USA > Michigan > Kent County > Grand Rapids > Grand Rapids and Kent County, Michigan: History and Account of Their Progress from First. Vol. II > Part 52
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Marshall M. Uhl .- The worthy son of a distinguished sire, Mar- shall Mortimer Uhl bids fair to perpetuate the record for brilliant achievements in the law made by his father, the late Hon. Edwin F. Uhl. While time has not yet given him the opportunity for really eminent service, he has already made an established position for himself at the Grand Rapids bar, and as a progressive and virile citi- zen he is alive to the real problems of the day. He was born at Grand Rapids, Nov. 22, 1882, son of Edwin F. and Alice (Follett) Uhl. After graduation in the Central High School he became a stu- dent at the University of Michigan and graduated in the literary de- partment of that institution, in 1906. Following this, he pursued a two-year course in law, and in 1908 began practice at Ishpeming, with William P. Belden. From that point, in March, 1909, he came to Grand Rapids and entered the offices of Kleinhans & Knappen, and April 1, 1913, was admitted to partnership in the firm. He is now in the enjoyment of an excellent practice and stands high in reputa- tion at the Grand Rapids bar, as well as in the confidence of his fel- low-members in the Grand Rapids Bar Association and the Michigan State Bar Association. He is a member of the Association of Com- merce and the Rotary club, is fraternally affiliated with the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, and has numerous close friends among his fellow-members in the Peninsular and Kent Country clubs. For several years he has been active in contributing to the advance- ment of the Anti-Tuberculosis Society and is a member of the official board at Grand Rapids. His religious connection is with St. Mark's Episcopal church, of which he has been vestryman for some time. Mr. Uhl was married Oct. 1, 1912, to Ellen, daughter of James B. and Annie (Bushnell) Howard, of Grand Rapids, and they have two children-Alice Mortimer and John Howard.
Henry J. Vanden Berg, M. D .- Medicine embraces a wide field of knowledge, and the successful physician must be a man of com- prehensive and varied learning. Never at any time has the healing art demanded more of its practitioners than at the present and never has the profession given such a splendid account of itself. The phy- sicians of Kent county, and particularly those of Grand Rapids, have steadily kept pace with the wonderful advancements which have been made, and therefore, to occupy a leading position among the practitioners of county and State, is in itself evidence of broad learning and signal ability. Such a position and such acquisitions are possessed by Dr. Henry J. Vanden Berg, who is engaged successfully in practice at Grand Rapids, where he has made a particularly edifying success in the field of surgery. Dr. Henry J. Vanden Berg was born at Zee- land, Ottawa county, Michigan, July 6, 1879, a son of Dr. John William and Delia (De Kruif) Vanden Berg. His father, born at Buffalo, N. Y., was educated at the University of Michigan, in which institution he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine and for some years was engaged in practice at Jenisonville, from which place he removed to Holland, Mich., his present field of labor. He has a large and successful practice and is accounted one of the skilled physicians and surgeons of Ottawa county, where he is also a substantial and public-spirited citizen. Mrs. Vanden Berg also sur- vives. Henry J. Vanden Berg, the only survivor of the four children of his parents, received his early education in the public schools, following
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which he attended Hoke College for several years. From his father he inherited a predilection for the medical profession, and after same training under the preceptorship of the elder man, enrolled as a student of the medical department at the University of Michigan, his father's alma mater, in which he was graduated with his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1905. His first practical experience was gained as an assistant to Dr. Richard R. Smith, of Grand Rapids, with whom he remained for three years, and then for one year was located at Petoskey, Mich., where he followed his calling with some measure of success for one year. Desiring to gain further training, Dr. Vanden Berg went to Europe, in 1908, and for two years thereafter studied at the University of Vienna, Austria, and upon his return, in 1910, again became associated with Dr. Smith, at Grand Rapids, this time as a partner. He has been successful in the gaining of a large and repre- sentative clientele and has established something more than a local reputation as a surgeon, his practice now being solely confined to this field. A man of broad information along many kindred lines, he has kept in close touch with advancement, and avails himself of the oppor- tunities to be gained by membership in the Kent County Medical Society, the Michigan State Medical Society and the American Med- ical Association. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. For several years he has been a surgeon on the staff of Butterworth Hospital. Dr. Vanden Berg's paternal grandfather was a physician, a graduate of Hague University, and two of his brothers were military surgeons. The paternal great-great-grandfather served as a surgeon under Napoleon and his father was also a military surgeon. So it will be seen that Dr. Vanden Berg comes through a long line of ancestors who were physicians and surgeons. Essentially a self-made man, he has not allowed himself to be hampered by the fact that he has had to win through hard work every step forward, but rather has so shaped circumstances as to make what to another might seem like adversity serve but as a stimulus to his ambition. He is well known to the social life of Grand Rapids and is a popular member of the Peninsular and Highlands Golf clubs and the Kiwanis club. Doctor Vanden Berg was married, Feb. 1, 1909, to Miss Edna Gibson, of Allegan, Mich., and they are the parents of two children: Anna Jean and Henry J., Jr.
