstructions, and the journey was full of difficulties and arduous toil. But there was manly spirit and determination at the head of the enterprise, and, in time, the long desired haven was reached, but only to open before the weary emigrants and pioneers new fields of struggle, toil and danger. The story of their trials is the oft-told tale of frontier life, and that of its triumphs is graven in impressive and enduring sculpture in the present civilization and magnificent development of the country to which they came as the very advance guard of the on- coming army of mankind which has since occu- pied it.
HON. JAMES S. GALLOWAY.
One of the senior members of the Hillsdale bar, with a record of forty years active and suc- cessful practice to his credit and now standing casily at the head of his profession in this part of the state, Hon. James S. Galloway has risen to his prominence in professional circles and to his high place in the confidence and esteem of the people through continual and arduous effort, close and effective study, conscientious attentio:1 to every duty of citizenship and a natural abil- ity and force of character uncommon among men. He is a native of Wayne county, New York, born on March 5, 1841, and was reared in his native county, where successive generations of his family have lived many years and were among the most influential and prominent of its . people. His parents were Rev. Edgar and De- borah (Sutton) Galloway, the father being d well-known and highly esteemed clergyman in the Christian church, who was born, grew to manhood, was educated and died in Wayne coun- ty, New York, the mother also passing her life in that county.
Mr. Galloway began his education in the pub- lic schools of Wayne county, continued it at the Marion Collegiate Institute and concluded it at Antioch College, Ohio, where he matriculated
in1 1857 and was graduated in 1860. When he came out into the world arnied with his diploma as a Bachelor of Arts, he began to dispense the learning he had acquired in his scholastic train- ing by teaching, and he followed this vocation for two years. But he had no idea of being a schoolmaster all of his life. In 1862 he came to this state, and, locating at Hillsdale, entered the office of Stacy & Edwards as a student of the law. He pursued the study diligently and thoughtfully, and, in 1863, was admitted to the bar and at once began the practice of the pro- fession, having formed a partnership associa- tion with William S. Edwards under the firm name of Edwards & Galloway. This partnership lasted until 1866, when it was dissolved by mu- tual consent, and, in 1867, Mr. Galloway associ- ated himself in practice with Col. R. W. Ricaby in the firm of Ricaby & Galloway, which contin- ued until July, 1871, when Mr. Ricaby moved to Chicago, and Mr. Galloway kept on practicing at Hillsdale alone, as he is now doing. For a short time, in later years, his son, Edgar O. Gal- loway, was associated with him, but is now en- gaged in business in Canada, being secretary and treasurer of the Morgan Lumber Co., at Chelms- ford, Ontario.
Mr. Galloway has given attention mainly to civil practice and has made a great success of it. His counsel is much sought in the most import- ant cases and his skill in conducting them is marked and widely known. He has an exact and exhaustive legal training, both in the prin- ciples of the law and in their application by the courts ; he is ready and resourceful in expedi- ents, masterful in argument and eloquent and forceful in advocacy, preparing his cases with great care, presenting their features with clear- ness and cogency, sustaining his position with all the wealth of his extensive attainments and his full, strong and well-trained mind. In addition to his professional duties, which are arduous and exacting, he gives attention to other business of an engaging and profitable character, being con- nected with some of the leading financial insti- tutions in this part of the state. He was for a number of years the president of the First State
JaJ. Galloway
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Bank of Hillsdale, being also a director of the Second National Bank. In politics, he has al- ways been a Democrat, affiliating with the gold wing of the party in recent campaigns.
Public life and official station have ever been unwelcome to him, and the only office he has filled is that of city attorney of Hillsdale, which he accepted for the general good rather than for any personal advantage. He has, however, on occasions, taken the stump in behalf of the prin- ciples and candidates of his party, but cannot be called an active partisan in any leading way, for his business has absorbed his attention and furnished ample work for his time and faculties. In 1865 he was married to Miss Lizzie, a daugh- ter of Henry Edwards, of Montgomery county, New York, and they are the parents of two chil- dren, their son, Edgar O., a rising business man of Canada, and their daughter, Ava, who is liv- ing at home. Mr. Galloway is an enthusiastic Freemason, holding membership in the lodge, the chapter and the commandery, and he has served most acceptably as the eminent comman- der of the last named body. It is much to say in favor of any man that in all the relations of life among his fellows he has risen to high rank and walked wisely and worthily in all, but in an emi- nent degree it is true of Mr. Galloway, who is one of the best known, most highly esteemed and most serviceable citizens that southern Michigan has had in the years of its existence.
