USA > Michigan > Hillsdale County > Compendium of history and biography of Hillsdale County, Michigan > Part 33
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WILLIAM A. UNDERWOOD.
William A. Underwood, for four years the popular clerk of Pittsford township, being now (1903) the efficient and capable supervisor of the township, is a native of Palmyra, in Lenawee county of this state, born on August 10, 1854. His parents, Thomas and Mary (Comstock) Un- derwood, were natives of New York, who were among the earliest pioneers in that part of Michi- gan, whither they came in childhood with their re- spective families. The paternal ancestry was English and bore an honored name in the mother country. In the spring of 1836, the paternal grandfather, Edward Underwood, came to this state and purchased land in Palmyra township,
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Lenawee county, for which he paid eleven dollars per acre. Here he erected a comfortable residence and permanently occupied it, contentedly engaged in farming his land until his death on May 20, 1878. His son, Thomas, was reared to habits of careful industry and frugality, assisting in clear- ing and improving the farm and bringing it to abundant productiveness, getting what he could of a limited education at the neighboring schools. When he reached years of maturity and desired to marry, with the assistance of his father he pur- chased 131 acres of land in the same township, and, settling on this with his bride, he gave his energies and intelligence to the systematic im- provement and development of the place. It re- sponded readily to the persuasive hand of his skillful husbandry, and, in time, became one of the most desirable and attractive farms in the township. His wife, who was Miss Mary Com- stock, was a daughter of Jared and Catherine (Hall) Comstock, of New York, who removed to this state and settled in Lenawee county in 1835. She is now deceased. Her offspring con- sisted of four children, Edward, Ella, William A. and Harley.
William A. Underwood was reared in his na- tive township, and, after completing his elemen- tary education at the public schools, he took a course of instruction at Adrian College. At the age of eighteen he began teaching and during the next four winters he continued to be so em- ployed in the public schools, assisting in the farni work on the homestead in summer. In 1877 he settled on the farm he now owns and occupies, a fine body of land, comprising eighty acres pleasantly located on section 10 in Pittsford town- ship, which is improved with substantial, commo- dious and convenient buildings and diligently and skillfully cultivated. On September 13, 1876, Mr. Underwood was married with a Miss Lozetta A. Holden, of Pittsford township, who was born on the farm which is now her residence. Her father, Lyman Holden, was a native of Vermont, who came to Michigan with his mother and step-fa- ther in 1836, married a Hilsldale county lady and settled on the land now occupied by his daughter and son-in-law, and here both he and his good
wife passed the remainder of their days. His wife was Miss Roena Stark, a native of Clermont county, Ohio, and a daughter of Daniel Stark, a New Yorker by nativity. In political faith Mr. Underwood is a staunch Republican, but he is broad enough to consider the general welfare of the community in all public movements of a local nature before the success of any party. He served four terms as· township clerk and in 1902 was elected supervisor and was reelected in the spring of 1903. In both positions he has rendered efficient and appreciated service. He belongs to the lodge and the chapter in the Masonic order, to the Knights of the Maccabees and to the Patrons of Husbandry ; he and his wife are members of the Free Baptist church. They have two chil- dren, E. Lynn and Martha L.
JOSEPH SLAGHT.
Joseph Slaght, of Jefferson township, Hills- dale county, is one of the few remaining pioneers of the county who saw the beginning of its his- tory in civilized life, and he has been a potent and active contributor to its growth and develop- ment ever since. He is a native of Seneca coun- ty, New York, born on December 6, 1817, the son of John and Phoebe (Howell) Slaght, natives of New Jersey, who moved to the state of New York about 1800. His father was a tanner and worked at this trade for many years, later en- gaged for a time in sawmilling. The last years of his life were passed in the peaceful and produc- tive pursuits of agriculture in Michigan, whither he came in 1847. He settled near Flint, in Gene- see county, and there both he and his wife died. He was drafted for service in the War of 1812, reported at Buffalo, but was not obliged to do act- ive service. His family consisted of four sons and three daughters, all of whom are living, but one son and one daughter, all of the living mem- bers of the family being residents of this state, and all, except Joseph, are living near Flint. The grandfather was Matthew Slaght, a native of New Jersey, who moved to New York when he was a young man, and, after a career of upright- ness and usefulness, died in that state, having
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been prominent as a captain of militia in troub- lous times, rendering good service by keeping up the martial spirit of the community.
