USA > Michigan > Bay County > History of Bay County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 34
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E. M. FOWLER is a native of New York State. In 1862 he came to Bay City from Detroit, and became actively and extensively identified with Bay City interests. His first operations were in the
RES. OF C. M. AVERELL _ CENTER ST., BAY CITY, MICH.
DEVLIN'S BAY CITY
BUSINESS
COLLEGE.
FICE
A.
MICHIGAN CENTRAL PARATICKET OFULL
MILLINERY & FANCY GOODS.
AVERELL BLOCK, CENTER ST.
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
manufacture of salt. Shortly after coming here he built a salt block on the present site of Dolsen, Chapin & Co's saw mill. In 1866 Mr. Fowler engaged in the lumber business, and is now one of the most extensive operators in the valley. Aside from his individual operations, he is a member of the firms of Fowler & Chapman, S. Chapman & Co., and also one of the Bay City Lumber Co., organ- ized in 1882. Mr. Fowler has been probably the most extensive dealer in square timber in the West, and is interested in pine lands in Minnesota and Wisconsin. He has been active in promoting public interests, especially in the organization of the public library. During the past year he has removed his family residence to Detroit, but his business headquarters are still at Bay City.
H. C. MOORE is a native of Manchester, N. H., and is one of the pioneer business men of Bay City, having located here in 1854. He went to St. Clair from his native place in 1850, and remained there until he came to Bay City in 1854. He was senior member of the firm of Moore, Vose & Co. They built a mill at Bangor in 1854, and in 1855 were succeeded by Moore, Smith & Co. In 1879 Mr. Moore sold his mill interests, and in 1880 the stock com- pany of Moore, Whipple & Co. was incorporated, for the purpose of doing a general lumbering business. Mr. Moore has been closely identified with the development of Bay City. He was president of the Bridge Company one year, and for several years a director of the First National Bank. Mrs. Moore is a daughter of Col. Henry Raymond, one of the early settlers of the Saginaw Valley.
RYERSE & MCCABE, wholesale commission merchants, Bay City, are among the enterprising business men of the valley. The firm began business in May, 1881, and have already become firmly estab- lished, and are doing a very prosperous business. The firm is composed of Orren S. Ryerse and James McCabe, both thorough business men. Mr. Ryerse is a native of Canada, and came to Bay City in 1876, and was employed as salesman until the Spring of 1881. Mr. McCabe is a native of New York State. He served a short time in the army, and was in the express business for fifteen years. In 1880 he settled permanently in Bay City. The firm occupy a building on Water Street, built expressly for their use.
O. F. FORSYTH, of the hardware firm of Forsyth & Pierson, is one of the veteran hardware merchants of Michigan. He is a native of New York State. From 1854 to 1874 he was in the hard- ware trade at Flint, Mich. In 1874 he settled in Bay City, and in 1876 the present firm of Forsyth & Pierson bought out the hardware firm of Bailey & Orton, the purchase including the large brick block in which their store is located. This block was built by Bailey & Orton in 1869, and is located on Water Street. There is also a warehouse and dock belonging to the property. Mr. Forsyth has been a successful business man, and ranks high in all circles.
CAPT. CHARLES M. AVERELL, of Bay City, was born in Philadel- phia. His father was a sailor, and Charles inherited his fondness for the water. When but eight or nine years of age he commenced sailing with his father, and followed the ocean for several years. At length his father removed to Buffalo to sail upon the lakes, and he purchased an interest in a vessel called the "Aurora Borealis," and sailed in her as master for a time. His first visit to the Saginaw River was in 1851 or '52. He continued sailing the lakes, and about 1857 he removed his family to Bay City. A few years later he gave up sailing and ran a tug on the river for a short time. Then he engaged in the stave business, and afterwards built a lime kiln, which he operated for about two years and then leased it, and still continues to do so. Since that time he has dealt more or less in real estate. He was assignee of the Pipe Works, and also of the Lake Huron & Southwestern Railway Co., and is frequently called upon to settle private estates. Being a gentleman of sound judg- ment and unquestioned integrity, his services in matters of this
kind are especially valuable. He also owns a vessel that trades on the lakes. In 1855 he married Miss Agnes Humphrey, daughter of Judge Humphrey, of Barry County. The Averell Block on Center Street was built by him, and he lias various other real estate inter- ests in the city. He is a leading member of the First Baptist Church, and placed the bell of their new church in position under circumstances that constituted quite an episode in the history of the society, as given in the history of that organization.