JOHN W. RAYMOND.
The early tides of emigration into southern Michigan came mainly from New York state. From this hotbed of enterprise and adventurous daring, came the parents of John W. Raymond, of Jefferson township, in 1852, bringing him witlı them as a boy of eight years, his birth occurring in their native state on August 6, 1845, as a na- tive of Onondaga county. His parents, John W. and Amelia (Knapp) Raymond, prosperous farm- ers and hardy adventurers, came to Michigan in 1852, locating in what is now Jefferson township in this county, where they began to clear up a tract of forty acres of land, which they bought
in the wild woods, there to make a home for them- selves and their young family. A small shanty had been built on the land prior to their taking possession, and this was their first home in the new region where they had cast their lot. Time and assiduous labor wrought 'a great change in „their surroundings ; the land was fertile and, when cleared, responsive, and it soon began to yield abundant returns for their faith and toil; a new house replaced the humble shanty ; barns and oth- er outbuildings rose around them; all the con- comitants of cultivated life gradually appeared and ministered to their comfort ; but it is doubt- ful if any subsequent condition gave them the agreeable sensations that they experienced at the dawn of their budding hopes and productive en- terprise. In the due course of time they added eighty acres to their farm, and, that, too, soon began to respond generously to their persuasive industry. On this child of hope and promise they expended the energies of their lives, the father dying on the farm, at the age of ninety years, on November 2, 1893; the mother also dying on the farm on January 8, 1899, at the age of ninety- three years. The family consisted of their two sons, John W. anl George. By a former mar- riage the father had three children, all now de- ceased. An early and a leading settler in the township, it was inevitable that the father should take a deep and abiding interest in the growth and development of the section of the state in which he lived, and he was called on for his val- uable advice and counsel from time to time in reference to public affairs of a local character, but he steadfastly declined to accept public office of every kind. His father, John Raymond, was also a native of New York, and lived and died a prosperous and industrious farmer in that state.
John W. Raymond grew to manhood on this western farm, assisting in its arduous labors and eagerly snatching from its exactions the few and brief opportunities to attend the district schools which were afforded him. When he reached years of maturity he purchased the interest of his broth- er, George, in the place and since then he has been its sole owner. He erected the excellent build- ings which now adorn it, which are down-to-date
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in every respect. He was married in this county on August 29, 1870, to Miss Anna C. Johnson, a native of the county and a daughter of Silas and Catharine (Demont) Johnson, who were among the early settlers of the state. Two children have blessed their union, Amy, now the wife of J. L. Ash, a son of Peleg Ash, of whom a sketch will be found on another page of this volume; and Jesse, who is living at home. Mr. Raymond is a skillful and progressive farmer, a citizen of public spirit and breadth of view, always keenly alive to the best interests of the community, omitting no effort on his part to secure their promotion. He ranks among the leading men and most represent- ative citizens of the township, being well esteeme.l by all classes of its people.
FIRST STATE SAVINGS BANK.
The frugality and thrift of the wage-earners, small property holders and better class of laborers in America, which have given our people distinc- tion throughout the world as a nation of money makers and home dwellers, and which have been a source of great stability to our institutions at all times, and a mighty bulwark of defense in times of trouble, have been largely cultivated and increased by our system of well-managed, liberal- minded, widely distributed and generally reliable savings banks. The men in every part of the country who organize and control such banks and thus give opportunity to persons of small earnings to save a portion of the fruits of their labor, and so provide for calamity when it comes, or for a better estate as time passes, are public benefac- tors in a broad and comprehensive sense. An in- stitution of this character, which was long needed in Hillsdale, was provided for the use of the peo- ple in June, 1902, by the establishment of the First State Savings Bank of Hillsdale, which opened its doors for business on the sixteenth day of that month, and the men who were at the head of it gave ample assurance of security for its patrons, guaranteeing prudence and good judg- ment in its management. It was organized with a working capital of $50,000, with F. A. Roeth- lisberger as president. Corvis M. Barre as vice-
president, Paul W. Chase as cashier, with a list of directors and stockholders comprising a num- ber of the best business men in the community. In the short time of its existence the bank has won to its counters a very large body of well pleased patrons, done an enormous business, paid creditable returns on deposits and established it- self firmly as one of the best financial institutions in this part of the state.