Joseph Slaght grew to manhood in New York and received a limited education at the primitive schools of his neighborhood in the winter months, assisting his father in the tannery and in the sawmill during the rest of the year, yet he also worked at times at the carpenter trade. In 1844 he came to Michigan, making the trip over the lake to Monroc, going from thence to Hillsdale county. He purchased eighty acres of land thtat summer, which was all timber and without a road, or semblance of a road, to it or through it, and then returned to New York. In the autumn of 1845, having made such due preparation for their comfort as the circumstances would permit, he moved his family to the farm,as he had begun to make it, and since then their residence has been here maintained. In course of time he cleared up his original tract and then added more land by purchase until he now owns 155 acres. The whole tract in its improvements, its cultivation and its high market value, is the product of his persistent and skillful industry, a creation of comeliness, fruitfulness, high development and great worth, standing wholly to his credit. He was married in his native state on February 14, 1843. to Miss Sarah A. Brokaw, a native of New Jersey, who died in this county on February 4, 1892, leaving one son. J. Albert Slaght, who is living on and managing the farm. She was born in the town of Millstone, Somerset county, New Jersey, on November 6, 1815, and moved with her parents, Isaac and Mary (French) Brokaw, to central New York in 1821. Mr. Slaght has been of service to his locality in many ways. He has been road commissioner and township super- visor, always a leader of thought and action in matters affecting the welfare of the region in which he lived. He was originally a Whig in politics, becoming a Republican when that party was organized. He is an active and devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
J. Albert Slaght, the son and the only child of Joseph and Sarah A. (Brokaw) Slaght, was born on the home farm, which has been the family
homestead for nearly three-score years, on which he is now living, his life having begun on July 22, 1849. He was reared on the farm and began to perform his share of its labors in early life. His opportunities for education were furnished by the district schools near his home, and, al- though they were limited in scope and character, he has supplemented them by a goodly store of that worklly wisdom, which is gained only under the hard tuition of experience, and is now, by observation and reflection, a wise and forceful man in spite of his original limited school facil- ities. As soon as he was of suitable age and development, he relieved his father of the active management of the farm and has ever since been in control of its operations. He was mar- ried in 1895 to Miss Mary A. Maxon, a native of New York. Like his father, he has had a cordial and abiding interest in the welfare of the comm:1- nity, and he has contributed wise counsel and sub- stantial aid to all its developing and improving forces. He has served on the local school board for years and been connected in a leading way with other elevating potencies among the people. He is highly esteemed as one of the leading and representative citizens of the township, whose life has been full of usefulness, passed in the service of his kind without selfish aspirations for his own prominence or advancement.
CHARLES E. SMITH.
Charles E. Smith has been a lifelong resident of Cambria township in this county, having been born on the old homestead farm on November 29, 1852, and his whole life has been lived within its confines. His parents were Warren and Mary (Wilson) Smith, the former a native of New York, the latter of New Hampshire. The father, a farmer, who grew to manhood in his native county of Franklin, New York, learned well the art of farming and applied himself diligently to the cultivation of the soil until the spring of 1836, except for a short time when he was engaged in clerking in a store, in the neighborhood of the farm owned and operated by his father. He re- ceived a good common-school education, which
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was ended by a year of diligent study at an ex- cellent academy in Vermont. In the spring of 1836 he was married to Miss Mary Wilson, a daughter of James and Dorothy (Sawyer) Wil- son, and soon after brought his wife to this state, they coming over the lakes to Detroit, from there traveling by team to Sheridan, in Calhoun coun- ty, where they spent the first summer. The next spring they removed to Lenawee county, where they remained two years, and, in 1839, came to Hillsdale county and settled on a tract of eighty acres of unimproved land in Cambria township, the same land now owned and occupied by Jacob A. Hancock.
