USA > Michigan > Kent County > Grand Rapids > Grand Rapids and Kent County, Michigan: History and Account of Their Progress from First. Vol. II > Part 50
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ences were in the vocation of farming, but like many other young men entering upon their careers he answered the lure of the city and for a long period gave his attention to work which carried him into the large centers of population, only in the end to find his greatest satis- faction and profit amid rural surroundings. He is now the owner of a well-cultivated and productive farm located in Nelson township, his long separation from the farming industry seeming in no way to have affected his success as a tiller of the soil. Mr. Sweat was born in Genesee county, Michigan, son of Orrin and Jane (Groom) Sweat, natives of Ohio. His father followed farming for some years in the Buckeye State before coming to Michigan, when he settled first on a new property in Genesee county and subsequently removed to Sagi- naw county, where his declining years were passed. He was a man of industry, and was known for his integrity and straightforward dealing with his fellow-men. There were three children in the fam- ily: Flora, Alfred and William. William Sweat received his educa- tion in the district schools of Genesee and Saginaw counties and was brought up as a farmer's son, but was ambitious to try his skill in the city and accepted a position with a mercantile establishment when he left the parental roof. For some years he traveled as a salesman for several houses, and then entered the employ of the United States government as a foreman of construction in the building of bridges and other structures for the federal service. This work occupied his attention for some time, but in 1911 he gave up a mode of life that kept him constantly moving from place to place with no fixed point of residence, and bought a farm in Minnesota. After several years he disposed of that property and returned to the state of his birth, locating permanently on a farm in Nelson township, not far from the thriving village of Sand Lake. Mr. Sweat has since been busily en- gaged in his farming operations and in the installing of new equip- ment, improvements, appliances and buildings upon his farm, which he is making one of the model ones of the locality. His activities are conducted upon a large scale and his good business management has enabled him to make a decided success of his operations. Since coming to his present locality Mr. Sweat has built up a reputation for industry, integrity and good citizenship and has made and still holds many friends. He married Hannah M., daughter of Peter and Mary Hoover, Mr. Hoover having been a miner and farmer. Of this union have been born two children: Tressa, who during the past four years has been a stenographer in the office of H. L. Cain, at Ce- dar Springs, and Glenn, who is a resident of Montana, where he is engaged in agricultural operations. Mr. Sweat is a Republican, but has never cared for public office.
Fred Swift .- The call of the soil speaks loudly to some men, and there are to be found in Kent county many who have experimented for years in other fields of endeavor only to finally return to the farm and to find thereon their greatest reward and contentment. In this class is found Fred Swift, of Solon township. A product of the farm, early in life, like many young men who have the wanderlust, he was not satisfied to be limited to the occupations of the farmer's life, but must needs see a part of the world and try his hand at other forms of labor. However, when he finally settled down, he chose Solon township as his place of residence and here has become one of the
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substantial agriculturists of this fertile part of Kent county. Fred Swift was born on a farm in Ulster county, New York, and received a common school education. He was brought up to the work of a farmer by parents who endeavored to train him in regard to the val- ue and dignity of labor, but when he was twenty-one years old he sev- ered home ties, left the parental roof and set out for Jackson county, Michigan. There for a time he worked at odd jobs. Any employ- ment that he could find to do he tried his hand at, but soon came to a realization of the fact that this kind of procedure was taking him no place, and for a time he settled down as clerk in a general store. Again he felt the need to travel, however, and, resigning his position, he worked his way to the city of Logansport, Ind. As the spirit moved him, he would go from place to place, always looking for a better position and not remaining long in any one community. Event- ually, he drifted back to Michigan, took up his residence in Kent county and settled down to farming, a vocation in which he has since been engaged with marked success. Mr. Swift's farm is located in section 11, Solon township, and he has a well-cultivated property, with good buildings and up-to-date equipment. He is unmarried. In politics he is a Republican, but has not aspired to any public office. As a citizen he is accounted public-spirited, and his reputation for in- tegrity in his business transactions is an excellent one.
