USA > Michigan > Kent County > Grand Rapids > Grand Rapids and Kent County, Michigan: History and Account of Their Progress from First. Vol. II > Part 21
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in Nelson township. Mr. Hart was born in Newaygo county, Michi- gan, April 6, 1887, son of William Hart. The family were early resi- dents of Kent county and William Hart was born near Rockford, where he passed the greater part of his life, being engaged in well- digging and farming. He married Mary Gilbert, daughter of La- fayette Gilbert, also of this county, and seven children were born of their union: Nora, wife of Gus Thorp, a carpenter of this communi- ty ; Mabel, who married Fred Fairbrothers, a farmer in Kent county ; Frank, deceased; Leona, wife of Eli Egoff, a machinist by trade who is now employed in aeroplane work for the United States govern- ment ; Frederick; Otto, who married Anna Abings, and one who died in infancy. Frederick Hart received his educational training in the district schools. He was given his initial experience as a worker upon his father's farm, but upon reaching his majority entered mercantile lines as a clerk in the general store of J. Herring, at Sand Lake, where he remained two or three years. When he left Mr. Herring's employ he did so to engage again in farming and his subsequent suc- cess has evidenced the fact that his move was a wise one. He is now owner of a handsomely cultivated property, and while his career is still in the early stages of its development, what he has done thus far may be taken as a criterion upon which to base a prediction of a worth-while success in the future. He has made a study of his voca- tion and has not been afraid to adopt new methods where he has found them practicable. Mr. Hart married Lillian Gordon, daughter of William J. and Belle Gordon, of Nelson township, and one son, Fay, has come to bless this union. Mr. Hart is a member of Cedar Springs Lodge No. 213, F. & A. M., and he and Mrs. Hart are members of the Eastern Star. Politically he supports the Republican ticket.
John M. Hart .- In the life of any enterprising community the hotel plays a most important and conspicuously contributing part. It is desirable for each village, town and city to create a favorable im- pression upon those who come from other centers of population, in order that its reputation may not suffer, and it is in large degree that the hotel is called upon to furnish such an impression, as it is invari- ably the home and stopping-place of the traveling public. Kent coun- ty should consider itself fortunate in the possession of many hotels of modern character, furnishing excellent accommodations for visit- ors; but all are not well or ably conducted as is the Central Hotel, at Cedar Springs, which for the last thirteen years has been under the proprietorship of John M. Hart. Mr. Hart has had an extensive ex- perience as a hotel-keeper and is also accounted one of the good and dependable citizens of Cedar Springs and a man whose public spirit leads him to be careful of his community's reputation. He was born at Shannonville, Ontario, Canada, Dec. 21, 1867, son of Wayman and Elizabeth (Hamilton) Hart, natives of the same county, the former born April 19, 1827, and the latter Dec. 10, 1826. Wayman Hart was a millwright by vocation and followed that trade throughout the greater part of his life in Canada, where his death occurred, as did also that of his wife. She was possessed of much literary ability and was well known as a poetess in the county in which she spent all her life. Numerous poems composed by her are still kept by her son. She and her husband were the parents of the following children : Harvey Montrose, born Dec. 28, 1851; William Edwin, Jan. 3, 1854;
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Martha Agnes, Aug. 12, 1855; Martha Ann, Jan. 13, 1857; Walter Wayman, Jan. 19, 1863; Samuel Robert, April 22, 1865; John Milton, Dec. 21, 1867, and Abraham Hamilton, Nov. 14, 1870. John M. Hart was educated in the public schools of Prince Edward county and when his schooling was completed started life in the lumber mills of Canada. Subsequently he engaged in farming, but only for a com- paratively short time, for, feeling that his forte did not lie in agri- cultural activities, and being possessed of ambition and determination to make a success of his life, he removed to Oswego, N. Y., where he secured employment in a sash and door factory. After two years he left the East and came to Grand Rapids, Mich., where for one year he worked in a furniture factory and then accepted a position as clerk in the Michigan House, remaining three years. He then spent a like period as proprietor of a restaurant at Grand Rapids, and about this time, Nov. 7, 1897, was united in marriage with Miss Jennie Tronson, a native of Norway, and eldest of the nine children of Ole and Regina (Olsen) Tronson, also of that country. Mr. Tronson had been a farmer in his native land, and on coming to this country in 1890 con- tinued his agricultural operations and died on his farm in Mount- calm county, in 1910. He and his wife became the parents of these children : Jennie, who is now Mrs. Hart; Anna married Leon Beck- with; Osburg, wholesale dealer in barber supplies at Syracuse, N. Y .; Rena Olga married Frank Whitmore, of Ambol, Mich .; Sena, de- ceased ; John Harold and Albert B., of Howard City, Mich. Mr. and Mrs. Hart are the parents of four children: Ruth E., graduate in the class of 1918 in the Cedar Springs High School, born at Grand Rapids, Feb. 