USA > Michigan > Bay County > History of Bay County, Michigan, and representative citizens > Part 79
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On June 21, 1887, Mr. Van Poppelen was married to Huberdina Janssen, who was born May 13, 1859, at Alphen, the Netherlands. She came to America in the spring of 1873 with her parents. Anthony and Antoinette (Van Lent) Janssen. Mr. and Mrs. Van Poppelen made a very enjoyable visit to Holland in the fall of 1901, returning to their American home on February 24, 1902. In religious belief they are Catholics. Politically, Mr. Van Poppelen is a Democrat. He served two years as drainage commissioner and has been connected with the local School Board for many years, at present serving as treasurer of School District, No. I, Hampton township.
OHN WALKER HAUXHURST, M. D., physician and surgeon, of Bay City, West Side, was born at Jericho, Long Island, in Queens County, New York, April 30, 1848, and is a son of Jacob V. and Mary (Hicks) Hauxhurst.
The parents of Dr. Hauxhurst were born in Queens County, and there the father fol-
GEORGE W. AMES
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lowed the business of builder and contractor for many years, but subsequently settled on a farm in Wisconsin. He was born in 1817 and resided on Long Island until 1856, when he re- moved to Richland County, Wisconsin, where he followed building and contracting until 1862, when he retired to his farm in Eau Claire County where he died in 1884. He was a most worthy man in every respect. In re- ligious belief he was a Quaker. Of his 12 chil- dren, 10 reached maturity and became scat- tered through various States where each estab- lished a home of his own. These were : James, of Los Angeles, California ; Sidney, deceased, who was a wholesale grocer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Eliza, who married James Young of Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Ann A., who mar- ried Robert Swift of Eau Claire, Wisconsin ; John W., of West Bay City; Jacob, of Salt Lake City, Utah; Cynthia, who married George De Long, of Minneapolis, Minnesota ; William, of Tombstone, Arizona; Elisha, of Salt Lake City, Utah ; and Mary, wife of Charles Ingram, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
The early youth of Dr. Hauxhurst was that of the average farm boy,-attendance at the local schools and the vigorous out-door labor which were strenuous in the extreme. In 1870 he left home and went to Boonville, Missouri where he taught school for two years. His spare moments during this time were spent in reading medicine, and in this way he prepared himself for entrance into the medical depart- ment of the University of Michigan, where he was graduated in 1876. He then came to Wenona, now Bay City, West Side, and has continued in the successful practice of his pro- fession here ever since. He is well known all through this section and is a valued member of the county and State medical societies and of the American Medical Association.
Dr. Hauxhurst has a delightful home and
pleasant family circle. He was married to Mary Fox, who is a daughter of James Fox, of Angelica, New York. They have one son and one daughter, viz : Henry Austin, a graduate of Princeton University in the class of 1902 and of Harvard Law School, class of 1905; and Florence Clarke, who is a member of the West Bay City High School, class of 1905. The family attend the Presbyterian Church. Dr. Hauxhurst belongs to the Royal Arcanum and also to Bay Tent No. 194, Knights of the Mod- ern Maccabees.
EORGE W. AMES, whose portrait e accompanies this sketch, is an active and energetic real estate and insur- ance agent of Bay City, Michigan, with office located in the Phoenix Block.
Mr. Ames was born October 31, 1852, at Albion, New York, and is a son of George C. and Sarah (Howell) Ames. His father is engaged in mercantile pursuits. The son re- ceived his mental training in the public schools of Erie, Pennsylvania, which he attended until he was 16 years old. At that age he went to work on the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad as a news agent. When he was a year older, he was employed as a brakeman on the Erie & Pittsburg Railroad, having a run from Alle- gheny City to Sharpsville, Pennsylvania. In 1870 he took up his residence in Detroit and became a brakeman on the Detroit, Lansing & Lake Michigan Railroad, now included in the Pere Marquette system. On October 4, 1872, he was transferred to the Detroit & Bay City Railroad, which was under the same man- agement as the D., L. & L. M. He remained at work on this line until May 14, 1888, latterly in the employ of the Michigan Central Rail- road Company, which had obtained control of
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the road. During this period Mr. Ames served as a passenger conductor for 12 years, of which the last six years were spent on a run between Bay City and Mackinaw.
