USA > Michigan > Bay County > History of Bay County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 35
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WILLIAM N. TEALL, merchant tailor, on Harrison Street, South Bay City, is a native of New York State, and came to Bay City from Jackson, Mich., in 1874. When he first came here he started in business on Harrison Street, and has remained in the same loca- tion ever since. Mr. Teall was a lieutenant in the army, and his son Henry Teall was also in the service. He has a family consist- ing of a wife and seven children. One son, William E. Teall, is doing a prosperous merchant tailoring business on Water Street.
MARTIN STEWART is a native of Canada, and settled in Bay City in 1863. Since that time he has been identified in various ways with the interests of the place. In the Fall of 1882 he formed a co-partnership with E. L. Martin, and they bought out I. E. New- comer, who was in the grocery business on Water Street, and about
two years previously had bought out Mr. Stewart. The firm of Martin & Stewart do an excellent business.
J. L. TROMBLEY, of the grocery firm of Hawkins & Trombley, South Bay City, is one of the early comers to this region. His father, Daniel Trombley, came here in 1858 from Romeo, N. Y., and remained here until his death in 1877. J. L. Trombley has been engaged in various interests in the city. In 1878 he went into . the grocery business on Washington Street, and the following year went in partnership with J. E. Hawkins, and since that time they have done business at their present place, 1101 Harrison Street.
LOUIS GOESCHEL is a native of Germany, and emigrated to America in 1854. In 1868 he settled in Bay City, and soon after went into the grocery business and still continues in that business. At first the firm was Meisel & Goeschel, and later, Goeschel & Hodgkins, and is the oldest grocery house in the city. Mr. Goes- chel is a very active business man and has been very successful. He is a prominent Mason, and has done a good deal toward organiz- ing the Knights Templar Band, and has been the manager since its organization ; it is one of the best In the State.
W. E. VAUGHAN, M. D., is a native of New York State. He served for six years in the army, having enlisted as a volunteer early in the war, and in 1862 was transferred to the regular army. He received his medical education at the medical department of the Georgetown University, Dist. of Columbia, and at the University of Michigan. In 1868 he settled in Kawkawlin, and continued in practice there until 1877, when he removed to Bay City, where he occupies a leading position in the medical profession.
C. E. PIERCE is a son of Capt. B. F. Pierce, one of the pioneers of Bay County. He was born here, and educated for the bar. In 1882 he graduated at the Michigan University, and began the prac- tice of law in Bay City, in the Spring of 1882. The following Fall he was elected Circuit Court Commissioner, which office he now holds. His law office is in the Watson Block on Water Street.
CHARLES E. RHODES, jeweler, Bay City, came here in 1865 from Genesee County, Mich., and for seven years was in the em- ploy of Mr. E. Wood, the pioneer jeweler of the place. Previous to coming here Mr. Rhodes had been a soldier in the Union Army, and served through the war, from 1861 to the close of the Rebel- lion, making an excellent record. In 1880 he started in business for himself and is doing a prosperous business.
I. F. PLUMSTEEL, boot and shoe manufacturer, is a native of Canada. He first moved to Oakland County, and about 1870 came to Bay City. He started out in life to take care of himself at whatever offered the best inducement, and was at one time cabin boy on the boat called the "Susan Ward." Afterwards he formed a co-part- nership with a man to open a boot and shoe shop, and the first night the partner stole what little they had and decamped. Among his early experiences was an attempt to go from Bay City to Texas on a capital of 10 cents. He got as far as Logansport, Ind., when he turned around and worked his way back as best he could. About 1874 he began business for himself in the basement of the Wolverton House, and from that time to the present has prospered. He now gives employment to twelve men, manufacturing boots and shoes. In 1882 he built the Plumsteel Block, a handsome two-story brick building adjoining his store on Water Street.
