USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > Compendium of history and biography of Kalamazoo County, Mich. > Part 50
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
known as Weeks & Dean. Some years later he bought the interest of Dr. Dean, and from that time until his death, on August 8, 1903, carried on the business alone. It suffered no diminution in attention or enterprise, for he had sole charge of it from the beginning. He kept a good stock of drugs and was skillful and careful in com- pounding them, and thus he had the confidence and esteem of the community throughout his busi- ness career at this place. In 1875 he was mar- ried to Miss Charlotte Eaton, a native of Alle- gany county, N. Y., and daughter of Marenus and Laura (Scott) Eaton. Two children were born of their union, their daughter Elizabeth and their son Robert E. The latter is now a practic- ing physician at Augusta, having been graduated from the Detroit College of Medicine in 1904. He also conducts the drug business founded by his father. The father was a leading citizen of the village and served a number of years on its board of trustees and in various school offices. He belonged to the Masonic order in lodge and Royal Arch chapter, holding his membership in the bodies of the order at Galesburg.
LORENZO F. BROWN.
At a time in the history of this country when hosts of adventurous men were flocking by every route and conveyance to the gold fields of Cali- fornia, lured thither by the recent discovery of the precious metals in great quantity there, and the hope of securing fabulous fortunes in a short time, the parents of Lorenzo F. Brown, one of the prosperous and enterprising merchants of Augusta, this county, followed the spirit of ad- venture into this state, seeking an improvement in their condition, which they knew could be achieved only by long continued and arduous labor and a life of privation and stern endurance.
But their courage was as high and their deter- mination as resolute as those of any of the "forty- niners," who braved the dangers of the plains on their way to the golden shores of the Pacific coast, for they confronted equal perils and pri- vations, and without the chance of as speedy re- turns for their daring. They were William and
2I
374
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
. Susanna ( Crossman) Brown, natives of the state of New York, and prosperous farmers there. But in 1849, finding the offers of Michigan to new settlers full of promise and practically irresistible, they sold out their holdings in the land of their birth, and through many tribulations and over great difficulties, made their way to this state, where they purchased a tract of wild land in Cal- houn county, which they cleared up and lived on until the death of the father in 1867, the mother afterward dying at the home of her son, Lorenzo, in 1872. They had a family of four sons and two daughters, and of these two of the sons and one of the daughters are living, Lorenzo and his sis- ter Mary E. being residents of Augusta. Lo- renzo reached man's estate on the Calhoun county farm: and in the neighboring common schools received his education. He remained with his parents, working on the farm, until 1867. Then removing to Augusta, he engaged in the sale of farming implements for a number of years. At the end of this period he became a traveling salesman, handling the B. S. Williams & Company wind mill. In this engagement his work was hard, but his success was gratifying and creditable. His territory covered seventeen states, and as he was offering a much-needed and popular commodity, his sales were commensurate with his efforts. In 1894 he started a grain busi- ness of his own, in which he has since been con- tinuously engaged and with great success. Mean- while he has given close and intelligent attention to all the duties of citizenship and performed with fidelity his part in building up his village and township. He has served as township treasurer and filled several village offices ; has been an in- fluential force in business and social circles, and on all occasions has shown a commendable en- terprise in behalf of the improvement of his sec- tion and the promotion of its best interests. Hav- ing come to Augusta at the age of twenty-nine and lived in the village now thirty-eight years, he has devoted the best years and energies of his life to this community, and his services have been of great and well-recognized value. He is held in the highest esteem by all classes of the people as one of their leading and most representative men.
WILLIAM STRONG.
