USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > Compendium of history and biography of Kalamazoo County, Mich. > Part 30
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welfare of the city and county of his residence, he is one of the foremost and most active workers, and his counsel, based on a wide knowledge of affairs, is earnestly sought and carefully heard. He is a useful man and is highly esteemed as such.
JACOB SCHEID.
Jacob Scheid, one of the skillful carpenters and builders of Kalamazoo until 1889, when he retired from active work, has been a resident of the city for fifty-two years, having come here to live in 1854. During his residence here he has aided in the construction of many of the principal buildings in the city, and always found his service in demand while he was actively en- gaged at his trade as a carpenter and builder. He was born in Bavaria. Germany, on the banks of the Rhine, on December- 8, 1830, and is the son of Nicholas and Catherine (Liegenbueler) Scheid. both natives of the same part of the fatherland as himself. The father was a carpenter and passed his life working at his trade in his native land. dying there at a good old age. as did the mother. They had six sons and seven daughters, only two of whom, Jacob and one of his brothers, are residents of this country. After receiving a com- mon-school education Jacob learned his trade as a carpenter and worked at it in his native land until 1852. when he came to the United States and located in Lorain county. Ohio, where he re- miained two years working at his trade. On Sep- tember 17. 1854, he arrived at Kalamazoo, and here he has since made his home. He soon found employment at his trade. and later worked for Bush & Patterson thirty years, acting as their foreman. Since 1889 he has lived retired from ac- tive pursuits, enjoying the fruits of his labors and cultivating the esteem of his large number of friends. He was married in this city in November. 1856. to Miss Francesco Hotop, who, like himself. is a native of Germany, and came to Kalamazoo in 1854. They have had five children, August, Otto, Fred and Fannie, who are living, and Theodore, who is deceased. In church communion the men- bers of the family are Catholics. Living quietly and unostentatiously amid the people whom he
has faithfully served and the impressive works of his hand which he can see on almost every street, this industrious craftsman, good citizen and up- right man finds the evening of his life passing along in peace and pleasure, with nothing in the way of neglected duty or wrongful conduct to mar the record of his usefulness or the agreeable character of his memories.
JESSE W. HAZARD.
Public education in America is the sheet an- chor on which the ship of state relies with con- fidence and hope. The fathers of the republic proclaimed it as a necessary constituent of popu- lar government, and the experience of a hundred years has proven the wisdom of their contention. While they exhibited solicitude for the higher halls of learning by liberal patronage of academies and seminaries. they much more insisted on schools for the masses, feeling well assured-that the common sense of the plain people might not be safely relied on for a wise exercise of citizen- ship without some training for its duties. The question is no longer an open one. Everybody knows the immense value of the public schools and looks upon them as among the most im- portant features in the life of a community. What- ever else a town may offer as inducements for new settlers this must not be overlooked. Let sites for manufactories be as free as the air-let plant be exempt from taxation-let franchises be thrown away with prodigal liberality-let ship- ping facilities be provided to the widest limit at the cheapest rate-the question will still arise- what school advantages are available ? Tried even by this severe standard, Kalamazoo county is entitled to a high regard. Her public schools are commensurate with her business enterprise and the enlightenment and breadth of view of her people, and this is enough to say. One evidence of her enterprise and progressiveness in this re- gard is the fact that when she finds a man of high capacity to have this important interest in charge she knows enough to keep him in charge and support his management of school affairs. Professor Jesse W. Hazard. the accomplished
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and diligent commissioner of schools of the county, has occupied the position continuously since 1897 and is now serving his fourth term. He brought to the discharge of his important duties a wisdom gained in an extensive experience as a teacher in several different places under a variety of circumstances, and which ripened his scholar- ship while it energized and broadened the force of his mind. He is a native of Wayne county, Ohio, born at West Salem in May, 1860. His parents, James and Mary (Gable) Hazard, were natives, respectively, of Ohio and Pennsylvania. The father was engaged in operating a large saw mill in Ohio until 1866, when he came to Michi- gan with his family and located on a farm near Fulton, this county, on which he died in April, 1904. His father, John Hazard, was born and reared in Connecticut. From there he moved to New York and later he became a pioneer in Wayne county, Ohio. He was an itinerant preacher in the Methodist Episcopal church and also taught school. He died in Wayne county, Ohio. His father, the Professor's great-grand- father, was a Revolutionary soldier. Professor Hazard was educated in the district schools of this county, at Athens high school and the Nor- mal College at Ypsilanti, spending four years at the institution last named. After leaving there he accepted a position as principal of the schools at Marcellus, this state. He then served one year in the same capacity at Prairie Du Lac, Wis., at the end of which he returned to Kalamazoo county, and during the next two years was a teacher in the schools at Fulton. In 1897 he was elected commissioner of schools for the county, a position which he is still filling acceptably, serving now his fourth term in the office. He has been faithful to every requirement of' his post and has the respect of the teachers of the county and the people in a marked degree. In 1901 he was married in this county to Miss Cora Lapham, a native of the county. They have three children, all daughters. Professor Hazard, although oc- cupying a position in which party politics has no proper place, is too much a patriot and too good a citizen to be indifferent to public affairs, and he gives them close attention as a Republican.
