USA > Michigan > Hillsdale County > Compendium of history and biography of Hillsdale County, Michigan > Part 57
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Since coming to Michigan Mr. Westfall has prospered in his business and grown strong in the respect and good will of the community. He is active and serviceable in behalf of every good enterprise for the advancement or improvement of the township and county, to the educational and moral forces of the section giving especially his zealous and intelligent support. He is a Dem- ocrat in political faith, but seeks no official posi- tion for himself. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic, the Knights of the Maccabees and the Patrons of Husbandry, and gives close and careful attention to the affairs of each of their local organizations.
ROBERT B. WHITBECK.
This venerable and venerated patriarch of Hillsdale county, whose life of more than sixty- seven years among her people was full of useful- ness, thrilling incident, manly spirit and healthful inspiration, and who was gathered to his fathers, on November 1, 1902, at the age of eighty years and eight months, was a native of Herkimer coun- ty, New York, born on March 3, 1822. His par- ents were Harmon and Deborah (Germon) Whit- beck, also natives of New York, where they were well-to-do farmers until 1835, when they came to the then territory of Michigan and settled in Pittsford township, this county, on a tract of gov- ernment land which had been bought by their son,
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Harmon. Their journey thither was an event of great magnitude, full of interest and difficulty. They came on the Erie canal to Buffalo, thence by boat to Toledo, from there by teams to their new home, making their way along the last por- tion of the route, with great toil and persistent effort, through an unbroken forest and over al- most insuperable obstacles. When they reached their destination, they found the future as full of trouble and difficulties as the journey had been. There were no roads, mills or other conveniences of life in this section of the land, and the ground, dense with centuries' growth of rank forest and brambles, was unprepared to yield even a scanty subsistence to its daring occupants.
Their nearest milling point was Tecumseh, a travel of at least twenty miles each way, requiring days for its accomplishment, while the nearest physician was located at Adrian, a not much near- er distance, and no more easy of access. And while all the conditions of life were hard, and pro- vision for its comfort scant and difficult to obtain, the menace of death was constant, abundant, ever close at hand. Wolves, bears and Indians were plentiful, the wild beasts being strongly deter- mined in their opposition to the new settlers, while nature yielded but a slow and grudging submis- sion to the white man's supremacy. The first homes in the new region were log shanties hastily constructed, and the roads, bridges and other means of travel and communication were the rude work of their own busy hands, constructed main. ly by individual effort, without proper implements or other adequate means. Through the combined industry of the parents and the children, as soon as the latter were able to work, the land was cleared and rendered productive, in course of time, however, assuming the comeliness of culti- vated life and the fruitfulness of fertility and re- sponsive abundance. Eighty acres were cleared and farmed by the family, and, on this farm the mother finally died, at an advanced age. The fa- ther passed away soon afterward, while on a visit at Norwalk, Ohio .. The household com- prised six sons and one daughter, who reached years of maturity, of these three sons are yet liv- ing, all being residents of Hudson.
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Robert B. Whitbeck was a lad of twelve or thirteen years when he came with his parents to this state, and, from the day of his arrival, he was busily occupied with the arduous duties of helping to make a home in the wilderness. He ceived but a limited training at the primitive schools of the day, being obliged, by the exigen- cies of his situation, to devote his energies for the most part to clearing land, a portion of that on which he labored in this way being now occupied by the village of Hudson. On January 21, 1847, he was married, in Lenawee county, to Miss Rhoda Silvernail, a cousin of Philo Silvernail, whose life story is briefly outlined on other pages of this work. They became the parents of six children, a son who died in infancy, and five daughters who are yet living: Deborah, the wife of William Deacon, lives on the old homestead ; Emma, the wife of George Rowley, of this coun- ty ; Ella, now wife of D. Vickers, of Pittsford; Kate, wife of J. E. Wells, of Pittsford ; Clara, the wife of Frank Shuster, of Pittsford. The par- ents were attentive and consistent members of the Baptist church. The mother died on November 16, 1880, and the father, as has been noted, on November 1, 1902. A Democrat in his political faith, he was never an active partisan or office- seeker. At the time of his death he was one of the oldest residents of the county, and, through- out its whole length and breath, he was univer- sally respected by all classes of its people.
