USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > Compendium of history and biography of Kalamazoo County, Mich. > Part 29
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
THE KALAMAZOO PAPER COMPANY.
This large and important manufacturing in- stitution was founded on October 1, 1866. Its present officers are Fred M. Hodge, president ; Edward Woodbury, vice-president and treasurer, and William M. Loveland, secretary. In 1899 the company purchased the Wolverine mill and later built an entirely new plant nearby of large dimensions and equipped it with the most ap- proved modern machinery for its purposes, mak- ยท ing it one of the most complete and capable pa- per mills in the world. It turns out annually some twenty thousand tons of paper of various kinds. which is sold chiefly in this country, and has a high rank in the markets. Mr. Hodge, the presi- dent and general manager, was born in Brook- lyn, N. Y., in 1858; was educated there and in Wisconsin. at Janesville, whither he moved with his parents in boyhood, and at Kalamazoo College, where he was graduated in 1880, the family having moved to Kalamazoo in 1872. After leaving college he spent six years as head book- keeper of the Michigan National Bank. In 1886 he became associated with the late Samuel .1. Gibson in the old Kalamazoo Paper Company as secretary, and he has been connected with the com- pany ever since. On the death of Mr. Gibson in 1809 he was elected president of the company and since then its destiny has largely been in his capa- ble hands. He is also president of the Kalamazoo Stationery Company, treasurer of the River View Coated Paper Company and the American Play- ing Card Company of Kalamazoo, and a direc- tor of the Michigan National Bank. He was married June 18, 1884, to Miss Susan Edith Gib- son, daughter of Samuel A. and Mary A. (Farns- worth) Gibson, and has two daughters and two sons. all living. Mr. Hodge is a worthy suc- cessor of Mr. Gibson as president of this com- pany, being one of the best known and most highly esteemed business men of the city in which it operates, and under his management the trade of the company has steadily increased and its hold on the confidence of the commercial world has been greatly strengthened.
SAMUEL APPLETON GIBSON was born 011 the 17th of August, 1835, at New Ipwich, N. H., and inherited from his parents, Colonel George C. and Alvira (Appleton) Gibson, and from a long line of New England ancestors on cach side of the house, the characteristic thrift, in- dustry and ability for business of the New Eng- land people. At the age of twenty, having se- cured a good education, he became a clerk in the postoffice at Concord, Mass., serving there two years, and then accepted a clerkship in a general store at Ashby, Mass., which position he held for another period of two years. In 1859 he started business for himself as a grocer at Fitchburg, Mass., and continued his op- erations there in that line for a number of years. He became a resident of Kalamazoo in 1867 and lived there until his death. For the uses of this paper company a mill valued at fifty thousand dollars was built on the Grand Rapids branch of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, two miles south of Kalamazoo. A capital of eighty thousand dollars was required to operate the mills and carry on the business which soon grew to large proportions. Mr. Gibson was em- ployed by the company as a mechanic and book- keeper until 1870, then became the superintendent of the business and later president of the com- pany, holding the last named position until his death in 1899. He was fully conversant with every detail of the business done by the company and every feature of the manufacture of the differ- ent kinds of paper it makes, and he gave the affairs of the company his exclusive attention. He was also a director of the Kalamazoo National Bank and a trustee of the Kalamazoo College. He united with the Congregational church in 1858. and for many years before his death was one of its trustees. Politically he was a firm Republi- can, but not an active partisan. He early realized the need of close and cordial relations between an employer and his force, and he made the men who worked for him his warmest friends, secur- ing their ardent interest in his enterprise and gen- eral welfare. On October 14, 1860, he was mar- ried to Mrs. Mary A. Bardeen, the daughter of
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Deacon A. Farnsworth, of Fitchburg, Mass. ters, all of whom are living, Myron F., George Their union was blessed with two daugh- ters, Alice Gertrude, wife of F. D. Haskell, and Susan Edith, wife of F. M. Hodge, both of whom live in Kalamazoo. Mr. Gibson died on January 22, 1899, aged sixty-three years, and with a long record of usefulness and upright and benignant citizenship to his credit. He was laid to rest with every demonstration of popular regard and public grief over his departure, and his memory is enshrined in the hearts of the people of Kala- mazoo as one of its best, most serviceable and most representative business men.
EDWIN A. CARDER.