Starting in life as a farmer in his young man- hood, William Strong, of Kalamazoo township, this county, has steadfastly withstood all tempta- tions to engage in other pursuits and adhered to the vocation of the old patriarchs, and he has thereby risen to consequence in a worldly way and gained the lasting esteem and good will of his large circle of friends and acquaintances and the general public in his county. He was born in Geauga county, Ohio, on December 3. 1838, the son of Tertius and Mariette (Baker) Strong, natives of Hampshire county, Mass. The father was a Congregational minister and devoted many years of his life to the sacred work in his native state. In 1836 he started with his family to Mich- igan, but they halted at Huntsburg, Geauga county, Ohio, where the father assisted in build- ing a church. In 1839 the family, consisting of the parents and two sons, came to Kalamazoo county and located on the farm now owned and occupied by William. It was then all wild and unbroken, and they had before them the arduous duty of reducing it to cultivation and making a home of it. The father was without means and at first squatted on the land, which was school land and which he afterward purchased. The first plow had a wooden mouldboard covered with sheet iron. Here he resided until his death in 1898, his wife having died some years before that time. The family then comprised five sons and one daughter, and of these four of the sons are living. Prior to the Civil war the father was a pronounced abolitionist and was active in support of the "Underground Railway" for the aid of fugitive slaves. He also took an active part in the church work of the early days in the county, and was in many respects one of the most use- ful of our pioneer citizens. His father, Paul Strong, grandfather of William, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and for years after that event conducted a hotel on the top of Mount Holyoke. The city of Florence now stands on his old farm. William Strong grew to manhood and was edu- cated in this township, attending the district schools and the Baptist College in Kalamazoo.
375
KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
He began life as a farmer, purchasing a tract of land adjoining the old homestead which he has since bought, in addition to his own. Here he has developed his property and made a steady advance in prosperity and public esteem. He is a Republican in political faith, but he has never been an active partisan or an office seeker. In 1860 he was married to Miss Sarah L. Scott, who died in 1878, leaving three children, Ella C., wife of Willis Anderson, of this county, Charles F., a resident of Kalamazoo township, and Helen, wife of George L. Smith. On September 15, 1881, Mr. Strong married a second wife, Mrs. Sarah A. Briggs, a native of Allegan county and the widow of a Union soldier in the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Strong are active church workers, and have a prominent place in all the benevolent un- dertakings around them. Mr. Strong edited the agricultural department of the Kalamazoo Tele- graph for a number of years and was later cou- nected with the News in the same capacity.
EDWARD STRONG.
Edward Strong, a highly respected pioneer of Kalamazoo county and now serving his thirty- seventh consecutive year as its accomplished and highly serviceable surveyor, was born near Mt. Holyoke, Mass., on December 31, 1836. He is a brother of William Strong, of this county, in whose sketch, found elsewhere in this work. an account of the history of their parents is given. In his childhood Mr. Strong moved with his parents to Geauga county, Ohio, and after a residence of three years there came with them to Michigan, making the journey by way of the old canal to Detroit, and from there through the almost trackless wilderness by teams to Kala- mazoo, then a frontier hamlet, surrounded by wild woods and untamed Indians. In the midst of this almost primeval solitude, he passed his boyhood and youth, his playmates being young Indians and the very few white children then living in this neighborhood. The development of his mind was directed in the primitive schools of the day, kept in the uncanny and uncomfort- able log school houses scattered through the
wilds at long intervals, but being of a studious nature he persevered in his efforts to acquire an education, and was rewarded for his persistency with a course at Kalamazoo College, from which he was graduated in 1859. He then passed a year in the self-developing vocation of teaching a country school, and devoted his spare time to the study of surveying. He mastered the science completely, and also became a man of wide read- ing and extensive general information. The school he taught was at Charleston, Ill., and at the close of his term he returned to this county and engaged in farming, a pursuit he has steadily adhered to ever since. In 1867 he was elected county surveyor, and he has been chosen to this office at every election since then, excepting some years as deputy under Mr. Hodgman. He has also served Allegan county two years in the same capacity. In his long official course he has done much work of importance, and the excellence of his service has been universally admitted with high commendation from every source of popu- lar approval. In 1860 he was married to Miss Phebe J. Chapman, a native of the state of New York, and at the time of her marriage engaged in teaching school, she having been educated at Kalamazoo College. In political allegiance Mr. Strong is a stanch Republican, serving at times as chairman of the township organization of the party. He has also served two terms as drain -. age. commissioner. Pursuing peacefully and without ostentation his chosen work in cultivat- ing the soil, and doing valuable work in the two offices he has held, both of which are in the line of his profession, he has witnessed the growing wealth and development of the county around him, participating helpfully in bringing about the almost phenomenal results he has witnessed, and rejoicing in the progress and his opportunity to contribute to it. The transformation, although marvelous, has been so steady and normal and natural that it has gone on almost unnoticed save by such old-timers as he who saw the country in its original condition. His recital of the changes time has wrought would read like a romance, and would be startling if it were not like so many similar cases in American history, especially in
376
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
the West. It would prove what has been well said of our country, that it was the great charity of God to the human race.