As such he served as supervisor of his township prior to his election as school commissioner. Fra- ternally he is active and zealous in the order of Knights of Pythias.
WILLIAM G. HOWARD.
An active practitioner of the law in this state since 1870, William G. Howard, of Kalamazoo, has risen to a high rank in his profession and has had contact with almost every phase of its intricate and trying requirements. There is scarcely any branch of legal work he has not be- come familiar with from actual experience, and in all he has sustained his high reputation for legal learning, forceful advocacy, tact and readi- ness in trial and unwavering professional ethics. Mr. Howard is wholly a product of Michigan. He was born on her soil, educated in her schools and prepared for his professional duties in the office of one of her leading law firms. He also was married here and has reared his family in the state; and all his commercial interests are located among her people. The life of this promi- nent and eloquent advocate began in Cass county, Michigan, on May 18, 1846, and he is the son of George T. and Eliza (Parsons) Howard, na- tives of Delaware, who came to Michigan in 1845 and settled on a farm which they purchased in Cass county. Here they passed the remainder of their lives, the mother dying in 1880 and the father in 1894. Their family comprised two sons and one daughter. One son has died and the sister is living in Cass county. Mr. Howard's grandfather, Stephen Howard, was born in Mary- land. He also came to Michigan and died in Cass. county in 1865, after many years of useful farming in what was then an entirely new country to agricultural pursuits. William G. Howard was educated in the public schools of his native county and at Kalamazoo College, where he was gradu- ated in 1867. He began the study of law with Balch, Smiley & Balch, of Kalamazoo, and was admitted to the bar of this county in October, 1869. He began his practice at Dowagiac, Cass county, in partnership with James Sullivan, with whom he was associated from 1870 to 1873, when
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he came to Kalamazoo and became a member of the firm of Balch, Howard & Balch. Later one of the Balches retired and the firm became Balch & Howard, and this continued until 1878. It was then harmoniously dissolved and the firm of Brown, Howard & Ross was formed. Two years later Brown retired, then the firm of Howard & Ross continued until 1899. when Mr. Howard formed a new partnership with his son, Harry C. Howard, under the name of Howard & Howard. Through all these changes of associates Mr. How- ard has gone steadily forward in his profession, gaining a large and remunerative body of clients. rising to influence and force in his work both as an advocate and a trial lawyer, demonstrating his ability in every field of professional activity and winning golden opinions from all classes of the community in which he lives. He has also taken a very active and serviceable interest in the com- mercial and industrial life of his chosen city. being a stockholder in the Kalamazoo Ice Com- pany and the Home Savings Bank, also in the Kalamazoo National, City National and First Na- tional Banks, the Lee Paper Company and the Kalamazoo Corset Company. In political faith he has been from the dawn of his manhood a staunch and earnest working Democrat, and as such was elected prosecuting attorney of Cass county in 1870 and mayor of Kalamazoo in 1899. He be- longs to the Odd Fellows fraternity. He has also served on the school board and the board of education. He was married in St. Joseph county in 1870 to Miss Melissa .\. Cooper, of White Pigeon. They have two sons, Harry C. (see sketch on another page) and John A., of Dowa- giac. this state, both of whom are young men of prominence and highly respected citizens.
