USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > Compendium of history and biography of Kalamazoo County, Mich. > Part 16
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78
ROBERT BAKER.
The American progenitors of the Baker fam- ily, to which the subject of this review belongs, came to this country and settled in Rhode Island in early colonial times. Their firmness of con- viction and love of freedom led them to the colony founded by Roger Williams, which was then the only place of safety in New England for persons of the Quaker sect to which they belonged. In that colony Reuben Baker, the grandfather of Robert, was born and reared. When a young man he moved to New York state and there farmed until his death, at the age of about sixty-five years. One of his six sons was Reuben Baker, Jr., Rob- ert's father, who was born at Easton, Washington county, N. Y., in 1795, and in early life was a shoemaker, carrying on extensively for that day. and employing a number of men in his shops. Later he turned his attention to farming, at which he continued until his death at the age of seventy- two years, passing his whole life in his native
township. His wife, whose maiden name was Martha Potter, and who was a daughter of Da- vid Potter, an orthodox Quaker born in Rhode Island, was also a native of Washington county, N. Y., and was born at Grandville in 1801. She reared a family of six children, and died when she was forty-five years old. Robert Baker was born at Easton, Washington county, N. Y., on December 6, 1824. After a preparatory course in the district schools he attended the State Nor- mal School at Albany three terms, and from the age of nineteen to that of twenty-four taught school in the winter months. After that he de- voted his entire time to the profession until 1866. For some time he taught the new method of local geography at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., then, in the spring of 1850, came west to Racine, Wis., where he clerked in a dry-goods store. Soon aft- erward he bought the Racine Academy, which he conducted three years. After selling it he became the first teacher in the graded schools of Delaval, Wis., and filled his position there three years. During the next four years he taught in the graded schools at Darien, that state, later return- ing to Delavan and opening a book and music store. Two and a half months after he embarked in this mercantile enterprise the block in which his store was located was burned, and he then moved to Oxford, Wis., and again taught school, also managing a farm that was occupied by a ten- ant and comprised one hundred and sixty acres. He also owned eighty acres of woodland in that section of the country. In the fall of 1865 he moved to Breedsville, Mich., where he taught five terms in the graded schools and served as post- master from 1866 until 1877, carrying on at the same time a general merchandising business. Prior to this, however, in March, 1864, he enlisted in Company D, Nineteenth Wisconsin Infantry, which soon afterward became a part of the Army of the Cumberland. On the third day after the regiment reached Virginia it participated in an engagement at Ball's Bluff, and for two successive days suffered defeat. After a period of encamp- ment behind entrenchments at Bermuda Hun- dred, the command was marched to Petersburg, and there Mr. Baker served as adjutant's clerk and
I2I
KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
kept account of the dead and wounded, perform- ing his duty in the midst of a continual shower of shot and shell. He was promoted to service at headquarters under General Burnside, in the Eighteenth Army Corps, and assigned to duty as clerk in the mustering office. Becoming ill, he was sent to the general hospital in Hampton Roads in August, and when he left the hospital in the following November he returned to his old New York home. Here his relatives failed to rec- ognize him, as rheumatism compelled him to use crutches, and his weight was reduced from one hundred and fifty-five pounds to one hundred and sixteen pounds. On February 17, 1865, he re- turned to headquarters, but on reaching Fortress Monroe was pronounced unfit for duty, and was appointed by General Butler principal of a col- ored school at Hampton Roads, where he re- mained until his discharge from military service on June 23, 1865. After the war he was almost helpless for some time from the disabilities he incurred in the service, but he never applied for a pension until 1878, when he received one of four dollars a month for three years, and this has since been increased to sixteen. This he is pleased to have as a recognition of his services rather than as a compensation for the loss of his health. Returning to this county after the close of the sanguinary strife between the sections of our unhappy country, Mr. Baker located at Vicksburg in 1877, and was actively engaged in merchandising at ·that place in drugs, groceries, wall paper, paints, crockery and glassware. His two-story brick store contained a complete stock of goods in his several lines, valued at several thousand dollars, and his trade amounted to a large amount every year. Mr. Baker retired from business in January, 1903, and now lives retired in Vicksburg. He owns the foundry building near the railroad station in the village, and his fine frame dwelling at Water and Prairie streets. One of the leading men of the town, he is also one of its most influential and representa- tive citizens, active in every endeavor to develop and improve it and earnest in the promotion of every element of its intellectual and civil life.