Moses Taggart was born at Wilson, Niagara county, New York, son of Rufus Taggart, a general business man and farmer by occu- pation. His early education was secured in the district school at Wil- son, following which he attended the Wilson Collegiate Institute, where he prepared for college. When the Civil war came on his two elder brothers-Rufus and John-left home to enter the army, and this disarranged the plans of the eighteen-year-old youth (he was born Feb. 27, 1843), who returned to the home farm and engaged in its cultivation until he was twenty-two years of age. He then en- tered the University of Michigan and graduated in the law depart- ment, in 1867, following which he went to Batavia, Genesee county, New York, and entered the law office of an uncle, Moses Taggart, ex-justice of the Supreme Court and of the Court of Appeals of New York. He was admitted to the bar the same year and soon there- after went to Lockport, N. Y., where he practiced until 1868. In that year Mr. Taggart came to Michigan and settled at Cedar Springs, but five months later changed his field of practice to Grand Rapids, where, in 1870, he formed a partnership with Hon. B. A. Harlan, who was at the time judge of the Probate Court. This association continued until 1872, when Mr. Taggart took as his partner Eugene E. Allen, the firm existing until 1875. Mr. Allen withdrew in that year and the firm of Taggart & Wolcott was formed, this continuing for many years. In 1884 Mr. Taggart, who had become a prominent figure in the Republican party and in public life, was elected attorney-general of the state, serving in that capacity for four years. In 1901 he was made city attorney of Grand Rapids, and this office he held until the time of his death, which occurred at Grand Rapids, Aug. 20, 1914. He was a member of the Westminster Presbyterian church, as is also his widow, who survives him and resides at Grand Rapids. Mr. Tag- gart was married Oct. 17, 1872, to Miss Elizabeth Ganson, daughter of the late Cornelius N. Ganson, a retired banker of Ypsilanti, Mich.,
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and of this union were born five children: Ganson; Ralph C., of Al- bany, N. Y .; James M., of New York City ; and Anne V. and Van C., the former of Grand Rapids and the latter of Chicago. Ganson Tag- gart was graduated in the law department of the University of Michi- gan, in 1896, and was admitted to the bar at Grand Rapids, where he has since continued to practice. He is now city attorney and a mem- ber of the firm of Taggart & Kingston.
Charles E. Tarte .- One of the favorite plots which fiction writers delight to take for their subject is that which depicts the struggles of the poor boy who starts in a humble position with some great enter- prise and through his grit and determination works his way to its head. That this is purely a matter of fiction, however, is not true, for this is frequently discovered happening in real life, and a case in point is found in the career of Charles E. Tarte, general manager of the Citizens' Telephone Company, of Grand Rapids. Mr. Tarte was born at Muskegon, Mich., Oct. 31, 1869, son of Joseph and Ada- line (Graves) Tarte. His father, a native of Canada, came to Grand Rapids among the first French settlers of this city, but subsequently moved to Muskegon and followed the vocation of ship carpenter until his death, in 1871, when his son was but thirteen months old. Mrs. Tarte is also deceased. Charles E. Tarte was educated in the parochial and high schools of Muskegon, and at the age of twelve years se- cured employment as a telegraph messenger. When he was only thirteen years old he was made a telephone operator on the night shift and continued in this capacity for four years, and in 1889 came to Grand Rapids with the Michigan State Telephone Company, a part of the Bell system. Three years later he went to St. Paul, Minn., with the Northwestern Telephone Company, also a part of that sys- tem, and in February, 1893, returned to the Michigan Telephone Com- pany, being stationed at Detroit. In this time his ability, fidelity and energy had won him promotion, and when he returned to Grand Rap- ids, in 1896, it was as traffic manager and wire chief for the Citizens' Telephone Company, of which he has since been made general man- ager. The foregoing is a brief outline of the 'career of an individual who has won his own way in his chosen field of endeavor, steadily pressing forward and gaining advancement by reason of merit rather than by any help from influential sources. Having started at the bot- tom of the ladder and laboriously climbed every round, he is thor- oughly familiar with every department of the telephone business, and this fact has enabled him to give the patrons of the company the best service that can be given by an important public institution of this nature. Mr. Tarte is an independent Republican. He belongs to St. Andrews' Catholic church and to the Knights of Columbus, the O-Wash-ta-nong, Peninsular and Highlands Country clubs, the Asso- ciation of Commerce and the Grand Rapids Rotary club. He was married May 17, 1897, to Maude, daughter of Joseph Uebelhoer, of Detroit, Mich., and they have four children: Charles Edward, Louis E., Elizabeth and Robert J., all at home.