21, 1900; Park, born May 12, 1904, at North Park, Mich .; Walter Wayman, born Feb. 28, 1906, at Cedar Springs, and Thelma Lemoin, born April 20, 1908, all at school at Cedar Springs. After his marriage, Mr. Hart removed to North Park, Kent county, Michigan, where for five years he was proprietor of a summer resort, but in 1904 disposed of his holdings there and came to Cedar Springs, where he purchased the Central Hotel, of which he has since been the proprietor. During this period he has built up an excellent busi- ness, his house being a popular stopping place for the traveling pub- lic which appreciates excellence of cuisine, comfort and the latest ac- commodations. Mr. Hart is a genial host, who continually looks after the welfare of his guests, and by reason of his affable manner, unfailing courtesy and obliging nature has won many friends. He is a member of Elks Lodge No. 48 and is a Democrat in politics, but has never aspired to office either as a fraternalist or politician. He and his wife are members of the M. E. church and Mrs. Hart is a member of the Ladies' Aid Society and also of Daisy Chain No. 48. She is a charter member of this order and a member of the Red Cross.
Hon. Reuben Hatch .- Very few of the lawyers who began prac- tice in Michigan nearly a half a century ago are still following their calling actively. Of those who came to the bar in the early years of the '70s, most have long since laid down their briefs. Some survive in retirement, enjoying the ease and dignity which lives of intellec- tual activity have earned, while fewer still continue to participate in the struggles which the competition of younger and more vigorous men makes more severe and exacting. Among those who are still
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actively engaged in practice with unabated vigor of mind is Judge Reuben Hatch, who, although forty-eight years have passed since his admission to the Michigan bar, is justly accounted one of the most alert, capable and prominent of the Grand Rapids fraternity, and as senior member of the firm of Hatch, McAllister & Raymond, the head of a combination which for strength, learning and experience is one of the most formidable now in practice. Judge Hatch was born at Alstead, Cheshire county, New Hampshire, Oct. 11, 1847, a son of Rev. Reuben and Almira (Kilbourn) Hatch. His father, a minister of the Congregational church, came to Michigan from Ohio at an early day and during his ministerial labors held charges at Union City, Traverse City and other points. He was also widely known in the educational field, and was one of the founders of Olivet College, Michigan, as well as one of the founders of Benzonia (Mich.) Col- lege, where for three years he was professor of languages. After a long, useful and remarkably active career, distinguished alike for the positions which he had held and the great and good work he had accomplished, he died at the advanced age of ninety-four years. Reu- ben Hatch of this review was a small child when taken by his parents from his birthplace in New England to Ohio, in which state his early education was secured in the public schools. Having decided upon a career in the law, he entered at Traverse City, Mich., to which city the family had removed several years previously, the office of Edwin S. Pratt, under whose preceptorship he remained until admitted to the bar, May 12, 1870. At that time he formed a partnership and be- gan practice with Mr. Pratt, this association continuing with mutual satisfaction and much success until Judge Hatch was elected to the bench of the Thirteenth Judicial District of Michigan, in April, 1875. He continued in the judicial capacity, establishing a splendid record, until 1882, and then resumed practice with Mr. Pratt, whose partner he was until 1888, that year marking his advent at Grand Rapids. Here he combined his legal abilities with those of Harry D. Jewell, in the forming of a law firm that continued in existence for four years, following which he was a partner with Hugh E. Wilson, this concern continuing to practice until 1906. At that time Judge Hatch and Fred M. Raymond formed a combination, and in October, 1910, the firm of Hatch, McAllister & Raymond came into existence by the admission of James T. McAllister. The offices of the concern are in the Widdicomb building and these lawyers carry on a general prac- tice. They have been identified with some of the most important liti- gation that has been tried in the courts of Michigan, and in a num- ber of notable cases have won success and distinction. Judge Hatch is a member of the Grand Rapids Bar Association, the Michigan State Bar Association and the American Bar Association, and belongs also to the Association of Commerce and the Masonic fraternity. His religious connection is with the Christian Science church. Judge Hatch is thoroughly grounded in elementary knowledge, is industri- ous and patient in research work and of sound and stable judgment. He is brilliant and powerful in forensic contests, both before juries and in the more formal argument before the court. With such quali- fications, at a bar numbering practitioners of the first class in ability and experience, he still retains a foremost position, and with accumu- lated experience and reputation has a large clientage and profitable
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employment as a counsellor. Judge Hatch was married Aug. 28, 1872, to Mrs. Esther H. (Sprague) Day, of Traverse City, Mich., who died without issue Feb. 24, 1912.