This pioneer furniture manufacturer and un- dertaker of Kalamazoo, whose long and useful life of more than fifty years in that city was a blessing and an inspiration to its people, was born in Connecticut, the son of William and Deborah (Alexander) Carder, of that state. The farther was a farmer who came to Michigan late in his life and died at the home of his son Edwin. The son passed his first fifteen years in his native state, then came to Michigan in company with others and located for a time at Niles. From there he moved to Otsego, Allegan county. where he learned the trade of chairmaker, and where, in 1843, he was married to Miss Sarah A. Green, a native of England. In 1848 they moved to Kala- mazoo, and here, soon after his arrival, Mr. Car- der started a business in the furniture trade and undertaking, also manufacturing chairs to some extent for a number of years. Then, in partner- ship with Henry Gilbert, he engaged in the manu- facture of furniture at Jackson, using convict la- bor in the factory, and running a line of retail stores for the sale of their output at Battle Creek, . Jackson and Kalamazoo, as well as at some other points. After some time they abandond the fac- tory at Jackson, and thereafter Mr. Carder gave his whole attention to his enterprise at Kalamazoo, which he conducted successfully until his death, on August 28, 1901, his wife following him to the other world on November of the same year. They had a family of two sons and three daugh-
H., Mrs. H. A. Clark, Mrs. George E. Bardeen and Miss S. A. Carder. The parents were mem- bers of the First Methodist church and gave liber- ally to its support, also taking an active part in its official life and general works of benevolence. The father was a strong advocate of temperance and did much to advance the cause in this community. His son, Myron F. Carder, is now in control of the business and is managing it with the same foresight and diligence that distinguished his father in his prime. He was born at Otsego, this state, in 1844, but grew to manhood and was educated in Kalamazoo. After leaving school he found employment with his father and later be- came a member of the firm of E. A. Carder & Son, and soon afterward began to take the bur- dens of the business off his father's shoulders. The second son, George H., is a physician at Passa- dena, Calif., where the oldest daughter, Mrs. H. A. Clark, lives. Mrs. Bardeen is a resident of Otsego, Allegan county, and Miss S. A. Carder lives at Dowagiac, this state. All are highly re- spected in their several communities, and it is enough to say of them that they are worthy ex- emplars of the uprightness of life and force of character so impressively shown by their parents.
EDWIN W. DE YOE.
For more than fifty-two years a resident and active worker in the city of Kalamazoo, and dur- ing that time filling many local offices with credit and conducting various business enterprises with vigor and success, Edwin W. De Yoe has behind him the record of a useful and well-spent life in this community, and, approaching now the evening of his days, he may justly enjoy the retrospect of his past, and be inspired by the scenes of progress and development around him to the production of which he has been a sub- stantial contributor. He is one of the best known and most highly esteemed of the pioneers of the county, that fast fading race whose works in this part of the world form the best tribute to their worth. On February 2, 1835, at the town of Waterloo, Seneca county, N. Y., his life be-
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
gan, and there he grew to man's estate, received his education and started the career which is an inspiration and an encouragement to the strug- gling young men of the country. His parents were William and Hester (Clute) De Yoe, natives of Saratoga county, N. Y. The father was a mason, contractor and builder who passed his life in his native state, dying there in 1862, at Waterloo. The mother survived him fourteen years and passed away in 1876. They had thir- teen children, of whom four are living, the sub- ject of this review, Mrs. William A. Wood, of Kalamazoo ; a brother who still resides in Water- loo, N. Y., and Miss Harriet N. DeYoc, of Kalamazoo. The grandfather, John De Yoc, was a native of New York and his wife, whose maiden name was Ruth Hall, was born in Rhode Island. The De Yoes were of old French Huguenot an- cestry and the Clutes of Holland Dutch, two races of people who have met every requirement in life in behalf of human liberty and progress in a courageous, manly and masterful way. Mr. De Yoe's maternal grandfather, Gradns Clute, a native of Waterford, N. Y., was an exten- sive farmer, dealer in land and wealthy citizen of those parts in his day. His life was passed at Waterford. His wife was Sarah Alida Van Ness, a member of an old and distinguished New York family. Edwin W. De Yoe was reared and edu- cated in his native town, completing the course at the Waterloo Academy, then serving some years as clerk in a wholesale bakery there, after which he resumed his studies at the academy, pursuing a special course and remaining until 1851. He then entered the Geneva grammar school under Dr. Prentice and Professor W. T. Gibson, a cele- brated school of those days in that part of New York. In 1853 he became a resident of Kalama- zoo and was made assistant postmaster under his brother, William H. De Yoe (see sketch of him elsewhere in this work), and afterward under Hon. N. A. Balch, serving until 1861. Dur- ing his tenure he spent six months in the Detroit Commercial College and also a short time in the grocery trade in partnership with S. H. Porter. In addition he did considerable insurance busi- ness for the Phoenix Company of Hartford, Conn. In 1861 he was elected township
