USA > Michigan > Hillsdale County > Compendium of history and biography of Hillsdale County, Michigan > Part 47
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MANASSEH KEMPTON.
Manasseh Kempton is a native of the township of Adams, Hillsdale county, Mich., where he now lives and where he was born on August 18, 1848. His parents, David B. and Charlotte (Godfrey) Kempton, were early settlers here, among those
who planted in the county the seeds of its present prosperity and development. The father was born in Maine, the mother in New York. In his early manhood the father worked at the hatter's trade, then for some years was a farmer in Ohio. From there in 1837 he came to Michigan, locating in Adams township, where he purchased 120 acres of land from speculators. This he cleared and improved, and here continued his farming op- erations with success. In politics he was an old line Whig, as such holding the office of justice of the peace for twenty years. Fraternally, he be- longed to the Masonic order and both he and his wife were Wesleyan Methodists. His wife died in 1876 and he in 1889. Their family consisted of five children, of whom three are living. Both parents were previously married, the father hav- ing seven children by his first wife, the mother two children by her first husband.
Manasseh Kempton received a fair education in the schools of his native county, between the sessions assisting in the work on the farm. When he reached the age of twenty-six years his father retired from active pursuits and he took charge of the farm and cultivated it on shares, which arrangement was continued until the death of his father. Mr. Kempton now owns a farm of 100 acres, located half a mile due west of North Adams, which, by skillful cultivation, has been brought to a high state of productiveness and yields abundant annual crops of cereals and hay, with other farm products of every kind suitable to the climate and the soil. In politics Mr. Kemp- ton is an active Republican, who has served his community in various positions of trust and re- sponsibility, being a highway commissioner two years and serving for two years on the board of review, while, during the last five years, he has been supervisor. A Freemason, he belongs also to the Grangers and the Maccabees. On Septem- ber 26, 1875, he was married to Miss Hattie E. Bagley, a native of the township in which they live, a daughter of Joseph L. and Lydia K. Bag- ley, natives of New York, who came to Michigan while it was yet a territory.
Joseph L. Bagley is living in retirement in North Adams, and is a Democrat in political faith. His wife died on July 22, 1889. Mr. and Mrs.
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Kempton have four children, Emorene, Edgar J., Rockwell and Lawrence R. Mrs. Kempton belongs to the Congregational church. By the people among whom his life has so far been passed, Mr. Kempton is highly respected for his upright and manly character, his strict integrity and his genial and friendly disposition. It was not his lot to inaugurate a state or a new polit- ical entity of any kind ; but it is much to say, as we can justly say of him, that he has steadily helped to carry forward the work of progress and improvement that was begun by those who lived before him, and that he has lost no ground in the effort.
MYRON W. KELLY.
This prosperous and successful farmer of Pittsford township, who has raised his occupa- tion to the dignity of an art and a science and made it an exemplification of the wisdom of both advanced methods and steady application, of breadth of view and reflective study to its opera- tions, was born on September 1. 1848, on the farm which he is now so successfully conducting. His parents were Oliver P. and Serepta (Sil- vernail) Kelly, both natives of New York, where the father was born on May 30, 1816. In boy- hood he came to this state with his parents, who settled on government land in Pittsford town- ship, which the father and sons by systematic industry transformed into a good home, and on which the parents died, the father at the age of ninety-six and the mother at an advanced age. The paternal grandfather was well acquainted with Baw Becse and other noted Indian resi- dents of this section and frequently entertained them at his house. His son, Oliver P. Kelly, the father of Myron W., was married in March, 1841, and became the father of five children, four of whom are living, Orin C., Myron W., Melvin W. and John P. His wife died when her son, Myron, was eleven years old, in 1859. Orin Kelly was a member of Co. D, Eleventh Michigan Cavalry, during the Civil War, and saw hard service, participating in many battles and being wounded at the battle of Saltville, Ky.
