USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > Compendium of history and biography of Kalamazoo County, Mich. > Part 37
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1902 and left two daughters. While always averse to holding office, Mr. Kilgore has served as drain commissioner. Fraternally he is a Freemason and a United Workman. Throughout the county and the surrounding territory he is well known and universally respected.
WALLACE B. NORTH.
Wallace B. North, one of the leading lumber merchants of this state, is president of the North & Coon Lumber Company, an incorporated insti- tution with a capital stock of fifty thousand dol- lars and doing an extensive business, whose pa- trons are in many parts of the country. The com- pany is the outgrowth of the old firm of North & Coon, which was formed in 1888. This firm car- ried on an extensive business, which increased to such proportions that its members concluded it was best for them to organize a company to con- duct the business and thus enlarge their resources and augment their force. Accordingly in Janu- ary, 1904, the present company was formed, with Mr. North as president, H. C. Coon as vice-presi- dent, L. W. H. Jones as secretary, and A. C. Jick- ling, treasurer and general manager. Mr. North was born in St. Joseph county, this state, in 1851. His parents were William T. and Emeline (Cha- pin) North, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of New York. The father was a farmer and came to Michigan in 1844. He set- tled on a tract of wild land in St. Joseph county which he cleared up and made habitable and pro- ductive and on which he lived for a number of years. Both he and his wife died at Battle Creek. Their son Wallace was reared and educated in his native county, remaining at home with his parents until he reached the age of twenty-seven. In 1878 he engaged in the lumber business at White Pigeon, St. Joseph county, where he car- ried on a flourishing trade for a period of seven years, then moved to Vicksburg, this county, where he traded in the same line until the forma- tion of the firm of North & Coon in 1888. Dur- ing the next six years this firm grew and flour- ished in business and in public regard, and at the end of that time was transformed into the com-
pany which now contains the same business ele- ments that created and expanded the trade and is under the same controlling spirit that has inspired the enterprise from the start and directed its course along the lines of enduring progress and safety, the business acumen and capacity of Mr. North. He united in marriage October 20, 1880, with Miss Flora M. Peck, a native of Sharon, Washtenaw county, Mich. Mrs. North is the daughter of Waite and Lucinda (Webster) Peck, who were early settlers in Washtenaw county, having come thither from Sharon, Litchfield county, Conn., where the father was born on Oc- tober 12, 1807. He died at Sharon, Mich., in 1897. A pioneer of this state, and an active worker for the advancement of its interests in every com- mendable way, he was highly esteemed by all who knew him, and especially by the people of his own county. Mr. and Mrs. North have an elegant home in Kalamazoo, which is a gem of architec- tural skill, artistic adornment and refined taste, as well as a center of considerate and generous hospitality. Three children have been born to them, William Waite, who died at the age of fourteen, Flora and Hubert L. Mr. North is a member of the Masonic order of the Knights Templar degree, and he and his family are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. Although a Republican, firm in the faith and zealous in de- sire for the success of the cause, he has never taken an active part in party politics. His busi- ness and his domestic ties, with his church rela- tions have absorbed his time and attention, and in them he has found congenial employment, profitable industry and peace of mind. Through- out the city and county in which he lives and a much larger extent of country, he is esteemed as one of Michigan's best and most serviceable citi- zens.
FRANK B. LAY.