SHERIDAN F. MASTER.
Prominent in Kalamazoo as a lawyer, publicist and leading citizen, and now representing his district in the lower house of the state legisla- ture, Sheridan F. Master has lived in this com- munity to good purpose, making much of his opportunities and performing all the duties of a professional man and first-rate citizen faithfully,
wisely and diligently. He was born at Berlin in the province of Ontario, Canada, on March 7, 1869, the son of Levi and Mary ( Freid) Master, who were also natives of Canada. The father was a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church, who came to the United States in 1871, and for many years preached in various parts of this state. at one time being stationed at Kalamazoo as pas- tor of the church of his denomination and later as presiding elder of the district. He died. in 1903 at Big Rapids, where he was presiding elder at the time. The mother is still living. The grand- father, John Master, was a native of Pennsyl- vania. In company with the maternal grand- father, Mr. Freid, he established a colony . in Canada, going there about the year 1840. The grandfather, John Master, some time afterward returned to the United States and tried to estab- lish another colony in Kansas. This, however, was not a success owing to successive droughts and the ravages of the grasshoppers. The elder Master then returned to Berlin, Canada, where he died in 1895. Sheridan F. Master reached man- hood in this state, and was graduated from AAlbion College in 1888. He at once began studying law in the office of Osborn & Mills, of Kalamazoo, and was admitted to practice before the state su- preme court in 1891. He then became a member of the firm of Osborn, Mills & Master, and re- mained in it until he was elected county attorney in 1899. At the end of his term of four years in this office he returned to his practice, which he has since conducted alone. In 1902 he was elected to the house of representatives of the state as a member from the Kalamazoo district, and he is now ( 1904) still serving the people well and wisely in that office. He has been elected and is now serving as speaker of the house. He is a stockholder and director of the Ver Don Cigar Company, of Kalamazoo, and has also interests in the farming industry and the Paw Paw Pub- fishing Company. In 1894 he united in marriage with Miss Helen Harrison, of Chicago, and they have one child, their daughter Helen. Politically, Mr. Master has been a life-long Republican, and with his interest ever keen and active in the wel- fare of his party, he has stumped his county and
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other portions of the state in its numerous cam- paigns, proving himself an eloquent and effective advocate of the cause on the hustings, as he is of legal principles in court. Fraternally he is a valued member of the order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias.
J. W. RYDER.
J. W. Ryder, an energetic, enterprising and progressive wood and coal merchant of Kala- mazoo, who has been prominently connected with the business interests of the city for a long time, was born in the city in April, 1868. He is the son of Joseph M. and Catherine (Rollins) Ryder, who were born and reared in Dublin, Ireland, and came to the United States in 1848. The father was a mason in his native land, but on his ar- rival in this country entered mercantile life as a dealer in wood and coal at Elmira, N. Y., where he remained until 1852. He then came to Kalamazoo and began dealing in real estate, pur- chasing vacant lots and building on them, then selling the property, also buying houses already built which he improved and sold. He prospered at this business and while advancing his own for- tunes he at the same time added to the wealth and beauty of the city. He was a Republican in politics and a hard worker for his party. Hold- ing membership in St. Luke's church, he took an active interest in its affairs and aided greatly in promoting its progress. He died in 1893 and his wife in 1896. Their son. J. W. Ryder. was their only child. He was educated in the schools of Kalamazoo, being graduated from the high school in 1886. He began his business career as a clerk for Dudgeon & Cobb. with whom he re- mained a short time, then entered the employ of Conrad Miller, in 1887, with whom he remained until 1893, when he became a member of the firm, which was then rebaptized under the name of Miller, Ryder & Winterburn. The firm lasted until Mr. Ryder retired from it in April, 1904, and since that time he has been in, business alone. He has a large trade and .conducts his business with every attention to details, including proper consideration for the wants of his customers, as
well as to his own interest, and is known through- out the city as an upright man, fair in his deal- ings and broad in his views. He has taken no partisan interest in political matters and has all his life avoided public office. But he omits no duty of citizenship and usually votes the Repub- lican ticket. It was through his influence and efforts mainly that the Michigan & Indiana Retail Coal Dealers' Association was organized, and when it was formed he was elected its president and the chairman of its executive board. This association was organized in 1895, and includes in its membership all the retail dealers in both states. Mr. Ryder was married in 1893 to Miss Rose E. Kelley, of Kalamazoo. In fraternal re- lations he is connected with the order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. In the latter fraternity he is a charter member of Lodge No. 170 and has filled all its chairs. In business, in fraternal life, in social circles and in his civic relations he meets every obligation in a manly and straight- forward way, and contributes to the general weal the products of a genial and companionable spirit and the example of a high toned and honorable citizen.
