USA > Michigan > Bay County > History of Bay County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 33
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E. B. DENISON has been a resident of Bay City since 1862. His father was Rev. Avery Denison, one of the pioneer ministers of Michigan, who died in Bay City, October 15, 1866, at the age of seventy-seven years. Mr. E. B. Denison was one of eleven child- ren, and was born in Macomb County. In 1862 he removed to Bay City, and in 1864 was married to Miss Elizabeth Fraser, daughter of the late James Fraser. For several years after com- ing to Bay City he was engaged at teaching and in the mercantile business, and afterwards vice-president of the First National Bank. In 1864 he built their present residence on Center Street. An enterprise of Mr. Denison's was the improvement of a forty-acre tract in the suburbs of West Bay City. Six and one-half miles of tile were sunk, and the land brought to a very highi state of cultiva- tion. The growth of the city brought this tract into market for building purposes, and he platted an addition to West Bay City. He has built four business blocks in Bay City, and for several years has devoted his attention to the real estate, occasionally doing something in insurance. He has been one of the prominent mem - bers of the First Baptist Society, and is a man who leads a busi- ness life of unusual activity.
BERNARD WITTHAUER was born in Germany, June 26, 1834; came to the United States in the Fall of 1852. Landing at New York City, he made a short visit to friends there, and before the close of the year he was stationed behind the desk as book-keeper for a wholesale and retail boot and shoe business, on Market Street, in the city of Philadelphia, the place of his destination. In the Spring of 1854 he was engaged by the late Maj .- Gen. David B. Birney, then manager of the mercantile agency of B. Douglass & Co., of Phila- delphia, as book-keeper for E. B. Ferris & Co., general store at Lower Saginaw, (the General being a member of the last named firm.) When that concern pulled up stakes to move their goods to Scranton, Penn., where Gen. Birney was interested in coal mining, Mr. Witthauer engaged as clerk with Nathaniel Whittemore, general
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store. While acting as clerk he was also officiating as express agent for Lower Saginaw. On February 1, 1859, Mr. Witthauer was united in marriage to Miss Margaret, the eldest daughter of the Hon. Sidney S. Campbell. From this happy union resulted the birth of three children, the eldest of which is their son William, head clerk with Lucien S. Coman; two daughters, Kittie and Bella, still living with their parents. Mrs. Margaret Witthauer, always a very retiring lady, delights now as much as ever in the management of her home and the proper training of her children.
During the last described period of Mr. Witthauer's business life, and later on, he occupied various official positions of trust. He was elected register of deeds for three consecutive terms, acting at the same time as deputy for Algernon S. Munger, county treasurer, doing almost all of the clerical duties of that office. During his official term as register of deeds there was added to his duties that of superintending the compiling of the records of the county into a set of abstract books.
After the close of his official career, he opened a real estate and abstract office, conducting with this an extensive business as money broker and conveyancer. He took into partnership with him Henry T. Evans, under the firm name of Witthauer & Evans. This was then the only concern of the kind in town, and nearly all the heavy real estate and pine land transactions and large loans on real estate of those days were effected through this firm. At the same time he was the assistant land agent for the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw Railroad lands, under the Hon. O. M. Barnes. Later he purchased some pine land and lumbered the same, selling the logs; he then went into partnership with Charles Scheurmann, under the firm name of Witthauer & Scheurmann, in the same line of lumber business, and subsequently we find our subject as a partner of the lumbering firm of Kaiser, Witthauer & Co. This firm purchased a large tract of pine on the Kawkawlin River, and after cutting 15,000,000 feet during their first Winter's operation, the subsequent Summer, the firm made sale of their lands, horses and lumbering utensils, etc. Mr. Witthauer then purchased with Charles Scheurmann the then so-called "Burrows Mill," of Au Sable, which they operated one season and sold out. Mr. Witthauer, with Charles Scheurmann, of Bay City, and Bernhard Stroh and Henry Weber, as partners, pur- chased the one hundred thousand dollar tract of land of Alexander Swift, of Cincinnati, O., located on Lake Saint Helen, on the north- ern division of the Michigan Central Railroad. There, under the management