USA > Michigan > Kent County > Grand Rapids > Grand Rapids and Kent County, Michigan: History and Account of Their Progress from First. Vol. II > Part 29
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
Hosted by Google
.
207
BIOGRAPHICAL
mind, his persuasive manner, sagacity, good humor and ready wit, have all combined to place him in his present enviable position. As a citizen he has been ever ready to assume and discharge to the full measure of his ability the responsibilities devolving upon him, and from May, 1903, until May, 1908, he acted ably as a member of the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners. He holds membership in the Colonial club, and, with his family, belongs to the Park Congre- gational church. Mr. Keeney was married, Nov. 10, 1897, to Mar- garet, daughter of the late Judge M. and Emily C (Canedy) Morton, of Fall River, Mass., Mrs. Keeney's father having formerly been justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. Of this union there have been born three children: Willard F., Jr., a student in the Treat School, Tennessee; Morton, attending the Hill School at Potts- town, Pennsylvania ; and Roger Butterfield, also attending that insti- tution.
Fred Kelley .- During a long and active career the activities of Fred Kelley have invaded a number of fields of endeavor, all con- nected in some way with the growth and development of Kent county and Grand Rapids. He has been a farmer, merchant and public of- ficial, winning success and reputation in each direction, and in all these vocations he has gained experience which has been valuable to him in the discharge of his duties as manager of the Madison Square branch of the Grand Rapids Savings Bank, a position which he has occupied since June 1, 1916. Mr. Kelley was born on a farm in Gaines township, Kent county, Michigan, Feb. 14, 1865, son of Charles and Emeline (Clark) Kelley, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of New York. Charles Kelley came to Kent county as one of the early settlers of this region, in 1835, settling on a new farm which he operated until his death, in 1870. In addition to being an agriculturist, he was a millwright, a vocation which he had learned in his youth, and built the first mill in Kent county. He was an in- fluential Republican of his community and the first supervisor of the township of Gaines, which he gave its name. He and Mrs. Kelley, who is also deceased, were the parents of the following children : Clark, whose death occurred when he was sixteen years of age; Ade- line, widow of Freeman Brewer, of Detroit, Mich .; Nelson and Frank, who are engaged in agricultural operations in Gaines township, and Fred. Fred Kelley was but five years of age when his father died, but was reared to habits of industry and honesty by his mother and received a good common school education in the country districts. He was brought up as a farmer and remained on the home place until twenty-nine years of age, at which time he first came to Grand Rapids and served as deputy sheriff under Sheriff Nathaniel Rice for two months, when Mr. Rice died. Irving Woodworth was then appointed acting sheriff by the Governor and Mr. Kelley continued to serve under him for twenty-two months, or until Mr. Woodworth was elected sheriff, and he then continued thus to serve for an addi- tional four years. He then re-engaged in agricultural pursuits for four years, when he again came to Grand Rapids in the sheriff's office, this time with Sheriff Albert A. Carroll, remaining four years. Once more Mr. Kelley became a farmer, but his experiences in the city had served to make him ambitious for success in a commercial way, and after one and one-half years in the country he came back
Hosted by Google
208
HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MICHIGAN
to Grand Rapids and opened a general merchandise store on West Bridge street and a drug store at Macawba Park. The general store he sold after one year and six months and entered the city clerk's office in the capacity of city license collector, a position which he filled efficiently for five years, and at the end of that time resigned to accept the position of manager of the Madison Square branch of the Grand Rapids Savings Bank. The banking business was a new venture for Mr. Kelley at the time, but he was quick to learn his duties and has since proven a most valuable man for the institution. He has made numerous friends among the depositors of his branch, and a pleasing personality has been an important asset in the making of his success. He is a Republican in matters of a political nature, and belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he is popular with his fellow-members. He was married Sept. 28, 1910, to Mrs. Katherine (Erickson) Sund- berg, widow of the late Victor Sundberg. By her former marriage Mrs. Kelley had two children: Ruth and Irene, the latter of whom is deceased.
