USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > Compendium of history and biography of Kalamazoo County, Mich. > Part 67
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
ALFRED HARPER.
The inspired prophecy of the sacred writer which declared "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose," has been many times realized in this wonderful land in which we live, and in no part has it been more signally fulfilled than in southern Michigan, which within the memory of men and women yet living has been transformed from a succession of forest and
untamed prairie to something like the garden of gods, bringing forth in unfailing abundance ev- erything valuable and nourishing and fragrant. And to the men who have wrought the change all credit is due for heroic endurance of great priva- tions, courage in great dangers, and unyielding industry in the face of great undertakings. In this number there is no more estimable and wor- thy unit than the interesting subject of this brief memoir, who, although a native of this state, yet came upon the scene of action at so early a date that even at the dawn of his manhood the country was still unsettled and he became a part of the civilizing and primarily developing forces at work upon it. Mr. Harper was born in Washtenaw county, Mich., on May 7, 1838. His parents, George M. and Maria (Tripp) Harper, were natives of New York state, the father born at Clyde, Wayne county, where he farmed until 1836, then came to Michigan, traveling by way of the Erie canal to Buffalo, then by steamer to De- troit, and from that oldest of the lake cities with an ox team to his land. His father, Robert Har- per, drove through from New York by team, and on his arrival at his destination, sold his horses for land. They cleared eighty acres of land in Washtenaw county, and there the father died. He was a man of local prominence in New York, serving as supervisor, town clerk and school teacher. In 1846 Alfred Harper's parents disposed of their land in Washtenaw and moved to this county, buying a farm of one hundred and sixty- seven acres in Brady township on Bear creek. This was all heavily timbered at the time and they were among the first settlers in the neighborhood. They cleared and improved that farm, then sold it and bought the one on which Alfred now lives. This was also heavy timber land, and they also cleared it and lived on it until death ended their labors, the father dying in 1901 and the mother in 1904. They had three daughters and one son. One of the daughters died, and Alfred is the only member of the family now living in this county. The father was a Whig in politics until that party went out of existence. He then became a Repub- lican and remained one until his death, meanwhile serving the township well and wisely as treasurer
492
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
and justice of the peace. Both parents belonged to and were active members of the Christian church. Their son Alfred received his education in the district schools, and at an early age began aiding his father in clearing the farm and bring- ing the land under cultivation. He lived from his childhood in the midst of alarms incident to the frontier and had experience in the hardships of pioncer life. He has passed all of liis life so far, since locating on it, on the homestead, and now owns one of the best farms in the township, a great part of which he cleared himself. In 1867 he was married to Miss Sarah Merritt, of St. Joseph county, Mich., and has two children liv- ing : Norman, a farmer in this county ; and Ger- trude, who is living at home and teaching; she is a graduate of the State Normal School. Mr. Harper is a Republican, but not an active partisan or office seeker. Fraternally he is a zealous mem- ber of the order of Patrons of Husbandry.
MICHAEL GEORGE.
Michael George, of Brady township, one of the fast fading race of pioneers who laid the foun- dations of civilization in this county and helped to build the county up to its present advanced state of development and commerical and industrial strength and activity, is a native of Prussia, born in September, 1828. His parents, Nicholas and Elizabeth (Collinberg) George, were also Prus- sians by nativity, and passed their lives in their native land, meeting all the duties of life with a lofty spirit of fidelity, and being laid to rest in the soil hallowed by their labors after long lives of usefulness. Their family consisted of two sons and two daughters. One of the sons was killed in the Franco-Prussian war. Michael, the other son, was twenty-seven years old when he came to the United States. He had obtained a common- school education and learned the trade of a car- penter in his native land; but on coming to this country he found employment on a farm and never again worked at his trade. During his first year of American residence he worked at what- ever he found to do and saved his earnings, and in 1860, when he became a resident of this county,
he was prepared to buy eighty acres of wild land. This he has since cleared and improved, and it has been his home from the time of his purchase of it. When he located in Brady township there were few improvements in his neighborhood, and his first achievement was the crection of a frame house sixteen by twenty feet, which in time he was able to replace with a more commodious and comfortable dwelling. In September, 1858, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Brown, a sister of Charles Brown, of Vicksburg, a sketch of whom will be found on another page of this work. Mrs. George died in 1893, leaving no chil- dren. Mr. George has done his part in helping to build up and improve his community well and faithfully. He has improved his own place and given a willing hand to all forms of public con- veniences and utilities in the township. In polit- ical faith he is a Republican, but he has never sought or desired public office. Fraternally he belongs to the order of Odd Fellows. He found the country wild and unpeopled in large measure when he came hither, but with great fruitfulness buried in its bosom and ample in opportunities for advancement to enterprise, frugality and thrift. Accepting conditions as he found them, he pro- ceeded to make the best of them, and he is now one of the substantial and influential men of his township, with a record of diligence and progres- siveness to his credit. The old days have passed away, but the spirit of the pioneers is still preva- lent in the people, and as the basis of everything good in this part of the country was built broad and deep, so the development goes on with accel- erated force, and throughout the country the name of the county is synonymous with every form of progress and great activity and wealth.