of the subject of this sketch, this firm erected a large saw mill with planing mills, dry kilns and box factory, and carried on manufacturing under the firm name of Witthauer, Scheurmann & Co. By-the further erection of boarding houses, store and a lot of dwelling houses, the village of Saint Helen was called into exist- ence. After two years operation at Saint Helen, the times continu- ing dull and threatening, Mr. Witthauer concluded, with Mr. Scheur- mann, to sell out to the remaining partners, Stroh and Moebs. This sale was consummated in the Fall of 1875, and in the early part of the Spring following, we find Mr. Witthauer boarding an ocean steamship at New York City, for a trip to the old country, and, more especially, a visit to his aged mother and relatives in Germany, after an absence of twenty-four years from his birth-place, and the home of his boyhood. He so- journed in the old world for a period of seven months and returned home again in October, 1876. From that time on until March, 1877, he traveled extensively through the United States, making a very large collection of articles for an extensive business of export from this country, to be established at a suitable point in the United States and Hamburgh or Berlin, in Germany. having already ar- ranged for a partnership with a wealthy business house in Leipzig, Germany, Mr. Witthauer to act as the purchasing partner in this
country. Immediately after the return from this trip to his home he at once started again for Germany, where his samples and goods were being received at the time. On the day of his arrival at Leip- zig, the declaration of war between Russia and Turkey was bulle- tined through the streets; business was prostrated in consequence of the news, and the parties to the business combination concluded to go no further. Disposing of the samples, Mr. Witthauer returns home in June of the same year. In the Spring of 1878, we find our subject at the head of the business in which he is at present engaged as manager of the Bay City Dry Dock and Shipyard Com- pany. Being musically inclined, and with much of the talent inhe- rent in his countrymen, he was instrumental in organizing the Teutonia Society and Glee Club, and was for many years the presi- dent, and through it furnished much musical entertainment to the residents of the city. It will thus be seen that while he is persistent with business affairs of life, he does not omit the enjoyments of the same. He is much respected, not only by his friends, but by the public at large, who appreciate his public spirit and enterprise.
CHARLES SUPE, wholesale dealer in groceries, provisions, grain, kerosene oil, etc., is one of the representative business men of the Sagi- naw Valley, and one who has contributed his full share to the commer- cial prosperity and importance of Bay City. Mr. Supe was born in Prussia, January 12, 1836. In 1850 he emigrated with his parents to America and settled in Saginaw County. What is now Bay City was then known as Lower Saginaw, and the territory now included in Bay County was a part of Saginaw County. In 1868 Bay City had grown to be a city of about 6,000 inhabitants and in March of that year Mr. Supe settled here and opened a retail grocery story on Water Street, in the room now occupied with Stephenson's music store. In 1871 he built the large brick eleva- tor, 40x99 feet in size, which he now occupies with his business. In 1870 he gave up the retail business and about that time made a visit to the Pacific Coast. In December, 1872, he moved into the Maxwell Block, now occupied by Maltby, Page & Co., and also was doing business in the elevator building, corner of Third and Adams Streets. From December, 1872, to December, 1876, the firm was Supe & Rademacher. The magnitude of Mr. Supe's business has fully kept pace with the growth of the city, the annual sales at the present time aggregating upwards of $350,000. To achieve this success has required a large degree of business energy and sagacity, and close personal application. By the exercise of these qualities Mr. Supe has not only established a large business upon a sound and paying basis, but has made for himself an enviable reputation for integrity and financial soundness. In addition to his private interests he has been called upon to devote considerable time to public affairs. He held the office of county treasurer from 1873 to 1875; was city treasurer in 1877; has been a member of the Board of Education, and is at present alderman from the Second Ward of the city. In the discharge of all public duties he has ex- ercised the same clear judgment as in his private enterprises, and served the public as faithfully as he served himself. Mr. Supe has a wife and four children. Their family residence is on Jackson Street, between Fifth and Center Streets. It is to the credit of Mr. Supe that whatever public offices he has held have come to him without his seeking,-a fact always worthy of being recorded.