He was married in 1847 to Miss Lydia S. Conger, a native of Danby, Vt., who died on March 15, 1897, leaving four children, George R., a drug- gist in Chicago; Etta M., wife of Marshall Best, a farmer of Brady township; and Herbert G. and ·Herman D., twins, the former of whom has since died, and the latter is now in business with his father. On October 23, 1897, the father married a second wife, Mrs. Sarah (Patterson) Wilbur. She has five children born of her former mar- riage: Sibyl, wife of George R. Baker; Chloe, ·wife of J. E. Cannon, of Brooklyn, N. Y .; Isa- belle, wife of Henry Kunselman, of Mendon, Mich .; Emory, of Vicksburg, this county; and Blanch, of Brooklyn, N. Y. Mrs. Baker's par- ents were William and Mary Patterson, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Penn- sylvania. They were pioneers of St. Joseph county, this state, settling on Portage Lake sixty- four years ago. The father died in that county and the mother at Mishawaka, Ind. Mr. Baker is one of the oldest citizens of the county, and his residence of twenty-eight years within its borders has given a wide acquaintance with its people, among whom he walks as a venerated patriarch of high character, lofty aspirations and long usefulness to his kind in peace and war.
DR. FRANK S. COLLER.
This widely known. and highly appreciated physician and surgeon of Kalamazoo county, who has been in an active general practice at Vicks- burg during all of the last eighteen years, is a native of the county, born in Wakeshma township on August II, 1864. His parents were Dr. Eli H. and Mirrandad R. (Smith) Coller, natives of the state of New York. The father who was long a leading physician and surgeon in this state, and received his professional training at the State University at Ann Arbor, being graduated with the class of 1857 or 1858, was brought to Michi- gan in 1836 by his parents when he was but two years old. The family settled in Lenawee county, where the parents passed the remainder of their lives. Dr. Frank S. Coller's father served as sur-
I22
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
geon in the First Michigan Cavalry during the Civil war, being promoted to that position from that of assistant surgeon of the Twelfth Michigan Cavalry, enlisting in 1863 and serving three years, participating in all the engagements of his command during the period of the war in his term. He moved to Wakeshma township, this county, in 1859 and settled on a farm which he worked in connection with his practice. His earlier fees for professional service were paid in maple sugar which he exchanged at Kalamazoo for supplies, one pound of quinine costing thirty pounds of sugar. In 1872 he moved to Climax, where he lived until 1874, when he went to Cali- fornia in company with Dr. Sealey, remaining until 1877. He then returned to this state and located at Athens, removing later to Battle Creek, where he died on December 13, 1903. His wife died in 1879. They had four sons and one daugh- ter. Two of these are living, the Doctor and his brother, Dr. E. H. Coller, one of the leading den- tists of Battle Creek. The father married as his second wife Miss Hester Foote, of Athens, who is still living. The Doctor's grandfather was Jesse Coller, a Michigan farmer who died in Lenawee county. The Doctor grew to manhood and was educated in Calhoun and Kalamazoo counties. He began his professional studies under the direction of his father, and in 1884 entered the medical de- partment of the university at Ann Arbor, and from this he was graduated in 1887. In July of that year he began practicing at Vicksburg, and he has followed his profession here ever since, growing into a large and representative practice and establishing himself firmly in the regard and good will of the people. He has taken post-grad- uate courses in the polytechnic schools at Chicago and Ann Arbor, and has kept in the active cur- rents of medical thought and discovery by zealous and serviceable membership in the county and state medical societies, the Kalamazoo Academy of Medicine and the American Medical Associa- tion. He was married at Mendon, Mich., on De- cember 24, 1889, to Miss Vianna Jenkinson, a daughter of Francis Jenkinson, one of the hon- ored pioneers of Kalamazoo county. They have one child, their son Russell J. Politically the
Doctor is independent, but his interest in the com- munity in which he lives has been shown by six years' service and usefulness on the board of village trustees. Fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the order of Odd Fellows.
DAVID FISHER.
