USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > Compendium of history and biography of Kalamazoo County, Mich. > Part 61
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
the breaking out of the Civil war. He then, in 1861, enlisted in defense of the Union in the Sec- ond Ohio Independent Light Artillery, which was soon assigned to duty under General Fre- mont in the Army of the Southwest. Mr. Ran- dall served eighteen months in the battery and during this time took part in the battle of Pea Ridge and other engagements of moment, and at the end of the period was transferred to the ma- rine fleet under General Elliott. This branch of the service patrolled the Mississippi and its tribu- taries until 1865 and saw much active and dan- gerous service along the river banks and on their waters. Mr. Randall held the rank of corporal when mustered out of the service. In 1866 he came to Michigan, and in this section he has had his home ever since. For some years he was domiciled at Pine Grove as the manager for Ev- erett & Wise in connection with their farm, and for the past eleven years has resided in Osh- temo township. He was married in Oliio in 1860 to Miss Susan Butts, a native of Pennsyl- vania. They have seven children, Laura, George, Jennie. Will and Luella, twins, Nettie and Myr- tle. In politics the father is a Republican and in fraternal life a Freemason, and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. The church affiliation of himself and his wife is with the Free Baptists.
ARTHUR STRONG.
Born in Kalamazoo township on March 31, 1841, Arthur Strong has passed the whole of his life so far within the limits of the county, con- tributing to its substantial welfare and progress and the wealth and prosperity of its people by helping to develop and improve two good farms, by faithful service as a teacher in its public schools and by careful and appreciated tenure of several official positions of great trust and importance. He is a son of Tertius Strong and a brother of William and Edward Strong, more extended no- tice of whom is given on other pages of this vol- ume. He aided his parents in clearing and im- proving the homestead and lived on it until he reached the age of thirty-one years. He was edu- cated in the district schools and at Kalamazoo
452
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
College, and then taught school for a period of sixteen consecutive years during the winters, working on the farm in the summers. In 1872 he moved to Oshtemo township, and after remain- ing there three years passed the next two in Kala- mazoo township. In 1878 he moved to the farm on which he now lives in Oshtemo and which has ever since been his home. This he has improved from a very immature condition and brought it to a high state of cultivation. The land is of ex- cellent quality and he has applied to it all the more advanced methods of husbandry, assisting the bounty of nature with systematic and wisely be- stowed industry, and he has his reward in one of the most attractive and productive farms and comfortable homes in the township. In 1872 he united in marriage with Miss Fannie Anderson, a daughter of Duncan and Mary ( Beckley) An- derson, respected pioneers of Kalamazoo county. Five children, Albert, Wilfred, Mary Ettie, Wal- ter and Janet, have been born in the household and all are living. Mr. Strong is a Lincoln Re- publican and has been zealous, carnest and con- stant in the service of his party. He has been found so capable, upright and worthy of confi- dence that he has been chosen by his fellow citi- zens to fill a number of local offices, serving as township treasurer, school inspector and justice of the peace. In all these positions he has well justified the faith shown in his election and made a creditable record of usefulness and wise ad- ministration. He and his wife are members of the Free Baptist church. Although native here, he has shown the fiber of which he is made by his readiness in taking up and carrying forward the work of development begun by the first set- tlers and has held the family name always up to the high standard won for it by its Michigan founders.
FRANK COLEMAN.