David Wolcott Kendall .- "It will be years before the furniture industry of the world comes to a realization of the loss it suffered in David Wolcott Kendall's sudden demise. Like many another of those of great genius, real appreciation will come only as years pass and his works are viewed in the retrospect." Thus wrote Dr. Louis Barth, in 1910, when Grand Rapids was called upon to face the loss of one of its most distinguished citizens, an artist who had given to the world much that was beautiful. It is rarely the opportunity of the biogra- pher to have for his subject one who has brought himself to the fore- front in the exclusive field of art. The ordinary individual, master though he may be of business, politics or a profession, bows to the skill and the God-given power of the artist. Commercial success, professional attainment, public prowess-all these may be gained through a steady application to the rules and principles which govern them, but the genius which enables an individual to add to the world's total sum of things beautiful is a gift given to but few. It little befits the layman to attempt to draw a pen picture of one whose work brought him to the very forefront among American designers of fur- niture. Also, the limits necessarily assigned to this review preclude the idea of giving more than a review of the salient points of a career that left its impress not alone in the works of his hands, but in the lasting memory and brilliant achievements of those who were fortu- nate enough to have had the privilege of his tuition and kindly guid- ance. The death of David Wolcott Kendall, which occurred Feb. 16, 1910, in Mexico, took from Grand Rapids one who had helped to extend its fame around the world. But his talents had been so well directed that his career will ever remain as an inspiration to the younger devotees of the calling which he loved and to which he gave the years of his stimulating life. Not alone was David Wolcott Ken- dall distinguished in the field of his art, but by descent from ancestors which placed him above the common herd. He was born at Rochester, N. Y., Oct. 11, 1851, a son of David and Mary Ann (Wolcott) Ken- dall. On the paternal side he is descended from Francis Kendall, of Woburn, Mass., through Thomas, Elias, Thomas, Elias, Thomas and Daniel. Through Olive (Crane) Kendall, wife of Thomas Ken- dall, grandfather of David W. Kendall, he was descended from Wil-
Hosted by Google
209
BIOGRAPHICAL
liam Bradford, Thomas Rogers, William and Alice Mullens, and John and Priscilla Alden, who came to this country in the Mayflower. He was a member of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, having been admitted May 27, 1907, with general membership No. 2749, and among his numerous records, town histories, clerks' certifi- cates, etc., was the following from the Society: "In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are undersigned do by virtue of these pres- ents solemnly and mutually declare that David Wolcott Kendall, having to our satisfaction proven descent from William Bradford, who was a passenger on the good ship Mayflower when for the glory of God she made her first voyage to America, Anno Domini, 1620, has been created a member of the (Ye) General Society of Mayflower Descendants, in witness whereof, we hereto subscribe our names at Plymouth, in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, the 25th day of June, Anno Domini, 1907." Mr. Kendall was also one of the princi- pal organizers of the Michigan Society, Sons of the Revolution, and at the time of his death was one of its vice-presidents. On his moth- er's side he was a direct descendant from Roger Wolcott, the first Colonial governor of Connecticut, his grandfather being Anson Wol- cott, born at Windsor, Conn., April 9, 1787, who married Lurinda Hawley Gillett, born at East Stockbridge, Mass., Jan. 14, 1802. His mother was born April 25, 1823, at East Bloomfield, Ontario county, New York, and his father at Millbury, Mass., Jan. 24, 1806. David Wolcott Kendall attended private and public schools of Rochester, N. Y., and the Canandaigua Academy in that state, and, having demonstrated remarkable genius in art, he became proficient as a cabinetmaker and draftsman and began his furniture work with the firm of P. M. Bromly & Company, at Rochester, about 1871. While thus employed he had the advantage of instruction from teachers in night schools, and later in life he absorbed much knowledge along the line he loved so well. He was next employed by the Wooten Desk Company, of Indianapolis, the Home Sewing Machine Com- pany, of Peru, Ind., and L. Z. Fairbanks & Company, of Chicago, manufacturers of furniture to order, and when he left the last-named concern he first came to Grand Rapids and associated himself with the Phoenix Furniture Company, with which he remained for about four years. Leaving to enter the employ of the Berkey & Gay Com- pany, he remained with that concern for three years, and then went to Detroit, where he formed the partnership of Kendall & Beardsley. He returned to Grand Rapids in July, 1888, and again became identi- fied with the Phoenix Furniture Company, of which he was treasurer and general manager at the time of his death. Mr. Kendall's place among furniture designers was one established and recognized, but while he was a true artist, with a love for all things that were beauti- ful, he was also an intensely practical man. He was familiar with the equipment of the factory and knew to the utmost the possibilities of every machine. He made a deep study of furniture woods, how to treat them and how to finish them to produce the best results, while as a designer he had originality, character and strength, and his power grew with the years instead of waned. He always strove for artistic merit, for designs that would endure because deserving of it. Probably no designer in the country had been more widely copied in the last thirty years, and it is also probable that none has exercised II-14