The first business experience of Mr. Ames dates from 1884. In that year he began to buy and sell property through agents in Chicago, Detroit and Bay City, and in this line he pros- pered. Within three weeks of the time when he severed his connection with the Michigan Central Railroad Company, he opened offices in Bay City, where he has conducted a success- ful business ever since. He has handsome quarters on the lower floor of the Phoenix Block, where he has an extensive real estate and insurance patronage, his business being liber- ally advertised. His patrons include many of the leading banking institutions and railroad companies in different States, as well as promi- nent attorneys and other citizens.
Mr. Ames is a member of Joppa Lodge, No. 315, F. & A. M .; Blanchard Chapter, No. 59, R. A. M .; and Bay City Commandery, No. 26, K. T. He is also a member of the Bay City Club and the Board of Trade.
ONAS JOHNSON. Among the most enterprising citizens of South Bay City, is the subject of this sketch, who was born in Sweden, March 29, 1836. Mr. Johnson is a son of John and Katherine Johnson, of whom the latter died when her son, Jonas, was four and a half years old. He has one brother, August, living in the old country, who is a widower, with three children.
The subject of this sketch emigrated from Sweden to the United States, May 15, 1870. He first went to Chicago and from there came to Bay City. He gained the competency which he now possesses by toiling as a laborer, apply-
ing himself to whatever work he could find to do, in order to make an honest dollar. He was one of the first to be employed on the water- works. He continued striving in various labor- ious occupations until about 1889, when he had accumulated an amount sufficient for the con- struction of several dwelling houses on South Lincoln avenue.
On the arrival of Mr. Johnson in this vi- cinity, the ground occupied by the street on which he now resides was a swamp and cattle were often herded through it. In the 300 block on South Lincoln avenue he now owns a row of five houses and has spent considerable money on sewerage and cement walks. He ex- pects to lay more cement walks in 1905.
There were but few dwellings on 12th street, now called Columbus avenue, when the subject of this sketch first settled here, and he and his good wife lived in a shanty. They still occupy a humble cottage in plain and simple style.
Mr. Johnson has contributed freely to all movements which tended toward the improve- ment of the city, giving liberally to church and school.
He is a strong believer in improvements and warmly favors the location of manufac- turing enterprises in South Bay City. He voted for the street railway franchise, and helped to grade Lincoln avenue. In 1900 he put in new sewerage for all his tenants. He derives a good income from his houses, which furnish him a comfortable living with a surplus to lay by.
In 1857. in Sweden, the subject of this sketch married Johanna Johnson, who did not have to change her name. Their first meeting was at a place where he was working. There he also obtained employment, and their court- ship began, which resulted in marriage. She well remembers how wild things looked when they first settled in Bay City. She has stuck
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to her husband through thick and thin. To- gether they accumulated what they have, and now a happy, old couple, they together enjoy the fruits of their labor.
In politics, Mr. Johnson is a Republican, believing that the administration of that party has tended to promote his prosperity.
R OBERT NIVEN, whose comfortable and attractive home is situated in sec- tion 27, Hampton township, on a por- tion of his fine farm of 120 acres, which extends through sections 33 and 34, was born in the famous old city of Glasgow, Scot- land, May 3, 1834. He is a son of Mars and Susan (Don) Niven.
Although our subject was a man grown when his feet first touched the soil of the United States, the blood of his great-grandfather, Capt. Robert Niven, had been shed here dur- ing the Revolutionary War, while he was lead- ing his British command at Crown Point, New York. Capt. Robert Niven left two sons, John and Robert, the latter of whom was not born until after the tragic death of the father.
Robert Niven, our subject's grandfather, born under such circumstances, was educated by the British government and was technically instructed in the art of weaving. He died in Scotland, leaving these children : Robert. An- drew. Daniel. John. David. William, Mars, James and two daughters. Three of the sons served with gallantry in the British Army and two in the British Navy. One of those in the army was badly wounded in the Napoleonic wars.
Mars Niven, father of our subject, was given a rather unusual Christian name. under these circumstances. His oldest brother was at the time of the child's christening signal officer
on the British man-of-war "Mars" and was the first man to sight the French fleet off Trafal- gar. In celebration of that triumph, the infant brother was named Mars. However, he never took to military life. As a means of support he learned the trade of weaver. In 1841 he came to the United States and worked at cot- ton spinning for two years at Providence, Rhode Island, and then removed to Canada, where the remainder of his active life was spent in farming. His last three years were spent with our subject and brother and he died in Michigan, aged 75 years.