C. H. WEEKS, well known in connection with the commerce of the lakes, has been a resident of Bay City since 1870, at which time he came here from Detroit, and established a general freight and vessel agency. In this business he has been very successful, and now owns three vessels, the "Jolin Sherman," "S. Burchard, " and "Star of Hope." His business is mainly in shipping salt and forest products eastward, and coal and stone westward. Mr. Weeks' office is on Center Street, and is one of the most elegantly appointed business offices in the state.
E. H. BASSETT, of the dry goods firm of Bassett, Seed & Co., has been indentified with the business interests of Bay City for more than a score of years. He is a native of New York State, and settled in Bay City in the Fall of 1862. The place was then com- paratively new, and the few stores here were along Water Street. For a good many years Mr. Bassett was a member of the firm of Munger & Co , dealers in general merchandise, who did an extensive business on Water Street. In 1874 Munger & Co. sold out to Messrs. Cooke & Co. In 1877 Mr. Bassett entered business with the present firm, of which he is the senior member. Their store is at 406 Center Street, and is one of the finest dry goods stores in the city.
S. DRAKE, of the grocery firm of S. Drake & Co., is one of the early settlers of Bay County. He first came to Lower Saginaw about 1851, and built a mill, in company with his brother, Mr. John Drake. He is a native of Scotland and emigrated to Canada in 1834. He remained there until he came to Bay City in 1851. It was soon after Mr. Drake came here that there was so much sickness and death, and Mr. Drake selected a spot for a burial place, which has since been used as a cemetery, on the West Side. His health failing, he was obliged to seek a different climate, and he returned to Canada, where he remained until 1864, when he again came to Bay City and went into the grocery business. After remaining in this business a short time he retired from it and went on Ins farm, near the city. In the Fall of 1882 he again went into the grocery business on Center Street, the firm being S. Drake & Co. Mr. Drake is one of the reliable men of the city.
ERNST FRANK is one of the pioneers of Bay City. He is a na- tive of Germany and emigrated to the Saginaw Valley in 1851. For a year he was on a farm and then went to manufacturing and dealing in optical and mathematical instruments. In this business he went to New York, Louisville, and Milwaukee, remaining in the latter place from 1854 to 1863. In 1863 he came to Bay City and opened a tobacco and cigar store and daguerreotype gallery, just north of the Globe Hotel. In 1865 he removed to his present store at 818 North Water Street. For some years he has done an extensive business in tobacco, cigars, wines, liquors, etc., and is also agent for ocean steamship lines and foreign passage, and fire insurance. Mr. Frank was treasurer of the village in 1865, and of the city for four successive years, and has held various other local offices. His family consists of a wife and seven children. His family residence is 500 Grant Street.
E. Y. WILLIAMS, lumber inspector and dealer, came to Bay City from Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1863. Bay City was then a village with but few attractions. Mr. Williams had recently returned from the army, having been in the service about a year. Upon coming
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here he went into business as lumber dealer and inspector, and has continued in it ever since. He was inspector-general of lumber for three years during the time the inspection law was in force. His office is in the Opera House Block.
GEORGE YOUNG, a prominent capitalist of Bay City, is a native of Scotland, and emigrated to this country in 1840. In 1870 he came to Bay City from Albany, N. Y. He has never been engaged in active business since coming here, but has employed his capital in various ways. He is a large stockholder in the Bay City Bank and has been vice-president for several years. He has four sons in active business-George H. Young, cashier of the Bay City Bank, Charles and Walter D. Young, brewers, and William, super- intendent of Mr. William Peter's mill.
J. W. KNAGGS is the senior member of the insurance firm of Knaggs, Clark & Plum. Mr. Knaggs is a native of Monroe County, Mich., and settled in Bay City in 1865. Soon after the breaking out of the war in 1861, he enlisted at Monroe as a private in Com- pany A, Fourth Michigan Infantry. At the battle of Malvern Hill, July, 1862, he lost an arm, and after lying for seven days upon the field, was taken prisoner by confederate soldiers. After being confined for a time in Libby Prison he was exchanged and taken to Bellevue Hospital, New York, where he remained six months. In 1863 he received his discharge and returned home. Upon coming to Bay City in 1865, he engaged in the insurance business, the firm being Knaggs & Denison, and subsequently, Knaggs, Whittemore & Denison, Knaggs, Whittemore & Shannon, Knaggs & Shannon, Knaggs & Clark. and since May, 1881, Knaggs, Clark & Plum. This is one of the most extensive insurance firms in the city.