They followed the custom of the country of those early days, in erecting a little log shanty and going resolutely to work to clear up their land and make a home of it. There were then no roads in this section and the merest conven- iences of life were distant and difficult of access. Mr. Smith was obliged to get his supplies of flour and other provisions from Jonesville, Adri- an and Litchfield, where the nearest stores and mills were located. Later he purchased additional land from time to time and became the owner of 240 acres. He succeeded in clearing the most of his land and getting it into a good state of productiveness, and also in improving it with comfortable buildings, before death ended his labors in 1893, when he passed away at the age of seventy-nine years. His widow has since lived with her son and is now (1903) eighty-five years old. Their family consisted of their son, Charles, and their daughter, Almira, who became the wife of Jacob A. Hancock. The father took a decided interest in the progress and development of the county, and, although averse to public office, served at times as township treasurer. He was an active member of the Baptist church. The grand- father was Jesse Smith, a resident of Franklin county, New York, also a loyal soldier in the War of 1812. Mrs. Smith's father, James Wilson, was also a soldier in that war. He and his family moved to Hillsdale county in 1839 and settled on an unimproved farm in Cambria township, one mile north of the Smiths, where Mrs. Wilson died. Mr. Wilson died at the home of his daugh- ter, Mrs. Smith.
Charles E. Smith, as has been noted, was reared on the old homestead and educated in the schools of the vicinity. On leaving school he be- came actively connected with the management of the farm and has been engaged in this work ever since. He was married in 1876 to Miss Adelia Van Vlack, a daughter of Edmund and Sarah (Brian) Van Vlack, old-time residents of this county. They have one child, their son, W. K. Smith. Mr. Smith is a Republican in politics but is not an active partisan. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has been a member for many years. He is a representa- tive of one of the oldest and most respected fan- ilies in the county, and maintains. in his upright and serviceable life all the best traditions of the family history and the best traits of the family character.
ROSCIUS N. SOUTHWORTH.
The American history of the Southworth fam- . ily dates from the arrival of the Mayflower at Plymouth, Mass., in December, 1620, one of the passengers on the historic vessel in that memor- able voyage being a female member of this family, who later became the wife of Governor Bradford, the chief executive of the Plymouth colony. Ros- cius Southworth was born in Windham county, Connecticut, on August 27, 1815, his parents, Royal and Phoebe Southworth, having been resi- dents of that county for a long term of years. His father was a machinist by trade and is said to have assisted in constructing the first spinning- machine made in the United States. In 1820 he removed with his family to Worcester county, Massachusetts, and, eight years later, to Oswego county, New York, where the son attained the age of nineteen years, and received a limited edu- cation in the district schools. At the age men- tioned he emigrated to the then new territory of Michigan and settled at the village of Litch- field in Hillsdale county.
He reached this state without a dollar in money and very little else except the clothes on his back, but he purchased of Deacon Harvey Smith forty acres of land and made shingles to pay for it, settled on this land and resolutely gave
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himself up to the struggles and privations of fron- tier life. In 1838 he was united in marriage with Miss Lucinda Murdock, who died in 1839, leav- ing one child, John Southworth, until recently a prominent lawyer of Henrietta, Texas, but now deceased. Two years later he married his second wife, Miss Lucinda L. Wight, a daughter of Thaddeus Wight, a pioneer of 1830 at Jonesville, this county. Three sons and one daughter have blessed this union, Thaddeus M., now living on the old home farm; Royal A., publisher of a newspaper at Denver, Colorado, and secretary of the State Farmers' Allianceof that state; William R., a prosperous farmer of Kalamazoo county : Abbie N., wife of John H. Parish, of the town of Allen. Mr. Southworth developed great shrewd- ness and industry in his business, and by these qualities and his force and uprightness of charac- ter, and his clearness and breadth of view, rose to a position of prominence in his township and one of elevation in the confidence and esteem of its people. For many years he was a railroad contractor and built portions of all the various roads in this part of the state. He cleared and improved his farm until it became one of the most desirable in the township. As an evidence of his thrift and enterprise, it should be stated that the first horse he bought in this county cost him ninety-five dollars, and he hauled flour from Litchfield to Hillsdale at a shilling a barrel to pay for it. The father of Mrs. R. N. Southworth, Thaddeus Wight, was one of the earliest settlers in the county, arriving on its soil with his wife, eight children and twelve shillings in money, with no shelter for his family and no means of sup- porting them. By industry and economy, howev- er, he was soon in such comfort as the region af- forded. and became in time one of the wealthiest farmers in the county. Mr. Southworth died in June, 1888, and his widow in 1898.