Myron W. Kelly was educated in the schools near his home and grew to manliood on the farm he now occupies, on which his whole life has so far been passed, except a period of four years, during which he was engaged in milling. On October 6, 1878, he was married to Miss Eliza Pixley, a native of this county and a daughter of Sampson and Mary J. (Thompson) Pixley, whose grand- father, Joseph Pixley, was one of the first set- tlers in Wright township. They have one child, May J. Kelly, who is living at the parental home. Throughout his mature life, Mr. Kelly has given his allegiance to the Republican party and taken an active part in its campaigns. He served for four years as a justice of the peace and has ever had an influential voice in local affairs. He be- longs to the Masonic order, holding his mem- bership in Lebanon Lodge No. 26 at Hudson. As a farmer he has a high rank in the county, as a citizen he is well esteemed for his integrity, high character, breadth of view and progressive ideas, in social life he is both genial and enter- taining. All classes of people respect him, those who know him best holding him the highest.
SAMUEL KENNEDY.
A leading representative of the agricultural interests of Adams township, in this county, is Samuel Kennedy, an enterprising and pro- gressive farmer, whose well-directed efforts, sound judgment and capable management in- sure him success, whose public spirit and active interest in the welfare of the community show him to be one of the useful and patriotic, as he is one of the most estecmed citizens of the county. He is a native of Massachusetts, born on June 14. 1858. His parents were Andrew and Matilda (Allen) Kennedy, both of Irish birth and ancestry. In his infancy the father was brought to the United States and in this country he was reared and educated. After he left school he learned a trade, but, during the greater part of his life, he was engaged in farm- ing. In 1867 he came to Michigan, locating in Fayette township, in Hillsdale county. Some time later he removed to Scipio township, where
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he resided until his death on January 17, 1902. His widow died on November 23, 1902. Their family consisted of their son Samuel and two daughters. One daughter is Mrs. D. Bunting, a resident of this county, the other being Mrs. George Dobson, of Scipio township, who resides on the old homestead.
Samuel Kennedy is almost wholly a product of Hillsdale county, for, while he did not come to the county until he was about nine years of age, his whole subsequent life has been passed within its borders, from its soil he has drawn his stature and his strength, from its public schools he obtained his education, from its politi- cal institutions he learned his first lessons in citizenship. In return he has used his energies and capabilities with much zeal and fidelity, in the development and improvement of the county, and in the support and advancement of all its educational, commercial, industrial and social in- stitutions. He began life's activities for himself on the home farm and worked there until he came of age. He then purchased a farm in Adams township, later removing to the one on which he now lives. To both he applied syste- matic and skillful labor and both rewarded his faith and his toil with generous abundance in productiveness, growing comely and attractive under his persuasive taste. He has not essayed success in many lines of activity and makes no claim to distinction in any. But, in the one line he has so capably followed, he has won a high rank and has shown himself to be a master.
He married on October 13, 1880, Miss Hattie Haskell, a daughter of Samuel and Julia (Sprowls) Haskell of this state. Samuel Has- kell was born in New Hampshire, reared and educated at Syracuse, N. Y., he spent five years in California when he was a young man, thence coming to Hillsdale county where he married and located on the farm in Adams township, where he still lives. His wife died on January 8, 1882. They were parents of four girls and three boys, all now living and residents of Hillsdale county. Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy have five chil- dren, Augusta M., wife of Alton Sillivan, of this township, Myrtle, wife of Robert Newman, of
this county, Cora J., Frank A., Frederick S. In political faith, Mr. Kennedy yields allegiance to the Republican party, but he has never been active in political affairs, and has always been strongly averse to public office for himself. He takes great interest in the proceedings of the order of Patrons of Husbandry, of which he is a valued member, having a potent voice in the local grange to which he belongs.
PETER KREITER.
Peter Kreiter, the well-estemed and highly capable city treasurer (1903) of Hillsdale, and until recently a member of the firm of Kreiter & Weatherwox, dealers in wall-papers, paints, etc., is a popular citizen of the county, who has been an active Democrat in politics all of his mature manhood. He was born in New York city on November 16, 1853, the son of Philip and Catherine (Snyder) Kreiter, themselves born and reared near Frankfort, in Germany, from whence they emigrated to the United States about 1835. They settled in New York city where the father worked at his trade as a shoemaker and died in 1860. His widow survived him for thirty-three years, dying in this state in 1893. Their family consisted of five sons and one daughter, of whom only two of the sons are living, both being residents of Michigan. When Peter finished his education in the public schools of his native city he began to learn the trade of a baker, but he never worked at it, for in 1878, he came to Hillsdale county, engaged in farming in Cambria township, after three years of successful opera- tion in this line returning to New York, where he remained four years, in 1885 again coming to Hillsdale county, where he followed farming until 1892.