EDWARD F. CURTENIUS.
This active and progressive farmer and pub lic spirit, to whom prominence has come through merit in his young manhood, who is now serving as supervisor of Kalamazoo township, was born in the township on August 22, 1865. His par- ents, Charles C. and Phebe (Smith) Curtenius, were born at Glens Falls, Warren county, N. Y., and in Derbyshire, England, respectively. The paternal grandfather was Col. F. W. Curtenius, a sketch of whom will be found in another place in this work. Charles C. Curtenius, father of Ed- ward, came to Kalamazoo county with his parents when he was but one year old, and he grew to manhood on the farm on which his son now lives and was born. He began his education in the dis- trict schools and later attended the Baptist College in Kalamazoo and a college at Spring Arbor. After leaving college he returned to the farm and lived there until the spring of 1890, when he took up his residence in Kalamazoo, where he lived un- til his death on July 15, 1902, and where his widow is now living. She was born in Yorkshire, England, and came to this county when fifteen years of age, and here she grew to womanhood and was married, the marriage taking place in 1862. They had two children, their son Ed- ward and their daughter Elizabeth, who lives with her mother in the city. During all of his mature life the father was a leader in political affairs as a Republican, and he was chosen to a number of important offices. He served nine years as highway commissioner of the village and township of Kalamazoo and five as super- visor. He was also for ten years a member of the city council, being chairman of the com- mittee on streets and bridges, and for a time street commissioner of the city. His church af- filiation was. with the Presbyterians and he was a liberal supporter of his sect. He also belonged to the First Light Guard and the Prize Drill Com- pany. In all the relations of life and in every
official station he bore himself creditably, winning commendation for his public spirit and breadth of view and for his fidelity to duty on all occa- sions. His son Edward was reared on the pater- nal farm and received his scholastic training in the public schools and at the Baptist College. He also took a special course at Parson's Business College. After finishing his education, like his father he returned to the home farm and he has had charge of it ever since. In 1892 he united in marriage with Miss Ellen Mclaughlin, a native of this county. They have one child, their daughter Alice M. Mr. Curtenius has served as township supervisor since 1899, and has also served two years as township treasurer. Almost from the dawn of his manhood he has been promi- nent and influential in the councils of his political party, the Republican, and has on many occasions been sent as a delegate to its county and state con- ventions. In his representative capacities, both as a delegate to the conventions of his party and in the offices he has filled, he has won the approval and good will of the people, who find in him a wise, capable and energetic man of high charac- ter and unusual promise.
WILLIAM F. MONTAGUE.
Having come to live in Kalamazoo county in 1858, when he was but nine years old, and having lived here continuously during the forty-six years that have passed since then, with his life flowing in a constant stream of active service to the county and its people, William F. Montague is now one of the oldest remaining settlers of the county, and is justly esteemed as one of its most useful citizens. He is now living on a fine farm in Kalamazoo township, which shows on every hand the benefits of his well applied industry, and in the full vigor of his mature powers of man hood is peaceably conducting the business to which he is devoted, and looking forward to the evening of his day with the consciousness that he has "such things as should accompany old age, as honor, love, obedience and troops of friends," which his modesty would forbid him to think but which his numerous acquaintances and neighbors
-
377
KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
say he richly deserves. Mr. Montague was born on August 6, 1849, in Hampshire county, Mass., at the town of Hadley. His parents, Stephen F. and Lucy W. (Kellogg ) Montague, were born and reared in the same place as himself, and re- moved from there to the state of New York, where the father engaged in railroading, being a conductor on the old Albany & Northern Rail- road until 1858. The family then came to Michi- gan, and located in this county, the father pur- chasing the old Eames farm on Grand Prairie, on which his parents passed the remainder of their days, the father dying in June, 1885, and the mother in 1886. Their only child was their son. William. He grew to manhood on the home- stead, and was educated in the common and high schools of this county. He remained at home as- sisting his parents on the farm until 