THADDEUS M. SOUTHWORTH, eldest son of Roscius and Lucinda L. (Wight) Southworth, now owner and manager of the old homestead in Allen township, also one of the prominent and progressive farmers of that section, was born in Oswego county, New York, on January 8, 1844. He grew to manhood on his father's farm, as-
sisting in the labors there and enjoying such edu- cational advantages as were afforded by the country schools of his day and the primitive civ- ilization of this section at the time. The exer- tion of every energy available was necessary to provide the common requirements of life, and, at an early age, he was obliged to forego school and, for the most part, social pleasures and make a full hand on the farm. He drew the logs of which his present home was built to the place of its con- struction, one tree having furnished all the tim- ber needed for the siding of the house. While yet a boy he became an ardent Abolitionist and during his life he aided many a poor slave from the South to gain his freedom by means of the Underground Railway, one of the number being Henry Clay's body-servant. His experiences in this work were thrilling, furnishing him the ma- terial for many graphic narratives concerning those troublous times. In September, 1861, he en- listed in Co. M, Second Michigan Cavalry, but was disabled by sickness before he served a year and on this account was honorably discharged. He then returned home and resumed his farm work which he has continued without interrup- tion ever since. In the autumn of 1870 he began to breed Shorthorn cattle of pure blood. after five years of success in breeding Merino sheep. He is still engaged in this enterprise in both lines of stock, and has gained wide celebrity and high rank among stockgrowers. He has of late years also given attention to breeding Percheron horses, producing the finest geldings attainable, for sale and use in the old country.
Mr. Southworth was married on September 2, 1863, to Miss Myra A. Nichols, of Quincy, this state, a daughter of Ansel and Susan Nichols, pio- neers of Branch county. They were the parents of three children, Nora V., wife of V. Iles, of Ho- mer, in Calhoun county ; Miron J., a farmer in Branch county ; Mary A., wife of Claud Groves. of Albion, in Calhoun county. Their mother died on June 23. 1884, and Mr. Southworth was mar- ried to his second wife in September, 1885. She was Mrs. Amy C. (Wooden) Frasier, a native of Cass county. They have two children, John M. and Myra R. Mr. Southworth is independent
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in politics, has never sought or filled public office and belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic and is an active member of the Free Baptist church. His father was a zealous Freemason and an energetic member of the Patrons of Hus- bandry, belonging to the grange at South Allen.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK.
In the intensely practical age in which we live, it has come to be more and more definitely recognized that, whatever may be said of in- creasing armies and expanding navies to maintain national supremacy, the real armor of the Twen- tieth Century is to be a plethoric pocketbook ; its strong fortresses will be fireproof vaults well filled with notes, bonds, mortgages and title-deeds ; good agencies which help to produce these or spread their benefits are benefactors of mankind. It is an age wherein Carnage and Destruction will no longer secure the world's proudest hon- ors, while Invention and Production sink into unmarked graves ; an age wherein Man, the Cre- ator, beautifier and multiplier, will be honored and feted, and Man, the Destroyer, be discrowned. Among the beneficial agencies of this kind the First National Bank of Hillsdale must be men- tioned with high credit. It was established in 1863, consequently it is one of the oldest banks in the county ; the faith and zeal of its founders, and those who have managed its affairs, have been abundantly rewarded by a business, which has steadily increased in volume and value through a normal, healthy growth and a liberality of spirit, until it is one of the most extensive and profitable in the part of the state in which it is conducted. It carries on a general banking business, in all the details of that industry, and, wherever it is known, it has an exalted reputation for financial soundness, prudent and skillful management, ju- dicious liberality in accommodating its patrons and for plentiful resources for every requirement. In the dark hours of fiscal depression, when the factors of trade were paralyzed and the ordinary currents of business have fallen away, it was to the community a great reservoir of monetary strength, relieving the paralysis, restoring the
currents, averting disaster from individuals, keep- ing in vigorous motion all the wheels of product- ive energy. With a capital stock of $55,000, sur- plus and undivided profits of $50,000, deposits ag- gregating nearly $700,000, and general resources amounting to $825,000, as shown by a recent statement, the bank is doing an enormous busi- ness, paying good profits to its stockholders and maintaining in active circulation widening streams of benefaction for the whole people. Its present directorate (1903) includes Frank M. Stewart, president ; C. H. Winchester, vice-presi- dent ; C. F. Stewart, cashier ; William Prideaux, assistant cashier ; E. T. Prideaux, teller ; and the following directors: F. M. Stewart, William A. Waldron, C. H. Winchester, H. K. Bradley, C. E. Lawrence and William MacRitchie.