He then concluded to retire for a time from active pursuits, and moved into the city of Hills- dale. He lived here retired until 1899, when he engaged in the sale of wall-paper and paints, selling the business in the spring of 1903. In 1901 he was elected city treasurer of Hillsdale and was reelected in 1902. This office affords
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scope for his financial ability and he has con- ducted its affairs with a vigor and care which has won him high commendation from all classes of the people and has reflected credit on him and the constituency he represents. Mr. Kreiter was married in January, 1879. to Miss Lillian Keefer, a native of Pennsylvania. They have three children, Victor P., Frances D. and Florence L. He is a Mason and an Odd Fellow, belonging to lodges of these orders at Hillsdale. He has always shown an active and helpful interest in whatever promises benefit to his city and county. and, by his public spirit and progressive ideas, he has been a factor of continual value in the growth and development of both. He is one of Hillsdale's most esteemed citizens and one of her best representative men, a valued Freemason and a cherished Odd Fellow.
GEORGE A. MARK.
George A. Mark, the oldest county surveyor and drainage commissioner by continuous service in the state of Michigan, with a long record of faithful service in these offices to his credit that is in every way admirable, has won by effort and accomplishment the high place he holds in the estimation of the people of the county and the large circle of cordial friendships which he so richly enjoys. He is a native of Fredonia, New York, born on July 11, 1830, the son of James and Lucy (Woodcock) Mark, the former born in Connecticut and the latter in Vermont, The father was a merchant and passed the greater part of his life in New York state. He was a gallant soldier in the War of 1812, and, after a life of service to his kind and of benefit to his community, he died about the year 1853. He was the father of four sons and three daughters. of whom four are living, three sons and one daughter, one of the sons being a resident of Marquette, Michigan.
George A. Mark grew to manhood and re- ceived a common-school education in his native state. His scholastic training there was finished in his native town, at the famous Fredonia Academy, and, in 1855, he entered the University
of Michigan, matriculating in the engineering department. in 1858 being graduated from that institution as a member of the first class grad- uated in that department, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Science. He returned to New York and taught in that state until 1860, then came back to Michigan and taught at Owosso, from there going to Indiana and teaching at Lima and Middlebury in that state until 1863. Hc then came to Hillsdale and took up civil engineer- ing as a profession, and to this he has since sedulously devoted himself. He passed the sum- mer of 1865 in the employ of the U. S. govern- ment in a survey on Lake Superior, and in the fall of that year was elected county surveyor of Hillsdale county, a position he has held con- tinuously since that time except during three terms. He was also made city surveyor when the office was established and has filled it without interruption until the spring of 1903, when his successor was appointed. During the last ten years he has been the county drain commissioner and has performed his duties in this office in a way that has been of great benefit to the agricul- tural interests of the county and of decided ad- vantage to its sanitary conditions.
In 1858 Mr. Mark married with Miss Julia Baldwin, a native of New York. They have one child living, Charles E. Mark, a resident of Al- liance, Ohio, a civil engineer in the employ of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad. Mrs. Mark died in 1890, at the age of fifty-eight years, her departure being universally lamented be- cause of the good she was always actively engaged in and accomplished and for the stimulus her example gave in benevolent works of every kind. On December 24, 1900, Mr. Mark remarried, being united on this occasion with Miss Fannie F. Birdsell, also a native of New York. He has been a loyal Republican from the foundation of the party, having been up to that time a Free- soiler. He is a deacon in the Presbyterian church and takes an active part in all the church works of charity and benevolence as well as aiding to carefully guard and promote the business interests of the organization.
Iseo. A. Mark
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NORMAN B. KEMP.