CHARLES BABO, a well known and reliable citizen of Bay City, has been connected with its interests for a score of years. He is a native of Germany, and settled in Bay City in 1863, while it was yet a village. He went into the mercantile business, and for some time the firm has been Charles Babo & Sons, with a grocery store in this city and another in West Bay City. Mr. Babo has always maintained an excellent reputation in the community. In the Fall of 1880 he was elected county treasurer, and devoted his time to
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the duties of that office until the expiration of his term, January 1, 1883. He has a wife and eight children.
EDWARD O'CONNOR was born in Ireland, and came to this country when a child, with his parents. After arriving at an age when he could do for himself, he followed sailing on the lakes for several years. In 1862 he settled in Bay City, and the following year opened a grocery store on Water Street. In 1869 he built the elegant brick residence which he now occupies. This was the first brick house built on Center Street, and it is an ornament to that now beautiful street. In 1872 he sold out his business and went to the Pacific Coast for his health, and remained there four or five years, when he returned, and in 1877 built his present store on Center Street and again engaged in business. Mr. O'Connor is one of the successful business men of the city. His family consists of a wife and three children.
A. N. ROUECH is one of the veteran hotel men of Bay City. He is a native of France, and emigrated to America in 1832. In 1862 he came to Bay City from New York State for the purpose of superintending the building and operation of a kettle salt block on the West Side. In 1863 he left the salt works and became propri- etor of the Globe Hotel. In 1863 he left the salt works, and be- came proprietor of what he named the Globe Hotel, Bay City, which he greatly enlarged and improved, and kept as a hotel seven years. In 1868 he built the brick block 50x100 on the corner of Water and Fifth Sreets, and for some time prior to 1871 kept a bil- liard hall in the second story. In 1871 he kept on the West Side, what is now called the Wells House, but what he named the Rouech House. About 1876 he opened the Bay City Coffee and Lunch Room and Billiard Parlor, in the same block on Fifth Street, which he still keeps. This is the finest lunch room in the city and does a large business. At first he kept a bar and sold liquors, but for several years has conducted a strictly temperance place. He has a wife and eleven children living. One son, Chester, died in Colorado, in 1881.
JAMES ROBERTS, one of the leading business men of Bay City, is a native of Scotland and came to this country in 1861. About 1868 Mr. Roberts began to visit Bay City as an agent of Blodgett's propeller and barge line. In 1878 he located here permanently and bought out Mr. Henry Griswold, who had a small dock property and kept a wood yard. Mr. Roberts extended his dock frontage by other purchases until now he has a river front of 500 feet, lying. south from Fifth Street. He has the agency of the river line of steamers, the East Shore Line, and is manager of the Saginaw Transportation Company. In addition to wood and coal, he deals extensively in hay, cement and barrel hoops. He has the latter manufactured, and furnishes them to salt manufacturers, and to the Eastern trade. Since coming here Mr. Roberts has built up a very extensive business, and is regarded as one of the solid men of the city.
W. W. RICHARDSON, lumber dealer, is a native of Canada, and has been in the lumber business about twenty-five years. For some time he was in business in Cleveland, Ohio, and purchased exten- sively in the Saginaw Valley. About 1863 he came to Bay City to buy and inspect lumber, and since that time has been operating in this vicinity., In the Spring of 1882 he removed his family to Bay City, and is now permanently located here. He ships by water, and deals extensively in cedar ties, poles and posts, in addition to lum- ber and shingles, principally from Tawas.
WALTER W. PAGE, of the well known firm of Maltby, Page & Co., wholesale grocers, is a native of Westport, N. Y., and came to Bay City in the Summer of 1880, and became a member of the present firm in October. The firm before that time was Maltby, Brotherton & Waterman. The business was established in 1870 by Carter & Maltby, and has grown as the city has developed, until
now their trade is very large and the business prosperous. Mr. Page is a young man of excellent business qualifications, and is one of the most active business men in the city.