C. Roy Hatten .- The career of C. Roy Hatten as a practitioner of law has covered only a period of ten years, but during this com- paratively short space of time he has risen, through ability, initia- tive and forceful personality to a leading position among the younger lawyers of the Grand Rapids bar and to a state-wide prominence as one of the most forceful workers in the cause of prohibition. Since his arrival in Grand Rapids, in 1908, he has taken an increasingly ac- tive part in affairs of importance as connected with the civic welfare, and there are few who during the cares of an engrossing practice have been able to accomplish so much outside of their profession. Mr. Hatten was born on a farm in Tompkins township, Jackson county, Michigan, July 28, 1885, son of David and Eva (Gallup) Hatten. The family is one of the oldest in this part of the state, Mr. Hatten's great-great-grandfather, Robert Hatten, having taken land from the United States government in Jackson county in 1832. For several generations the family's members were best known in agricultural pursuits and as sound and solid citizens, but of more recent years some of them have turned their attention with equal success to com- mercial lines and to professional labors. David Hatten has been en- gaged in business and farming and lives on the old homestead. He has made a success of his operations as a husbandman and is now owner of a handsome and well-cultivated property, on which he and Mrs. Hatten are living in the enjoyment of all material comforts. He is a Republican, and, while not a seeker after personal preferment, has served as a member of the school board and discharged his civic duties otherwise in a commendable and efficient manner. He belongs to the Masonic lodge and he and Mrs. Hatten are active in the Meth- odist Episcopal church. The only child of his parents, C. Roy Hatten received his early education in the district schools in the vicinity of his father's farm. Subsequently, he took a course at Ithaca High School, in which he was duly graduated, and when still under his ma- jority became assistant treasurer of Montmorency county. He re- mained in this position only a short time, however, resigning to go to Alpena, where he became general office manager of the Alpena Even- ing News, a publication with which he was connected for two years. During this time he had fully decided upon a career in the law and accordingly entered the Detroit College of Law, being graduated therein with the class of 1907. For one year he practiced at Detroit, with E. W. Pendleton, and in 1908 came to Grand Rapids, where, un- til he familiarized himself with the fraternity, he carried on his call- ing alone. In 1910 he became a member of the firm of Clapperton & Owen and has remained with this strong legal concern to the present time. He has continued as a close and careful student of his calling and with the passing of the years has attracted to himself an impor- tant clientage, while at the same time he has made more substantial his standing among his fellow-practitioners and in the Grand Rapids and Michigan State Bar associations. Mr. Hatten is a man who touches life on many sides. He is an active member of the Associa- tion of Commerce and for several years was chairman of the City Government Committee. Also, he takes a keen and helpful interest
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in the work of the Young Men's Christian Association, which organ- ization he has benefitted greatly through his efforts. His religious connections are with the Burton Heights Methodist Episcopal church and the Methodist Episcopal Union. For four years one of the state speakers of the Anti-Saloon League, his work was so effective in be- half of temperance, that, in 1916, he was given the responsible posi- tion of organizing Kent county for the dry campaign of 1916, which resulted in an overwhelming defeat for the liquor adherents and the consequent placing of Michigan on the list of states with prohibition laws. In 1917 Mr. Hatten had charge of the organization of the Grand Rapids Citizens' League, which body of citizens was of great influence in persuading the people to elect practical business men as city commissioners under the new form of government. After a year in the city attorney's office, Mr. Hatten resigned May 1, 1918, to again engage in practice and direct the affairs of the Citizens' League in an office at 249-250 Houseman building. The marriage of Mr. Hatten with Ada May Morse, daughter of James and Zoe (Cornwell) Morse, of Detroit, Mich., occurred June 2, 1906. They are the parents of three children: Ernestine, Marian and Elizabeth, the first two at- tending school.