DANIEL E. KUHN.
The citizens of Kalamazoo county who were born on its soil in the early days, and grew to manhood amid its scenes of stirring activity and arduous effort incident to clearing the land and making it productive, while at the same time building up the civil institutions of the new re- gion, are entitled to the name and rank of pio-
493
KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
neers, for they participated in all the pressing phases of frontier life and aided in laying the foundations of the present civilization. In this number Daniel E. Kuhn, one of the leading farm- ers of Brady township, is entitled to special men- tion in any chronicles of the time, both because of his early residence here and his serviceable work in helping to settle and develop the country. He was born on the farm which he now owns on June 24, 1859, the son of Frederick and Barbara (Ernst) Kuhn, of whom more extended mention is made in the sketch of his brother, P. E. Kuhn, to be found on another page. Like most of the children of pioneers, he reached his manhood and obtained his education in the locality of his nativ- ity, learning more of value in his subsequent ca- reer from the rugged school of experience and the many-voiced wisdom of nature's teachings than in the primitive schools of his day. He began life as a farmer and has devoted his energies to his chosen pursuit ever since, now owning and work- ing the old family homestead. On October 31, 1894, he was married to Miss Anna Mumby, a native of Lincolnshire, England. They have four children, Paul J., Bernard D., Ruth M. and George W. Mr. Kuhn has taken his turn in offi- cial life, although he has never been fond of it, and served well and acceptably as a justice of the peace and school inspector for a number of years. Politically he is a Democrat, fraternally a Free- mason of the Royal Arch degree and a past mas- ter of the lodge, and he and his wife are Lutherans.
PHILIP E. KUHN.
Wayne county, N. Y., is the place of nativity of this widely known and respected farmer of Brady township, and he was born there on Octo- ber 14, 1851. His parents, Frederick and Bar- bara (Ernst) Kuhn, were born and reared in Alsace, one of the provinces wrested from France by Germany by the fortune of war in 1871. The paternal grandfather was an officer in the French army under Napoleon, accompanying the great warrior in his Russian campaign and being one of the survivors of that fatal enterprise. He died in
his native land, leaving two sons and two daugh- ters. Philip's father and one of his sisters came to the United States, but all of that generation of the family are now dead. Fred- erick Kuhn was reared in Germany, and there learned his trade as a cabinetmaker, which he followed in France and Germany until he reached the age of seventeen. In 1837 he came to this country in a sailing vessel, be- ing forty days in crossing the Atlantic. He re- mained in New York city some time, then worked at his trade in Cincinnati, Evansville, and other places along the Ohio river. Later he located at Lyons, N. Y., where he engaged in farming in connection with his trade, and there he was mar- ried. In the spring of 1859 he brought his fam- ily to Kalamazoo county and bought the farm in Brady township now owned by his son Daniel. The land when he purchased it was all heavily timbered, and he was obliged to cut and make his own roads to it. He lived on it until his death, on March 9, 1882, aged sixty-two years. His widow died in 1892. They had ten children, of whom nine grew to maturity and eight are now living, three sons and five daughters. The father was prominent 'in his neighborhood and accept- ably filled a number of local offices. He and his wife were Lutherans and leaders in the church. Their son Philip was reared from the age of eight years on the home farm and like other boys of the time and locality, obtained a limited education at the district schools. In his early youth he began to take an active part in the work of the farm, which he assisted to clear and on which he re- mained until after the death of his mother, when he bought his present farm, two miles east of Vicksburg. He was married in December, 1877, to Miss Emily J. Platt, a native of Clarion county, Pa., the daughter of Samuel and Lavina (Gilbert) Platt, who came to Kalamazoo county in 1865. The mother died in 1891, and the father now makes his home with Mr. and Mrs. Kuhn. The latter have two children, Frederick G. and Mar- gia L., both living at home. Mr. Kuhn is an active Democrat and has served often as a dele- gate to conventions of his party, but has never sought office, although he is now a member of the
494
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
board of review. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran church.