Hosted by Google
210
HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MICHIGAN
so great an influence upon art in furniture. Mr. Kendall's study of wood finishes was scientific, and he was the originator of the oak antique, and the first expert to give oak in furniture life and color, the things that have made this wood popular in the manufacture of furniture. Also, he brought out many other ideas which the trade adopted, not alone in finishes, but also in design and construction, and he was constantly studying, constantly progressing, to which fact may be accredited the high rank of the output of the company with which he was connected. Widely traveled, Mr. Kendall was always alert for the artistic, and his collection of art works and liter- ature, and of bric-a-brac and things curious, was one of the most re- markable to be found anywhere, while his library, along the lines of his profession, was one of the most valuable in the country. During the summer before his death, he had spent three months in England and Belgium, studying the early English styles of furniture from the original models in the old cathedrals, castles and out-of-the-way places, so many of which have since been destroyed in the great war. On Jan. 24, 1910, he left Grand Rapids for a vacation trip to Mexico, and was joined at New York City by John M. L. Touse, of the Furni- ture World of New York, and John H. Young, the noted New York artist, sailing on the Merida, of the Ward Line, for Vera Cruz, an eight-day journey. They left the boat at Progresso, and from there went to Merida, the capital of Yucatan, and spent a week studying the ruins of an ancient civilization and taking photographs. From Merida Mr. Kendall wrote four letters to his wife, stating that he was in good health and enjoying the trip. He left for Mexico City, Feb. 12, and Feb. 16 Mrs. Kendall received a telegram stating that he was ill, but that he had a good physician and would leave the next day for San Antonio. He died that evening just as he was about to go to the Texas city. Mr. Kendall was rather exclusive in his friend- ship, but those to whom he gave his confidence found him an in- tensely interesting man. A close student of art, he gave every encour- agement to the young people of Grand Rapids who were of that turn of mind. In the amateur artists' exhibit, held not long before his death, at the Ryerson public library, he was one of the judges, and many of the young people will cherish the warm words of encourage- ment which he gave them as they continue to mount the steps of progress in their profession. Fraternally, he was affiliated with Doric Lodge No. 342, F. & A. M., which still possesses a gavel made of olive wood which Mr. Kendall brought from the Holy Land, and Columbian Chapter No. 132, R. A. M. It is a fact that has been sincerely re- gretted that Mr. Kendall did not live to carry out his intention to write a book on furniture designing and making in the United States, for which he had accumulated much material, and which would no doubt have been a valuable addition to the world's literature on these subjects. Mr. Kendall was married, first on July 24, 1882, at Fargo, N. D., to Miss Delle Colby, daughter of Lorenzo and Esther Colby. His second marriage occurred at Grand Rapids, Mich., Nov. 5, 1900, when he was united with Miss Helen Miller, daughter of James and Mary Ada Miller. He had no children. Mrs. Kendall survives him and resides at No. 145 Fountain street, N. E., Grand Rapids. The following tribute was paid to Mr. Kendall by Dr. Louis Barth, who, perhaps more than any person outside Mr. Kendall's own family, knew
Hosted by
211
BIOGRAPHICAL
the man whose genius swayed the furniture industry, even though it gained him little recognition. This tribute, which first appeared in the Grand Rapids Evening Press, was born of intimate knowledge, vast appreciation and profound respect : "David Wolcott Kendall was a man of purposeful thoroughness. He had no patience nor time for half knowledge and he abhorred all sham and everything superficial. He was a man of moral and physical courage, modest and unassum- ing. Ever anxious to study and improve himself, not so much for the honor it might mean or the financial return that might be in- volved, as for the great satisfaction he derived in increasing his great store of knowledge and in knowing and doing well everything with which he concerned himself. Great as was his success along the line of the industry to which he principally was devoted, to my mind David Kendall's personality was his greatest asset. He was fundamentally fair and