1876, when he was appointed under sheriff of the county by Sheriff Charles Gibbs, and at the close of his term he was reappointed by Mr. Gibbs' successor, John Galligan. He also served as assistant post- master under A. J. Shakespeare for one year. In 1886 he was elected sheriff for a term of two years, and at its close he returned to his farm, . on which he has lived ever since. In addition to the offices above named, he has served as super- visor of his township and as township treasurer. Mr. Montague is now serving his third year as president of its Farmers' Mutual Insurance Com- pany. On May 9, 1876, he was married to Miss Susan A. Latta, a daughter of Albert and Lois (Orton) Latta, pioneers of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Montague have three children, Lucy Charles F. and Ida. In politics the head of the house is an unwavering Democrat, and has high rank and considerable influence in the councils of his party. Fraternally he is a Knight of the Maccabees and a Knight of Pythias. With an abiding interest in the welfare of his section and a thorough adaptability to its people and its in- stitutions, although inheriting the traditions of an older portion of the country, he has sedulously devoted himself to the performance of every pub- lic and private duty, and in so doing has con- tributed essentially and substantially to the progress and improvement of his county and
state. Kalamazoo county has no more worthy citizen, and none who is held in more general esteem.
GEORGE N. DRAKE.
George N. Drake, of Kalamazoo county, al- though the son of the first settlers in Oshtemo township, was born in the county on February 7, 1835. His father, Benjamin Drake, the son of a sea captain who died when the son was a child, was a native of New Jersey, born in 1787. The story of his life is told at some length in the sketch of his son, Francis Drake, to be found elsewhere in this work. After making a fortune in the lumber business on the Delaware river, he lost his all through the war of 1812 and was obliged to make a new start, which he did by working on farms for a time in his native state. He then moved to Ohio, and after living there a short time moved to Michigan, locating at New- port, St. Clair county, where he passed six years buying and selling cattle and working a farm on shares. The summer of 1835 he spent traveling over northern Indiana, looking for a location in which he could have timber, prairie and water in a suitable proportion. He then walked from Kal- amazoo to White Pigeon to enter his land, which was not then in the market but still contained a village of three hundred Pottawatomie Indians. The site he selected was section 13, Oshtemo township, and in 1831, one year after he settled on it, he secured a title from the government, and this wild land he improved and cultivated until he made it during his life one of the best farms in the state. He had but little trouble with the Indians, his life being threatened by two of them but once, and in their friendly spirit they helped him to build a small house as a dwelling for his family. The elder Drake was an influ- ential and respected man and lived in the com- munity he chose as his home until he reached the age of ninety-six, dying on his farm in Septem- ber, 1883, his wife dying three years later, aged eighty-nine. Their family comprised four sons and four daughters, all of whom are now de- ceased except George M., the subject of this re- view. He was reared on the home farm, and re-
378
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
mained under the parental roof until reaching his majority. He then engaged in shipping live stock in the winter and farming in the summer, purchasing of his father two hundred and four acres of land, on which he still makes his home. and on which he has made all the improvements, transforming a tract of uncultivated land into a splendid and well developed farm. In addition to his farming in a general way, he has been an extensive dealer in live stock, and in both has been very successful. In politics he supports the Republican party ; but he has never been an ac- tive partisan, or sought public office. Frater- nally he is a Master Mason, holding his member- ship in Kalamazoo Lodge, No. 22. He was edu-
cated in the public schools and the seminary at Kalamazoo. For some years before the Civil war he was a member of the state militia, but when the war began he furnished a substitute to serve for him as he was unable to leave home on account of the care required for his father, and his large business interests. On December 16. 1892, he was married to Miss Nettie Allen, a na- tive of Barry county, this state. They have two children, George O. and Elizabeth, both living. The Drake family is of English ancestry, and has been resident in this country from early colonial times. In Kalamazoo county they have been prominent and very influential for good.
THE KALAMAZOO SANITARIUM.