WILLIAM JENKINSON.
A native of connty Wicklow, Ireland, born in 1816, and reared in part amid the troublous times of his native land, when its people were making a strike for freedom and a government of their own, William Jenkinson, deceased, late of Kalamazoo county, felt even in his boyhood the iron of oppres- sion in his soul, and learned at an early age to ap- preciate the greater liberty and opportunity offered by this country to those who found their native land inhospitable and harsh to them. In 1826 he accompanied his parents to the United States, and from then until his death in 1900 was an Amer- ican, thoroughly imbued with the spirit of our in- stitutions and in full sympathy with all the aspi- rations of the country and its people. His parents were William and Lucy ( McGuire) Jenkinson. natives of Ireland. The father was accredited as a rebel against the British government, and as such was obliged to seek an asylum in a foreign land. After arriving on this continent with his family in 1826 he lived two years at Halifax, N. S., two years at Boston, and two at Baltimore. In 1840 he came to Michigan, and six months later he died in this county. During the patriot war he took sides with his countrymen, and for this offense he languished in jail six months. Of his ten children, nine grew to maturity, being reared by their mother, who died in Kalamazoo county at the age of sixty-five. The son William was reared on a farm and educated in the public schools. He came to Michigan in 1839. a few months prior to the arrival of the rest of the family, and at the age of eighteen was appren- ticed to learn his trade as a machinist. His trip to Michigan was made over the lakes from Buffalo to Chicago, and there he bought' an ox team and drove to his future home in what was then a wild and unsettled country. He pre- empted one hundred and sixty acres of land on the Indian reservation, and on this he made his home until death, improving his land and bringing it to a high state of cultivation. While waiting for his
fields to fructify he did trading at Schoolcraft, Milling, Flourfield and Kalamazoo, using all his opportunities to his own advantage, while helping to build up and develop the country. The country was full of wild game then, but he did not hunt much, finding better occupation for his time and better returns for his labors in other lines of activity. After working to the best advantage in this county two years and a half, he went to Louisiana and found employment on a plantation there for two years. In 1852 he returned to Michigan and went with a party of twenty-seven across the plains to the Pacific coast. The trip was disastrous, a number of the party dying from cholera, and all of them losing the most of their cattle. One hundred days were consumed in the long and trying journey, but after reaching the other side of the Rockies Mr. Jenkinson made some money in mines in Oregon and Montana, and then engaged in the lumber business at Hum- boldt, Nev., two years. He returned to Michigan by water, and lost several of his companions by cholera, which was very bad on the vessel. In 1862 he made another trip across the plains, going to Virginia City, Idaho, where he remained eight months, then came once more to Michigan. He was married in 1851 to Miss Lucinda Grout, who lived only a short time after the marriage, and died without children. But Mr. Jenkinson took a son whom he reared to manhood from the age of seven years. In 1893 he married a second wife, Mrs. Patience Cronkhite, the widow of Hanson Cronkhite, who had died in this county. By her first marriage Mrs. Jenkinson had one child, her son, W. H. Cronkhite, who lives on the home farm. He is married, but has no children. Mrs. Jenkinson's maiden name was Patience Baer, and she is the daughter of Daniel Baer, a pioneer of Kalamazoo county, who died here some years ago enjoying the esteem of all who knew him. Mr. Jenkinson died on January 12, 1900, after a long and useful career as a farmer and breeder of high grades of live stock. He served as township treasurer and in other local offices with great credit to himself and benefit to the township, and was a Freemason of long standing. He was very generous in his disposition and helped many a
495
KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
poor man to a good start in life. He was uni- versally esteemed as one of the best citizens of the county, and his memory is revered in all parts of it and by all classes of its people.