Clarence J. Van Etten .- The history of the growth and progress of Grand Rapids is, naturally, a history of the development of its great enterprises and industries. Without these contributing factors the city could not have attained its present prestige, and in the same degree these big institutions could not have been possible were it not for the work of able, energetic men of sound capacity and business foresight. The most important concern connected with the timber industry with headquarters in the Furniture City is that of the Blod- gett Company, Ltd., and among the men who have contributed to its progressive growth, one of the best known to the trade is Clarence J. Van Etten, who has been identified with this enterprise for twenty- seven years, and he is now the assistant secretary and treasurer. Mr. Van Etten was born at Lyons, Mich., Oct. 9, 1865, son of Henry and Cornelia (Hoffman) Van Etten, natives of the State of New York. He was educated in the public schools of his native place and at the
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West Michigan Business College, of Grand Rapids, and as a youth became a registered pharmacist, following that profession for several years. For one year he was connected with the office of the court reporter of the Supreme Court at Lansing, Mich., coming to Grand Rapids in 1890, and in the following year entered the employ of the long-established firm of D. A. Blodgett & Company as a stenogra- pher. His fidelity to this concern has never wavered and at present he occupies the position of assistant secretary and treasurer of the Blodgett Company, Limited, under which style the business is now conducted. He has worked his way steadily up through the ranks and few men are better informed as to the timber and lumber trade in general or better known to lumber men throughout this part of the country. Mr. Van Etten is a Republican and has always taken a deep interest in matters pertaining to the betterment of the city. He holds membership in the Peninsular, Kent Country and the Owash- tanong clubs, and likewise belongs to the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce. He was married Oct. 12, 1897, to Bernice, daughter of Orland and Mary E. (Brown) Godwin, of Grand Rapids, and they have a daughter, Mary.
Sidney M. Van Namee, Sr .- There are many great manufactur- ing plants at Grand Rapids that have a nation-wide reputation and one of these is the Grand Rapids Wood Finishing Company, of which Sidney Van Namee, Sr., is vice-president and he is also superintend- ent of the entire plant. Mr. Van Namee is well qualified for this im- portant position, having been associated with this company for many years with practical experience in its every branch. He was born at Oswego, N. Y., April 10, 1856, son of Sidney M. and Laura (Burdick) Van Namee, who spent their lives in Oswego county. At the age of fifteen years Sidney M. left school and home and came to Kent coun- ty, Michigan, in search of better fortune than seemed to promise in the old familiar neighborhood. When he reached Grand Rapids the proverbial chance awaiting ambitious youths did not materialize, so the boy sensibly went to work for Farmer Knapp, in the vicinity, and thus provided for his needs for a time, and later spent two winter sea- sons in the woods in a lumber camp. Returning then to Grand Rap- ids he entered the employ of H. M. Gobel, with whom he remained for twelve years, and afterward was with the Heystek Company for two years. He then became a traveling salesman for the Grand Rap- ids Paint & Color Company, later taking charge of the plant. He was married March 26, 1878, to Miss Louisa J. Bateman, of Oswego, N. Y., and they have two children and one grandchild: Allesion K., of Indianapolis, Ind .; Sidney M., Jr., of Caledonia, Mich., and Ale- tha J., the last named being a daughter of Mr. Van Namee's oldest child. In his political views Mr. Van Namee is a Republican, and fraternally he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America.