CHARLES F. ORTON, lumber inspector and dealer, is a native of New York State. In 1864 he came to Bay City from Pennsylvania, and operated the property at Salzburg for Geo. H. Rozette in 1865, which was merged into the Huron Salt & Lumber Company in the Fall of that year, continuing there until 1867. At that time he began the business which he still continues. He was engaged in lumbering before coming West, having commenced at an early age with his grandfather, who was an extensive lumberman, in Pennsyl- vania. Mr. Orton introduced the first telephone exchange, and also in connection with his brother, the first electric light used in the Saginaw Valley, both of which facts are mentioned in detail upon another page. He is an active and enterprising business man.
J. B. McKAY is a native of London, Canada, and came to Bay City in 1865 to get out square timber. It was in the Spring of that year that Bay City was incorporated, and the field was a very at- tractive one to anyone interested in pine timber or lumber. Mr. McKay engaged in buying and selling pine lands, standing timber and logs, and has continued that business very successfully ever since. His office is on Water Street, at the foot of Fourth Street.
ALLEN G. PLUM, of the insurance firm of Knaggs, Clark & Plum, is a native of Honesdale, Penn. At an early age he re- moved with his parents to Flint, Mich., where for some time pre- vious he was engaged in banking and insurance. In 1876 he came to West Bay City and was employed as book-keeper for Messrs. Sage & Co. In the Spring of 1881 he became a member of the present firm of Knaggs, Clark & Plum.
SAMUEL KAICHEN, alderman from the Fourth Ward of Bay City, is a native of Germany, and emigrated to this country in 1852. In 1868 he came to Bay City from Detroit, and went into the liquorand tobacco business in the Campbell House Block. In 1878 he removed to his present location, 912 Water Street. In the Spring of 1873 Mr. Kaichen was elected alderman from the Fourth Ward, and has held the office continuously since that time.
S. LITTAUER is a native of Germany. In 1854 he emigrated to Canada, and in 1865 he came to Bay City from Montreal, and opened a tobacco and liquor store on Water Street. He now occupies a large store at the corner of Fourth and Water Streets, and does a successful business.
FREDERICK K. GUSTIN, son of Henry A. Gustin, came to Bay City in 1865, from Vienna, Canada. He graduated at the University of Michigan in 1876. He was admitted to the bar in 1879 and began the practice of law in 1880. In the Fall of 1882 he was a candidate for prosecuting attorney on the Republican ticket, but was defeated with the whole ticket. Mr. Gustin is a gentleman of fine natural abilities as a lawyer, and thorough culture. He is already acquiring a good practice and a most excellent reputation.
C. L. COLLINS is a member of the law firm of Holmes & Collins, and a prominent member of the Bay County bar. He is a native of Ohio. He was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law at Knoxville, Iowa, in the Spring of 1869. In 1875 he located in Bay City.
R. B. TAYLOR is a native of New York State. In 1865 he came to Bay City from Ashtabula County, Ohio. In 1868 he graduated at the University of Michigan, and soon after entered upon the practice of law in Bay City. His office is at the corner of Washington and Third Streets. Mr. Taylor is a lawyer of excellent ability and large practice. In addition to his law practice he deals very extensively in real estate. He is at present chairman of the Board of Public Works.
EDWARD W. PORTER, of the law firm of Lindner & Porter, is a native of Oakland County, Mich. In 1875 he graduated at Hills- dale College, and the following year graduated from the law depart- ment of Michigan University. In the Spring of 1878 he settled in Bay City and entered upon the practice of law. In October, 1878, he became associated with Mr. Lindner, the firm being Lindner & Porter. Mr. Porter is a gentleman of culture, and ranks well as a lawyer.
JOHN E. SIMONSON, city attorney, is the senior member of the law firm of Simonson & Gillett, and is a prominent member of the Bay County bar. He graduated at the University of Michigan in the class of 1877, and in 1878 came to Bay City from Detroit, January 1, 1879, the present firm was established. Mr. Simonson has held the office of city attorney since 1880. He is recognized as a young lawyer of marked ability.
H. M. GILLETT is a member of the law firm of Simonson & Gillett. He came to Bay City from Genesee County, N. Y., in 1876. He had graduated at Cornell University in 1874. In 1877 he was admitted to the bar, and has been in practice since that time.