Captain William Haze was born in Grand Rapids, Feb. 17, 1885, and was educated in the high school of the city. He is one of the few Grand Rapids officers who is unmarried. For a number of years he has been a trusted employe of the Bissell Carpet Sweeper Company. His military service began with Company M, in 1903, as a bugler. He went through the line of promotion from corporal to first lieuten- ant of the machine gun company and was commissioned captain on May 2, 1917. He is an enthusiastic, but level-headed young man and is bound to make his company effective in this very important branch of the service.
Dr. Charles Storm Hazeltine .- Forty of the sixty-eight years of the life of the late Dr. Charles Storm Hazeltine were connected with the city of Grand Rapids and were passed in the midst of the stir- ring events of her business activities and as a participant in her mu- nicipal, political and social growth. Coming to this city in 1872, three years later he founded what was the nucleus for the great en- terprise now known as the Hazeltine & Perkins Drug Company, one of the largest concerns of its kind in the state. During the remainder of his life he devoted his able business talents to the building up of this enterprise and lived to see it attain a foremost place among the establishments of the city and to acquire for himself recognition, standing and the remunerations and rewards which are granted those who win success through honorable channels of trade. Doctor Ha- zeltine was born Oct. 1, 1844, at Jamestown, N. Y., a son of Gilbert W. and Eliza C. (Boss) Hazeltine, the former of English and the lat- ter of German extraction, but both American born, being natives of New York. His grandfather, Laban Hazeltine, was a physician and surgeon of New York, in which state the family was widely and fa- vorably known. Dr. Gilbert W. Hazeltine, who also was a physi- cian, died at Jamestown, in 1892, and Mrs. Hazeltine passed away when her son Charles S. was twelve years old. Charles Storm Ha- zeltine attended the public schools and Jamestown Academy until he was eighteen years old, subsequently entering the medical depart-
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ment of the University of Michigan. Later he took a course of lec- tures at the Albany (N. Y.) Medical College, extending over a course of four months, and did work in a New York hospital as well as the Lying-In Hospital at Buffalo. Returning to Jamestown, he was en- gaged in practice for about eighteen months, at the end of which time he engaged in the drug business and continued therein at James- town until 1872, the year in which he came to Grand Rapids. In 1875 he formed a partnership with the late Charles N. Shepard and engaged in the wholesale drug business, under the firm name of Shep- ard & Hazeltine, and this continued until 1886, when Mr. Shepard sold his interests to Charles G. Perkins, the firm then becoming the Hazeltine & Perkins Drug Company, this being incorporated for $150,000. In 1888 Doctor Hazeltine purchased Mr. Perkins' interest in the business, but the name remained the same and has continued to this date, the present officials of the company being: A. O. Hazel- tine, president ; Cornelius Crawford, vice-president ; Lee M. Hutchins, treasurer and manager; Harry E. Fairchild, secretary, and Edwin N. Hicks, auditor. The concern now deals in wholesale drugs and sundries, soda fountain supplies, cigars and sporting goods, its terri- tory being included in Michigan and Northern Indiana. Its new modern building, at the corner of Oakes and Commerce avenues, was erected in 1911, and is modern in every respect, having 60,000 square feet of floor space. Eighty people are employed in the establish- ment, and eleven salesmen are kept on the road. Dr. Hazeltine be- came prominent in the affairs of the community, was a director of the Grand Rapids National City Bank, and for years was a member of the Grand Rapids Board of Trade. He belonged to Saint Mark's Episcopal church and at one time served as junior warden. His death occurred Dec. 17, 1912. He was a Knight Templar, and also be- longed to the Shrine, as well as to a number of literary and social clubs. Originally a Republican, in September, 1893, he was appointed as United States consul to Milan, Italy, but resigned this post in 1895 and subsequently became a Gold Democrat. Doctor Hazeltine was first married in 1868 to Ella C., daughter of Madison Burnell, of Jamestown, N. Y., and they had two children: Eliza Irene, wife of George Bruce Douglas, of Cedar Rapids, Ia., and Madison Burnell, formerly of Chicago, but now of Los Angeles, Cal. Mrs. Hazeltine died in 1873, and Doctor Hazeltine was again married, Oct. 17, 1875, to Anna O., daughter of George H. Fox, of Boston, Mass. They also had two children: Fanny D., wife of Adolf Von-Montgelas, of Ber- lin, Germany, and Delia H., wife of Ralph E. Ellis, of Hubbard Woods, Il1.