Robert Van Noord .- Among the men connected prominently with the business and financial life of Grand Rapids, one who has impressed his versatility and capability upon the community is Rob- ert Van Noord, manager of the Eastern Avenue Branch of the Com- mercial Savings Bank and a member of the large book publishing and jobbing firm of Eedrmans-Sevensma Company. Mr. Van Noord may still be classed as a member of the younger generation of busi- ness men, yet he has already achieved a noteworthy success. He was
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born at Vriesland, Mich., Aug. 28, 1880, son of Gelmer and Lucy (Zwiers) Van Noord, natives of the Netherlands. Both came to the United States in 1867, locating at Vriesland, where Gelmer Van Noord engaged in agricultural pursuits, and where, being an indus- trious, thrifty and intelligent man, he achieved success through his good business management. About the year 1909 he retired from ac- tive farming and went to Zeeland, in which community his home was made until his death, April 6, 1913. Mrs. Van Noord still survives him and makes her home in a comfortable residence at that place. Mr. Van Noord was a Republican and a leader in the Christian Re- formed church, to which his widow belongs. He was greatly es- teemed in his several communities as a man of sterling probity of character and as a citizen whose intelligent and well-directed labors contributed to the prestige of his community. Mr. and Mrs. Van Noord had the following children: John, who still makes his home at Vriesland; Jennie, wife of Rev. William De Groot, a pastor of the Christian Reformed church, now taking a post-graduate course at Princeton, N. J .; Alice, wife of John Van Welt, of Zeeland, Mich .; Lena, wife of Albert Ter Haar, of Zeeland, Mich .; Egbert, a resi- dent of Drenthe, this state; Maggie, widow of E. L. Brouwer and who also lives at Drenthe; Robert; Johannes, of Grand Rapids; Peter, of Zeeland, Mich .; and Gertrude, who is unmarried and resides with her mother. Like other farmers' sons of his community, Robert Van Noord received the ordinary educational advantages offered by the public schools of Vriesland, and this training was subsequently sup- plemented by a course in the Grand Rapids Business College. When he left the latter institution he secured employment with W. D. Bish- op, a merchant, with whom he remained for approximately three years, and for the year that followed was connected with the Com- mercial Credit Company. A like period was passed in the Boston Store, Grand Rapids, followed by one year in the Peoples' Savings Bank, and Mr. Van Noord then entered the Kent County Savings Bank, to which he gave his services for ten years, being gradually advanced from position to position until he reached a post of impor- tance. He had, however, been on the alert for an opportunity to embark in business on his own account, and such a change presented itself in the Eerdmans-Sevensma Company, in which, in December, 1912, he bought an interest, and since that time has served in the ca- pacities of secretary and treasurer. This company is engaged in pub- lishing and jobbing Holland and American books and has its Grand Rapids office at 513-15 Eastern avenue, while the branch house of the concern is situated at 130 North Main street, Paterson, N. J. The company has agents all over the country and ships its books all over the world, and Mr. Van Noord's abilities and energies have done much to increase the volume of business done. In August, 1916, he be- came manager of the Eastern Avenue Branch of the Commercial Sav- ings Bank, where his knowledge of financial matters has served to better business conditions and add to the institution's deposits. Mr. Van Noord is a member of the Association of Commerce, in which he allies himself with other progressive business men in movements for the commercial and financial welfare of the city. He is a Republican, but politics has not attracted him to the extent of calling him into the limelight as a candidate for public office. With his family, he be-
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longs to the Christian Reformed church. Mr. Van Noord was mar- ried Aug. 17, 1905, to Ella, daughter of Anne and Anna (Jeltes) Lindemulder, of Grand Rapids, and of this union have been born four children: Gelmer Anthony, Andrew Gerald, Lawrence Robert and Robert John, all at home.