DANIEL HOCH.
This well known and widely esteemed farmer of Brady township, this county, was born on De- cember 14, 1840, in Armstrong county, Pa., where also liis parents, Daniel and Elizabeth (Mohney) Hoch, were born and reared. The father was a tanner and worked at his trade in his native state until about 1844, when he brought his family to Michigan, locating at first in Park township, St. Joseph county, where he remained two years, then moved to Brady township, Kala- mazoo county, purchasing a tract of unimproved land one mile south of the present residence of his son Daniel, and on this land he passed the re- mainder of his days, dying in 1880. The mother passed away in 1896. They had four sons and three daughters. Three of the sons are living, one at Mendon, one at Vicksburg, and Daniel in Brady township. The ancestors of the family were Germans. Daniel Hoch grew to manhood in this county and has followed farming all his life, living on the farm he now owns and occupies - during the last thirty-six years, and improving it from a wilderness, erecting all the buildings, fences and other structures, and bringing it to its present state of development by continued and well applied labor. He was married in 1868 to Miss Elizabeth A. Weinberg, a native of Pennsyl- vania and a daughter of William and Christina (Shick) Weinberg, who came to Michigan and located in this county in 1864, and here they died. Mr. and Mrs. Hoch have had two children, their daughters Ida, now deceased, and Alice, wife of Horace S. Rishel, of Brady township. The parents were Lutherans. Mr. Hoch is one of the oldest and most respected citizens of his neighborhood.
DAVID E. RISHEL.
Having reached the advanced age of seventy- eight at the time of his death, on January 31, 1902,
after a residence of fifty-two years in this county, David E. Rishel, late of Brady township, was a very early settler here and witnessed almost the whole of the progress of this section from bar- barism to the high state of development and culti- vation which it now enjoys. He was born on December 8, 1824, at Danville, then Columbia, now Montour county, Pa., and was a son of John and Mary Rishel, natives of Germany and pros- perous farmers in Pennsylvania, where they died. The son was reared in his native state and there learned his trade as a wheelwright, at which he wrought industriously there until 1849, when he came to Michigan and located in St. Joseph county. One year later he moved to Kalamazoo county and bought the farm in Brady township now owned and occupied by his son. The farm comprised eighty acres at the time of the pur- chase, and was all wild and covered with heavy timber. Sometime afterward the father pur- chased forty acres additional, and he cleared all of his place but about twenty acres, residing on it until a short time before his death, which occurred in the village of Vicksburg. He was, married at Three Rivers, this state, on December 7, 1852, to Miss Charlotte E. Blue, of the same nativity . as himself. They had five children, three of whom are living, one son at Sturgis, one on the farm, and the daughter May at Vicksburg. The father was a leading Democrat but never sought office. He belonged to the order of Odd Fellows and the Lutheran church, and was a man of prominence in both. His wife died in 1890. She was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, her parents moving to Pennsylvania from New Jersey at a period when the Indians were very troublesome in the former state, and being obliged to return to New Jersey three times to escape being massacred by them. The father was a captain in the war of 1812, and his maternal grandfather a soldier in the Revolu- tion, and an officer under General Washington seven years.
HORACE S. RISHEL, who now lives on the. homestead in Brady township, was born in Park township, St. Joseph county, Mich., on November 23, 1856. He was reared in this county and edu- cated in the common schools. From an early age
496
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
he aided his father in clearing and breaking up the farm, and has ever since resided on it. In 1891 he united in marriage with Miss Alice Hoch, a daughter of Daniel Hoch, a brief account of whose life will be found elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Rishel have three children, Hazen H., Lottie A. and Stuart, an infant. Like his father, Mr. Rishel has been a leading Democrat but not an office seeker. He is, however, ear- nestly interested in the cause of public education. and has filled with credit several local school offices. He has passed almost the whole of his life so far in this county, and there is no section of it wherein he is not highly respected.
CHIARLES II. HAINES.