This excellent and widely useful institution, the first of its kind in Kalamazoo county and one of the most successful to be found anywhere, was founded in 1893 with a long list of progressive, broad-minded and public-spirited medical men as its founders, among whom were Doctors C. A. Fletcher, J. H. Mckibben, A. L. Lake, Joseph S. Ayers, R. P. Beebe, M. L. Towsley, R. Pengelry, N. E. Leighton, A. W. Hendricks, F. C. Myers, J. L. W. Young, Ed A. Bolyett, J. M. Ayers, M. B. Mckinney, L. H. B. Pierce, W. H. Sherman, N. B. Sherman, W. B. Southard and Frank H. Tyler, all of them residents of Kalamazoo. Un- der the liberal policy on which it was founded and the wisdom that has distinguished its man-
agement the institution has flourished and its great services to suffering humanity and the com- munity in which it is located can be better im- agined that set forth in specific terms. Dr. C. A. Fletcher, the leading spirit in founding it and from its organization its directing and inspiring force, is a native of Kalamazoo county, born in 1861 on a farm six miles southeast of the city. He is the son of Charles M. and Phebe C. (Cox) Fletcher, the former born in Vermont and the latter in New York. The father, a merchant, came to Michigan in 1840 and settled at Comstock, this county, where he was engaged in the grocery trade for many years. Late in his life he moved to Kalamazoo, and here he died in 1900. While taking no special interest in partisan politics, such was his influence and force of character, and so widely and highly was he esteemed, that he was frequently chosen to local offices of importance, and in all he justified the confidence of those who advocated his election. The mother is still living. Their family comprised one son and one daugh- ter, both of whom are residents of Kalamazoo. The Doctor began his scholastic training in the city public schools and finished it at Kalamazoo College, where he was graduated in 1883. He be- gan the study of medicine under direction of Doctor Hitchcock, and in 1884 entered the scien- tific department of the State University at Ann Arbor, where he secured the degree of Master of Science in 1885 and that of Doctor of Medicine in 1888. After practicing a year in Wisconsin he went to Chicago and entered the Rush Medi- cal College and the Cook County Hospital, also taking a course in homeopathy in the Chicago Medical College. In 1890 he returned to Kala- mazoo and engaged in general practice until the organization of the sanitarium, since when he has been actively connected with this institution. He is a member of the Tri-State Medical Society, the Roentgen X-Ray Association, and the National and American Microscopical Associations. He is also a prominent member of the Association for the Advancement of Science. Deeply and intelli- gently interested in the welfare of his home city, he has consented at considerable personal sacri- fice to serve as alderman, and finding pleasure
379
KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
and profit of an intellectual and social character in fraternal life, he has long been an active Free- mason of the Knight Templar degree and also a Knight of Pythias. He was married in Wiscon- sin, on September 13, 1888, to Miss Alice M. Al- bert, a native of Illinois. They have one son and one daughter.
THOMAS WILSON BARNARD.
The late Thomas Wilson Barnard, who died in 1876, after living forty-four years in this county and assisting in its development and im- provement, was a native of Rockingham county, N. H., born in 1810. His parents, Moses and Nancy (Wilson) Barnard, were also natives of New Hampshire, where they farmed for a num- ber of years, then in 1816 moved to Allegany county, N. Y., where they remained engaged in the same pursuit until 1833, then came to Michi- gan, where they died many years afterward. Mr. Barnard's grandfather, Moses Barnard, was a native of England, who came to this county prior to the Revolution. In the contest between the mother country and her colonies he espoused warmly the cause of the latter, and made good his faith by shouldering his musket and joining the colonial armies in the field. He became a large landholder in New Hampshire and Maine, and was to the end of his days always called Colonel Barnard, a title he gained in his gallant military service. The maternal grandfather Wilson was also a Revolutionary soldier, and made a good record in the war. Both died in New Hamp- shire. Thomas Wilson Barnard was reared and educated in the state of New York, going there with his parents when he was but six years old, and after leaving school farmed in that state until 1832, when he started with a company of emi- grants for Michigan. They made the trip with ox teams by the way of Detroit in true pioneer style, and on arriving in this county Mr. Barn- ard, being without means, found employment in helping to raise and build the old Kalamazoo Hotel. Soon afterward he secured the farm now owned by his daughter, Miss Marian, and built a little log dwelling on it, then sent for the rest
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.