Frank B. Lay, vice-president and treasurer of the Michigan Buggy Company, of Kalamazoo, is a native of Allegan county, this state, born on November 29, 1856. His parents, George T. and Mary (Barber) Lay, were natives of New York and Pennsylvania, respectively. The father in his
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KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
boyhood remained with his parents in Pennsyl- vania, and there he grew to manhood and at- tended the district schools, working on the pater- nal homestead until he became of age. Then, in 1843, he came to Michigan and located in Allegan county. He soon became extensively engaged in lumbering, rafting his product down the Kalama- zoo river to Lake Michigan and then shipping it to Chicago. He followed this business for a number of years, and was also engaged in farm- ing 'and handling agricultural implements. In 1883 he aided in organizing the Michigan Buggy Company, and was a director and its vice-presi- dent until his death, on March 13, 1901. He was also a stockholder in the Comstock Manufactur- ing Company. An active and enterprising busi- ness man, and highly endowed with business ca- pacity of a high order, he built up a large trade for every enterprise with which he was con- nected and accumulated a large fortune without any capital to start with, having all his worldly effects in a satchel when he reached Allegan. At the time of his death he owned more than one thousand acres of the best land in Monterey town- ship, that county, and has besides much valuable property elsewhere. He was thorough in all his work and wise in his methods, but his prosperity was due not less to patient industry than to good management. He was always deeply interested in public affairs, but he had no official connection with them because of his consistent adherence to his Democratic faith in politics. He was often nominated by his party for positions of promi- nence and great responsibility, but he failed of election because of the large adverse majority in the county. In religious faith he was an Advent- ist, and he did much for the interests of his sect both locally and in its general work. He was a gentleman of kind heart, helpful to the deserving, and strict in observance of his word as well as of his bond. His offspring numbered one son and two daughters who are living, Frank B. Lay, Mrs. Henry Lane and Mrs. E. M. Brackett. He also had two adopted children. His wife died when her son Frank was a child, and her father married a second wife who survives him. The son was reared in his native county and attended
its public schools. He afterward passed two years in the law department of the Michigan University, where he was graduated in 1878. He began business with his father, and when the buggy company was organized he became its sec- retary and treasurer, serving as such until 1903, when he was made vice-president and treasurer. He was also one of the founders of the Comstock Manufacturing Company and is now one of its directors. A few years ago he and Mr. Lane be- gan raising Shetland ponies, and they carry on this enterprise on the Riverside pony farm, which they own and on which they have an average of nearly two hundred ponies. For these they have a wide and active market. Mr. Lay is also largely interested in breeding a high grade of fine car- riage and track horses on the old homestead in Allegan county and is the owner of "Strong- wood," one of Michigan's greatest sires; "Note- boly," "Cashwood," 2:07 I-4; "Elmwood," 2:07 I<2; "The Puritan," 2:09 3-4; "Storm- wood," " 2:11 1-4; "Verna Strongwood," .(3) 2:12 I-4; "Englewood," 2:12 3-4, and many others with marks better than 2:20. ": . Mr. Lay was married in Allegan county in 1879, to Miss Mary Belle Barclay, a native of New York, but who came to Michigan when a child. They have three sons and two daughters. Mr. Lay has never been an active partisan. In church affiliation he is a Presbyterian.
M. HENRY LANE.
This energetic and progressive business man, who is president of the Michigan Buggy Com- pany, and in that has given Kalamazoo one of its best industries; has had a career of great use- fulness in this community, and although on two separate occasions has been burned out by disas- trous fires, with characteristic pluck and energy he has triumphed over all difficulties and kept his industry going, to the advantage of the city and the comfort of a large number of men whom it employs. He is a native of Cayuga county, N. Y .; born in January, 1849. In 1881 he came to Kalamazoo and organized the Kalamazoo Wagon Company, composed of himself, F. W. Myers and
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
Ira V. Hicks. In 1883 he severed his connection ,with that company and founded the Michigan Buggy Company, with which he has since been actively connected. It is a stock company, formed with a capital stock of seventy-five thousand dol- lars, which was afterward increased to one hun- dred thousand dollars. From its start Mr. Lane has been its president. The first vice-president was George T. Lay, of Allegan, and the first secretary and treasurer was F. B. Lay. They owned all the stock, and started the business in a factory which they built in 1883 in the northern part. of. the city. This was destroyed by fire in 1896, with a loss of sixty-three thousand dollars, on which they had an insurance of only forty thousand dollars. They at once enlarged a small factory which they'owned and continued the busi- ness. After greatly enlarging this plant and com- pleting its equipment with all the most approved machinery for their work it was also destroyed ·by fire, the loss on this occasion being two hun- dred and forty-nine thousand dollars and the in- surance eighty thousand dollars. The blow was a serious one, but, nothing daunted, they began immediately to rebuild, erecting the present fac- tory along the Grand Rapids and Indiana Rail- road south of the city, where they own a tract of four hundred acres of land, the greater part of which is platted, adding vastly to the growth and wealth of the city. The plant they now operate is nearly twice as large as the old one, and they turn out over twenty thousand buggies and twelve thousand cutters in a year, which are sold in all parts of this country and in many foreign lands. Mr. Lane is one of the most energetic business men in the state, knowing no weariness or cessation from toil in conducting his various enterprises. He is a stockholder in the Comstock Manufacturing Company and the Kalamazoo Rec- reation Park, and was at one time a stockholder in the First National Bank. He is also exten- sively interested in farming, operating over six hundred acres of his own land and five hundred in company with Mr. Lay. He belongs to the National Carriage Builders' Association and has served as its vice-president. In political affairs he takes a. lively interest as a Republican, and
through his zeal in all public af tirs rendered very ·effective and satisfactory servi e as a member of the World's Fair Board in 1804. His home in Kalamazoo is one of the finest in the state, hav- ing been built at a cost of over sixty thousand dollars.