William E. Teeple .- An arduous and hazardous task confronted those venturesome and hardy men who forsook the comforts and se- curity of their homes in the Eastern states in the early days and pene- trated the untrodden wilds of the West to establish for themselves there new homes. None but themselves and their children can real-
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ize, in the faintest degree, the difficulties with which they contended, the perils to which they were exposed, and the hardships which they endured. Fortunately they were animated by an indomitable spirit and maintained by inflexible resolution, and patiently, perseveringly and steadfastly accomplished their mission, leaving to posterity the fruits of their enterprise in an advanced civilization. The memory of the virtues of these men, as well as of their worthy wives, has served as a high incentive in molding the lives of their children, some of whom still survive amid scenes of their childhood. Among these is found William E. Teeple, who is still carrying on agricultural opera- tions on the farm, on section 18, Cascade township, which his father took up from the government when first coming to Kent county nearly three-quarters of a century ago. William E. Teeple was born on the farm which he now occupies, Feb. 18, 1855, son of George W. and Samantha (Cook) Teeple. His parents, natives of Pennsylvania, took up 145 acres of land when they settled in Cascade township, and continued to be engaged in caring for this property until within sev- eral years of their deaths, when they retired from active pursuits. At the time of their arrival this property was covered with timber, but this yielded to the efforts of Mr. Teeple, who was a persevering work- er, ambitious and determined to succeed. When it was cleared, it was put under cultivation, and in later years yielded bountifully, re- paying in its productiveness the years of toil spent upon it. Mr. Teeple, the elder, was an active party worker in the interests of Democracy and in the early days held a number of township offices. He was well thought of in business circles and had the esteem of a wide circle of acquaintances. His children were as follows: Albert B., Minerva and Oscar, deceased; Alfred, a resident of Grand Rap- ids ; Marquis and Marion, twins, deceased; Elmer, who died young ; Elmira and Elmina, twins, the former deceased and the latter wife of Charles S. Spaulding, of Harbor Springs, Mich .; Harriet, wife of Harold D. Sanford, a resident of North Dakota; and William E. William E. Teeple received his education in the district schools of Cascade township and was reared on the farm which he has always made his home. As a youth he worked as his father's assistant, later was paid a man's wages in the field, and finally, after his father's death, purchased the interests of the other heirs in the estate and be- came the owner of the property. He carries on general farming and stock-raising in a modern, scientific manner, and has been successful in both departments. At various times Mr. Teeple has added to the buildings and equipment of the farm, as well as to its acreage, and few country estates in the township present a better appearance. Po- litically Mr. Teeple is a Democrat, and on occasion has held school offices. He was married Jan. 8, 1887, to Ada O., daughter of Leman and Helen (Dennison) Chapel, of Ada, Mich., farming people of that community, and of this union have been born four children : Marie L., wife of Fred Cook, of Grand Rapids, and Mortimer G., Earl L. and Naida O., all at home. Mr. Teeple has lived a long, up- right, industrious and useful life, and in the ripeness of his years is an object of sincere respect and cordial esteem on the part of his neighbors and many friends.