Jacob G. Heeringa .- In the Twentieth century, when competi- tion is keen and business life a matter of the survival of the fittest, success demands a decided superiority. This is true at the village four-corners, but it is applicable in a much greater degree in the large. cities, where the best brains are enlisted by the large business and financial concerns in striving to produce absolute efficiency and to se- cure the advantage from each new trend of circumstance. Of the younger generation of men of Grand Rapids who have been called into this competition and who are making the fight with vigor, nerve and discernment, one who has already attained a position of some importance is Jacob G. Heeringa. He has been a resident of Grand
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Rapids since 1906 and for ten years has been identified with the Grand Rapids Savings Bank, and since 1913 manager of the Fulton Street branch of that institution. Mr. Heeringa was born at East Saugatuck, Allegan county, Michigan, May 3, 1886, son of Jacob G. and Ida (Ellen) Heeringa. His paternal grandfather was Edward Heeringa, who came from the Netherlands and settled near Holland, Mich., where he followed farming until his death. Jacob G. Heer- inga, the elder, was born in the Netherlands and was a small child when brought to this country, his boyhood being passed in the neigh- borhood of Holland, Mich., where he attended the public schools. He was reared on a farm, but as a young man learned the trade of saw- yer, which he followed for some years in various mills, but eventually turned his attention to the mercantile business, which proved to be his chief interest in life. For thirty years he was engaged in mer- cantile lines at East Saugatuck, and at the end of a long, successful and honorable business career he retired from active pursuits and settled down to a life of ease and contentment at his home at Hol- land, where he still resides. He has been prominent in the communi- ties in which he has lived as a public figure, and while at East Sau- gatuck served in the capacity of postmaster for a quarter of a cen- tury. His political tendencies make him a Republican and his re- ligious connection is with the Christian Reformed church, of which he was a trustee for several years. During the Civil war he served in the Union army for some time, establishing a splendid military record, and is still interested in and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Mrs. Heeringa, who was also born in the Netherlands, and who was likewise a small child when brought to the United States, died at Holland, Dec. 22, 1915. They became the parents of the following children: Anna, wife of John Siebelink, of East Sau- gatuck, Mich .; Margaret, wife of Fred Brouwer, of Holland, Mich .; Edward, a resident of that place; Jennie, wife of Rev. B. Vanwijk, of Grand Rapids; Emma, wife of Rev. W. Bode, of Grundy Center, Ia .; Ida, wife of A. Vegter, of Holland, Mich., and Jacob G., Jr. Jacob G. Heeringa, the younger, was educated in the public schools of East Saugatuck and a private school at Holland and put the finishing touches on his training by attendance at Mclachlan's Business Uni- versity. His first experience of a business character was in connec- tion with a grocery at Holland, but about 1906 disposed of his in- terests there and came to Grand Rapids, where he was a clerk in a grocery for one year. In 1907 he identified himself with the Grand Rapids Savings Bank, in the capacity of transit clerk, and through close application, energetic and able discharge of his duties, and abso- lute fidelity to the interests of the institution, gradually won promo- tion through the various departments until made manager of the Fulton Street branch, Jan. 1, 1913. He has continued to capably .handle the business which is done through this branch and has won the right to be accounted a thorough, efficient and energetic repre- sentative of the banking methods and interests of the community. Mr. Heeringa is a Republican, but has had no time for politics, although he has always managed to keep in touch with conditions and to give his support and co-operation to beneficial movements, in this con- nection being a member of the East End Improvement Association. With his family, he belongs to the Christian Reformed church. Mr.
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MICHIGAN
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