Frank Coleman, who has passed all of the fifty-one years of his life on the farm which is his present home, is one of the best known and most respected citizens of Oshtemo township. His father, William H. Coleman, was born in Orange county, N. Y., and the mother, whose
maiden name was Amanda Owen, at Bethel, Vt., the former coming into the world in 1813 and the latter in 1807. . The father passed his early life in his native state, during some years being em- ployed by the Erie canal riding a horse along the towpath to draw a boat. In 1833 the family moved to this state, and located in Kalamazoo. For a number of years thereafter the father was engaged in teaming between Kalamazoo and Jackson. In 1836 he entered government land in Oshtemo township in partnership with his brother, Anson. They built a log cabin on the Indian trail between Kalamazoo and Paw Paw, and set to work to clear their land and make it productive. It was all wild and unbroken, and surrounded by the dense forest which was still inhabited by Indians and wild beasts. There was plenty of wild game here then, and the elder Coleman, being a great hunter, prospered in serv- ing the settlers around with the fruits of his en- terprise in this respect. The second eighty acres of land owned by him was purchased from the sale of caps made by his wife of the tips of wild turkey feathers, which she sold to W. B. Clark, and with the proceeds bought two steer calves. These she sold later and purchased this land. Mr. Coleman lived to clear his farm and get it into good condition, dying on it in 1886, his wife pass- ing away in the spring of 1887. He was a de- vout member of the Methodist Episcopal church, being the first class leader of that denomination in Kalamazoo. Their family comprised three sons and three daughters, all living but two of the daughters. The father was a strong Aboli- tionist in political faith, and he encouraged the cause of freedom for the Southern slaves in all practicable ways. Frank Coleman, who was born on the home place on which he now lives, as has been noted, came into being on June 29, 1853. He reached maturity in Oshtemo township and was educated in the common schools and at the Baptist College in Kalamazoo. Farming and dealing in stock from his youth, he has prospered in both lines of activity, and is now one of the substantial and progressive citizens of his town- ship, well esteemed on all sides, and with a help- ful and healthful influence in all matters of pub-
453
KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
lic improvement and the general advancement of with whom he remained two years doing chores for his board and going to school. He then worked on the farm some time, after which he became a traveling salesman for J. W. Colman, a merchant of Rochester, remaining in his employ fifteen the county: In November, 1883, he was married to Miss Louise K. Rix, a daughter of Daniel K. Rix, one of the respected pioneers of Texas township." They 'have four children, Leon, Dan- iel, Eunice " and Margaret. Mr. Coleman is a > months. At the end of that period he again tried Republican in politics. He and his wife belong to the Baptist church.
JOHN H. HOBDEN.
John H. Hobden, who is well known and prominent in Oshtemo township, this county, in farming and stock-raising circles as one of the leading men in those lines of activity, and has a high standing in the respect of all classes of the citizens of his neighborhood, was born at Roches- ter, N. Y., on September 4, 1833. His father, when a young man, was sent to this country by his family who furnished him with funds to engage in the fur trade, and he became one of the extensive dealers in this trade in Canada and the United States. His health suffered from ex- posure and he located at Rochester, where he mar- ried and engaged in the mercantile business. But his health continued to fail and late in life he passed a year on the ocean in an effort to regain it. He died, however, in 1843, a few months after the completion of his voyage, at the age of sixty-seven years. During the war of 1812 he spent a few months in the winter of 1813 with the American troops at Batavia, N. Y. Mr. Hobden's mother, whose maiden name was Ann Bohannah, was a native of Massachusetts, of Scotch descent, and a relative of Daniel Webster. She was reared among the pioneers of western New York, and before her marriage she carried the United States mails once a month between Canandaigua and Fort Niagara, fording the Genesee river at Rochester. She passed much time among the In- dians and could speak their language fluently. John H. Hobden is the first born of five children in the household of his parents. The first school he attended was on Brown's Square at Rochester, N. Y., where the Niagara Falls freight depot now stands. When eleven years old he went to live with Sylvester. Tracy, a good Presbyterian deacon,
.
work on the farm for two years.' In 1852 he came to Michigan, and locating at Battle Creek, associated in business with J. N. Merritt. In the ensuing spring he returned east and bought a stock of nursery goods which he shipped to Osh- temo, this county, and with this he stared a nurs- ery, attending to the business in summer and teaching in winter for a number of years. In 1857 he was married to Miss Laura J. Love, a daughter of Stephen A. and Sarah J. (Gibbs) Love, natives of New York state, who were early settlers in this county, where Mrs. Hobden was born, they coming here in 1831. Her maternal great-grandfather, Chester Gibbs, was killed by the Indians in New York. Soon after his mar- riage Mr. Hobden purchased one hundred and sixty acres of wild land in section 26, Oshtemo township, and erecting thereon a small house, turned his attention to farming. He now owns one hundred and ninety acres in one body and all in a high state of cultivation. He and his wife have been the parents of eleven children, Adella (deceased), Stephen (deceased), Ulyses H., Lea- tha (deceased), Sarah J., John B. (deceased), Lillie M. (deceased), Hattie (deceased), Alver- non, Perry and. Geneva. The two oldest sons re- ceived good commercial education and one was. in mercantile business in Idaho but is now dead. Two of the daughters became excellent teachers. The mother died in January, 1898. During the summer of 1891 Mr. Hobden started a general store. in the village of Oshtemo which he has since conducted with vigor and success. He also does a fruit, grain and produce business and handles ex- cellent. stock, which he raises on his farm. Me- rino sheep and Durham cattle are his favorite breeds. His principal crop is wheat. He has fine buildings on his place, and all that he now pos- sesses he has made himself by his . perseverance and industry., In politics he is a Democrat, and although never an aspirant for public office, takes
454
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
great interest and pride in local school matters. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and also of the Farmers' Alliance. He and his family stand high in the community and are well es- teemed throughout the county.