square in all his ideals and his business and home associations. Measured by one of the greatest tests of human nature, he was a man of great breadth, character and justice. Of him it truthfully may be said that no matter how pronounced his dislike, he always acknowledged all good and gave full credit to his enemies. He was seldom understood, and, considering the charm of his person- ality, made comparatively few friends. His brain seemed to work too fast for adequate expression. Ideas came more rapidly than he could frame them into words. He was a mental giant who delighted to put himself to the extremest tests, and never, to the very end, was there the slightest dimunition of his inbred thirst for new and greater knowledge. It was his artist's idea for harmonious color schemes that evolved the so-called Sixteenth Century finish and the Early English. He evolved the color finishes now so popular in high grade furniture. When David Wolcott Kendall began as a designer it was with the understanding that he learn the furniture industry from the saw-mill through every practical grade. While he worked as an apprentice at Rochester he studied art, mechanical drawing, sculpture and modeling. He began upon just the broad foundation that would have delighted his matured later day ideas. At the Phoenix, where the designing would occupy most men's entire time and thought, David Kendall was designer as well as general manager and treas- urer. He was an infallible judge of human nature. He picked up more than one young man from a machine or the bench and started him upon his life career. To those who knew him, who had time to learn from observation all the intricate, interesting angles of his remarkable personality, his ability seemed without limit. And when David Wolcott Kendall tenderly was borne to the grave, death had claimed another of earth's geniuses. His name will be remembered in the history of furniture as long as Edison's in the history of elec- tricity, Marconi's in telegraphy, or Lister's in medicine."
Thomas J. Keney .- The automobile industry has attracted many men from other fields of endeavor during recent years, but all have not had the capability to make a success of this difficult specialized work. Thomas J. Keney, however, has applied himself to his new vocation with such earnestness and energy that within three years he has built up a business as agent and garage owner at Sand Lake that compares favorably with most of the agencies in the larger cities. Formerly a farmer, he recognized the possibilities in the automobile
Hosted by Google
212
HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MICHIGAN
business, but it was not until 1915 that he was ready to make such a decided change in his vocation. He is one of the useful citizens of his part of the county, having served in various public offices, and at this time is game warden of his district and a member of the local board of school directors. Mr. Keney was born Dec. 12, 1869, in Newaygo county, Michigan, where his father was one of the leading agricul- turists. The latter was a native of Michigan, as was also his wife, Mary (Byrnes) Keney, daughter of John Byrnes, a farmer. The following children were in the family: John B., deceased, who was a farmer ; Margaret, wife of H. B. Hardman, an auctioneer; Anna, deceased; Edward, who is engaged in farming; Emma, deceased; Thomas J., of this notice, and Mary Lizzie, deceased. Thomas J. Keney received a public school education and was reared to agri- cultural pursuits, which he adopted as his vocation when he entered life upon his own account. He continued as a farmer until 1915, and through industry and good management made a success of his opera- tions, but in the year mentioned disposed of a part of his holdings and moved to Sand Lake, where he opened an automobile garage and sales-room. He had made a careful study of his proposed venture before entering upon it, and was therefore able at once to assume the duties dependent upon successful participation therein, and from its inception his business has been a paying one. He handles the Oakland cars, carries a large line of accessories, and has his estab- lishment fully equipped to meet the needs of motorists, whether in the way of housing, new parts or repairs. Mr. Keney's business reputation is an excellent one and he stands high in the esteem of his business associates. He has been prominent in public affairs, as before noted, having filled various township offices while living on his farm, was for four years postmaster at Hall Grove, has for the past eighteen years been a notary public, and at present is school director and game warden of the Sand Lake district. His public service has been characterized by expeditious and conscientious hand- ling of his duties, and he has thus won public confidence in a large degree. His political beliefs make him a Democrat. Mr. Keney mar- ried Sarah Nihill, also a native of Michigan, born on the same date as her husband. Three children have been born of this union: Mabel, a graduate of the high school and the State Normal school, who has been a teacher; Verona, a graduate of the same schools, and Mary, who was in the twelfth grade at the Cedar Springs high school when compelled to give up her studies temporarily because of illness.