Fred A. Roethlisberger, the originator and the ruling spirit of this new fiscal entity, is its pres- ident, of whom it has been well said that "for twenty years he was successively merchant, bank- er and postmaster at Allen (in this county) and latterly all three at once." Mr. Roethlisberger was born in Allen township, this county, on March 24, 1860, the son of Andrew and Catherina (Boch) Roethlisberger, the former a native of Switzerland and the latter of Germany. They came to the United States in 1838 and settled at Adrian in this state. Two years later they re- moved to Hillsdale county and took up their resi- dence in Allen township. The father was the station agent of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad at Sylvanus for a number of years, later continuing that service at Allen for some time. After quitting the railroad service he went to farming, following that vocation until his death in 1875. His widow is still living in this county. They had three sons and one daughter. the only one of the four who is a resident of Hills- dale county being their son, Fred. Here he was reared and educated, here he began life as a farm- er. but he had a genius for mercantile life and for finance, and, soon after reaching man's estate, he began moving toward these lines of activity. He started as a clerk in a store and soon after opened a drugstore of his own at Allen. Two years later he expanded this into a general store which he conducted with steadily increasing pat- ronage and profit until 1903. In connection with merchandising he carried on an exchange, and, in 1893, started a private bank, which he con- ducted for a number of years. He was also post- master at Allen for fifteen years and a member of the county committee for ten. He is an active Republican in politics, and was chosen by his
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party as an alternate to its last national conven- tion and he is now a member of its congressional campaign committee. He has not, however, given himself up wholly to the affairs of the savings- bank in business, as he has valuable property and large commercial interests at Allen and Jones- ville, being also the president of the State Bank at Quincy, in this state, which he assisted in or- ganizing and of which he is the largest stock- holder. He is also a director of the Omega Port- land Cement Company, of Mosherville, this,coun- ty, and of the American Lumber Company of Al- bequerque, New Mexico, and for four years he rendered efficient service as treasurer of the Hills- dale County Agricultural Society. He was mar- ried, in 1881, in Cass county, Michigan, to Miss Nellie Hoyt, a native of the state. They have two sons, Leon E. and Fred A., Jr. In fraternal relations the head of the house is a Freemason and a Knight of Pythias.
Hon. Corvis M. Barre, vice-president of the bank, was born in Ohio, and, before he was fif- teen years old, he enlisted in the Union army, serving in the thick of the Civil War until after Lee's surrender. In 1871 he came to Michigan and found a home and congenial employment at Reading. For six years from January, 1879, he was the county clerk of Hillsdale county, and then became the cashier of the Second National Bank of Hillsdale. Afterward he actively practiced law and became one of the most successful members of the bar. In 1892 he was appointed the U. S. consul at Valparaiso, South America, there giving the country excellent service for four years. His clearness of vision, quickness of apprehension, ex- cellent judgment and close attention to details in business make him one of the strongest and saf- est factors in the commercial life of the county.
Paul W. Chase, the bank's accomplished and accommodating cashier, is yet a young man com- pared with many who have won prominence and commanding positions in fiscal and political life. But his progress in this, his native county, has been rapid and steady, and his hold on the confi- dence and esteem of the community is strong and firmly fixed. For nearly four years he was the deputy county clerk, for two he was the city
treasurer, and, when he became cashier of this bank, he was also the city attorney. In every po- sition he has shown capacity, integrity, high char- acter and a commendable breadth of view.
The directors of this institution not already mentioned are Guy M. Chester, F. H. Stone, Ed- ward Frensdorf, M. S. Segur and William N. Benge, all well known in the community and well established in the confidence and esteem of its people as successful and influential business men.
ERWIN H. RUMSEY.