CARNEY & YAPLE.
The energetic and aspiring young gentlemen who compose this. the youngest law firm in Kalamazoo, while of comparatively recent admis- sion to the bar, are sufficiently far from shore to be under full sail in their profession, and have given abundant evidence of their capacity to steer their barque to its desired haven. Their story is like that of thousands of others among us in all parts of our country, one involving diligent prep- aration for the issues of life and faithful per- formance of its duties after entering upon them, working and waiting for the reward of their labors, and winning it by steady progress through attention to whatever comes to them in their chosen line of action. Claude S. Carney, the senior member of the firm of Carney & Yaple, was born at Schoolcraft, this county, on the 25th day of April, 1875, and is the son of Byron S. and Alice A. (Fletcher) Carney, also natives of this county, where the father is a well known and
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prosperous farmer, residing near the town of Schoolcraft. The son was reared and partially educated in his native place, being graduated from the Schoolcraft high school. He then pursued a literary course at the University of Michigan, and in the law department of the same institution pre- pared himself for his professional work. He was graduated from this department in 1896, and before the end of that year came to Kalamazoo and entered upon the practice of his profession with Judge John W. Adams, then prosecuting at- torney, who appointed him assistant prosecutor, a post which he held until the end of Judge Adams' term as prosecutor, and his election as judge of the circuit court. Mr. Carney then began prac- ticing alone and continued doing so until 1901, when he formed a partnership with Edward L. Yaple, his present partner. In the three years which have passed since this firm was formed the members of it have steadily risen in public esteem and the good opinion of their professional brothers, and have now a well established position at the bar of this county and a large and increasing practice of a representative clientage. They have had many cases of importance and intricacy for trial, and in the management of them have shown wide and exact knowledge of the law, both in general principles and adjudicated cases, and have also exhibited tact, fertility and eloquence in their conduct of them. Mr. Carney was married in 1902 to Miss Sarah Westnedge, a native of this state, and they have one son, Herschel Westnedge Carney. He was a Democrat in politics and an Elk in fraternal life.
Mr. Yaple, the junior member of the firm, is also a native of Michigan. He was born at Men- don. St. Joseph county, on the 7th day of Febru- ary, 1874, and is a son of George L. Yaple, cir- cuit judge for the fifteenth judicial circuit and an esteemed citizen. After being graduated at the Mendon high school Mr. Yaple attended the Kalamazoo College and the Chicago University, being graduated at the latter in the literary or academic course in 1897. He then entered the law department of the Northwestern University, from which he emerged in 1899 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He began practicing at
Kalamazoo in 1901, as a member of the firm to which he now belongs and with which he has ever since been connected. He was married in 1902 to Miss Charlotte Willmot, a resident of Kalamazoo. They have two children, their daugh- ters, Frances and Dorothy. Mr. Yaple is a Re- publican in political allegiance and fraternally he belongs to the Freemasons and the Elks.