JOHN H. WILKINS, late mayor of Bay City, was born in Phila- delphia, Pa., October 22, 1836. In 1853 he graduated from the Philadelphia High School, and immediately thereafter entered the employ of the late Gen. David B. Birney, who was chief manager of the mercantile agency and collection office of B. Douglass & Co., where he remained until June, 1856. Gen. Birney being the principal owner of a store at Lower Saginaw, now Bay City, sent Mr Wilkins here to act as clerk. The store not proving a success,
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he was instructed to close up the business in 1857, send the stock to Scranton, Pa., where Gen. Birney was interested in coal mining, and to follow in person and open a new store. It was a flattering testimony to Mr. Wilkins' business capacity and integrity that, at the age of twenty-one years, Gen. Birney was willing to entrust him with the management of a business. But he had found the stir and enthusiasm of Western life agreeable to his tastes, and declining the tempting offer he went to Detroit and took a position as shipping clerk in the warehouse of the late Capt. E. B. Ward,-one of the best business schools in which a young man could be placed. He remained in that position until January, 1868, and then went to Rockwood, Monroe Co., Mich., as book-keeper for his brother-in- law, Hon. John Strong, present state senator. He remained there until February, 1873, when he returned to Bay City, and opened a real estate and abstract office, which he still continues, doing a very extensive business. In the Spring of 1879 he was nominated by the Republicans for the office of mayor, and was elected by a large majority, being the first Republican mayor in ten years. In 1880 and again in 1881 he was re-nominated by acclamation and elected. His administrations as mayor of the city have been popular to an unu- sual degree. Mr. Wilkins is a thorough gentleman, and one calculated to reflect credit upon the third city in the state. Heis a man of broad views, and is possessed of a spirit of enterprise which, while mayor, he imparted to all departments of municipal administration. As a con- sequence, needed public improvements were prosecuted with vigor and prudence, giving to the city not only a high degree of attract- iveness, but an excellent sanitary condition and a high place among the well governed cities of the West.
O. F. HAMET, lumber dealer and inspector, is a native of Detroit, and came to Bay City from St. Clair County in 1862, three years before Bay City was incorporated as a city. He has done an active business here for twenty years, all of which time he has been identified with the vast lumbering interests of the place. In addition to his business as lumber inspector he does an exten- sive shipping business. His office is in Union Block on Water Street.
J. N. McDONALD, of the firm of McDonald & Shearer, propri- etors of the Bay City Flouring Mills, is of Scotch descent, and a native of Canada. He came to Bay City in 1867 and built a flour- ing mill on the corner of First and Water Streets, with a capacity of fifty barrels of flour a day. In December, 1870, the mill was destroyed by fire and immediately rebuilt. In 1871 he took Geo. C. Fray into partnership, and the firm was McDonald & Fray for several years, when Mr. Fray was succeeded by Mr. George H. Shearer. The present capacity of the mill is 150 barrels of flour a day. Mr. McDonald was one of the organizers of the Agricultural Works, and has in various ways contributed to the business pros- perity. He is a trustee of the Presbyterian Church and one of its leading supporters; also a member of the Board of Education. He is in every sense a representative man, and one whose integrity of character and liberal spirit of enterprise reflects credit upon the city.
GEORGE H. SHEARER, of the firm of McDonald & Shearer, has been connected with the business interests of Bay City for twenty years. Mr. Shearer is of Scotch descent and a native of Albany, New York State. About the year 1845 he went to Detroit, and in company with his brother James Shearer, was extensively engaged in building from 1850 till 1863, when he came to Bay City to take charge of the Raymond Mill, purchased by James Shearer & Co. in 1863. He remained in charge of the mill, as one of the firm, until it was sold to the railroad company. In 1876 he became a member of the present firm of McDonald & Shearer, proprietors of the Bay City Flouring Mills. Mr. Shearer has been a member of the School Board for ten years, and two years a member of the Common Council. He
has been one of the leading Odd Fellows in the state for many years, and' has been a member of the Order since 1847, and has occupied the highest offices in the Order, including grand patriarch and grand representative. It is in mechanics, however, that Mr. Shearer excels, and during the past twenty years has invented some valuable improvements in saw mill machinery. He invented improvements in gang saws, lath mill and log turner. His patents date from 1867 to 1874. He is a man of sturdy integrity and one of the most active and useful men in the city.
H. A. CHAMBERLIN, lumber inspector and dealer, is a native of Vermont, but at an early day immigrated to Michigan, and settled in St. Clair County. In 1857 he came to Bay City, or Lower Saginaw as it was then called, to take charge of the lumber operations of the firm of Frost & Bradley, at this point. A short time after he went into business for himself as lumber inspector, and has continued in that business ever since. He is the oldest lumber inspector now in business in the city. When Mr. Chamber- lin came here, the entire township of Hampton contained a popu- lation of not more than 600 people, and the city of the present time had not taken shape even in the dreams of those who were here. He was one of the first trustees of the village of Lower Sag- inaw, and has held the office of alderman since the incorporation of the city. He has been prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity from the first organization here, and is at present past commander of the Commandery.
