USA > Michigan > Barry County > History of Barry county, [Michigan] > Part 9
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CHARLES M. HENDERSHOTT
It is indeed with pleasure that we here present a biographical sketch of Charles M. Hendershott, of Baltimore. better known as "Mike" Hendershott. Mr. Hendershott has had an interesting career as a pioneer, soldier, and prosperous upright citizen, and it is most fitting that he should represent his township in this history. It is such men as C. M. Hendershott whom a younger generation should be pleased to honor.
Mr. Hendershott was born in Bradford County, Pennsyl- vania, May 7, 1839. His parents were Isaiah and Maria Johnson Hendershott, the father being of German and the mother of Scotch-Irish descent. In 1854 the mother and father left the Quaker State for Michigan, making the entire journey by team. It was a long journey and nearly six weeks were required to make it. Finally, however, they reached their destination, which was the still new village of Hastings, and there met their son Charles, who had come by train with his grandmother to Battle Creek and then had walked to Hastings.
From Hastings the family, which included besides Charles two brothers and four sisters, went to Blivens' Corners and there spent their first winter in Michigan. Early in the spring the father bought of Lorenzo Mudge the farm on Section 8, Balti- more, at what is now Hendershott Corners. Here Charles M. Hendershott lives today, having greatly increaesd the acreage of the original homestead.
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CHAS. M. HENDERSHOTT
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A small log house was the first habitation of the family and before crops could be put in it was necessary to clear away the trees which grew on all sides. The first crops put in on the new farm were corn, potatoes, bagas and turnips, and all these products came in very handily for the pioneer family. Hunting was good in those days, so meat was not hard to find. Deer were thick, as were also wild turkeys, and Charles M. Hendershott tells of shooting sixteen squirrels in two hours.
The Hendershott boys, however, did not stay at home much of the time. They had to work out by the month to help pay for the farm. Clad in the costume which every one wore, blue denim and leather boots, they went to work on neighboring farms to help their father.
It was when Charles M. Hendershott was working near Gales- burg in 1857 that he met young William Shafter, known always to him as "Bill" Shafter. William Shafter, as is well known, later gained fame as a general of the United States army in the Spanish war, but in those days, too, he was considerable of a fighter. Wrestling was his forte and Mr. Hendershott tells that Bill Shafter could throw any man in Kalamazoo County twice out of three times. Saturday at Galesbury was a big day. There was always a fight, a horse race or a wrestling match. Wagers were placed and when it came to wrestling, Bill Shafter always drew down the money.
Mr. Hendershott worked at Galesburg until 1859, when he returned to Barry County. He continued, however, to work out until the beginning of the Civil war. On April 23, 1861, he enlisted for three months in the Third Michigan Infantry, and then on January 9, 1862, he enlisted in Illinois Artillery, Water- house Battery E, being mustered out April 29, 1862, on account of sickness. On August 25, 1864, he again enlisted, this time in the Eighth Michigan Cavalry, Company L. With this regiment he was in the fight at Henryville, Tenn .; also on the Lewisburg Pike on Duck River in the same state. He also was in the fighting at Nashville and Columbia. He was mustered out at Pulaski, Tenn., June 10, 1865, and came back to the farm in Baltimore on which he now resides.
Politically, Mr. Hendershott is a Republican. His first presidential ballot was cast for Abraham Lincoln, and he has
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voted for every Republican presidential candidate since. He takes a strong interest in civic affairs and is always on the side of right. He is one of those most desirable of men, a good citizen.
During war time, on January 28, 1863, Mr. Hendershott married Jane E. Garrison, who died August 23, 1894. To them were born five children, four of whom grew to maturity. Of the four there was one son, Charles I., and three daughters, Laura E., now Mrs. Albert Williams; Adella M., now Mrs. Ernest Haynes, and Eola, who was Mrs. John Lechleitner but is not now living. Charles I. lives with his father on the old homestead and has two children. His wife was formerly Miss Altha Hammond. Mr. Hendershott's father died in 1875 and his mother in 1885.
Since the war Mr. Hendershott has worked hard and indus- triously. Prosperity has attended his efforts and he is now enjoy- ing the fruits of his labors. All through his life he has been known as a man of honesty and honor. His word has been as good as his bond and he has always been fearless in the expression of his convictions. He is a man who is ever ready to extend help to the needy and his heart and sympathies are big and large.