NATHAN S. KINNEY.
Postmaster and general merchant in the vil- lage of Oshtemo, and for nine years supervisor of the township. Nathan S. Kinney is a useful citizen and a representative and leading man. He was born in Prairie Ronde township, this county, on March 9, 1844. the son of Niles Hartwell and Sarah (Spears) Kinney, natives of New York state, where the father was a farmer's son, born in 1800. When he was eleven years old the fam- ily moved to Huron county, Ohio, and settled at Sandusky. His father, Dydimus Kinney, who was also a native of New York, was an eye wit- ness of Commodore Perry's fight with the British on Lake Erie. Niles H. Kinney, the father of Nathan, remained in Huron county, Ohio, until 1835, when he came to this county and entered a tract of land in Prairie Ronde township. It was on the west side of the prairie and comprised two hundred and eighty acres, being oak open- ings. He lived to clear the whole tract and died on it in 1856. The mother died there about 1849. They had four sons and two daughters, all now deceased but their son Nathan and their daugh- ter. Phebe, Mrs. Sales, of Oceana county, this state. The father was a Whig until the death of that party and then became a Republican. He filled a number of township offices, but preferred the ease and quiet of private life to public po- sitions. His son, Nathan, assisted in clearing the farm in Prairie Ronde township, and received his education in the district schools there. In 1861 he enlisted in the Union army for the Civil war in Company H, Twelfth Michigan Infantry, be- ing enrolled in October. His regiment became a part of the Sixteenth Army Corps under Gen- eral Grant. and was later a part of the Seventh Corps. Mr. Kinney participated in a number of important engagements, among them the battle of Shiloh, the siege of Corinth, the siege of
Vicksburg, the battle of Little Rock, Ark., and many others, besides numerous skirmishes and small fights. He was mustered out in 1866 with the rank of corporal, then returning to this county lived three years on Prairie Ronde. At the end of that period he bought a farm in Osh- temo township and lived on it until 1898, when he opened a store in the village of Oshtemo which he is now carrying on. He was appointed post- master here in 1897 by President Mckinley, and was re-appointed in 1901 by President Roosevelt. In 1885 he was elected supervisor of the town- ship and served in this office in all nine years. He was also a justice of the peace for a num- ber of years. In 1869 he united in marriage with Miss Mary McKain, a native of Ireland, who came to the United States when she was but one year and a half old, and after living in the state of New York until she was nine, came to Michigan. They have four children, Ethel. D. C. Hartwell and Hal N. In political faith Mr. Kinney is a stanch Republican. Fraternally he is a Freema- son, and belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic.
JAMES H. MCLAUGHLIN.
This well known and highly appreciated farmer of Oshtemo township and member of the county board of school examiners, is a native of Comstock township, this county, born on June 28, 1861. His parents, James and Catherine (Rip- ton) Mclaughlin, were born and grew to ma- turity in county Mayo, Ireland, where they were married, and whence they came to the United States in 1857, becoming residents of this county the next year. They located in Richland town- ship. where they remained until 1869. then moved to Oshtemo township, where they still live. Their family comprised three sons and four daughters, five of whom are living. James reached manhood in Oshtemo township. attending the district schools, and afterward teaching for a period of ten years. In 1891 he was graduated from the English course in the State Normal School, and in 1898 from the Latin and scientific courses in that institution. He has since continued teach-
455
KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
ing, conducting schools at Climax, this county, and at Keeler, Van Buren county. He served four years in Oshtemo and two in Texas town- ship as school inspector, and from his youth has taken an active part in local politics as a Repub- lican. In 1889 he was married to Miss Maud Rix, a native of Kalamazoo county. They have three children, Arlon, Isabelle and Catherine. Mr. McLaughlin belongs to the Masonic order and the Knights of the Maccabees, and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. He has high rank as a teacher and a public offi- cial, and meets all the requirements of an ele- vated citizenship in a manly, straightforward and serviceable manner.