Mars Niven married Susan Don, who was born at Glasgow, Scotland, and died in Can- ada, aged 70 years. Robert Niven, our sub- ject, was the first born of the family of six children, the others being as follows: Mar- garet, a resident of Montreal; Susan (Mrs. Porter), of Hampton township; Janet Cath- erine, of Lindsay, Ontario, Canada ; a daughter Agnes, who died in Glasgow, Scotland, aged four years; and John, who was killed at Sag- inaw by the railroad. Mars Niven and the dis- tinguished African explorer, Dr. Livingstone, were schoolmates and later neighbors.
Our subject was 10 years of age when his parents settled in the village of Lanark, Canada. Until he was 21 years old he was submissive to his father, giving all his earnings to the latter, although from the age of 13 years he worked on farms and later at the carpenter's trade all over the neighborhood. He moved to Huron District, Ontario, when he was about 18 years old, and then worked as a carpenter until he was about 32 years of age. After he had satis- factorily built his first barn, he started out for himself as a builder and, as such, he came to Bay City in 1866. Here he helped to build many of the great mills of this section, working as a millwright for eight years. He assisted in the building and operating of the old Hargrave
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mill and had charge of its machinery for seven years.
Finally Mr. Niven decided to purchase a farm and settle down to an agricultural life. Land was plentiful, prices were within his means and during a very dry spell of weather, he was induced by unscrupulous agents, to buy his farm,-120 acres of unbroken, low lying prairie land, with no settlers in sight, no roads and no improvements. Mr. Niven was obliged to suffer for some years on account of the season of the year in which he had visited his prop- erty, for he found when the rains came that he had land which could never be made produc- tive without extensive ditching and a great sys- tem of drainage. During the first six years he made a living by ditching through this neigh- borhood as his crops were all drowned out, but all the time he was getting his land, the soil of which was rich and wonderfully fertile, in good shape, and now he is well repaid for it is one of the best farms of the township. He has made all the improvements, erecting a dwelling and two barns on section 34 and on the home place has a comfortable dwelling, two barns, a gran- ary and a workshop, including a tool shed and all necessary out-buildings. These he has con- structed himself and all are substantial build- ings. Mr. Niven has set out two fine orchards. He has 10 milch cows and sells his cream wholesale. He carries on general farming, raising grain, hay and sugar beets and many fine cattle yearly and is probably one of the most successful farmers of his section.
Mr. Niven was married on June 1, 1867, to Mary Tacie, who was born in Huron District, Ontario, Canada, March 17, 1848, and is a daughter of Prosper and Harriet Tacie, of Quebec, Canada, of French extraction. They have had 14 children and have been very for- tunate in rearing 12 of them, viz : Mrs. Susan Bort, of Bay City; Mrs. Janet Bort, of North
Dakota ; Mrs. Mary Grischke, of Merritt town- ship; Mrs. Margaret Smith, of Chicago; Mrs. Harriet Quinn, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania ; Robert H., living at home; Mrs. Elizabeth Pittsford, of Chicago; Mrs. Julia Agnes Zim- merman, of Merritt township; Mrs. Bernice Vernon, of Chicago; and John, Arthur and Edward, who are living at home. Two little girls died,-Margaret, aged one year and Laura, aged nine months.
Mr. Niven was long identified with the Democratic party, but when it departed from its old standards, he could no longer support its principles and has since been affiliated with the Republicans. He has always been a leading man in his township, one whose responsible character has made his advice regarded with consideration on all public matters. For 18 years he has been connected with school offices and it was mainly through his efforts that the creditable school building was erected in School District, No. 6, Hampton township. For two years he was school inspector.
P AUL RICHARDS, an industrious, thrifty and worthy farmer of Bay County, is located in section 19, Kaw- kawlin township. He was born in Germany in 1835 and there received his school- ing. ' He came to Bay County and bought his farm of 40 acres in 1886, and has since then been successfully engaged in general farming. In 1902 he built his present residence.
The subject of this sketch was married in Germany, in 1869, to Augusta Spawlock, a daughter of John Spawlock, a shoemaker, who died when Augusta was nine years of age. They have had 12 children, eight of whom were born in Germany. Those who came to this country were : Conrad, Jennie, Alvina and
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Clara. Four died in Germany. Conrad is liv- ing at Port Huron, Michigan. Jennie was mar- ried to William Deplounty, a farmer of Kaw- kawlin township. They have six children, as follows : Julia, Francis, William, James, Jennie and Sarah. Alvina was married to Thomas Cavanaugh, who lives in West Bay City, and is a conductor on the Michigan Central Railroad. They have reared five children, namely : Lizzie, Thomas, Irene, Clara and Harold. Clara was married to Peter Moultane, a stationary en- gineer, who lives in Bay City. They have two children : Harvey and Theresa.