clerk for two years, and at the end of his term began handling the claims of soldiers against the government and also did business in insurance, real estate and loan activities. These latter lines of business lie is still engaged in. He was mar- ried on January 9, 1862, to Miss Harriet P. Free- man, a daughter of Rev. L. N. Freeman, rector of St. Luke's and St. John's church of Kalamazoo. They have two children, their daughter, Lillian D., wife of Allen C. Frink, of Boston, Mass .. and their son, William M., who is associated with his father in business. Mrs. De Yoe died on May 18, 1904. Throughout his life the father has been actively and earnestly interested in public affairs as a Democrat, and he has given excellent service to the city and county in various local offices. Early in his life here he was the can- dlidate of his party for the lower house of the state legislature, but it was impossible for any one then to overcome the large adverse majority ; however, there was but a small preponderance of the vote against him. In 1878 he was elected village trustee and served as chairman of the committee on finance and claims in the council. Prior to this, in 1860, he was village clerk one year. In 1883 he was chosen village president. the last man to fill this office, for at the end of his term the place was incorporated as a city and he was elected its second mayor. About this time he was his party's nominee for the office of state senator, but was beaten by a small majority. Fraternally, Mr. De Yoc belongs to the Masonic order, having been made a Master Mason in 1857 and a Knight Templar some thirty years or more ago. He belongs to St. Luke's church, and was junior warden and vestryman in St. John's from 1862 to 1876. In 1890 his son William became a member of the firm, which was then organized as E. W. & W. M. De Yoc. The business of this firm is extensive and has received a quickening . impulse from the infusion of the younger blood of the son, who is a wide-awake and capable business man.
GEORGE STEERS.
Mr. Steers is the general manager of the Kalamazoo Ice & Fuel Company and also of the Lake View Ice Company, and for these organiza-
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KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
tions he has by application, business shrewdness and a genial and accommodating disposition built up a large trade and established them on a safe and broad basis of enduring prosperity. He was born at Rochester, N. Y., on June 8. 1860, and is the son of Thomas and Mary (Hodges) Steers, who were born and reared in England and came to the United States about the year 1850, and to Michigan in 1876. The father was a farmer and located for following his vocation near the city of Kalamazoo, where he died in 1894. The mother is still living. Their son George was educated in New York and ac- companied his parents to this state in 1875. He worked with them on the farm until he was about twenty years of age, then, in 1880, moved to Kala- mazoo, and after teaming in the city two years, passed two in farming. He then again turned his attention to teaming and followed this line un- . til 1886, when he started an enterprise in the sale of wood, which he continued until 1894. In that year he began operations in the ice business and soon afterward began to handle coal also. He conducted this trade until the spring of 1904, when he organized the leading company with which he is now connected, the Kalamazoo Ice & Fuel Company, and of which he has ever since been the general manager, as he is of the Lake View Ice Company. He is also a director of the Central Bank of Kalamazoo and a stockholder in the Rose Street Improvement Company and the Recreation Park Association. It will be seen that he gives an intelligent and earnest attention to the general improvement. of the city as well as to building up its business interests, and in all the lines of activity in which he engages he is held to be a factor of force, influence and value. He was married in 1890 to Miss Emma J. Eldred, whose parents were among the first settlers on Climax Prairie. Mr. and Mrs. Steers have three sons and two daughters. Their father pushes his business with energy and vigor and has made it one of the leading ones of its kind in the city, steadily enlarging its volume and keeping by his acceptable methods all the pa- trons he secures. He takes no very active in- terest in partisan politics, but in national affairs supports the Democratic party. He has been for
years absorbed in his business and side issues have had but little attraction for him. As a citi- zen, a merchant and a public-spirited man, wise in counsel and energetic in action for the good of his community he is well esteemed and has influence in inspiring others to increased activity and usefulness.
EDWARD P. TITUS.