H. BROOKS MILLER.
One of the oldest and most extensive real es- tate dealers in Kalamazoo, H. Brooks Miller has done a great deal in his business to increase the size, augment the wealth and multiply the adorn- ments of the city. He has handled an immense amount of property and always worked with a view to improve and beautify the town and add to the comfort and welfare of its people. Mr. Miller was born in Essex county, N. Y., on August 4, 1834, and is the son of Daniel B. and Caroline (Randall) Miller, both natives of that county. The father passed his life as a farmer. In 1836 he moved to St. Lawrence county, N. Y., where he died in 1899, in his ninetieth year. The mother died in 1879, aged sixty-eight. The grandfather was Judge Manoah Miller, a man of great local prominence and influence in New York. He had five sons, three of whom were bankers and one was a prominent railroad man. Mr. Miller's parents had a family of four sons and four daughters, two sons and one daugh- ter of whom are living. H. Brooks Miller was reared and educated in New York and Vermont, attending for a time a private school at Addison, in the latter state. After leaving school he moved to Plattsburg, in his native state, and entered the employ of the G. W. & M. C. Railroad, se- curing a good berth in the passenger department in which he worked with great success for five years. At the end of that period he turned his attention to general merchandising at Plattsburg, and after five years of successful operation in that line there, transferred his energies to Troy, N. Y., where he was engaged for a num- ber of years in the furniture trade, then began the manufacture of linen collars, which he carried
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on several years. In 1880 he came to Kalamazoo, where he has ever since resided and been active in business. Soon after his arrival in that city he became occupied in the manufacture of spring tooth harrows in the firm of Miller Bros., in which he remained until March 1, 1882. At that time he became interested in the real estate busi- ness in partnership with J. Frank Cowgill, un- der the firm name of Cowgill & Miller. This partnership lasted to the death of Mr. Cowgill, in 1898, and since then Mr. Miller has conducted the business alone. The firm did an extensive business in loans and handling real estate, and during its continuance an enormous amount of property passed through its hands. Under Mr. Miller's personal and individual management the business has increased and flourished, and it is now accounted one of the leading enterprises of its kind in this part of the country. Mr. Miller has been twice married. The second marriage occurred at Troy, N. Y., in 1864, when he was united in marriage with Miss Marie Louise Cheppu, a native of that state. Mr. Miller is a member of St. Luke's church and was a pioneer member of the Kalamazoo Club. He has an elegant home in Kalamazoo and is held in high regard by a wide circle of admiring friends.
SAMUEL FOLZ.
Samuel Folz, the late mayor of Kalamazoo and the fourth Democrat to hold that office in the history of the city, has been prominent and in- fluential in the mercantile and industrial life of the city for many years and is one of its best known and most highly esteemed business men. He is connected with many of its leading enter- prises and to all he gives close and careful at- tention, helping them by his wisdom in counsel, his promptness and vigor in action and his shrewd and discriminating business capacity. He was born on September 18, 1859, at Hillsdale, this state, where his parents, Joseph and Esther (Hecht) Folz, natives of southern Germany, set- tled in 1856. They came to this country separ- ately when they were young and were married here. In Hillsdale the father engaged in the
clothing trade until 1860, when he moved to Chi- cago and continued in the business there until the great fire of 1871. He then returned to Michi- gan and located at Marshall, where he died in 1872. Samuel received his education in the schools of Chicago and at Marshall, and on the death of his father. when he was himself but thirteen years old, he found himself without means and obliged to shift for himself. He be- gan work as a newsboy for the Detroit Daily News and worked up a considerable circulation for that journal. He also worked at stripping tobacco at odd times and subsequently learned the cigarmaker's trade. In 1875 he came to Kalama- zoo and during the next five years worked at his trade. But failing health obliged him to quit it, and he next found employment as a clerk in the clothing store of Stearns & Company, where he remained three and one-half years. In 1884 he began business for himself in the same line, and from a small beginning he has built up the largest trade in clothing in the city. Until 1887 he was associated in the business with Mr. Frank- lin, the firm name being Franklin & Folz. Then Mr. Folz purchased Mr. Franklin's interest and he has since carried on the business himself. His first entry into politics was as a candidate for mayor of the city in 1895, but he was defeated by a small majority. He was next nominated by his party, the Democratic, for alderman of the fourth ward, but was again defeated. In 1900 he was elected a member of the board of educa- tion and in this position he served three years and a half. when he was again nominated for mayor and was elected by a majority of two hundred and fifty-nine votes, being, as has been noted, the fourth Democrat to reach the position in the history of the city. But while active and zealous in political matters, his chief occupation has been promoting the business interests of the commu- nity, and in this he has been potential and success- ful in a high degree. He is a stockholder in the , Kalamazoo Paper Box Company, the Puritan Corset Company, has been until recently first vice-president of the Board of Trade and has just been elected as its president. He is also con- nected with the Merchants' Publishing Company,
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