THOMAS MUNN is a native of Philadelphia, and remained there until ten or twelve years of age, when his parents removed to Canada. After remaining there a short time he came to the States and worked at the millwrights trade. He went to Wisconsin and built several mills, and then went to Port Huron, Mich. January 13, 1852, he was married to Miss Sarah E. Willegar, of Port Huron About 1862 he came to Bay City, where he has since resided. He came here to build the Ballau Mill at Kawkawlin, and afterwards continued at his trade until about 1868, when he bought an interest in the Valley Iron Works. In 1871 those works passed into the possession of Smalley Bros. & Co., and soon after Mr. Munn started a machine shop at the corner of Washington and Eleventh Streets, which he still continues to operate. Mr. Munn has invented sev- eral valuable improvements in saw mill machinery, among which are Munn's patent edger, slitting machine and stock gang. These machines are in general use. He was the first to invent the present improved gang. He manufactures these machines and his works employ an average of twenty men. He is very active in public matters and has been a leading member of the Greenback party since 1876. In temperance matters he is very active and takes a prominent part. He has been president of the Reform Club for some time. He is a gentleman of marked ability and devotes him- self with great energy and earnestness to any cause that enlists He has four children, three boys and one girl.
his co-operation.
DR. E. H. GATES is a native of New York State. Choosing the practice of medicine for his life profession, he set about making thorough preparation for its exacting duties and responsibilities. To this end he entered Victoria College, at Toronto, Canada, where he graduated in 1848. Immediately after graduating he entered upon active practice at Hamilton. In 1866 he settled in Bay City, and has occupied a leading place in the medical profession here since that time. Dr. Gates is a gentleman of scholarly tastes and habits, and during all of the thirty-four years that he has been in active practice has devoted his best energies and talents to his pro- fession. He has a large practice and his record is that of a skill- ful and successful physician. He has never held any public office excepting that of county physician. His family consists of a wife and three children.
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W. H. MILLER, one of the leading merchants of the Saginaw Valley, has been a resident of Bay City since the Spring of 1867, when he came here from New Brunswick, N. J. He has been con- tinuously in the hardware business since coming here. For a time he was in company with Mr. C. E. Jennison, one of the pioneer mer- chants of the county. In 1871 he established himself in his present quarters, adjoining the Campbell House, on Water Street, the building being erected expressly for his business. He occupies the entire block, two stores, three stories high, besides the base- ment. In addition to this room he has a large brick warehouse on Saginaw Street, which he built to accommodate the increasing de- mands of his business in 1880. Mr. Miller is a model type of the enterprising and successful business man. He has not only been successful in his particular pursuit, but has contributed to the gen- eral growth and prosperity of the city. Besides his handsome family residence, on the corner of Seventh and Van Buren Streets, which he built in 1870, he has built six tenement houses, and an elegant brick business block, on the corner of Fifth and Saginaw Streets. He does a very large wholesale business in addition to his retail trade. It is such men that build up our Western cities, and give health and stability to general trade.
CHARLES A. EDDY, of the firm of Eddy Bros. & Co., was born in Bradley, Me., March 15, 1849, and remained there until 1864, when he came to Saginaw City; after remaining here a short time he moved to East Saginaw. In 1873 he went into partnership with W. A. Avery, of East Saginaw, the firm being engaged in running logs from the Cass and Tittabawassee River booms. The firm did a large business until 1881. In 1882 Mr. Eddy came to Bay City, and became an active partner in the firm of Eddy Bros. & Co., in which he is now a partner. He has a beautiful residence at No. 823 North Farragut Street, a view of which appears in this work. He has a wife and three children.