A quarter of a century has winged its flight into the ever receding past since occurred the death of this pioneer and progressive farmer of Allen township, which eventuated on April .26, 1878, but his memory is still enshrined in loyal hearts, while the forces for good, which he started in material and moral fields of enter- prise are still effectively at work in the industry of others whom his example has stimulated to augmented activity, and in the creative and pro- ductive energies which he himself put in motion. He was born on August 28, 1829, in Niagara county, New York, the son of David and Fannie (Crossman) Kemp, also natives of New York, where they were prosperously engaged in farm- ing, on a tract of 400 acres of good land which they owned, on which the father also operated a sawmill. He was a colonel in the New York militia, and took a prominent part in conducting the local affairs of the county in which he lived, filling a number of county offices, always having an influential voice in the direction of political and social matters. Both he and his wife died in their native state. Their family consisted of four sons and four daughters, all now deceased but two of the daughters. The grandfather was Burgoyne Kemp, a native of New Jersey, who married a Miss Jones in that state and moved to New York prior to the War of the Revolu- tion. In his new home he won property and prominence by his industry, business capacity, political activity and ability. He died in New York, and his ashes rest beneath its sod.
Norman B. Kemp grew to manhood in his native state and was educated in the district schools near his home. He began life for him- self . at an early age by taking charge of the homestead and operating it for a few years. In 1850, soon after passing his majority, he made a visit to Michigan to see the country and find a site for a home, but returned to New York without arranging to become a citizen of the new state. In 1866 he removed to Illinois, and a year later came again to this state with a view to making it his permanent residence. He pur-
chased a farm of 215 acres in Branch county, and resided on it until his death on April 26, 1878, increasing its fertility, beautifying it in ap- pearance, adding to the extent, character and com- pleteness of its buildings and other improve- ments, in every way making it worthy of the labor and skill he expended on it. Five years after his death, in 1883, the family moved to Hillsdale county, where they now live.
Mr. Kemp was married in 1854. in New York, to Miss Elizabeth King, a sister to John F. King, of this county, a sketch of whom ap- pears elsewhere in this work. They had five children, Luther- D .; Sarah E. deceased, who married with Charles Stone; Bert E., married Carrie Bowen and is a resident of this county : Clara B., deceased; William C., who married a Bertha Ketchum, of Warsaw, Ind. and lives at Jackson, in this state. Mr. Kemp was a valued member of the Masonic order and a gentleman of high standing in the regard and good will of the community. The farm is now conducted by Mrs. Kemp and her son, Luther. Mrs. Kemp was born on September 3, 1833, at Canaan in Columbia county, New York, and came to Michi- gan with her husband in 1867. She has now reached the limit of human life as fixed by the psalmist, but, with her vigor of body and mind and the ambitious spirit that still impels her, she would seem destined yet to many years of use- fulness. She enjoys in a marked degree the esteem of the community, having a host of ad- miring friends throughout the county.
LEVI KESSELRING.
From the land of great toilers, valiant sol- diers, exhaustive students, and men and women of persistent effort in every form of useful energy, the German empire, came the ancestry of Levi Kesselring, one of the enterprising, sub- stantial and well-to-do farmers of Moscow township in this county, who was born on No- vember 3, 1854, on the land which he now owns and farms, which comprises 220 acres and is well-improved and in an advanced state of cul- tivation. His father, Daniel Kesselring, was
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born in Germany, while his mother, whose maiden name was Amie S. Havner, was a native of Maryland, who came with her parents to this state while she was yet a child. The father ac- companied his parents from their native country to the United States when he was but four years of age. They were Jacob and Christina Kessel- ring, also native in the Fatherland, where their forefathers lived and labored for many genera- tions. They came to this country in 1829, first locating in New York state, where they remained for seven years; in 1836 they removed to Michi- gan, settling on land which they entered in Scipio township, Hillsdale county. Later they purchased a portion of the farm in Moscow township which is now the home of their grand- son, Levi, which they cleared up and brought to productiveness. This farm was sold to an uncle, George, and later purchased by Levi Kesselring.