GROW BROS. Such is the name of one of the most extensive mercantile houses, and one of the largest clothing establishments in Bay City. The members of the firm are E. Palmer and De Witt Grow. They were born in Pontiac, and followed farming until about fifteen years of age, attending district schools during the intervals of work. They concluded their educational careers with a course at commercial college; Palmer at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and De Witt at Detroit. In 1867 E. Palmer Grow entered the employ of J. Seligman, at Pontiac, as book-keeper, and continued with that gentleman for nearly five years. He was afterwards book-keeper for Gustin, Merrill & Co., of Bay City. De Witt was also in the employ of Mr. Seligman as book-keeper at East Saginaw. In July, 1872, the two brothers purchased Mr. Seligman's Bay City clothing store and embarked upon a business career which has been and still continues singularly successful. They removed from Water Street to their present location in the Munger Block in December, 1880. Their present apartments consist of two floors, 40x80 feet in extent.
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They are also members of the lumber firm of S. D. Lynes & Co., which commenced operations in 1877, and is doing a very success- ful lumbering and logging business. The firm owns about 1,800 acres of pine land, and the same quantity of farming land on the Tobacco River. Both these gentlemen are an excellent type of the enterprising and successful business men of this Western land.
L. E. NOYES, dealer in lumber and logs, is a native of the State of New Hampshire. For several years he was engaged in business at Sparta, Wis., and in 1869 settled in Bay City, then a flourishing place of a little less than 7,000 inhabitants. Since coming here he has been engaged in the lumber trade, buying logs and having them manufactured, and handling lumber. He ships both by rail and water, and sends large quantities as far east as the state of Maine, and handles yearly over 10,000,000 feet of lumber. Mr. Noyes' family consists of a wife and two children, a son who is with him in the office, and a daughter who is the wife of John L. Stoddard, a prominent lawyer of Bay City.
JOHN L. STODDARD is a native of Cayuga County, New York; he studied law with Roscoe Conkling at Rochester, N. Y., and was admitted to the bar at Rochester in 1871. In February of 1872 Mr. Stoddard settled in Bay City, and for a time was associated in practice with Judge Holmes, wlio settled here about the same time. Mr. Stoddard has acquired an extensive practice and has a good reputation as a lawyer. His office is in the Shearer Block, corner of Center and Water Streets.
EMIL ANNEKE was born December 13, 1823, in the city of Dort- mund, Prussia. At the age of ten years he entered the gymnasium at Dortmund, (gymnasia in Germany are preparatory schools for the universities), and passed his examination of maturity for the university nine years after. He was then admitted to the University of Berlin, where he studied higher mathematics, natural sciences, and law. After completing his studies he traveled for his general information through Saxony, Boliemia, Austria, and other parts of the continent. In 1848 he took part in the revolutionary move- ments that swept over a large portion of Europe, and, when those struggles had been subdued, and all efforts for the establishment of a German republic had proved unsuccessful, Mr. Anneke, with hundreds of other liberal young men, left his native country and came to the United States. He arrived in the city of New York in December, 1849. He taught school for nine months in Pennsylvania, and then became a member of the editorial staff of the New York Staats Zeitung. He was next corresponding clerk in a large mercantile establishment in New York until 1855, when he assumed the editorial management of a German paper at Detroit, Mich. In the following year he accepted a position as clerk in the office of the auditor-general, at Lansing. His services were so acceptable in this capacity that in 1862 he was nominated by the Republican party for auditor-general of the state. He was elected by a large majority, and acquitted himself so faith- fully that he was re-elected in 1864. At the expiration of his second term he was admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of law at Grand Rapids. During the Summer of that year he was appointed receiver of public moneys in the Grand Traverse District. This position he held until lie removed to East Saginaw. He remained in East Saginaw until 1874, when he went to Bay City, where he still resides.
He has been engaged in the practice of law and real estate business. He has occupied many important positions, and ranks higli as a business man and a citizen.
EDWARD E. ANNEKE, son of E. Anneke, is one of the promising young members of the Bay County bar. He graduated at the Uni- versity of Michigan in the class of 1882, and at once entered upon
the practice of law with his father in Bay City. He also does insurance business in connection with his practice.
SELIGMAN & ROSSMAN. This is one of the leading clothing firms of the Saginaw Valley, and is composed of Joseph Seligman and Frank Rossman, both business men of long experience. This firm began business in Bay City, March 1, 1881. They occupy two floors at 1004 Water Street, and carry an immense stock of cloth- ing, clotlis and gentlemen's furnishing goods. Joseph Seligman is a resident of East Saginaw, although the most of his time is spent in Bay City. He was extensively engaged in business in Memphis, Tenn., for twenty-two years prior to 1876. At that time he came to Saginaw, and was in business there six years. He has been dealing in horses for many years, and still continues that branch of his business. Frank Rossman came to Bay City at the time the firm began business in the Spring of 1881, from Pontiac, Mich. He is a native of Michigan, his parents being among the early settlers of Oakland. He has been in the clothing business at Pontiac six- teen years, and is still a member of the firm of Rossman & Fox at that place. The firm of Seligman & Rossman do a very exten- sive wholesale and retail business, and their store is a creditable in- stitution to the city.