Edward P. Titus has been a resident of Michi- gan since 1856 and of Kalamazoo since 1861. He is therefore one of the older residents of the city, and during all the long period of his life here he has been an active and progressive citizen, deeply interested in the welfare of the community and contributing materially to its advancement. He was born near Harford, Susquehanna county, Penn., on July 1, 1828, and is the son of Ezekiel and Betsey (Jeffers) Titus, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of Pennsyl- vania. The father was a farmer and one of nine men known as the Nine Partners who emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1800 and purchased a tract of land four miles square which they divided into nine parcels and then drew lots to determine each one's location. This land they held in severalty although they were called the Nine Partners, and on it they; founded the settlement of Nine Partners Springs, which is still called by that name. Their location was in the midst of a wilderness, almost wholly unsettled, and the conveniences of life for them were few and far apart. Their nearest trading point was at Great Bend on the Susque- hanna and their nearest mill at Binghamton, N. Y., neither being less than fifteen miles dis- tant. The Titus family to which the subject of this sketch belongs descended from Robert Titus, who came from Harford, England, to this country in 1636 and settled at Boston, whence the family removed to Long Island in 1655. The father of Edward Titus followed farming through life and died on the old Pennsylvania homestead on March 22, 1870, aged eighty-three years. His political affiliation was with the Whigs as long as that party existed and after its decease with the Repub- licans, but he was never an active or office-seeking partisan. He married four times and reared a
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
large family of children, of whom Edward and one of his brothers are all who are left, the former being the only one resident in this state. He re- mained at home until he was twelve years old, then started out in life for himself. Later he learned the trade of carpenter and shipbuilder. and worked at it in a number of different places. Prior to the Civil war he passed a number of years in the South and saw the institution of slav- ery in all its forms. This made him an ardent abo- litionist, and while in Buffalo, N. Y., in 1853 and 1854 he was connected with the "underground railway" and helped many a negro slave to Canada and freedom. In 1856 he became a resident of Michigan, locating in Van Buren county on a farm near Paw Paw. The place was all wild and unbroken, but he lived on it three years and cleared it for cultivation. In 1861 he moved to Kalamazoo and began contracting and building. and in this work he aided in the erection of many dwellings and business houses in the city. Mr. Titus was married at Buffalo, N. Y., on De cember 25. 1854. to Miss Harriet F. Wells, a native of that city. Her father, Orange Wells. was born in Massachusetts, and her mother. whose maiden name was Nancy Downer, in New Hampshire. They were early settlers in Orleans county, N. Y. The father was a soldier in the war of 1812 and had a brother killed in the contest, but he saw no active service himself. Mr. and Mrs. Titus had one son, Edward W., who died in New York, and one daughter, Marian .A .. who died at Colorado Springs, Colo. They reared and educated two adopted children, a son and a daughter. The son is James Cook, a promi- nent citizen and one of the leading stock men of Sioux county, Neb., and the daughter is Mrs. George E. Sutton, of Pontiac, Mich. Mr. Cook started in life with nothing in the way of worldly wealth, and has made himself a leader in his sec- tion and business. Mr. Titus has been an active Republican from the foundation of the party, cast- ing his vote for its first presidential candidate, General Fremont. Since 1853 he has belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and since 1862 to the Baptist church, and in both he has been energetic and useful in his membership.
FRANK E. KNAPPEN.