HICKS
A family which has been represented in Hastings since the early '70's is the Hicks family, the living male members of which in Hastings are Charles H., William F., Melancthon W. and Ford Hicks, son of the latter and Mary Van Arman Hicks.
The Hicks family are of New England stock and are descended from Zebabiah Hicks, one of the first settlers of Cam- bridge, Mass., his wife being Elizabeth Sill. The Hicks family had two representatives, at least, in the revolution, John Hicks, born in 1725, losing his life on the first day of that struggle. On April 19, 1775, he invited his neighbor, Moses Richardson, of Cambridge, to join him against the British. They both mounted their horses and stationed themselves where they might shoot at the enemy and were themselves both shot on the same day. They were buried without shroud or ceremony in the harness of war in the graveyard of old Cambridge.
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John Hicks, a son of the above mentioned John Hicks, was a captain of Dragoons in the revolution and quartermaster.
Judge Samuel Hicks, son of Captain John Hicks, and descended in the fifth generation from Zebabiah Hicks, was born in Cambridge, in 1771. He resided in Bennington, Vermont, in early life, and after 1798 at Champlain, New York. Here he kept public house until 1810. After this date he filled various public offices, such as postmaster, justice of the peace, judge, and custom house officer. In the war of 1812 he was commissary and operated so ardently against the British that they offered a reward for his head. He died July 26, 1825, at the age of 64.
Samuel Hicks, in 1786, married Charity Corbin, who died in 1802. For his second wife he married Polly Woodard, by whom he had six children: George, Melancthon W., Henry, James A., Edward J., and a daughter who died when young. Polly Hicks died June 12, 1835.
The second of the above named children, Melancthon W. Hicks, was the father of Charles H., William F. and M. W. Hicks, of this city, also of Emily Hicks Allen, of Bay City, and of George Hicks, who died in California in the gold fever days. Melancthon W. Hicks was born at Champlain, New York, July 14, 1805, and on March 10, 1831, married Sarah Fox, who was born January 24, 1809, and died in 1891.
Melancthon W. Hicks came to Michigan in 1844, settling in Oakland County. Before coming to Michigan he served for some time as custom house officer at Whitehall, New York. He was an ardent Democrat and was elected in 1850 as a member of the State House of Representatives for Oakland County on the Demo- cratic ticket, defeating the father of ex-Governor Warner, who was a candidate for the Whigs.
In Barry County the Hicks family have been active in busi- ness and have also been interested in politics. They are all thorough-going Democrats and at present William F. Hicks is a member of the Democratic State Central Committee.
The Hicks family have been strongly marked as consisting of temperate, long lived, energetic, brave, generous men, full of deci- sion of character. Three of them have graduated at Harvard and three at Yale.
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CHRIS. A. HOUGH
Chris. A. Hough, of Nashville, was born in Ashland County, Ohio, January 25, 1846. His father was Joseph Hough, who was descended from German stock, his grandparents coming to this country from Germany and settling in Pennsylvania in 1721. The mother was Nancy A. Evans Hough and was of German and French extraction. In 1671 ancestors of Nancy Evans came to the United States and settled at Philadelphia.
At the age of 23, in 1867, Christopher Hough came to Michi- gan and for one year was a resident of Morenci. For another year he lived at Ionia and then in 1869 he went to Woodland and went into business as a carriage maker and merchant.
At Woodland Mr. Hough prospered and became a man whom his fellow citizens were pleased to entrust with many public offices. Repeatedly and for long periods he was village clerk, justice of the peace, and president of the school board. In fact, he took a leading part not only in the business, political and social life of Woodland, but also in its religious life, Mr. Hough being a member of the M. E. church.
Mr. Hough has been a life long Republican and in 1886 he was elected to the office of county treasurer on the Republican ticket. In order to fulfill the duties of this office Mr. Hough moved to the county seat. In 1888 he was again elected treasurer, but in 1889 he turned the active management of this office over to his deputy, Charles Jordan, and went to Nashville as cashier of the newly organized Farmers' and Merchants' Bank. He has resided in Nashville ever since.
The new bank of which Mr. Hough became cashier has been a strong institution from the very start and now stands the second bank in the county in point of deposits. The last statement of the bank shows total deposits of $534,537.30. This being a statement covering the summer period, the deposits are shown when they are lower than at any other time in the year. The bank has had deposits of over $548,000 and this coming winter these figures will probably be passed as there has always been a steady growth in deposits, those of every year being greater than those of any pre- ceding year.