DR. ARVIN F. WHELAN.
The late Dr. Arvin F. Whelan, of Hillsdale, who, although but fifty-nine years old at his death in 1890, if life be measured by usefulness and beneficial results, lived much longer than men who crowd a century closely in the number of their years. He was a native of Oneida county, New York, born on July 1, 1831, of Irish ances- try, being the son of parents who were prosperous farmers of his native county, where they died, after long and quiet lives of fidelity to duty, se- cure in the respect of all who knew them. In the native county of his birth the Doctor was reared and received a common-school education. In
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1853, a year after he reached his majority, he came to Michigan, took up his residence at Adrı- an, in Lenawee county, there attended school for higher instruction, and, when he had received it, began to dispense what he had gathered by un- sealing and exploring the fountains of knowledge, teaching in the primitive schools for a limited pe- riod, at the same time preparing for his profession by a close and judicious reading of medical text- books under the capable direction of an old phy- sician.
In 1854 he entered the medical department of the University of Michigan, and was graduated from that institution in 1856 with the degree of M. D. He at once started his practice at Otsego, in this state, where he remained three years. In 1857 he removed to Hillsdale and there practiced until the War between the Sections of our unhap- py country called into service in the field vast bodies of our able-bodied and patriotic men of all classes. In 1861 he enlisted as an assistant sur- geon in the Eleventh Michigan Infantry, and, aft- er two years of arduous service with that regi- ment, in which he saw much suffering and en- dured many privations, he was commissioned as surgeon of the First Michigan Sharpshooters with the rank of major. In 1864 he was surgeon- in-chief of the Third Division of the Ninth Army Corps, thereafter holding this position until his muster-out in 1865, when he ranked as lieutenant- colonel. His command was in the Army of the Potomac and he was always in the field, at the very front, working often day and night, with a sleepless diligence, receiving three wounds in battle. At the close of the war he returned to Hillsdale, there resumed his professional duties, which he continued until his death.
Doctor Whelan was very active in his practice, which was of a general character, and took a zeal- ous and productive interest in the State Medical Society, of which he was the valued and capable president in 1883 and 1884, and also in the Amer- ican Medical Association, of which he was also a member. An ardent Republican in politics, he stood high in the management of his party, be- ing both an active worker and a forceful and val- ued campaigner on the stump as well as in council. He served as county treasurer from 1866 to 1870
and was mayor of Hillsdale from 1879 to 1881. In fraternal relations he was long connected with both the Grand Army of the Republic and with the Masonic order, in the latter belonging to lodge, chapter and commandery. In 1856, 111 New York, he was married to Miss Dell H. An- (lerson, of that state. 'They had three children : Dr. Bion Whelan, of Hillsdale; J. Bennett Whe- lan, who died in infancy; Carrie B. Whelan, of Grand Rapids, where the Doctor's widow is now living.
Dr. Bion Whelan is a native of Hillsdale, born on July 13, 1858. He was educated at the public schools, at Hillsdale College and at the Agricultural College, being graduated from the latter institution in 1877. He 'at once began read- ing medicine under direction of his father, and, after a short preliminary preparation in this way, matriculated at the medical department of the University of Michigan, and he was graduted therefrom in 1879. Returning to Hillsdale, he became associated in practice with his father, and, upon the death of the latter succeeded to the business. Like his father, he is an active gen- eral practitioner, and, like him also, he takes great interest in the proceedings of the State Medical Society and the American Medical Asso- ciation, being a zealous and influential member of each. He is a Republican in politics, a diligent and forceful worker in the service of his party, serving as a member of the State Board of Med- ical Registration for two years, as chairman of the county central committee for four years, being a member of the pension board for two years and of the common council of the city for two years, while, during the last nine years, he has very ca- pably performed the duties as a member of the board of education. He is an enthusiastic Free- mason, having held many offices in his lodge, serving as high priest of his chapter in the Royal Arch, being prominent also in the commandery of Knights Templar. He is also a Knight of Pythias. In 1881 the Doctor was united in mar- riage with Miss Minnie L. Allen, an accomplished lady, who was born and reared in the city of Hillsdale. Their children are four. all sons, Ben- nett, Arvin, Don B. and Charles M.