In 1895 Mr. Lane organized a company for the construction of the Chicago & Kalamazoo Terminal Railroad. This great enterprise will be completed as a belt line around the city of Kalamazoo, and will be a great advantage to busi- ness and the people of the community.
GARDNER T. EAMES.
This prominent and enterprising manufacturer and mill man may-almost be said to have been born to the purple in mechanics, and to have en- tered upon his inheritance in this useful line of productive industry in his childhood, as his fa- ther was for many years devoted to this work and made a record of great credit in it. Mr. Eames, who is the present owner of the Eames · Machine Shops, on Michigan and Asylum ave- nues in Kalamazoo, was born in that city on March 9, 1851, and is the son of Lovett and Lucy C. (Morgan) Eames, both natives of Wa- tertown, N. Y. The father was an expert on hydraulics and built the first system in his native town, where he also owned a saw mill and ma- chine shop. Before coming to this state he became a teacher in the Belleville Academy and continued in that useful vocation a number of years. In 1831 he moved to Kalamazoo county and bought a tract of land on Grand Prairie on which he set- tled, and soon afterward erected a water power on the River road, where he put up a saw mill which he conducted some time, then moved to the city of Kalamazoo. In 1844 he built a home in the city opposite the college, which is still in the possession of his family. In 1833 he erected the Eames Mill, which was used in the manufacture of linseed oil, and he had a saw mill in connec- tion with the plant. Later he turned the plant into a machine shop and foundry and engaged largely in the manufacture. of saw-mill machin- ery. . He built the first hydraulic water system in
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KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
this part of thecountry in 1863, and this sup- plied the State Fa?r Grounds with water, but soon after its complet on and before the end of that year he died. He was a true born mechanic or machinist, and turned the inventive genius with which he was largely endowed to the production of labor saving and producing devices, inventing among other things the square auger which is now in general use and which he perfected and placed on the market in 1862. He was exten- sively engaged in business, operating saw mills in various parts of the state and conducting other enterprises in collateral lines. 'At Watertown, N. Y., in 1831, he was married to Miss Lucy Morgan, a daughter of Elder Morgan, a Baptist clergyman. She was for years a teacher in the Lowville, N. Y., Academy, and had among her pupils Hon. B. F. Taylor and other men who afterward rose to distinction. After her arrival in Michigan she taught school a year at Ann Arbor, living there with her brother, Elijah W. Morgan, a pioneer of that city. Her mind was keenly alive to the benefits of literary organiza- tions and the means of supplying them with in- formation and stimulus to study, and in company with Mrs. Webster, Mrs. Stone, and other ladies of breadth of view and enterprise, organized the Ladies' Library Association, of which she was a valued official for a long time. The family com- prised six sons and two daughters, and of these, three of the sons and the two daughters are living. Their mother died in June, 1900. One of her sons fought through the Civil war as a member of the Second Michigan Infantry. Her son, Gardner T. Eames, the immediate subject of this review, was educated in the schools of Kalama- zoo, and at the age of thirteen became an appren- tice in the office of the Kalamazoo Telegraph. He afterward became a" machinist and has fol- lowed this craft-ever since. His first venture was in the manufacture of hubs and spokes in the old factory, where he started în 1868. In 1887 he began the "manufacture of' wooden pulleys and sometime afterward of drill grinders. He has steadfastly adhered to his chösen lines of enter- prise and has made the business profitable to him- self ' and extensively . serviceable to his commu-
nity, owning now one of the leading and most characteristic manufacturing establishments in the state, and ever maintaining the high standard of excellence for which its products are widely renowned. In 1881 he united in marriage with Miss Fannie Vinton, a native of Cincinnati. They have had one son, who is deceased. The Eames family came to New England in early colonial days and for many generations they lived in that section of the country, gradually moving to other portions of the country as they were opened to settlement, until their name and prominence is recognized in many parts of the West, and their members have dignified and adorned every walk of life, bearing their part well and wisely in all the duties of citizenship in peace and war, and performing every duty with skill and fidelity.