At Nashville, as at Woodland, Mr. Hough has been a prom- inent and progressive citizen. He has been school trustee for six-
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CHRIS HOUGH
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M. F. JORDAN
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teen years and is now president of the school board. Four times he has been president of the village, besides being a church trustee.
On July 3, 1871, at Woodland, Mr. Hough married Miss Minerva J. Rowlader, Miss Rowlader's father being one of the early German settlers of Woodland, and her mother a native of New York State. To Mr. and Mrs. Hough five children have been born: Claude F., now a successful banker at Mulvane, Kansas; Maude M., who married Duvillo P. Holly and who died at Paducah, Kentucky, in 1895; Elsie L., now Mrs. Glenn H. Young of Pellston, Michigan; Marie M., who died in infancy, and Madeline B., now Mrs. N. E. Trautman of Nashville.
Mr. Hough is a Mason of long standing, having been a mem- ber of that order forty-three years. For many years at Woodland he was master of his lodge. Mr. Hough has also been a Knight of Pythias for twenty-six years.
Mr. Hough is a member of the local G. A. R. post, having been a private in Company C, 198th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infan- try. He was honorably discharged May 8, 1865.
Although Mr. Hough has held many offices he has never been an office seeker, but rather the people have been the ones to ask him to accept offices of trust and responsibility. These offices he has always filled conscientiously and with scrupulous care for the people's interest. Mr. Hough is a man whom any community might be proud to own.
MILTON F. JORDAN
Milton Fillmore Jordan was born on the 13th day of Novem- ber, 1850, on the south half of Section Nineteen, Irving Township, Barry County, Michigan, in that portion of the frame house which stood on the west side of the line between the southwest quarter and the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter, of Section Nineteen, the frame house being one and one-half stories high, and some seven or eight feet of it extending over the east side of the line.
He attended his first school when past seven years of age, in the old brick school house at Middleville, Michigan, in the sum- mer of 1858, his teachers being Adelia Stone and Francis Brannan. In 1859 he attended the school on Powers Plains, Irving Town- ship, taught by Hannah McNair now Mrs. Nathan Barlow, and
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who is still living, afterwards attending school there and at Mid- dleville and Irving Station till 1867. He later studied in the Grand Rapids High School, and afterwards at the Ann Arbor, Michigan, High School. Then he entered the Law Department of the University of Michigan, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in the year 1876. A portion of the time, pre- vious to his graduation, he spent working his father's farm on shares, running a threshing machine, and teaching school, to assist in qualifying for his profession, spending many months of the time each year in the law office of Wright & Ellis at Middleville, Michigan, each member of this firm being among the ablest law- yers of Western Michigan, A. H. Ellis later becoming one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of Kansas. Mr. Jordan also spent nearly one year in the law offices of Thompson, Reeves & Pratt, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Mr. Jordan immediately after his graduation in 1876 pur- chased with Will M. Watkins the "Middleville Republican," which they published for two years. In 1878 he sold his interest in the paper and accepted the nomination for County Clerk. Being de- feated, he began the practice of law at Middleville, Michigan, where he has practiced since 1879. He has held the office of Township Clerk of Irving Township one year, and Justice of the Peace of Thornapple Township from 1880 to 1884.
In 1884 Mr. Jordan was appointed Postmaster at Middleville, Michigan, by Cleveland's Postmaster General, and held the office four years. He was nominated twice for Prosecuting Attorney of Barry County, and each time defeated. He was nominated for Representative in the State Legislature in 1884 and defeated, but was elected State Senator of the Fifteenth district in 1894. He was nominated for Lieutenant Governor on the ticket with S. O. Fisher in 1896, but withdrew from the nomination and the Demo- cratic party later and has since affiliated with the Republicans. He has held the office of President of Middleville for two terms, and was for fifteen years Village Attorney, and for nine years member and Secretary of the School Board at Middleville.
He has one daughter, Bertha M., wife of Harry McQueen of Detroit, Michigan, and one grandson, the infant son of said daughter.