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CHARLES E. WHITE.
One of the stockholders of the Jonesville Mill- ing Co. and also one of the leading manufacturers of that section of the state, is the subject of this sketch, Charles E. White, of Jonesville, Michigan, who is a native of Hillsdale county, where he was born on Steptember 4, 1847, a son of Simeon B. and Jeannette (Sinclair) White, the former being a native of Massachusetts and the latter of the state of New York. His father removed from his native state to Michigan in the year 1837, and engaged in farming. Upon his first arrival in Michigan, he settled on what is now known as the John T. Ball farm, which he cleared and made his residence for a considerable time. Subse- quently he disposed of this property and removed his residence to Jonesville, where he passed the remainder of his life, until his death in 1882, re- tired from active business pursuits. The mother died in the city of New York in 1875. Their fam- ily consisted of three children, two sons and a daughter. Their son, Lyman S. White, is now a resident of New York city, while the daughter, Mrs. Frank Bently, is now a resident of Chicago, Illinois.
Charles E. White, the subject of this brief sketch, grew to manhood in this county, and re- ceived his elementary education in its public schools. Subsequently, at the Whitestown Semin- ary, at Utica, New York, he pursued a complete course. When a young lad he was honored by an appointment as a page in the House of Represent- atives at Washington, D. C., and served in that capacity during a part of the troublous times of the Civil War. In this connection he was a wit- ness to many exciting scenes, not only on the floor of Congress, but elsewhere in and about the cap- itol city of the nation. Upon returning to Jones- ville he accepted a position with the leading mer- cantile concern of E. O. Grosvenor & Co., as a clerk and remained in their employ about four years. He then left their employment to accept a position as the teller and cashier of the Exchange Bank of Grosvenor & Co., in which he continued for thirteen years, being then engaged in farm- ing five years. In 1889 he was offered and ac-
cepted the position of manager of the firm of Grosvenor & Co., proprietors of the City Mills. He conducted this business with marked success until 1897, when, in company with William S. Coleman, he leased the entire plant of the com- pany.
In this business he is still engaged, conducting an extensive and successful business. The ca- pacity of the mills is 200 barrels each twenty-four hours and the market for the product of the mills is largely found in the New England and the Southern states. In 1873, Mr. White was mar- ried to Miss Harriet C. Grosvenor, a daughter of E. O. Grosvenor, the well-known manufacturer and capitalist of Jonesville. Two children have come to them, Charles G. and Oliver S., and the home which their presence cheers and graces is noted for its gracious and refined hospitality. In addition to his other business interests, Mr. White was, for a considerable time, largely interested. as a silent partner in the Jonesville Cotton Mills, and in all ways and in many directions he is one of the most enterprising business men in his section of the state. He is a large employer of labor and a man whose progressive spirit and interest in the public welfare has done much to promote the best interests of the community and also to develop the resources of the state.
ABRAHAM WILLIAMS.
Comfortably settled in the village of North Adams as the owner of one of the fine and high- ly productive farms of Hillsdale county, lying two miles and a half southwest of the town, and possessing property in various other places, Abra- ham Williams is secure against the winds of ad- versity ; enjoying as he does the uniform respect and esteem of his fellow men, he can rest content with the record of the useful and well-spent life that stands to his credit. He was born in New- fane township, Niagara county, New York, on January 18, 1840, the son of Felix and Eliza (Brown) Williams. The father was a native of Pennsylvania and the mother of Seneca county, New York. His ancestry was Welch and hers was English and German. Abraham Brown, the
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maternal grandfather, was rcared and married in New Jersey, where he worked at his trade as a carpenter and carried on a farm. From New Jersey they removed first to Seneca county, New York, and later to Niagara county. Their fam- ily consisted of nine children.