Frank A. Veit .- Of the business men of the younger generation at Grand Rapids, who is well known, is Frank A. Veit. He was born at Grand Rapids, Mich., Aug. 26, 1880, son of Jacob and Anna (Maier) Veit. His father, a native of Germany, was an infant a few months old when brought by his parents to the United States, the family locating in New York State, where Jacob Veit was reared and educated. When still a youth he came to Grand Rapids, in the vicin- ity of which city he secured employment as a farm hand,, and while thus engaged recognized the opportunity presented for the formation of a successful brewing company. For a number of years his opera- tions were carried on in a small way, but his business capacity, judg- ment and industry finally resulted in the founding of the Grand Rap- ids Brewing Company, which developed under his management into one of the largest concerns of its kind in the country, and of which he was president until his death, in December, 1911. He was one of the most popular men on the West Side, where he belonged to a number of German social organizations, and he was widely respected in business circles, no less for his sterling honesty than for his splen- did business ability. He was a member of St. Mary's Catholic church, of which Mrs. Veit, who survives him and resides at Grand Rapids, is also a communicant. They were the parents of two children: Wil- liam N., who died Dec. 9, 1914, and Frank A. Frank A. Veit was educated in the public and parochial schools of Grand Rapids and entered the Grand Rapids Brewing Company as an apprentice. He worked his way through merit from one position to another until made assistant superintendent, a post which he held for several years, and was then made superintendent of the plant and vice-president of the company, capacities in which he acts at the present time. Like his father, Mr. Veit is the possessor of many friends and belongs to a number of social and fraternal bodies, among them the Peninsular club and the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Veit is yet a bachelor and makes his home with his mother.
Dennis J. Verburg .- Prominent among the farmers of northern Kent county is numbered Dennis J. Verburg, who is now the owner of the property which formerly belonged to his father, in Solon town- ship. In a long and diversified career Mr. Verburg has engaged in a number of different pursuits and has been located in various commu- nities, but has finally come to the conclusion that his greatest content- ment and success can be found on a farm and that Kent county of- fers some of the best opportunities for the agriculturists to be found anywhere. He is a native of the Netherlands, born Oct. 24, 1859, his father being John Verburg, also born in that country. John Verburg was educated in his native land and was early taught the principles of landscape gardening, a vocation which he followed there until coming to America. He had been an earnest and industrious work- man, but had failed to find a good opportunity, so that when he came to the United States, in 1871, he had little working capital. He soon found employment at Kalamazoo, on the grounds of the Michigan
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State Asylum for the Insane, and after several years changed his resi- dence to Grand Rapids, where he began farming. From that time forward agricultural work occupied his attention and he became one of the well-to-do farmers of Solon township. Mr. Verburg married Miss Stofflena Eikenhont, daughter of Dennis Eikenhont, of the Neth- erlands, and of this union were born eleven children, of whom all died in infancy with the exception of four: Simon, who is a prescription druggist at Detroit, Mich., although his residence is at Jackson ; Martin, connected with the Milwaukee Gas and Light Company ; Gir- ard, foreman of the cutting room of the Imperial Furniture Com- pany's factory at Grand Rapids, and Dennis J. Dennis J. Verburg received his education in the public schools of the Netherlands and was eleven years of age when he came to America, where he first se- cured employment as a clerk in the boot and shoe establishment of S. O. Bennett & Son, Grand Rapids. After this experience in com- mercial affairs he engaged in farming for two years in Ada town- ship, Kent county, but after two years gave this up to accept a cleri- cal position at Kalamazoo. Next came an experience as a railroad man, in the employ of the Michigan Central railroad, but this lasted only a short time before he returned to his father's farm in Solon township, where he remained several years. Following this, Mr. Verburg went to Chicago and in the Illinois metropolis became head janitor and shipping and receiving clerk for the Columbia Museum Company. When he left this concern it was to return to the farm in Solon township, where he has since worked out an honorable and de- served success. Mr. Verburg is known as one of the skilled agricul- turists of his region, with keen business sense and capability. His travels have given him a broader outlook on life and have aided in giving him a keener insight to men and their motives. In 1888 Mr. Verburg married Miss Ellen M. Huff, daughter of David and Annetta B. Huff, farming people of Solon township. Mr. Huff served the Un- ion in the dark days of 1861-1865, and while he had many narrow escapes came through unharmed. Mrs. Verburg died in 1917, having been the mother of seven children, of whom three are now living : Glenn O., who married Ethel Anderson, of Greenville, Mich., and has six girls-Pearl, Blanche, Marie, Edith, Doratha, and Irma; Ray Clark, who married Mary DeWolf, and has a son, Joseph R., and Lena Annetta, who is the wife of John Rogalewski, of Nelson town- ship, and has a son, John Dennis. Mr. Verburg filled the office of township supervisor during 1911 and 1912, and again in 1915-1916, and he rendered his community faithful and able service. He main- tains an independent stand in regard to political questions, and is a member of the Church of Christ at Pierson.