It is everywhere conceded that the law is a jealous mistress and admits no divided allegiance from her votaries who wish to succeed in win- ning her favors. This truth was well impressed on the mind of Frank E. Knappen, one of the leading lawyers of Kalamazoo, while he was a student of his profession, and he has kept it ever in mind during his practice. He has de- voted himself assiduously to the requirements of his professional work with a special attention to the criminal practice. And his worship at the shrine of duty has brought him commensurate returns in a large and lucrative practice, a good standing among his professional brothers, and a high regard in the mind of the general public. Mr. Knappen was born at Hastings, Barry county, this state. on September 27. 1854. and is the son of Ashmun A. and Sarah J. (Stafford ) Knappen. the former a native of Vermont and the latter of Pennsylvania. The father was for many years a lawyer and afterwards a minister of the gospel. Ile came to Michigan with his parents in 1833. when he was four years old. He was reared and educated in Kalamazoo county, attending the old Branch Academy. After leaving school. and even before, he was employed in mercantile business. and later he became editor of the Barry County Pioneer at Hastings, being connected with the paper as editor from 1850 to 1857. He passed the next three years at Gull Corners engaged in merchandising, and while there he studied law in company with present U. S. Senator J. C. Bur- rows, being admitted to the bar of the state sul- preme court at Detroit in 1859. In 1861 he began the practice of his profession in partnership with Mr. Burrows at Kalamazoo. He was active and zealous in his chosen work until 1870, then turned his attention to the Christian ministry in the Methodist Episcopal church and preached un- til 1890 through this state. becoming in course of time presiding elder under the control of the Michigan conference. He now lives a retired life at Albion. He united in marriage with Miss Sarah J. Stafford in this county in 1850. and they had two sons and three daughters. The daugh-
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FRANK E. KNAPPAN
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KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
ters are all living at Albion. One son, George Fred, is in Sioux Falls, S. D., cashier of a bank. The others are Mrs. Mark Russell, Mrs. J. L. Thomas and Mrs. H. M. Scripps, all now residing at Albion, Mich. Mr. Knappen's parental grandfather, Mason Knappen, was also a Christian minster, being active in the Congre- gational church. He was also a farmer. He came to this county in 1833 and cleared up five hundred acres of land near Richland, dying there in 1856. Frank E. Knappen was educated in the common and high schools of Kalamazoo and the Northwestern University at Evanston, Ill., be- ing graduated from the latter institution in 1877 in the classical course. He then entered the office of Briggs & Burrows, of Kalamazoo, as a law student, and in October, 1878, he was ad- mitted to practice in that city by the supreme court of Michigan. Entering at once on his pro- fessional work, he pursued it with such energy and success that in 1880 he was elected prosecut- ing attorney, holding the office until 1889. At the close of his official term he organized the law firm of Knappen & Frost, and at the end of a year another partner was taken in and the firm name changed to Irish, Knappen & Frost. This firm lasted three years, at the end of which it was harmoniously dissolved after which Mr. Knappen practiced alone until 1902, when he formed a new partnership with L. T. Flansburg, with whom he is still associated, under the firm name of Knap- pen & Flansburg. Since beginning his practice Mr. Knappen has given his whole attention to his profession with special reference to the criminal practice. He has succeeded admirably and has a high position at the bar. He was married in 1899 to Miss Nina A. Ward, a native of New York. Politically he is a zealous and unwavering Re- publican, and fraternally belongs to the Masonic order and the Order of Elks. He has always been promnent in political affairs having held various positions in the Republican party and was presidential elector in the fall of 1904.
GEORGE W. PARKER.
The subject of this notice, who is one of the leading and most progressive meat merchants of Kalamazoo, was born in the township in which he
now lives on April 24, 1844, and the son of Isaac M. and Catherine (Patterson) Parker, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Virginia. The father was a farmer who became a resident of Michigan in 1831, when he was but eighteen years of age. He was a son of James Parker, of whom more extended mention is made in the sketch of James Parker on another page of this work. Isaac Parker was employed as a clerk and in other ca- pacities in Kalamazoo until 1834, when he bought forty acres of government land which is now a part of the Brook farm owned by the asylum. He cleared up this tract and then bought two hun- dred acres additional, and lived on the farm until 1867, when he sold it and purchased one six miles east of South Haven on which he resided until his death, in 1879. He was the father of two children, George W. and a daughter who died in infancy. The mother died in 1857. He afterward, in 1865. married Catherine Lull, and two children were born of this union. one of whom, their son Fred, is living, as is also his mother. Mr. Parker of this sketch was reared in this township amid the scenes and experiences usual to country boys of the time and place, at- tending the common schools and working on his father's farm until he was eighteen years old, after which he was variously employed until 1870, when he formed a partnership with C. H. Hurd to carry on a butchering business. The partnership lasted three years, and in the spring of 1874 Mr. Parker formed another with Cornelius Miller in the same line of trade, which lasted two years. Since its dissolution Mr. Parker has been alone in business and has remained in the same shop all the time. He was married in Kalamazoo, in 1866, to Miss Laura A. Norton, whose parents came to this county in 1855. Mr. and Mrs. Parker have one child, their son Herbert W., who , is now assistant cashier of the City National Bank. Fraternally, the father is a Freemason of the Knight Templar degree. He is widely known as an excellent business man and a good citizen, and stands well in the regards of the people of this county and the city of Kalamazoo generally. He has not been active in political affairs, but he supports the Republican party. In matters of public improvement and such as make for the
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