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Richards since they came to this country, namely : Frances, who lives at home; Lizzie, who married Edward Moultane, and has one child, Lewis; Paul J., who is living with his parents on the home farm; and Kate, deceased.
In politics Mr. Richards acts with the Democratic party, and in religious faith he is a Catholic.
C HARLES T. NEWKIRK, M. A., M. D., a well-known physician and surgeon of Bay City, and a specialist of wide experience in yellow fever, was born near Simcoe, Norfolk District, On- taria, December 10, 1844, and is a son of Moses and Catherine (Topping) Newkirk.
The Newkirk family is of Dutch extrac- tion, its founders having settled in Eastern New York many years ago. Peter Newirk, the paternal grandfather, was born in the Catskills, but subsequently moved to Canada.
Moses Newkirk, our subject's father, was born in Norfolk District, Ontario, where his whole life was passed. He was a local min- ister and also a farmer and was known far and wide, not only for his eloquent expounding of the Gospel, but also for his charitable and phil-
anthropic work. It is related that his gifts of speech were so unusual that no edifice could ever be found, in that section, large enough to hold his auditors, whether his subject was re- ligion or politics. He lived a long and blame- less life and died at the age of 78 years.
The mother of Dr. Newkirk was a daugh- ter of John Topping, also of Norfolk District, Ontario. She became the mother of a large family, many of whom occupy prominent posi- tions in life.
Dr. Newkirk was educated at Victoria Uni- versity, where he secured both his degrees. After his final graduation, he practiced his pro- fession for four months in Canada and then started on a visit to South America. At Buenos Ayres he secured the position he desired with the Argentine Army, one which enabled him to make a special study of tropical diseases. Four months later he resigned and entered the Bra- zilian Army, and served there for four. years, with the rank of major, taking part in the memorable war which waged between Brazil and Paraguay. In 1868 he settled down to practice at Buenos Ayres, but in 1872 he was homesick enough to return to his native land. It was an accident that caused his location at Bay City. He came here on a visit to his brother and was so impressed with the natural beautiful location and the evidences of com- mercial prosperity and educational advance- ment, that he decided to make it his future home.
When in the late war with Spain the sol- diers of the American Army, youths born and bred in a vigorous Northern climate, were sud- denly hurried to Southern points, without any chance to get acclimated, it was feared that yellow fever and kindred troubles would claim more victims than Spanish bullets. Realizing this, Dr. Newkirk offered his services to Gen- eral Alger, then Secretary of War, who pre-
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sented them to the late President Mckinley, who gladly availed himself of the knowledge and skill of one who had had such unusual ex- periences in tropical diseases. Dr. Newkirk fully realized what he was undertaking, but he heroically accepted the conditions and served through the whole period of the Spanish- American War as brigade surgeon, with the rank of major. His whole attention was de- voted to the yellow fever camps and his re- markable work is a matter of war history. He returned to Bay City with a consciousness of duty well performed, but with his own system almost wrecked.
Dr. Newkirk has spent much time in for- eign travel and has visited all the important centers of Europe, increasing his medical knowledge and his social acquaintance with those of congenial aims. He was a member of the International Congress of Military Sur- geons who attended and carried on their delib- erations at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, at St. Louis, in 1904.
Dr. Newkirk was married to Mary J. An- derson, who is a daughter of John Anderson, of Dover, Ontario, but was born at Cleveland, Ohio. They had a family of six children, the two survivors being : Harry A., a graduate of the University of Michigan, class of 1896, who is now a practicing physician at Iron Mountain, Michigan; and Dolores, now a resident of New York City. This cultured and accomplished lady was born in Corrientes, Argentine Re- public. She graduated first from the Leggett School, at Detroit and then entered Vassar College, at Poughkeepsie, New York. She has traveled extensively in Europe and speaks the languages of France and Spain like a native.
Dr. Newkirk is a Republican in politics but is in no sense a politician. He is a member of a number of medical societies, including the
Bay County Medical Society, the Michigan State Medical Society and the American Medi- cal Association. He is surgeon of the Third Infantry, Michigan National Guard; is a mem- ber of the Spanish War Veterans and the Na- tional League of Veterans and Sons. He is also United States pension examiner at Bay City. He was made a Mason at Asuncion, Paraguay.