Leonard D. Verdier, of Grand Rapids, is an able member of the bar, a leader in the Republican party in the state, and a citizen who has impressed the force and straightforwardness of his character upon the institutions of Michigan as a member of both houses of the state legislature. He has spent the entire period of his professional career at Grand Rapids, where the family has been located since 1866, and where its members have been known as honorable and successful busi- ness and professional men and helpful and public-spirited citizens. Mr. Verdier was born at Grand Rapids, Oct. 19, 1877, a son of John A. S. and Maria J. (D'Ooge) Verdier, natives of the province of Zee-
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land, Netherlands, where Mrs. Verdier was born, at Zierikzee, on the Ooster Schelde. John A. S. Verdier was still a youth when he came to the United States, in 1849, and first located at Buffalo, N. Y. He later turned his face toward the West and came directly to Wisconsin, his first residence in that state being Sheboygan. While there he continued to be identified with different lines of endeavor, gaining ex- perience in business methods, and when the Civil war came on dis- played his loyalty to the land of his adoption by enlisting for service in the Union army. He became second lieutenant of a company from Sheboygan, in a Wisconsin volunteer infantry regiment, fought through the struggle with that organization, and rose to the rank of captain, establishing an excellent military record for valor and faith- fulness. In the meantime, he had carefully saved his officer's pay, which he added to some small capital which he had been able to save before going to war, and in 1866 came to Grand Rapids and invested his means in a modest feed and produce business. This venture pros- pered gratifyingly, and he was encouraged to enter other fields, with the result that he was later known as proprietor of a hardware store and as a furniture manufacturer, and finally, entering financial affairs, became cashier of the Kent County Savings Bank and its successor, the Kent State Bank, a position in which he was serving at the time of his death, March 8, 1912. Mrs. Verdier survived him only until May 5, 1913. Mr. Verdier was prominent in public affairs, and, in fact, in the life of the city generally. A Republican in politics, at one time he was alderman of his ward, was treasurer of Kent county for two terms, and was Presidential elector for Colonel Roosevelt, in 1904. Fraternally, he was affiliated with the Masons, was organizer of the Knickerbocker Society at Grand Rapids, and its first president, always took an interest in the Grand Army of the Republic and at- tended its annual encampments, and belonged to the First Reformed church, the movements of which he supported generously. In his various activities Mr. Verdier displayed a high order of citizenship, and in every walk of life was the recipient of his fellow-citizens' es- teem and confidence. He and Mrs. Verdier were the parents of four sons : John Walter, of Mancelona, Mich .; Leonard D .; and Frank Lawrence and Martin D'Ooge, of Grand Rapids. When he had fin- ished his public high school course, in 1895, Leonard D. Verdier entered the University of Michigan, and in that institution completed his literary course in 1899, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and his law studies in 1901, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. His first practical experience was acquired in the law office of Butterfield & Keeney, but after a short time with this firm embarked upon an in- dependent career, and has since built up a large and lucrative general practice, his present offices being situated in the Grand Rapids Sav- ings building. He has steadily forged to the front as one of the strong and versatile legal lights of the Furniture City, and at the same time has been a more than ordinarily effective influence in the Republican party, which, in 1909, elected him a member of the lower house of the state legislature, and, in 1913, sent him to the Senate, in each of which he served two terms. He established a good record as a legislator and worked hard with other faithful public servants to secure the passage of good and beneficial legislation. While at college, Mr. Verdier attained membership in the Phi Delta Phi law II-25
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fraternity. He is also a member of the Grand Rapids Bar Associa- tion, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Grand Rapids Association of Commerce. Mr. Verdier was mar- ried June 26, 1904, to Miss Anna E., daughter of Wheaton D. and M. Jennie (Alexander) Carpenter, of Saginaw, Mich., and they have six children, all at home: Eleanor, John A. S., Margaret, Anne, Leonard D., Jr., and Virginia.
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