Lyndsey P. Thomas .- There can be no more desirable associa- tion in a business way than that existing when father and son are in
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partnership, the elder man giving to the organization the benefit of his years of experience and a certain conservatism that works well with the spirit, energy and enthusiasm of the younger member of the concern. Kent county has a number of examples where father and son, working in close harmony, have been successful in the building of large commercial enterprises, and one of the best examples to be found is that existing in the firm of L. P. Thomas Company, dealers in wholesale produce and proprietors of an elevator at Lowell, this business being represented by Lyndsey P. Thomas and his son, Earl A. Thomas. Lyndsey P. Thomas was born March 29, 1852, in Can- non township, Kent county, Michigan, son of James and Elizabeth (Miller) Thomas, natives of Pennsylvania, where they were married. The family was founded in Michigan in 1838, when they located as pioneers in Cannon township, and there continued to be engaged in farming until the death of Mrs. Elizabeth Thomas, May 27, 1880. At that time James Thomas retired from active pursuits and made his home with his son, Lyndsey P., until his death, March 17, 1897. There were nine children in the family: John, who died in July, 1915; Mrs. Margaret Provin, an eighty-two-year-old resident of Can- non township; Anna, who died in 1901; William, who died in 1870; James, a resident of Edmore, Mich .; Louis, who lives at Kendall- ville, Ind .; Mrs. Emma Hutchins, who died in 1916; Sarah Jane, who died young, and Lyndsey P. Of this family, John, James, William and Louis fought as Union soldiers in the Civil war. The education of Lyndsey P. Thomas was of a somewhat limited character, being confined to attendance at the sessions of the district school held in a little log house in the vicinity of his father's farm. When he entered upon his career he adopted farming as his vocation, and, being in- dustrious and capable, accumulated a good property in Cannon town- ship, on which he carried on operations until he was forty years old, and which he owned until 1915. Mr. Thomas came to Lowell in 1891, and here embarked in the manufacture of bean planters and har- vesters, an enterprise which he carried on until 1896. In the mean- time, in line with his business, he became interested in the wholesale produce trade, and in 1896 founded the present firm of L. P. Thomas Company, which handles all manner of produce, but principally beans, potatoes, wool and seeds. The concern owns its own elevator, located on the Pere Marquette railroad at Lowell. Few men are bet- ter known or more highly esteemed in business circles of Lowell, where Mr. Thomas has established a reputation for the strictest in- tegrity and probity. In building up a business structure of stability and worth he has never stooped to questionable methods, nor has he ever allowed himself to take advantage of another's misfortune. He has been interested in the success of the Republican party and has never missed casting a vote in Kent county since attaining his ma- jority. For forty years he has been a Mason and is now a member of Lowell Lodge No. 90, F. & A. M. While he is not a member of any church, he believes in the value of religion and has supported a number of worthy movements. Mr. Thomas was married Oct. 18, 1882, to Jennie, daughter of Lorenzo D. and Mercy (Baker) Hoag, natives of New York State who came to Michigan and passed the re- maining years of their lives in farming in Cannon township. There were six children in the Hoag family: Myron B. and John, deceased;
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Mrs. Thomas ; Burtis and William, residents of California ; and Eliza, of Marshall, Mich. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have two children: Earl A., and Ethel, who is the wife of Mr. Doyle, connected with the King Milling Company, of Lowell. Earl A. Thomas, junior member of the firm of L. P. Thomas Company and one of the most progressive and energetic business men of Lowell, was born Aug. 23, 1883, on his fa- ther's farm in Cannon township, and secured his education in the common schools and the Lowell High School. He was but thirteen years of age, and in his final year at the latter school, when his father engaged in his present business, and young Thomas gave up his studies in order that he might assist the elder man in the establishing of this firm upon a sound basis. He has been an important factor in building up the concern to its present large proportions and in ex- tending its reputation far beyond the immediate limits of its com- munity. Mr. Thomas is widely and favorably known in business cir- cles of Lowell, where his associates have expressed their confidence in him by electing him to the office of vice-president of the Lowell Board of Trade, of which position he is the present incumbent. He has also been active in civic affairs and was formerly village treasurer and village trustee for several years, and he still takes a keen interest in all matters pertaining to the welfare, growth and advancement of Lowell and its people's interests. He is an active Republican, a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is fraternally connected with Lowell Lodge No. 90 and Hooker Chapter No. 73 of the Ma- sonic order, and Lowell Camp No. 115, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Thomas was married Sept. 21, 1909, to Della, daughter of W. S. and Dora (Hildreth) Winegar. Mr. Winegar, originally a farmer of Vergennes township, Kent county, later came to Lowell and for nearly thirty years was successfully engaged in merchandising here. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are the parents of two children-Dora Jane, born Oct. 26, 1915, and Ethel Anne, born Nov. 25, 1917.