R. CURTIS BALCH.
This prominent and enterprising farmer of Oshtemo township is a native-of the township and was born in the house in which he is now liv- ing on April 26, 1856. His parents, Royal T. and Ruthanna (Davis) Balch, were natives of Athens, Vt. The father was born at Athens, that state, on December 17, 1817, a son of Nathaniel and Sally (Bennett) Balch, and after receiving an academic education there, taught school for a number of. years. In the year 1850 he came to Michigan and bought a farm of Barney D. Balch in Kalamazoo township, three miles south of the city. Here he lived, engaged in farming and teaching school two years, then moved to Osh- temo township and bought the farm on which his son Curtis now lives. He continued farming there until his death in 1884. His marriage oc- curred at Athens, Vt., in 1844, and his wife died in Oshtemo township in 1889. They had two sons and five daughters, all of whom are living. The father was a Democrat in early life, but later became an ardent Prohibitionist in political ac-, tivity and a great temperance worker. He was one of the founders of the Methodist Episcopal church at Oshtemo in 1860, and served as one of its trustees all the rest of his days. He was also superintendent of the Sunday school and a class leader in the church for a long time. His son, R. Curtis Balch, the immediate subject of
this writing, grew to manhood on the home farm and attended the district schools in its vicinity. He also attended Kalamazoo College two years and since leaving college has been continuously engaged in farming. But he has also given at- tention to industrial pursuits in some measures, being a stockholder in the Gibson, Madeline & Gentor Manufacturing Company of Kalamazoo and in some other enterprises of a productive character. He was married on October 6, 1880, to Miss Alice Nellie Wild, a daughter of William C. and Mary A. (Kempsey) Wild, the father born in this county, who were early settlers here. Mr. and Mrs. Balch have seven children, all liv- ing, Clarence L., J. Vincent, Edwyn C., William E., Ruth A., Vera and Loyal T. The head of the house is a Prohibitionist in politics, a member of the United Workman and the order of Ben Hur in fraternal circles, and belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a trustee of the church and one of its stewards, and for some time has been superintendent of its Sunday school. Thus father and son have been active in promoting the moral and educational welfare of the county and keeping its forces for good in these lines concentrated for power and active for results. The son is now esteemed on all sides for his elevated and sterling manhood, as the fa- ther was in his day for his. In the commingling of the sturdy ideas of New England and the freer views and greater latitude of the Missis- sippi valley a resultant has been secured, which has all the strength of fiber of the one and the breadth of comprehension of the other, the ad- mirable admixture which has made the Middle West of this country the nursery of the best and most forceful citizenship, and of this Mr. Balch is a fine example.
ANGLE STEEL SLED COMPANY OF KALAMAZOO.