Both in his official record as a former treasurer and in his life of progressive industry as a farmer of Brady township, Charles H. Haines is held in high esteem among the people who have been as- sociated with him so long and who have had the benefit of his public services. He was born at Rochester, N. Y., on May 17, 1843, and is the son of David and Mary A. (Burrell) Haines, the former born in Onondaga county, N. Y., and the latter in Toronto, Canada. The father was a den- tist and practiced his profession at Rochester twenty-five years. In 1853 he brought his family to Kalamazoo county and located on a farm in Washtenaw township. There were but six fam- ilies living in the township at the time, and the country was altogether wild and unbroken by the inroads of civilization. The family traveled from Battle Creek by team to their new home. They lived in a small log house for a year while they were building a better frame dwelling, and in this the father died, the mother passing away in the state of New York. They had two sons and four daughters. One of the sons is supposed to have died at New Orleans before the Civil war, and now only Charles and two of his sisters are living. The father was first a Whig and afterward a Republican. He practiced his profession many years on the farm, being the first dentist in that section of the country. He supported the Metho-
(list Episcopal church, of which his father was a minister. The son Charles grew to manhood in this county and assisted in clearing the farm. In 1861 he enlisted in defense of the Union as one of the Berdan Sharpshooters. The command was sent to Benton Barracks, Mo., and became a part of the Eleventh Missouri Cavalry. It first went into action at Wilson Creek, Mo., and was then placed under the command of General Fremont in Arkansas, where the Michigan men were dis- banded. Mr. Haines returned to his home and soon afterward re-enlisted in the Eagle Brigade, going to Buffalo, N. Y. But this command was also disbanded, and he returned to his home on a boat over the lakes. But he was determined to see active service in the defense of his convic- tions, and on November 7, 1863, he once more enlisted, becoming a member of the Fourteenth Michigan Light Artillery, and a part of the Twen- ty-third Army Corps in the Army of the Potomac. Then the war quickened around him and "Red battle stamped his foot" on many a sanguinary field where he was present. He participated in the battles of Petersburg and Winchester, Va., and in many others of moment in the historic and picturesque valley of the Shenandoah. In 1865 he was mustered out of the service and returned to his Michigan home. The next two years he passed in railroading at Hannibal, Mo. He then came back to Wakeshma township, this county, and engaged in farming there until 1882, when he moved to Bardy township, where he has since resided during most of the time since. He was occupied in the hardware trade a year and a half, and for a time conducted a coal, ice and sprinkling business. In 1879 he was married in this county to Miss Frankie A. Barclay, a native of Brady township. They have six children, David W., Charles H., Jr., Clarence F., Mabel, Clara H. and William M. In politics Mr. Haines is a Re- publican. He has served as treasurer of Wa- keshma township one year, as drain commissioner of Brady township ten years, and as village treas- urer of Vicksburg two years. He is prominent in fraternal life as a Freemason, a Knight of Pythias, an Odd Fellow and a member of the
497
KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Grand Army of the Republic, and in all parts of the county he is well known and highly esteemed.
WILLIAM H. DIR.
William H. Dir, a leading farmer of Brady township, this county, and one of the prominent business men of Vicksburg, is a native of the county, born on October 17, 1863, the son of John and Maria (Mears) Dir, the former born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Canada. The father has been a farmer all his life. He came to Kalamazoo county with his parents in his boy- hood, his father, Jacob Dir, being the third settler in Wakeshma township, and securing a quarter section of timber land on which he lived until his death in about 1874. He was a local leader in the Methodist Episcopal church and held many township and county offices. At his death he left four sons and two daughters by a second marriage. His son, John Dir, bought a farm in Wakeshma township, which he cleared and im- , proved, and afterward moved to Brady township, where he now lives. He has been influential in public life, filling numerous township offices, and throughout the section is held in high esteem. The family are of German origin. Of the six children born in his household, two sons and two daughters are living. The sons are engaged in the farming implement trade at Vicksburg. Wil- liam H. grew to manhood and was educated in this county, and remained at home until he reached the age of twenty-three. He then pur- chased a quarter section of land in Brady town- ship, and later engaged in the farming implement trade at Vicksburg. Sometime afterward, in company ,with his brother Oscar, he bought the grain elevator, and a little later they enlarged their trade in implements. He also owns a large farm two miles east. In 1885 he was married to Miss Lydia Dinger, a native of Pennsylvania who came to this county with her parents when she was but six months old. Her father, Solomon Dinger, is still living in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Dir have one child, their daughter Marie. Mr. Dir is a Knight of the Maccabees. He is one of the most respected and representative citizens of the township.
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.