Coy J. Thompson is well known as one of the extensive farmers of Solon township and as a public-spirited citizen whose aid is never withheld from movements of a beneficial character. In the working out of his career, his honorable manner of conducting his affairs has gained him very creditable success, as well as standing among the substantial men of his community and confidence by the public in general. Mr. Thompson was born at Lamont, Ottawa county, Michi- gan, March 2, 1863, son of Volney and Catherine (Phillips) Thomp- son, both families being old and honored ones of this state. Volney Thompson was born at Pinkney, near Ann Arbor, Mich., and was a young man when he removed to the vicinity of Lamont. As a youth he had learned the trade of shoemaker, which he followed for some years, and then became a fruit-grower, a vocation in which he found success during a long period, and eventually entered the ministry, establishing the Wesleyan church at Solon Centre. He continued to be engaged in ministerial labors until he reached his seventieth year, at which time he retired from active work and from that time until his death, at the ripe age of eighty years, lived quietly in the enjoy- ment of the comforts which his long and eminently useful career had brought him. Reverend Thompson married Catherine Phillips, daughter of James and Catherine Phillips, of New York, who came to Michigan in the early days. Three children were born of this un- II-24
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ion. Coy J. Thompson was given no particular advantages in his youth, save for those accruing from attendance at the Lamont public schools, where he completed his education. However, he had been brought up to traits of honesty and habits of industry and thus en- tered upon his career with a proper appreciation of life's rewards and responsibilities, an advantage which assisted him over many of the rough places of his first few years of endeavor. His first employ- ment was at lumbering, a business in which he rose to be foreman, and for a number of years he continued in this line, but eventually turned his attention, as do many lumbermen, to farming. He secured through purchase his present farm, a well-cultivated tract of land which lies in section 13, Solon township. Mr. Thompson furnishes gravel to the township for road purposes. He is one of the men of his locality who help in movements which his judgment tells him will be beneficial to the township, and in politics he is a stanch Republican. As a fraternalist he belongs to Cedar Springs Lodge No. 213, F. & A. M., and he and Mrs. Thompson are active in the Eastern Star work of the order. Mr. Thompson married Miss Eva Dunton, daughter of Reuben and Harriet Dunton, of Solon township, formerly well known farming people of this vicinity and highly respected, but now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are the parents of a son, Volney, a graduate of the Cedar Springs High School, who spent a short time in Montana, but now resides at home, assisting his father, and awaiting his call to the colors for service in the United States National Army.
Myron Thompson .- A worthy exponent of modern methods in agricultural work, Myron Thompson, of Bowne township, has worked his way to well-earned success in a community in which the family name has been known for many years. He has passed his entire life upon the farm which he now owns, and in its cultivation and develop- ment he has sustained the reputation established by his pioneer father, who was one of the first to settle in this part of Kent county. Mr. Thompson was born on his present farm, Nov. 1, 1860, his parents being Henry and Sarah (Platt) Thompson, and the family being of Vermont origin. His father was born in Michigan and as a young man came as a pioneer to Bowne township, where he secured, for a start, forty acres of wild land, heavily timbered. This he subse- quently sold and bought another farm of fifty acres, to which in later years he added an additional forty. General farming occupied his activities throughout his life, with the exception of three years when he was on Southern battlefields as a member of the Thirteenth Michi- gan infantry, in the Civil war, and ever after the close of that strug- gle he was an interested and popular member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He and Mrs. Thompson, who was a native of Ohio, were the parents of four children: Wilbur, of Bowne township; My- ron; Etta, wife of M. Simpson, of Alto, Mich., and Frank, deceased. Myron Thompson attended the district schools of Bowne township, following which he became his father's assistant on the home farm, of which he became manager at the time of the elder man's retire- ment. When his father died he bought the farm from the estate, and to its cultivation he has since devoted himself continuously, although he has several outside interests, being identified as a stockholder with the Freeport and Alto elevators. He has installed numerous
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