Mr. Williams's father's birth occurred on De- cember 25, 1806, and that of his mother on Jan- uary 1, 1812. Making their home in Niagara county on April 6, 1837, the father engaged for a number of years in weaving, then turned his attention to farming. He was a Whig in poli- tics and both of the parents were Baptists in church affiliation. They came to Michigan and settled in Hillsdale county in 1857, with their family of three children. The father died in June, 1862, aged fifty-five years, the mother in June, 1901, aged eighty-nine, both being highly respect- ed by all who knew them. Their son, Abraham, was educated at the public schools of his native state, and, although his advantages were limited, by diligence he received a fair degree of scholas- tic training. For the benefit. of his parents he remained at home until he was twenty-six years old, giving them the best care and assistance in his power. When he reached man's estate he engaged in farming and in the produce business, shipping various commodities to Alabama. He also carried on a real-cstate business, dealing mainly in farms. His home farm now consists of 130 acres of excellent land, which produces every variety of farm product grown in this neighborhood in abundance and of superior qual- ity, for there is no element of the most careful and skillful husbandry wanting to its cultivation. Mr. Williams also raises stock of high grades, his favorites being thoroughbred Dearborn cattle. In addition to this farm he owns timber and min- eral land and town property in different places in the South, some of this land having a high value on account of rich coal deposits upon it.
In politics Mr. Williams is a Republican, and, fraternally, he belongs to the Order of Odd Fel- lows and to the Patrons of Husbandry. He was married on August 28, 1863, to Miss Eliza R. Post, a native of Hillsdale county, Michigan, a daughter of Israel and Marillia Post, who were
both born and reared in New York state. They came to Wisconsin in 1843, from there to Mich- igan in 1845. The father, a well-to-do farmer, was a Democrat in politics and a member of the Order of Odd Fellows. They had three children, Eliza R., Israel and Millard S. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have three children, Frederick I., Charles N. and Eber C. Mrs. Williams is a mem- ber of the Christian church, and Mr. Williams is affiliated with the Congregational church, both, however, taking an active interest, not only in church work, but in every good enterprise for the benefit of the community.
ALBERT R. WHITNEY.
One of the leading and representative farm- ers of Hillsdale county, Michigan, Albert R. Whitney, whose address is Osseo, is the subject of this sketch. He is a native of this county. where he was born on May 2, 1848, as the son of Horace W. and Polly (Crum) Whitney, na- tives of the state of New York. His father follow- ed the occupation of farming in his native state. and, in 1844, disposed of his property there and removed his residence to the then frontier country of Michigan, where he settled upon the fine farm now owned and occupied by the subject of this review. This section was then a wilderness; the father cleared the land, and, by the most industri- ous efforts, builded himself a home in and out of the forest. Hc resided here during the remain- der of his life, and passed away from earth in 1856. The mother died on August 1, 1878. To this worthy pair five children were born, three sons and two daughters, of whom only Albert R. is now living.
Albert R. Whitney grew to man's cstate in his native county, received here his early educa- tion, and, after the completion of his school life, began work on the home farm, ably assisting in the care and management of the place, to which he has since made large additions and improve- ments. It is now one of the best-equipped farms in that section of the county, having the best mod- ern buildings, and being one of the finest pieces of farm property in that prosperous neighbor-
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hood. On December 8, 1869, Mr. Whitney was united in marriage to Miss Alice M. Travis, a native of Hillsdale county, and a daughter of Gilbert and Harriet Travis, both well-known and highly respected citizens. To them have been born two children, Nellie A., now Mrs. Curtis Rich, residing in the township, and E. Belle, who is at the present writing in the state of Califor- nia. Mrs. Whitney passed away on January 19, 1901, and awaits the resurrection near the old homestead.
Mr. Whitney is an Independent in politics, having never identified himself with any party. He believes in supporting the best men for office, and those political principles which best commend themselves to his conscience and judgment, vary- ing from time to time, according to the varying conditions of the county .. He comes of a long- lived race, his great-grandmother having lived to the advanced age of 114 years, while his ma- ternal grandfather accomplished the age of ninety years. Mr. Whitney is an active and promi- nent member of the Grange and he has been close- ly identified with many movements of a public character, which were calculated to advance the prosperity of the community and to promote the general welfare. During his entire life he has been a public spirited citizen, ever ready to con- tribute of his time and means to the general good, being ever held in high esteem by all classes of his fellow citizens.