OACHIM SIGELKO, one of the suc- cessful farmers and much respected citizens of Merritt township, who owns 40 acres of well-improved land in section 10, has made his own way in the world and through his own industry has be- come a man of independent means. Mr. Sig- elko was born in Magdeburg, Germany, May 27, 1858, and is a son of Christopher Sigelko.
Mr. Sigelko's mother died when he was four years of age, leaving two other children : Frederick, of Germany; and John, of Tuscola County, Michigan. The father also died in Germany and our subject came alone to Amer- ica and in 1880 reached Tuscola County, ‘Mich- igan. For about three years he worked at rail- road construction and on farms by the month, and then came to Bay City and began to work in sawmills and lumber-yards. After about 10 years of this labor, Mr. Sigelko bought his farm of 40 acres in Merritt township, which at that time was all covered with a heavy growth of timber. For a time he lived in a little log house he found on the place, but since clear- ing his land and getting it under cultivation he has erected a very comfortable home and a substantial barn. He has made many other im- provements and now has a valuable property in which he takes much pleasure.
On June 11, 1886, Mr. Sigelko was mar- ried to Louisa Mau, who was born in Germany,
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November 3, 1863, and came to Bay County in 1871 with her parents, August and Mary Mau. Mr. and Mrs. Sigelko have six children : Annie, Henry, Elsie, Emma, Bernhardt and Minnie. The older ones attend school. In politics Mr. Sigelko is a Democrat. He is a member of the German Lutheran Church at Merritt. He bears the reputation of an honest, upright, in- dustrious man, a good husband and father and a liberal supporter of the church.
ENRY C. THOMPSON, city engineer of West Bay City, Michigan, was born in Middlefield, Geauga County, Ohio, April 4, 1855, and is a son of Augustus and Rovilla (Johnson) Thompson.
William Thompson, the paternal grand- father of our subject, was born in Pennsylvania but before the birth of his son Augustus he had settled in Ohio. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. Later he became a substantial farmer. Augustus Thompson was born March 12, 1825, in Middlefield, Ohio, and grew to manhood on the home farm in Geauga County. He married when about 26 years of age and in 1856 moved to Ashtabula County, where he was engaged in
farming when the Civil War broke out. He was one of the first loyal patriots to respond to the call to arms and served through a three- months enlistment in Company D, 19th Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf. and then reenlisted in Company A, 29th Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf., for three years but was honorably discharged in July, 1862, on account of disability. In the fall of that year he removed with his family to Bay City. Here he engaged in teaming, jobbing and farming for 14 years. In 1876 he went to Little Rock, Arkansas, where he spent two years on a farm and five years in a planing mill. Mr. Thomp- son then went to Texarkana, Texas, where he
engaged in hotel-keeping for a year, after which he returned to Ohio and settled on a farm in the vicinity of Yellow Springs. There he followed farming for the next 20 years, but in 1904 he retired from active labor and is now a venerated member of his son's household at West Bay City. In spite of a life of unusual activity, Mr. Thompson is hale and hearty and bears his 80 years very easily.
Augustus Thompson was married first to Rovilla Johnson, who was a daughter of Eras- tus Johnson, a native of New York State, and they had two children : Henry C. and Frank C., the former of West Bay City and the latter of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The mother of these sons died in 1890, aged 54 years. She was a good, Christian woman. Mr. Thompson was married second to Matilda Hamma, who died in 1904. Mr. Thompson is a member of the Masonic lodge at Yellow Springs.
Henry C. Thompson came to Michigan in the fall of 1862 with his parents, and accom- panied them to West Bay City in 1864. He attended the public schools but the bent of his mind was so much in the direction of civil en- gineering that by the time he had completed the common-school course he had learned the practical details of his chosen profession under the instruction of J. M. Johnston, who was then city engineer at Bay City. The youth decided to become an engineer and in 1872 he went into Mr. Johnston's office and worked under him and under his successor, Capt. George Turner, until 1895. For a period of IO years of this time he served as county drain commissioner. In 1895 he went to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, where he was engaged as - civil engineer for the Board of Road Commis- sioners of Chippewa County, and remained there during 1895, 1896, 1897 and 1898. Dur- ing the last three years he was also engaged as engineer and as superintendent of the water-
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