Daniel Kesselring passed his life in the town- ship of Moscow, after the family made their home there, and was educated in the schools in the vicinity of the homestead. When he reached years of maturity he was married to Miss Amie S. Havner, as already noted, and on the paternal estate they also reared their three children, two of whom are living, Levi and one daughter. Levi had the usual farmlife experiences and the educational advantages of the country boys in this county at the time of his boyhood and youth, and early in life began to work on the farm as the beginning of his career in an in- dustrial way. His father died in 1893 and his mother since that time has made her home with her son. In his earlier experiences Indians and savage beasts were still to be seen in this part of the state, and during the first years of the family's residence here these disturbing elements and obstacles to the advance of civilization were numerous and troublesome. His parents and grandparents were called on to undergo all the hardships and privations of frontier life, and encounter all its inconveniences. They were obliged to get their provisions mainly from Adrian and other distant points, and to haul their products to those places for sale and shipment. Wild game was, however, abundant, and this
in some measure mitigated the rigors of the situ- ation.
In 1893 Mr. Kesselring was married to Miss Sarah L. Schwab, a native of New York, also of of German ancestry. They have three children, Ruth M., Louis A. and Howard L. While hold- ing the welfare of his community in high regard, being ever zealous in the service of its best in- terests, Mr. Kesselring is not a partisan of any (lecided activity and has never desired or accepted public office. He has an excellent farm of 220 acres, in its proper management and cultiva- tion finds enough to occupy his time and employ his faculties to advantage, and thus pays his tribute to the county and state in the faithful per- formance of the daily duties of good citizen- ship and the stimulus which his example gives to those around him, by whom he is well ap- preciated and highly respected, as he is else- where among the people who know him,
HILLSDALE GROCERY CO.
This mercantile enterprise, which has done much to simplify and facilitate the exchange of commodities and supply domestic needs in this community, was organized on March 29, 1894, with a capital stock of $7,000. Its founders were E. A. Dibble, L. F. Cole and Frank Costwright, and the company was known by the firm-name of Cole. Dibble & Costwright, with Mr. Cole as pres- ident, Mr. Costwright vice-president, Mr. Dibble secretary and treasurer. On September 24, 1894, the company was reorganized, and its name was changed to The Hillsdale Grocery Co. Of this new house William MacRitchie became president, L. F. Cole vice-president, E. A. Dibble continu- ing as secretary and treasurer, and these gentle- men constituted the board of directors. . In 1897 the business was closed out. In October, of the same year, Mr. Dibble started another enterprise under the same name, which he conducted until March, 1899, when a new company was organ- ized to take his business and bear its name. Mr. MacRitchie was made president, B. C. Dibble vice-president, E. A. Dibble secretary and treas- urer. The capital stock was again made $7,000,
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and this, in the December following, was in- creased to $12,000, and, in March, 1901, to $25,- 000, and in March, 1903, to $50,000, the official staff continuing as heretofore.
E. A. Dibble, the organizer of the company and its inspiring and managing force, has for many years been one of the active and forceful business men of Hillsdale. At the time he organ- ized this company he was in the produce business, and, conceiving the idea that it would be of mu- tual advantage to merchant and customer to ar- range for a system of exchanging groceries for produce, he put this company into life and action for the purpose. He is a native of this county, born on October 7, 1866, and his parents, Alvin K. and Mary A. (Dunn) Dibble, were natives of New York and Pennsylvania, respectively. They came to this county about 1843, cleared a farm in the wild woodlands of Wheatland township, and later removed to North Adams, where the father died in 1893 and the mother in 1897. They were the parents of two children, their son here mentioned and a daughter. Mr. Dibble was reared and educated in this county and the whole of his life is identified with its activities and inter- ests. His scholastic training was completed by a course at Hillsdale College. After leaving that institution he engaged in the produce business at Hillsdale in 1888, continuing his enterprise un- til it was merged in the company with which he is now connected. He is also a stockholder in the Scowden-Blanchard Shoe Co., and has inter- ests in other mercantile institutions. In politics he is a Republican, but is not an office-seeker nor an active partisan, although, for the good of the city and at the solicitation of friends, he did con- sent to serve for two years as a member of the city council. He was married in October, 1891, to Miss Edith B. Speer, a native of Hillsdale county, and they have four children. He belongs to the U. C. T., the Knights of Pythias and the Masonic order. Standing well in the business world, highly respected as a man and citizen, warmly welcomed everywhere in social life, Mr. Dibble may well be taken as a representative man of the county and of its best elements of business and social activity.
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