David Fisher, one of the few pioneers of Kala- mazoo county now left, was born at Wrentham, Mass., September 30, 1827. His parents were David A. and Sarah (Comstock) Fisher, both na- tives of Massachusetts. The father served in Massachusetts as sheriff and other public offices. He came to Michigan in 1856, coming direct to Kalamazoo, and was widely known as an auction- cer throughout the county. He died in Kalama- 700. The mother died in Massachusetts, on Sep- tember 29. 1854. They had seven children, and all are dead but our subject and Mrs. F. S. Cobb, of Kalamazoo, and Mrs. S. A. Loomis, also of Kalamazoo. Our subject was reared and edu- cated in Massachusetts to the age of fifteen years, attending the common schools and Day's Acad- cmy. In 1845 he came to Michigan, coming di- rect to Kalamazoo. He went to Schoolcraft and clerked in the general store of S. S. Cobb & Company, remaining there two years, and then came to Kalamazoo, where he has since resided. In 1854 he opened a crockery store and later took as a partner Thomas S. Cobb, under the firm name of Cobb & Fisher. They continued in busi- ness for thirty years, erecting what is known as the Stearn's block. Mr. Fisher retired in 1884. Since then he has filled various positions of trust. He has served as an officer of the Children's Home, of Kalamazoo, for the past twenty-six years as treasurer. He was one of the original stockholders and builders of the Kalamazoo & South Haven Railroad, serving as treasurer of the same, which was later sold to the Michigan Cen- tral Railroad. He has served as superintendent of the Mountain Home Cemetery for the past fifteen years. He has been an officer and member of St. Luke's church for the past fifty-two years. He is interested in various other enterprises here and in the state. Mr. Fisher was married June
F
DAVID FISHER.
-
125
KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
29, 1853, in Kalamazoo, to Sarah C. Weever, a native of New Hampshire. She came to Kala- mazoo with her parents, Constine P. and Sarah (Willard) Weever, in 1834, they locating in Kalamazoo, where she grew to womanhood. She died April 14, 1905. She was a member of St. Luke's for fifty-two years.
CHARLES S. COOLEY.
After many long years of persistent industry, prosperous operations and useful service to the community in which he lived, Charles S. Cooley, of Vicksburg, this county, is now living retired from active pursuits. enjoying the fruits of his long labor, the universal respect of his fellow citizens and the rest he has so well earned. He was born in Steuben county, N. Y., on April 8, 1848, and is the son of Calvin W. and Celinda (Davis) Cooley, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of New York state. The father was born at Dover, Ohio, in 1818, and removed to the state of New York when he was about eighteen years old. There he engaged in various business callings and served a term as sheriff of Steuben county. In 1856 he came to Kalamazoo county and bought eighty acres of woodland in Pavilion township, only seven acres of which were cleared. The county around him was almost in its pristine wilderness, with wild game abundant, and beasts of prey too numerous for safety or comfort to the newcomers. He cleared his farm and added to it until he owned over four hundred acres, all of which he cleared and nearly all of which he brought to an advanced state of cultivation. On this farm he lived until 1871, then moved to Vicksburg, where his wife died on January 2, 1891, and he in March, 1901. In 1880 he went to North Dakota with his son Charles and purchased four and one-half sections of land in Cass county. But he returned soon afterward to this county, and passed the remainder of his life at Vicksburg. Three sons and one daughter were born in the household, and of these, two sons and the daugh- ter are living. Ernest D. is a resident of Colorado Springs, Colo., and the daughter, Hattie, is now Mrs. E. W. Carter, of this county. The father
was a man of prominence here and filled a number of township offices in Pavilion township. He was a Whig in early life, but later became a Democrat. The mother was an active member of the Metho- dist Episcopal church. They were successful in farming and raising live stock, and were well known and highly esteemed throughout the county. Charles S. Cooley has passed nearly all of his life except the first eight years in this county, and has been fully identified with the progress and development of the section and the aspirations and endeavors of its people. He re- ceived his education in the district schools, the Union School of Kalamazoo, and the commercial school at Battle Creek. He remained on the home farm, in the operation of which he was largely con- cerned until his removal to North Dakota in 1880. There he engaged in general farming and raising stock until 1895, when he returned to Vicksburg. where he has since resided. He owns and until recently worked a large farm near the village. On June 7, 1877, he was married to Miss Ella A. Neasmith, a daughter of James M. and Susan E. (Dykeman) Neasmith, the former born in Man- chester. England, on September 26, 1823, and the latter at Canajoharie, N. Y., on September 20. 1824. The father attended the district schools in Genesee county, N. Y., and after coming of age passed five months at the Carey Collegiate Insti- tute at Oakfield, that county. He afterward taught school two years, then made flour barrels one year, and kept a hotel at East Pembroke three years. From then until 1853 he was engaged in general merchandising at East Pembroke in part- nership with John A. Willett. In the year last mentioned he sold his interest in the store and came to this county in the fall. He bought two hundred and eighty acres of land, a part of his present farm, which was but partially improved. On July 1. 1847, he united in marriage with Miss Susan E. Dykeman, and of this union three chil- dren were born, Ella A. (Mrs. Cooley), George E. and Fred W. Mr. Neasmith had five hundred and thirty acres of fine land in one body, of which three hundred and fifty acres are well improved. He is now deceased. He was a strong Republican in his political views, and was elected to the state
126
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