GEORGE P. COBB, a prominent member of the Bay City bar, was born April 13, 1841, in Livingston County, N. Y., and shortly afterwards removed to Rochester, N. Y., which was his home until March, 1855. He then removed to Macon, Lenawee Co., Mich. In 1860 he removed to Ann Arbor, Mich. He attended the seminary at Ypsilanti, and the high school at Ann Arbor and taught school in Ann Arbor and vicinity. Early in 1865 he enlisted in Fifth Regiment Michigan Cavalry, then a part of the famous Custer Brigade, and served one year, being discharged at Salt Lake City in 1866. He graduated from the Law School of the University of Michigan in 1868, and in April of the same year was admitted to the bar at Ann Arbor. In September, 1868, he came to Bay City, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession. He became a member of the firm of Grier, McDonell & Cobb in 1870, and so continued until the election of T. C. Grier to a judgeship in 1871, when the business of the firm was continued by McDonell & Cobb until 1874. At present, he is a member of the firm of McMath & Cobb. He wasa member of the Legislature of 1881, and served on the committees on ways and means and insurance; also on the special committees ap- pointed to investigate the management of the State Reformatory at Ionia, and the committee on congressional appointment. He was married November 1, 1871, to Miss Laura A. Munger, daughter of A. S. Munger, of Bay City.
JOHN OLIVER. Everybody in the Bay City region knows "Uncle" John Oliver, proprietor of the Turkish bath rooms. He was born in Scotland, September, 1807, and came to America in 1830. He was married April 28, 1831, at Geneva, N. Y., to Miss Ann Goodwin, of Kent County, England, who came to this country in 1830. Mr. Oliver pursued farming in New York State until 1843, when he removed to Michigan, and settled in St. Joseph County, but his health failing, he gave up farming and took charge of the
Tawas lighthouse, remaining in that position four years. He after- wards went to Kansas, and, returring in 1875, settled in Bay City. Having been greatly benefitted by Turkish baths during his sick- ness, he was induced to establish them in Bay City, which he did in October, 1875, and was the first to introduce them in the state of Michigan. He has suffered considerably from fire, but has been quite liberally patronized, and is now in prosperous circumstances. "Uncle" John is a veritable Scotchman, a most excellent citizen, and a man of great personal popularity. They have eight children, all of whom are married.
LUTHER WESTOVER was born in Berkshire County, Mass., April 24, 1817. His parents, Luther and Catharine (Herling) Westover, were of English and Irish descent. His education was obtained in the common school and at Westfield Academy; when he was twenty years old he left school. He remained at home eight years, work- ing on the farm and helping in the support of his widowed mother after the death of his father, which occurred in 1841. In 1845 he went to Canada, and bought a cargo of lumber, which he shipped to Connecticut. This venture proved profitable, and he returned to Canada and commenced the manufacture of lumber. He was en- gaged in this business until 1874, first alone, and afterwards suc- cessively in the firms of Westover & Ramsal, Westover, Ramsal & Co., Smith, Westover & Co., and afterwards Smith & Westover. In 1865 this last named firm bought large tracts of pine land in Bay and Iosco Counties, Mich., and moved to Bay City, where the business was conducted with marked success until 1874. In 1867 Mr. Westover organized and established the Exchange Bank, at that time one of the most sound and best conducted banks in the Saginaw Valley.
In 1873 this was sold to the State Bank of Bay City, of which Mr. Westover was a director. In 1869 and 1870 he was in the Legislature, and served on the committees of organization of towns, counties and fisheries. He took also an active part in procuring the stock and securing the location of the Jackson & Lansing Railroad, and was a director of the same for three years.
Mr. Westover has been more or less identified with all the pub- lic enterprises of the city-railroads, churches, and charities have found him willing and desirous to contribute his time and money in their aid. He is numbered among the wealthy men of Bay City, and is a genial, social gentleman, kind of heart and easy of access. He is a man who has worked out his own destiny, and from obscure youth has triumphed over every adversity. In 1861 he married Mrs. Amanda Schuyler, widow of the late Calvin Schuyler, of Norfolk County, Canada.
C. A. JAY, proprietor of the Campbell House, is a native of England, and was born in 1830. In 1833 his parents emigrated to Canada, where he remained until the Winter of 1863, when he came to Bay City. He rented the old Union House, which stood upon the present site of the Campbell House, and kept it for about a year and a half. He then sold out and kept boarding house for a time, and was also in the grocery business. In the Fall of 1866 he went into the Wolverton House, and kept it in company with Harvey J. Clark for three years, when he took the Campbell House. After a short time he sold out, but soon returned and kept the house until 1875, when he again left it. In 1878 he once more took possession, and still continues its proprietor. He was married in Canada, March 26, 1855, to Miss Sarah A. Jones. They have five children, one of whom is the wife of Mr. F. A. Schlieper, a druggist of Bay City. Mr. Jay is a veteran landlord, and a very successful one.
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