HENRY K. WILSON.
Henry K. Wilson, city clerk of Hillsdale, and the first representative of his party, the Demo- cratic, to fill the office, is one of the best known and most highly respected citizens of the county, having passed within its borders much of his youth and all of his mature years. He was born on February II, 1850, in Sullivan county, In- diana, where his parents settled in 1834. They were William and Martha J. (Mann) Wilson, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter of Kentucky, both being members of honored old families in their respective states. The father, a general merchant in Indiana, carried on a
flourishing business at Sullivan until 1863, when he came to Hillsdale and was engaged in the dry- goods trade until 1876. He then retired from active business to live as a gentleman of leisure until his death in 1892. His wife died in 1871. Their family consisted of four sons, of whom but two are living, one being a resident of La- Crosse, Wisconsin. The paternal grandfather, Adam Wilson, a native of Greenville, Tennessee, left his native state when a young man to make permanent his home in Indiana, and there he died, after a long and serviceable life as a farmer.
Henry K. Wilson passed the first thirteen years of his life in Indiana, beginning in the pub- lic schools of that state the education which he completed in those of Michigan, whither he came with his parents in 1863. After leaving school he commenced the business activities of life as a clerk and salesman in his father's store, and, after an apprenticeship of some years in this line, he became a traveling salesman for a large establish- ment that manufactures road-making machines, selling its product in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio in this country, also having an extensive trade in Canada. He followed this business until 1900, then determined to relinquish it and make a per- manent home at Hillsdale, among the people who had witnessed his activity and enterprise. He rested for a year, and, in 1901, was elected city clerk, the position which he is at the present writ- ing filling with credit to himself and satisfaction to the people. He is the second of his race to serve the city government of Hillsdale in an offi- cial capacity, his father having been a valued member of the city council in 1876 and 1877.
In 1871, Mr. Wilson was married with Miss Mary A. Clark, a daughter of Philip and Mary A. (Johnson) Clark, the latter having been born and reared in Massachusetts and the former in New York. They settled in Adams township, this county, about the year 1836, and here they both died. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have one child, their daughter, Martha, now the wife of J. W. Hanston, of Hillsdale. In politics, Mr. Wilson is an unwavering Democrat, and for some years he has been the chairman of the county central committee of his party and one of its recognized
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leaders in the county. He belongs to the Ma- sonic lodge and to the Royal Arch chapter at Hillsdale, being also a Knight of the Maccabees and a member of the U. C. T. His record in busi- ness circles, in official life, in fraternal relations and in social connections is excellent, in politics he had been a forceful influence for good to the best interests of his party ; all of the duties of citizenship have been performed by him with a manliness and able fidelity that have won him the esteem and high regard of all his fellows.
JESSE WILLARD.
This honored pioneer of Hillsdale county, who has passed a half-a-century of usefulness among its people, helping to develop its resources and build up its industries, is a native of Eng- land, born in County Sussex, on September 17, 1862. His pårets were William and Sarah ( Mon- cer) Willard, who were both born and reared in the same locality as himself, and whose ances- tors had lived in County Sussex for many gener- ations. The father, long an overseer on a large estate in his native parish, died there, in 1898, aged ninety-four years, surviving by forty-three years his faithful wife, who passed away in 1855. They were the parents of seven sons and three daughters, all of whom are now deceased, except their son, Jesse. He grew to manhood and re- ceived his education in England and, after leaving school, he engaged in farming there until 1848, then came to the United States and located near Rochester, New York, where he remained three years.
Mr. Willard then returned to England, but soon after came back to this country, and, in 1835. came west and took up his residence in Hillsdale county, purchasing forty acres of land in Allen township, which he improved, sold, and purchased a farm in Woodbridge township, which he also sold, after partially clearing it and making some improvements upon it. For awhile thereafter he operated the farm now owned by the county, and, in 1868, bought eighty acres of land, on section 33, in Allen township. This has been his home ever since, its highly improved condition now
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