senate in 1870 and again in 1872, serving during the winters of 1871-2 and 1873-4. He took an active part in legislation during the sessions and introduced and secured the passage of a number of important laws. He served as commissioner of the state land office from 1878 to 1882, and during his tenure of the office made important improvements in the way of managing its busi- ness. For eight years he was one of the trustees of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Flint in Gen- esee county. He took the position against his will but at the express solicitation of Governor Croswell, who said he was "dissatisfied with the management of the institution and desired to in- fuse new blood into it." Mr. Neasmith inaugu- rated several reforms in the management and methods of conducting the business which were greatly to the advantage of the asylum. He has also served as commissioner of corrections and charities, and was treasurer of Kalamazoo county from 1862 to 1868, and of Kalamazoo city in 1867. For many years he was president of the Vicksburg & Bellevue Bank. Mr. and Mrs. Cooley have two children, their son Roy J. and their daughter Hattie, both living at home. Mr. Cooley is independent in politics and has filled a number of local offices with credit to himself and benefit to the township. He has also been very active in commercial circles and was an agency of great force in securing the location of the Lee Paper Company at Vicksburg, raising nine thou- sand dollars for the purpose, of which he sub- scribed five hundred dollars. He is also a stock- holder in the Railway Supply Company, and other enterprises of the kind.
JOSEPH W. McELVAIN.
This widely and favorably known business man of Kalamazoo county, who for many years was an influential force in the affairs of his and the surrounding townships, but is now living re- tired from active work in the town of Vicksburg, was born in Schoolcraft township, this county, on December 25, 1839. His parents, William and Mary (Downs) McElvain, were natives of Penn- sylvania, the former born at York and the latter
at Georgetown, that state. They were farmers and moved to Ohio, and in 1828 to Michigan, locating on Gourd Neck Prairie, this county, where the father entered a quarter section of prai- rie land on which he at once began to make im- provements, building a log dwelling. In this the parents lived until death, the mother passing away in 1845 and the father a year later. They had three daughters who died in infancy, leaving their son Joseph, after their death, the only surviving member of the family. The father was a highly respected citizen and leader of the Whig party in the county during his life here. The grand- father, John McElvain, a native of York, Pa., moved from his native place to Eric, in the same state, and in 1828 accompanied his son and family to this state, later dying here at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Guilford, on Prairie Ronde. Jo- seph W. McElvain was reared on the prairie where his parents died, by his uncle, Joseph Frakes, and other relatives, for a few years at- tending the country schools of the period in the winter months. At an early age he was obliged to do his share of the farm work, and thus laid the foundation of his life-long industry and frugality. When he was twenty years old he started in life for himself as a farmer. Coming into possession of his father's farm, he worked that for two years, then in 1864 bought the Union hotel in Vicks- burg, which he replaced with a modern and more commodious brick structure. Of this he soon afterward became the landlord, and from that time until 1900 he kept the hostelry in a manner satis- factory to its large patronage and profitable to himself, except that during a few years he rented it to a tenant who ran it. He was married in the fall of 1865 to Miss Julia Kenyon, a native of the state of New York, and a sister of Bradley Ken- yon, a sketch of whom is published on another page. They have no children. Mr. McElvain has always been a man of liberal spirit and breadth of view. He has contributed generously to all the leading enterprises in his neighborhood, and withheld no effort or material assistance he could give from any commendable undertaking for the good of the section. He is a stockholder in the Railway Supply Company and the Lee
I27
KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Paper mill. In politics he has been a Republican
and one daughter, all of whom are living, E. A., his from the organization of the party, and ever a . brother J. W. and their sister, Mrs. L. C. Lyman, diligent worker for the cause, but never sought or held office. He is a Freemason and has been a Knight Templar since 1870. He also belongs to the order of Elks. One of the oldest residents of his township and county, born, reared and edu- cated among their people, married here, and hav- ing passed the whole of his useful life in this sec- tion, he is altogether a product of this county, and is everywhere esteemed as one of its best and most representative citizens. of Plainwell, this county. The first named reached man's estate in this state and was educated in its district schools. He assisted in clearing and breaking the home farm, and has made his home on it during the greater part of his life. In 1840 he was married to Miss Abby Sawyer, a daughter of Horace Sawyer, whose name stands high on the list of this county's honored pioneers, and who became a resident of the county in 1830, locating in Schoolcraft township, where he died. Mr. and Mrs. Strong have had three children : Levant E. A. STRONG. A., who is engaged in the grocery trade at Vicks- burg. He married Miss Esther Judson and has one child, his son Ray ; Minnie A., who was Mrs. Prof. Waldo, but is now deceased ; and Louis P., who also is a Vicksburg grocer, and in addition operates two grain elevators and conducts a large coal business as a member of the firm of Kent & Co. In the local affairs of the township Mr. Strong has been active and serviceable, looking well to the substantial advancement and improve- ment of the section, serving its people a number of years as a justice of the peace, making the race on the Republican ticket for a seat in the state legislature, and aiding to promote the fraternal life of the community as a blue lodge Mason and for five years master of his lodge, and an earnest and serviceable member of the order of Patrons of Husbandry. In the latter he has been treas- urer of the state Grange for twenty years, and has been recently elected for another term. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and diligent in all its beneficial work. He is the oldest Grange officer in the state.