Mr. Jordan's parents were pioneers of Barry County. His
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A. E. KENASTON
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father, Jacob Jordan, was born April 23, 1808, at Cherry Valley, Otsego County, N. Y., of Scotch-Irish paternity and Dutch ma- ternity. He removed with his father, William Jordan, to Tyrone Township, now Schuyler County, N. Y., near Dundee, about 1816. On February 6th, 1834, he was married to Mary Coldren, mother of Milton F., at West Bloomfield, by Elder David Millard. There were three other sons, Lewis H., Wellington H. and Myron N. Mary Jordan, mother of Milton F., died in August, 1882, and the father died in March, 1895. They are both buried in the South Irving cemetery. They were of the pioneers. They came to the farm in Irving in 1848, and no better or more honorable and respected pioneers ever came to Michigan.
Mrs. Hannah Williams, wife of Daniel Williams, who first settled upon Section 19, Irving Township, in 1837, and Mrs. Cor- nelia S. Hills, whose husband, Luther S. Hills, first settled and established Irving Station, were sisters of Mary Coldren Jordan.
Milton F. Jordan is now, October 4th, 1912, practicing law at Middleville, Michigan.
ALONZO E. KENASTON
Alonzo E. Kenaston was born in East Calais, Vermont, in 1856. He had as his inheritance, not a goodly fortune, but some- thing infinitely more valuable, kind, good, God-fearing parents, who early began to instil into his mind that he must be trained, disciplined and cultured if he were to do efficient work in the world. It was a poor New England farm on the hillside of the old Green Mountain State, that returned but a meager living for the hard work required in its tilling, and Alonzo's father was a frail man. Hence, very early in life, he was compelled to take upon his young shoulders heavy burdens. He and his brother bravely and manfully performed their task of caring for the dear ones of the home. But the difficulties of his boyhood did not pre- vent him from attending the country school and afterwards, with persistent struggle, paying his way through Dartmouth College, and at the same time helping his brother to support the family at home. Likewise he paid his own way through the law department of the Unievrsity of Michigan, helping support the family and the home while doing so.
Mr. Kenaston located in Hastings in 1882, where in various
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useful capacities he lived an active professional and business life, ever concerned in the development and advancement of Hastings, and always instrumental in his quiet, unostentatious way, in every movement for the betterment of its citizens. He held at various times the offices of justice of the peace, city attor- ney, circuit court commissioner and mayor. For many years he devoted most of his attention to the real estate and building busi- ness. In the last named respect, Mr. Kenaston was remarkably active, and he has left as a concrete and beneficent result of this activity over one hundred houses in the city of Hastings.
He was married on May 18, 1887, to Miss Eva Nevins. Two sons were born to them, Edwin Nevins, who died in infancy, and Leland R., who is pursuing his studies in High School. Although not formally a member of the M. E. church, he was a regular attendant and a member of the board of trustees. At heart he was a Christian, and a man of pure life and exemplary habits. His gentle, cheerful ways, his consideration for the poor, whom he was ever ready to help and accommodate, his uniform courtesy and good nature, his integrity as a business man, his interest in the uplift of the community, all these qualities made him a highly respected, influential and lovable man.
Mr. Kenaston was a member of the Knights of Pythias, belonging to Barry Lodge No. 13 for twenty-seven years. He was also a member of the famous Hastings Division No. 10, Uniform Rank, which won so many prizes and held a national reputation for its wonderful proficiency in drilling.
His death occurred May 9, 1910. During the obsequies the business places of the city were closed as a mark of respect to the memory of a man who had interwoven his useful and upright life so intimately into that of the city. The K. of P. and the Barry County Bar Association attended in a body, the former organiza- tion conducting the services at the grave.
This sketch cannot be more appropriately closed than by quoting from the memorial resolutions adopted by the Barry County Bar Association :
"In the death of Alonzo E. Kenaston this bar has lost one of its best and most respected members, who in life was an honor to the profession, and one who in all his relations to mankind, as friend, husband, father, public official and citizen, exemplified
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in his daily life and conduct the highest type of American man- hood, the memory of whose life will serve as an example and inspiration to us who are left to mourn his loss."
JOHN C. KETCHAM
John C. Ketcham was born in Toledo, Ohio, January 1, 1873. His parents, John C. and Mary Ketcham, were of hardy English- American descent, and both were former residents of the Buckeye State.
Six months after the birth of John Ketcham, Jr., the family moved to the State of Michigan, settling on a farm in Maple Grove Township. Here Mr. Ketcham spent his boyhood up to the time that he was fifteen years of age, acquiring during this period that spirit of self-reliance and physical and mental health, that result from some of the vicissitudes and much of the hard work that fall to the lot of the average country boy.