GILES CHITTENDEN BURNHAM.
The statement is as true as it is old, that death loves a shining mark, and it is amply exemplified in the departure from this life of the late Giles Chittenden Burnham, of Kalamazoo, who was one of the best known business men in the city. He was born at Saline, this state, on August 7, 1830, the son of Hiram G. and Minerva (Chit- tenden) Burnham, both natives of Vermont. The father was a civil engineer and brought his fam- ily to Michigan in 1830, not long before the birth of the son Giles. He settled at Saline, and soon afterward began surveying in the northern part of the state where he did a great deal of profes- sional work. Early in the '5os he went to Cali- fornia and there he died of cholera. The mother died some years later of cholera. They had two sons and one daughter, all now deceased. Mr. Burnham's paternal grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and made a good rec- ord in the field and' on the march. Giles Burn- ham was reared and educated in this state, re- ceiving the greater part of his scholastic training in the public schools. His first real work in life for pay was ås an assistant to his father in sur- veying, and in this he became very familiar with all northern Michigan. He also accompanied his father : to California, where he passed one year
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
working in the mines. He then returned to Mich- igan and located at Battle Creek, where for a number of years he was in the employ of the American Express Company. In 1860 he re- moved to Detroit, and after remaining there six years changed his residence to Kalamazoo, and here he lived until his death, on March 1, 1900. He took a great and active interest in the welfare of the city, especially its educational and religious institutions, and as a prominent member and ves- tryman of St. Luke's church he was well known in church circles. He aided liberally in building the church, and to the end of his life he gave its interests his earnest and careful attention. In 1864, when the Civil war was nearing its close. but when the end was not yet definitely deter- mined, he enlisted in the Union army, but his company was never called into service. The later years of his life were passed in practical retire- ment from active pursuits, but in earnest consid- eration for the good of others, who were still in the ardent struggle of business industry. In June, 1864. he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Horton, a daughter of Harrison F. Horton, who was among the first men to invest money at Battle Creek, he building the first residence and the first stone structure there. He was a merchant in New York city and passed his time there and in Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Burnham had three children, one son and two daughters. The son has died, but the daughters, Annie H. and Madge M., are living and at home with their mother. Mrs. Burnham is a lady of well-known practica! benevolence, and is particularly active in the good works instituted and conducted by St. Luke's church. Her contributions to the church in all factors of its benevolence have been generous and are highly appreciated.
HUNTINGTON M. MARVIN.