This estimable and highly respected gentle- . man, whose reputation for uprightness of life, close attention to business and enterprise and pro- gressiveness of spirit is co-extensive with the state, for many years broke the stubborn glebe as a farmer in this county and took an active part in all its local affairs. He is now living at Vicks- burg, retired from active labor, and giving his attention principally to the affairs of the state Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, of which he has been the treasurer for a period of twenty years. He belongs to a race of pioneers, and was born on March 9, 1830, in Genesee county, N. Y., the son of Solomon and Ruth (Porter) Strong, natives of Essex county, Vt., where the American pro- genitors of the family located on their arrival from England in the early days. Mr. Strong's paternal grandfather, Ezekiel Strong, was a Ver- mont farmer and had two sons in the war of 1812. The father of E. A. Strong was born in Vermont in 1801, and followed farming in that state until the frontier of western New York opened a pleas- ing prospect to him, and he moved thither. In 1844 he came to Michigan and located near Cen- treville, St. Joseph county, where he lived three years, then bought a farm on the line between that county and Kalamazoo, part of it being in each county. It was improved with a small log house and barn, and was partially cleared. He finished clearing it and brought it to a good state of culti- vation before his death in 1888, his wife dying there some years previously. They had two sons
DANIEL STROUGH.
For fifty-three years a resident of this county, and during the last seventeen living on the farm which is now his home, Daniel Strough, of Brady township, has long been one of the forceful fac- tors in developing the industries of the county and expanding its commercial and agricultural greatness. He is a native of Jefferson county, N. Y., born on September 10, 1827. His parents,
I28
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
Daniel and Annie ( Wisewell) Strough, were also native in New York, Herkimer county, and of German ancestry. The paternal grandfather. Baltis Strough, came to this country from Ger- many before the Revolution, and at the beginning of that war enlisted in a New York regiment, and was soon afterward killed by a neighbor disguised as an Indian. His home was destroyed by the same person, but the family escaped. His son Daniel, father of the immediate subject of this paper, was at that time eight years old. He grew to manhood and lived in New York state until his death, the mother surviving him several years, then passing away in the same place. They had seven children who grew to maturity, and of these, two sons and one daughter are living. Daniel's brother George II. resides in the state of New York and his sister. Mrs. Ellwood, at Comstock, Kalamazoo county. The father was a Republican and was chosen to a number of local offices, which he filled with credit. His son, the present Daniel, was reared in his native county and worked at his trade as a carpenter there until 1852. when he came to this county and located in the city of Kalamazoo. Here he wrought at his trade ten years, then moved to Pavilion town- ship. He built some of the finest business blocks and other structures in both places, and pros- pered at his work. Seventeen years ago he bought the farm in Brady township on which he now resides, and of this he has made a model farm and most attractive home. He was mar- ried in Kalamazoo on March 30. 1869, to Miss Hannah Thurber, a native of Steuben county. N. Y., where her father, Loren Thurber, died. The mother, whose maiden name was Irene Hop- kins, married a second husband and, bringing her family, came with him to this county in 1854. Mr. and Mrs. Strough have one child, their son Le Roy, who is engaged in raising high-grade sheep. His exhibit took the first gold medal at the St. Louis world's fair in 1904. In March, 1865, Mr. Strough enlisted in Company B, Tenth Michigan Cavalry, in defense of the Union, and in this command he served until the following November, taking part in a number of important engagements, among them the battle of Peach
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.