James Kennedy .- The list of representative farmers of Gaines township would be incomplete if the name of James Kennedy were not included. He has been a resident of this township for more than a half a century, and at the present time is owner of the family home- stead, a tract of 320 acres, located in section 14, which he acquired by purchase in 1911, and which is now one of the handsome and produc- tive farms of this part of Kent county. Mr. Kennedy's entire life has been passed in the pursuits of the soil, and the success which has rewarded his operations entitles him to be named as one of the skilled and progressive men of his calling. Born in Ireland, April 17, 1852, Mr. Kennedy was an infant in arms when his parents, James and Eliza (Jameson) Kennedy, came to the United States in the fall of 1852. The first family settlement was in Pennsylvania, in which state
Hosted by Google
213
BIOGRAPHICAL
they resided for some fourteen years, the father there following the trade of carpenter, which he had learned in his native Erin. He was of an ambitious nature and desirous of owning a home of his own, and April 17, 1866, came to Gaines township, where he bought the partly-cleared farm of D. H. Waters, a tract of 160 acres. Here he completed the clearing, put the land under a high state of cultiva- tion, and in later years added 160 acres to his original purchase. His energy and good management were rewarded by the securing of a valuable farm and in the last few years of his life he retired from active labor and made his home at Caledonia, where he passed away, as did also his wife. They were members of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Kennedy was a Democrat and took some active partici- pation in township affairs, although his only public office was that of school director. He was a man of sterling traits of character and his fair dealing and absolute integrity made his name an honored one upon commercial paper, while his associates respected him because he would never stoop to take an unfair advantage. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, as follows: Mary, deceased wife of John Clingman; Esther, wife of Robert Carson; James; Jennie, deceased wife of Franklin Heaney, also deceased; Robert, of Chi- cago, Ill .; Elizabeth, wife of Daniel Good, of Buffalo, N. Y .; and Joseph E., of New York City. James Kennedy, the younger, acquired a district school education in Pennsylvania and Michigan, and in the latter state early became one of his father's assistants in the cultiva- tion of the home property. He remained with the elder man until the latter's retirement, at which time he took over the management of the home farm of 320 acres, although it was not until 1911 that he became sole possessor of this tract by virtue of purchase from the other heirs to the estate. As a practical adherent of modern meth- ods of farming he has made a success of his operations, which have been general in character, and since he has become the owner of the land he has succeeded in adding to its value, both through an increase in productiveness and through the erection of new buildings and the installing of modern improvements. In the community in which he has resided for so long he is known as a man of affairs, whose in- terest is quickly enlisted in movements of a progressive nature, and who is liberal in his support of these enterprises. He has discharged the duties of citizenship by serving as township assessor and school director, as well as in other ways. His political support is given to the men and measures put forward by the Democratic party, with which he has voted since coming of age. With his family, he belongs to the Presbyterian church. Mr. Kennedy was married, Feb. 9, 1881, to Agnes S., daughter of Edward and Marguerite (Dunn) Monseau, the father being a native of Canada, and of this union have been born children as follows: Edward J., a merchant of Bellfry, Mont., who married Helen Jenness and has one child, Lillian; Harry, who resides at home; Thomas A., his father's assistant on the home farm, who is married and has three children-William, Charlotte and Marcella ; Herbert, who is in the naval rifle range of the United States army ; Clive and Marguerite, at home; and Paul F., who is also in the naval rifle range of the United States army.
David Kinsey .- Among the men who came early to Kent county and during many years were engaged in agricultural operations here,
Hosted by Google
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.