C. L. KITTREDGE, one of the most prominent boot and shoe dealers in Bay City, is a native of Vermont. In 1873 he came to Bay City from Boston, and opened a boot and shoe store on Water Street. In 1879, seeing that business was reaching eastward on Center Street, he removed in 1879 to his present location at the corner of Center and Saginaw Streets, one of the most central points in the city. Mr. Kittredge is a natural merchant, and takes a lead- ing place among the business men of Bay City.
FREEMAN D. ADAMS, of the grocery firm of Meeker & Adams, is a native of Jefferson Co., N. Y., and at an early age removed with his parents to Michigan. In the Summer of 1871 he came to Bay City and opened a grocery commission store in company with Hanford E. Meeker, the firm being Meeker & Adams. The following Spring the firm changed to a retail business, in which they still continue, doing a very large trade. Mr. Adams is second sergeant in the State Militia, and also holds the office of police commissioner. He is an enterprising and successful business man.
HANFORD E. MEEKER, senior member of the grocery firm of Meeker & Adams, is a native of Erie Co., Ohio, and has been a resident of Bay City since 1871. In 1856 he went West, and at the breaking out of the war was attending a commercial college at Indianapolis. In 1862 he raised part of a company at Auburn, Ind., entered the service as a private, and was promoted to first lieutenant of Company A, One Hundredth Indiana Volunteers. He remained in the service until the close of the war, when he was mustered out and came to Michigan. In 1871 he came to Bay City and established the firm of Meeker & Adams, and the following year became a permanent resident of the city. The firm do a very extensive business, and Mr. Meeker is recognized as one of the lead- ing business men of Bay City.
STUART B. SHANNON, undertaker, 211 Fifth Street, is a native of the state of New Jersey. In 1866 lie settled in Bay City, and has been a leading business man of the place ever since. In 1867 he started in the furniture and undertaking business on Saginaw Street, just back of the Fraser House. In 1880 he went out of the furniture business, and since that time has devoted himself exclusively to undertaking, and is doing a very extensive business. Mr. Shannon made a fine military record during the war. He enlisted in 1861 in the Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry, as second lieutenant, and for some time was in charge of two sections of artillery. He came out of the service near the close of the war, having made a brilliant record as an officer and a soldier.
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I. A. SHANNON, wagon and carriage manufacturer, is one of the pioneers in his line, in the city. He is a native of New Jersey, and after remaining for a time in Oakland Co., Mich., came to Bay City in 1862. Soon after coming here he began manufacturing wagons and carriages, and established a large and successful business. He now has two good shops on Saginaw Street, one for wood and iron work, which he built in 1872, and the other for show-room and finishing, in 1877. Mr. Shannon is well known in this section, and is now doing an excellent business. For several years after: settling in Bay City he kept a careful diary of the principal public events, and in the preparation of this work his records have con- tributed considerable valuable information.
IRA A. LOUNT was born in Lapeer, Mich., in 1842, and moved with his family to Canada when two years of age. In 1862 he went into the army, enlisting at Lockport in the Twenty-fifth New York Battery. The battery was assigned to the Department of the Gulf of Mexico, where Mr. Lount was selected by Gen. Banks as ser- geant of ordnance, serving in that capacity two years, when he was selected as head clerk for Gen. Sherman, and served in that capac-
LOUNT BLOCK.
ity a little over one year. At the close of the war he came to De- troit, where he secured a situation as book-keeper in a wholesale clothing house, remaining there two years, when he went to Daven- port, Iowa. He soon thereafter engaged with a Chicago wholesale woolen goods house as traveling agent, and remained with them eight years. In 1875 he built a shingle mill and box factory at State Road Crossing, Bay County, which he operated about three years, when he sold the property. In 1878 he went into the furni- ture business in Bay City, on Third Street, and erected there, in 1881, a handsome brick block, which is one of the largest in the city, and a view of which is given in this work. He manufactures all of his new stock, keeps a large force of men constantly employed, and has the largest establishment of the kind in the State.
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