He secured an elementary education in the Branch school at Maple Grove, entering the Hastings High School as a student in the fall of 1888, but was able to attend for only seven months, owing to the necessity of employing himself in a business way. He resumed the completion of his education in the fall of 1889, at which time he entered the Nashville High School, but was again obliged to shorten the term of his studies.
In the spring of 1890, Mr. Ketcham passed the teacher's ex- amination and taught school for one year in the Moore district at Maple Grove. He also taught for the spring and fall terms in the Mayo district school at Maple Grove, thus beginning his success- ful career as an educator while he, himself, was yet a student.
In November, 1891, he re-entered the high school at Hastings, graduating with the class of 1892 and delivering the class oration.
Mr. Ketcham was elected Principal of the Nashville High School in 1893, and served in this capacity until 1897. In this same year, he married Miss Cora E. Rowlader of Wooland and moved to Hastings, where he had been chosen to fill the position of Instructor of English in the Hastings High School. Since this time, Mr. and Mrs. Ketcham have made Hastings their perma- nent home. They are the parents of three children, Mildred, John C. III., and Ruth, all living.
In Hastings, Mr. Ketcham has served ably in many offices of
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educational and government trust, to which he has been elected or appointed. These include the office of County Commissioner of Schools, to which he was first elected in 1899, continuing in this capacity for three consecutive terms. He has served as Con- ductor and Instructor in State Teachers' Institutes for a period of four years, and has acted as Secretary of the Teachers' Reading Circle Board.
In 1907 he was appointed Postmaster of Hastings and re- ceived the appointment for a second time in 1911.
As Postmaster of Hastings, Mr. Ketcham has more than met the requirements of his position, growing with the added responsi- bilities of the task of handling an ever increasing volume of mail, that has necessitated the late removal of the City Postoffice to larger and more adequate quarters.
That Mr. Ketcham is interested in the work of religious and fraternal orders, is indicated by the fact that he is a member of the M. E. church, the Masons, and Knights of Pythias. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the State Grange and will probably be the next Master.
Mr. Ketcham is pre-eminently a progressive and public- spirited citizen. He is always to be found back of any enterprise which has for its purpose the furtherance of right and opportunity. His influence in the community is widely felt.
LOYAL E. KNAPPEN
A Barry County man who has gone out into other fields and attained success, but who still cherishes a lively and sympathetic interest in the county of his nativity, is Loyal E. Knappen, of Grand Rapids, United States Circuit Judge for the sixth circuit.
Loyal E. Knappen was born at Hastings, January 27, 1854. His father, Edwin Knappen, was a merchant at Hastings and a member of the mercantile firm of H. I. & E. Knappen. both mem- bers of which firm died of typhoid in the epidemic of 1851, Edwin Knappen dying only a few months after the birth of his son. Loyal. The mother was Sarah M. (Nevins) Knappen and is now the wife of Marcus W. Riker. She now lives at Grand Rapids. Both of Mr. Knappen's parents were born in Vermont, his paternal grandfather having moved to the Green Mountain state from Connecticut.
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Young Knappen attended the Hastings public schools until he was fifteen years of age, when he entered the University of Michigan, graduating in 1873 with the degree of B. A. and receiv- ing his M. A. three years later.
After receiving his bachelor's degree, Mr. Knappen was assistant principal of the Hastings High School for six months. He then re-entered the law office of Hon. James A. Sweezey at Hastings as a law student, having previously spent some time in this same office. He was admitted to practice in 1875 and became at once the law partner of Mr. Sweezey, continuing in this connection until 1878, when he formed a partnership with his brother, Charles M. Knappen.
In 1883 Mr. Knappen became associated in practice with Christopher H. Van Arman. Five years later he removed to Grand Rapids, associating himself with William J. Stuart, now Judge of the Superior Court of that city. The firm of Stuart, Knappen & Van Arman was thus formed with offices at both Grand Rapids and Hastings. Mr. Van Arman died in 1890 and for about a year thereafter Charles M. Weaver was a member of the firm and had charge of the Hastings office. Upon Mr. Weaver's retirement from the firm in 1891, the office at Hastings was closed and Mr. Knappen's direct connection with Barry County affairs was, of course, materially lessened, although he has always, as mentioned above, been greatly interested in his old home.
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