Erwin H. Rumsey is a prominent and success- ful farmer of Jefferson township, who has been busily occupied for several years in tilling the land on which he was born. He was born on this farm on December 30, 1864, the son of Moses and Nancy (Elliott) Rumsey, the former a native of New York and the latter of Lenawee county, in this state. His father was born in Fayette, Seneca county, New York, and removed with his parents in early life to Ohio, where he grew to manhood, attending school in the winter for a few years and helping on the farm at other times. The lim- ited education he was thus able to get he subse- quently enlarged and improved by studious and industrious reading. In 1847 he came with his father to this county, and, in the fall of that year, they purchased 120 acres of unbroken forest, in what is now Jefferson township, it being a part of section I of the government survey, and soon thereafter the family came out and occupied the land. Here his parents passed the rest of their lives and here they died, when he came into pos- session of the property and increased its extent to over 200 acres. He continued the improve- ments commenced and carried on by his father and kept the land in an advanced state of cultiva- tion, and the farm, which now consists of 15.4 acres, is now one of the most desirable in the township. He was a man of progressive ideas, an advanced thinker, quick and vigorous in action. His influence on the growth and development of the township and on the trend of thought in the matter of its public life and improvement was pronounced and beneficial. He occupied almost
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cvery place in the gift of the people, at one time or another, and rendered excellent service in ev- ery official capacity, serving the township as high- way commissioner, as treasurer, as supervisor for four terms and as justice of the peace for twenty- eight successive years. Hc was a man of large, but judicious, charity, liberal in his gifts to pub- lic instiutions of every worthy character. Three times he bowed beneath the flowery yoke of Eros. his first marriage occurring on January 28, 1854, with Miss Nancy Elliott, and their family con- sisted of three sons and one daughter, Carlton G., Albert T., Helen S. and Erwin H., all of whom are living except the first-born. Their mother died on September 15. 1872, and their father's second marriage was in 1873, with Miss Lucy Anderson, who became the mother of two children, her daughter, Ruth, and her son, Fred. She died in 1882 and the third marriage took place within the same year, being with Mrs. Phoche Vail, who is still living. Mr. Rumsey was a Re- publican in politics from the foundation of the party. Hc belonged to the Congregational church at the time of his death on December 25, 1897. Two sisters are residents of this county, one of Lenawee county, two of Salt Lake City and one is living in Ohio.
ERWIN H. RUMSEY, a son of Moses Rumsey by his first marriage, was reared on the home farm in Jefferson township, on which he now lives, as has been statcd, and was educated in the district schools of the neighborhood, completing his schol- astic training by a two-years' course at Hillsdale Collegc. For thrce ycars thereafter he taught school in the winter months and conducted suc- cessful farming operations in the summer. At the end of that time he gave up all other occupa- tions and has since devoted his time and energies wholly to his farming industry and has found this an excellent investment in every way. He is self- made, beginning life for himself at twenty-one years with one dollar. He worked on the farm, rented for a time, bought forty acres in section 29, Jefferson township, his wife owning eighty acres in the same section given by her father. Upon the death of the father he sold this farm and bought the old homestead of 154 acres, except
a fourth interest in fifty acres, which he acquired by will. He has since bought sixty acres adjoin- ing. He is one of the successful farmers of the county.
Mr. Rumsey was married on December 30, 1885, to Miss Hartis Miller, like himself a na- tive of the township, being the daughter of Mar- tin and Margaret ( Dorcder) Miller, who settled in the county in 1864. Three children have blessed their union. Clyde E., Lloyd M. and Carlton C., and all are living at the family home. Mr. Rum- sey has been a Republican all of his life and he has served the township as justice of the peace and the U. S. government as census cnumerator. He is an active working Freemason, and has fillcd all the chairs except the master's in his lodge. He is at present senior deacon, a position he has creditably filled for five years. He and his wife are also members of the Order of the Eastern Star. Hc has filled the office of worthy patron in this lodge for three years. He also belongs to the Knights of the Maccabees and the Patrons of Husbandry. He is well respected by all classes of his fellow citizens, justifying by his upright life and high character the public and private csteem in which he is held.
FRANKLIN SCHMITT.
For three-score years, and for longer, Frank- Schmitt, one of the leading farmers and stock- growcrs of Fayette township, has been a resident and an active productive force in this county. He was born in the township of his present rcsi- dence on July 25. 1842, and was reared and edu- cated among its people. His parents were Nich- olas and Gertrude (Grat) Schmitt, both natives of Beber. Kur-Hesse, Prussia, who were born, reared, educated and married in the Fatherland, coming to the United States in 1834 with their two small children, Their first winter in this country was passed at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and in the spring of 1835 Mr. Schmitt came to this county and located eighty acres .of government land, returned to Ann Arbor for his family and was settled on his new home in July, 1835. The family remained on this land until 1851 when he
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