The late Huntington M. Marvin, of Augusta, this county, who died in 1896, at the age of sev- enty-seven, after fifty-six years of useful man- hood had rounded out their full course in his ca- reer, fifty-two of them in this state and sixteen in Kalamazoo county, was a native of Erie
county, N. Y., born on November 17, 1819, and the son of Samuel and Abigail ( Bulliss) Marvin, the place of whose nativity was Orange county, in the same state. True to every requirement of manly duty, the father was an industrious black- smith in times of peace and also a farmer ; and when the war cloud darkened over the land in 1812, he left his forge for the camp and battle- field in defense of his country, and during the short, but sharp, conflict for independence on the scas, saw active service at the front. His wife died in Genesee county, N. Y., carly in the '40s. and soon afterward, that is in 1843, he migrated to Orange county with the members of his fam- ily then at home, making the journey by ox team, and from there to Erie county. Subsequently he brought his family to Michigan, coming to Cal- houn county, where he lived until his death at Bedford. He had three sons and three daughters, all of whom are now dead. Huntington M. Mar- vin grew to manhood in his native state and there received a common-school education. After leaving school he learned the blacksmith trade under the direction of his father, and at this he wrought in New York until 1844. In that year he was united in marriage with Miss Lucinda C. Riley, of Genesec county, where the marriage oc- curred, and soon afterward came to Michigan and bought a farm in Calhoun county. This he cleared and improved, then sold it and moved to Battle Creek, where he engaged in merchandising for a number of years. Later he erected a grist mill at Bedford which he operated for a period of twenty years, after which he built two stores and a hotel there. In 1880 he took up his resi- dence at Augusta, this county, purchasing a mill there, which he operated until his death in 1896. He and his wife were the parents of two chil- dren, one of whom is living, their son Henry M., a successful business man of Augusta (see sketch of him on another page). Mr. Marvin was a Democrat in political allegiance, but while al- ways giving his party an earnest and loyal sup- port, he never aspired to public office, being well content to serve his county and state from the honorable post of private citizenship, and lend his aid to local improvement without regard to
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party considerations. He was a prosperous and substantial man, owning several farms in this and Calhoun counties, and conducting for many years a private bank at Augusta. The son took his place in business and also in public esteem as a worthy and useful citizen, showing at all times an honest zeal for the public good and a diligent and intelligent activity in promoting it.
· WILLARD W. OLIVER.
This well and favorably known early settler in Comstock township, this county, was a na- tive of Monroe county, N. Y., born on July 14, 1836. His parents, William and Esther (Myers) Oliver, were also born and reared in New York, and were prosperous farmers there. The father was also an extensive dealer in horses and handled a large number of them each year. Both parents died in their native state. They had a family of two sons and one daughter, all of whom are now dead. Willard passed his boyhood and youth at Leroy, New York, attending the common schools in the neighborhood of his home and assisting in the work of the farm. After leav- ing school he engaged in business at Caledonia, New York, until 1859, then came to Michigan, and after a short stay in Kalamazoo located at Lawton, Van Buren county, where he lived sev- eral years. Returning to Kalamazoo, he remained until 1878, then purchased the farm in Comstock township on which he lived until his death, in 1899. He was married in New York on Septem- ber 26, 1859, to Miss Mary H. Green, a native of Caledonia, in that state. Her father, who was a native of Vermont and a soldier in the war of 1812, came to Michigan many years before his death and passed the remainder of his life in Oshtemo township, this county, where he died. The mother afterward passed away at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Oliver. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver had three children, all of whom have died but their son, Burton W., who was born in Kalama- zoo April 15, 1876, and was married on June 25, 1903, to Miss Georgia Ryder, a daughter of
Richard Ryder, of this county. Willard W. Oliver had an adopted daughter, Florence M., now Mrs. George W. Shafe, of Galesburg. Mr. Oliver, although he supported the Democratic party in national affairs, was not an active politi- cian and never held or desired a political office of any kind. He was an attendant of the People's church, and throughout the county he was well known and generally respected. For some years before his death he was in business in Chicago, where he also had a large circle of acquaintances and friends.
FORD MANUFACTURING COMPANY.
This company, which is one of the valued en- terprises of Kalamazoo, the only one of its kind in the city and the first to start in this section of the state, is a private corporation wholly owned by Charles B. Ford. Its work is the manufacture of buggy and auto bodies, fanning mills and wood novelties of various kinds .. It was founded in May, 1891, by Messrs. Ford and Pennington, and was conducted by them on Water street until 1896, when Mr. Pennington died. Mr. Ford then purchased the whole business and he has contin- ued it ever since with an increasing volume of trade and profit. In 1899 he built and moved to his present factory south of the city on the line of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad. The nature, and variety of his output enables him to supply the wants of the business world and the devotee of pleasure in several ways not otherwise easily attainable in this part of the country, and he has extensive sales of his products in this and adjoining states. Mr. Ford was born June, 1848, in Monroe county, N. Y., and there he grew to manhood. and learned the trade of a carpenter. In 1872 he came to Michigan and located at Lan- sing, where he worked in a sash and blind factory seven years, then in 1879. moved to Galesburg, this county, where he remained until 1887. In that year he became a resident of Kalamazoo and four years later founded the business in which he is now engaged. He employs thirty-five per- sons in his factory and a number on the road, and
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