Frank M. Stewart, the president and real inspiration, as well as the controlling force of the institution, was born with a natural aptitude for the banking business, which has been developed and trained under the exacting eyes of masters of finance, disciplined in its duties by actual ex- perience in almost every position in the service of the bank, from that of errand boy, or runner, to the commanding one which he now holds, and has so acceptably filled since 1881. Mr. Stewart's life began on August 20, 1852, at New Haven, Huron county, Ohio, his parents being Albert G. and Elizabeth Johnson Stewart, the former a na- tive of New York and the latter of Ohio. In 1868 they removed to Hillsdale with their family. and here the father was engaged for several years in the produce business, then returned to Ohio, making his home at Lima for a few years, re- moving from there to Rockford, in Mercer coun- ty, of that state, where he is now living, the mother having passed from earth in 1891. Their son, Frank, was about fifteen years of age, when he came with them to Hillsdale, equipped for the duties of life by a good education secured in the public schools of Buffalo, New York, where his parents lived for ten years before coming west. His first year in Michigan was passed as a clerk in his father's office, and here he laid the founda- tion of the successful business career which he has since had. On July 5, 1868, he entered the
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bank as a runner and the capacity for the busi- ness which he soon displayed won him rapid pro- motion. In two years lie became the teller and three years later the cashier. This latter position he filled with great credit to himself and benefit to the bank until 1881, when he was made presi- dent, a position which he has occupied continu- ously from that time.
On September 20. 1877. Mr. Stewart was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth M1. Henry, daughter of Simon J. and Almira ( Whip- ple) Henry, of Hillsdale. They have three chil- dren, their daughter, Mabel, and their sons, Clif- ford A. and Waldron. Mabel and Clifford are students at the University of Michigan, while Waldron, the youngest son, is attending the Hills- dale high school. In politics Mr. Stewart is a staunch Republican, modest in advancing his opinions, however resolute and forcible in main- taining them, and cannot justly be called an active partisan. He has served the community well, however, first as city treasurer and again as may- or. He was obliged by pressing business affairs to decline a second term in the mayor's office. which was urged upon him, and, for the same reason. he has steadfastly overborne all solicita- tions to accept other official stations. He is a trustee of Hillsdale College, in which he takes great interest, and of the First Baptist Church of Hillsdale, of which he and his wife are esteemed and useful members.
He has been actively interested in all the man- ufacturing industries of the city and vicinity, and is now president of the Omega Portland Ce- ment Co., of Mosherville, this county, and of the Scowden & Blanchard Co., manufacturers of shoes in Hillsdale; and also a'director in the Worthing & Alger Co., the Alamo Manufactur- ing Co. and the Hillsdale Screen Co., of Hills- dale. His interest in the educational and moral agencies of the county and state has for years been energetic, intelligent and potential for good. He renders valued service as president of the board of directors of the State Public School lo- cated at Coldwater, and also as president of the municipal board of public works of Hillsdale. By his sterling integrity, his progressive business
methods, his breadth of view and enterprise in public affairs and his unvarying pleasantness of manner, Mr. Stewart has endeared himself to ail classes in this and adjoining communities, thus securing a high rank among the leading business mnen of the state.
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