Amid the multitude of manufacturing enter- prises for which the city and county of Kalama- zoo is so widely renowned none has a higher rank for the energy and capacity of its management, the squareness of its business methods or the qual-
456
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
ity of its products than that which is the sub- ject of this notice. It was organized as a stock company in 1901 and began the manufacture of steel hand sleds in a small way on July 5, 1902, in a little plant on Manufacturers' Square, the out- put for the year amounting to forty thousand dol- lars in value. This found a ready market in va- rious parts of the United States and Canada, and made a largely increased demand for the com- modity at once. The capital stock of the company is one hundred thousand dollars. The first offi- cers were George E. Bardeen, president, Dr. La- crone, vice-president, S. J. Dunkley, treasurer, P. L. Burdick, secretary and general manager, and H. G. M. Howard, second vice-president and superintendent. The sled which the company makes in enormous quantities was invented by H. G. M. Howard, and is made of steel through- out except the top, the patents covering the method of fastening to the runners. In 1903 a tract of land was leased in the northern part of the city along the South Haven branch of the Michigan Central Railroad, and a building was erected three hundred by forty-eight feet in di- mensions, two stories high, with steel coating. After the removal of the business to this new plant earnest efforts were made to supply the de- mand for the sleds, but it was impossible to meet all the requirements, notwithstanding 104,403 sleds were turned out in a year, the orders aggre- gating 125,000. More than one hundred per- sons are regularly employed in the works, and it is found that this number as well as the capacity of the plant will have to be largely increased at an early date. H. G. M. Howard, the inventor of the sled, is a native of Preble county, Ohio, born on August 29, 1845. In his boyhood his parents moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., and after- ward to Madison, Wis. Later they changed their residence to a location north of St. Paul, Minn., where they settled on a tract of wild land. In 1860 they returned to Ohio, and soon afterward again moved into Indiana, locating in Randolph county. The father was a gunsmith and under his instruction the son learned the same trade. At this trade he wrought a number of years, but all the while his active mind was busy with inven-
tions, and in 1886 and 1887 he took out sixteen patents on devices for road carts which were used by twelve of the largest carriage manufac- tories in the country. Mr. Howard came to Kala- mazoo in 1885, and for two years thereafter he was employed as a salesman by the Michigan Buggy Company. He was also the founder of the Howard Elastic Steel Wheel Company, which was started in Kalamazoo but was afterward moved to Wabash, Ind. In addition to inventing the sled he has invented several of the machines used in its manufacture. During the Civil war he sought to enlist in defense of the Union as a member of the Eighth Ohio Cavalry, but was re- jected on account of his weight, which was then only ninety pounds. The present officers are as follows: George E. Bardeen, president; Dr. O. A. Lacrone, first vice-president ; H. G. Howard, superintendent and second vice-president ; S. J. Dunkley, secretary and treasurer. They have since added the manufacturing of child wagons, steel furniture and various other things in that line. They have enlarged their trade and now ex- port the goods to Europe and are the largest manufacturers of steel sleds in the world.
DR. JOHN F. CHAPIN.
This venerated and universally popular phy- sician and surgeon of Schoolcraft, who has given more than a quarter of a century of the best years of his life to the service of the people of this county in active professional work, thereby greatly adding to the mitigation of human suffer- ing and the increase of human happiness in this section, is a native of Luzerne county, Pa., born on June 2, 1838. His parents were Ami and Mary (Blish) Chapin, the former born in Con- necticut and the latter in Massachusetts. The father became a resident of Pennsylvania in boy- hood, and passed the remainder of his life in that state engaged in farming, and died there in 1865, the mother passing away, also in that state, in 1862. They were the parents of three sons and three daughters. The Doctor was reared and educated in his native state, attending the district schools and afterward the New Columbus Male
457
KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
and Female Academy at New Columbus, in Luzerne county. He read medicine, with Dr. W. E. Barrett, of Cambria, Pa., three years, and dur- ing that time attended lectures in the medical de- partment of the University of Pennsylvania, tak- ing a final course at the University of Vermont, from which he received his degree in 1861. Be- ginning his practice at Cambria in association with his former tutor, Dr. Barrett, he remained with him seven years, after which he practiced alone at the same place until 1879, when he came to Kalamazoo county and located at Schoolcraft, where he has since lived and had an extensive and profitable practice embracing the most representa- tive families of the neighborhood. Before com- ing to this state he sought additional qualifications for his life work through a post-graduate course in the University of Pennsylvania. In 1865 he was married in Pennsylvania to Miss Mary Bidle -. man, of Bloomsburg, that state. They have one child, their son, Dr. C. B. Chapin, of Benton Har- bor, who is a graduate of the Schoolcraft high school (or graded school) of the Agricultural Col- lege, at Lansing, Mich., and of the medical de- partment of the State University at Ann Arbor. The father is a member of the Kalamazoo Academy of Medicine and a zealous participant in its work of research and instruction among the practitioners of the profession. In fraternal re- lations he is a third-degree Freemason, and in church affiliation he and his wife are allied with the Protestant Episcopalians. While not an earnest or determined partisan, the Doctor sup- ports the principles and candidates of the Demo- cratic party generally, but he is more interested in the general welfare of his county and state, and the substantial and enduring progress of their people, than the success of any party, and he can always be counted among the ardent supporters of any commendable enterprise for the promotion of these interests.
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.