WILLIAM E. TAPERT, proprietor of Central Meat Market, is one of the men who, by hard industry, has worked his way up from a small beginning to a position of independence. He is a native of Germany, and emigrated to America in 1851. For several years he was a resident of Detroit, and March 13, 1866, was married to Miss Catharine Schoeller, of that city. In 1868 they came to Bay City, and soon afterwards opened a meat market in the Simon Block, on Center Street. In 1877 they removed to their present quarters in the Baumgarten Block. They have worked hard, and practiced good economy during these years, the result of which is, that they have amassed a good amount of property, and Mr. Tapert stands well in the business community. They have two children-both boys.
DENIS A. RIVET was born near Montreal, Canada, and came to Bay City in 1856, when about sixteen years of age. After reach- ing this place he went at work in a saw mill and remained there two weeks. He then went to work at his trade, blacksmithing, and continued in that business eighteen years. His brother Charles was in company with him. In 1875 they started a livery stable on Water Street, which Mr. Rivet still owns. In the Spring of 1880 he rented the hotel building at the corner of Water and Sixth Streets, which he still keeps. Mr. Rivet has taken an active part in many public matters. He was one of the founders of the St. Joseph and Lafayette societies, the latter of which was organized in his little blacksmith shop, on Saginaw Street, the fire upon the forge furnishing the only light and warmth the place afforded. He has sold the blacksmith shop and devotes his time to the hotel and livery business. He has a wife and seven children.
SIMON ZIRWES is an old stand-by of Bay City. He is a native of Germany, and emigrated to America in 1846. Ten years later he came to Bay City from Buffalo, and has lived here ever since. He learned the trade of shoe making and worked at it until 1865, and since that time has been in the hotel business. His present hotel, the Zirwes House, on Saginaw Street, he bought in 1867. The buildings have been almost entirely built since he purchased the property. Mr. Zirwes is one of the charter members of the Arbeiter Society, and its present treasurer.
C. C. WHITNEY is one of the live business men of Bay City. He is a native of Adrian, Mich. For six years he was extensively engaged in business at Alpena, and still has large real estate inter- ests at that place, the management of which occupies a portion of his time. In the Summer of 1874 he came to Bay City and went into the drug business in the Watson Block, and subsequently re- moved his store to the Fraser House Block. In the Spring of 1881 he sold his business to Schlieper & Co .. In the Fall of 1880 he went into company with C. H. Pomeroy, and under the firm name of Pomeroy & Whitney they went into the manufacture of crackers, biscuits, etc., together with the wholesale confectionery business.
WILLIAM MORAN is one of the pioneer lumbermen of Bay County. He is a native of Canada, and came to Bay City in 1856. At an early day he worked on the river or in the woods, then was foreman in the woods, and later took contracts and carried on a jobbing business. For the last year or two he has been running the Pinconning boom. His residence is in South Bay City. His experience of nearly thirty years has made him familiar with the lumbering operations of the Valley and with the growth of Bay City.
G. E. VAN SYCKLE is one of the most successful merchants of Bay City. He is a native of New Jersey. His parents removed to Oakland County, Mich., when he was quite young. In 1874 he
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came to Bay City and engaged in the music and sewing machine business under the firm name of Wheat & Co. This firm contin- ued until 1878, when Mr. Van Syckle took the entire business, and since that time has been alone in business. In 1881 he bought out Frank Crandell and moved into the store room he now occupies, at 208 Center Street. His stock, which is one of the finest in the city, comprises books, stationery, musical instruments and sewing machines. Mr. Van Syckle is .very popular with the public and. does a very prosperous business.
ANSEL W. WATROUS is a native of Pennsylvania, and learned the cabinet trade when a young man. About 1853 he went to the state of Mississippi, where he remained working at his trade until the breaking out of the war, when he came North and settled in Bay City. For a time he worked at his trade. In 1868, he asso- ciated himself with the late W. H. Southworth, and they built a planing mill on Water Street. They operated the mill until Mr. Southworth's death, in 1869. Mr. Watrous continued the business with other partners for about two years, and since that time has been making and repairing furniture. From 1874 to 1878 he was in the general furniture business. He was married at Deep River, Conn., October 13, 1850, to Miss Mary A. Southworth, daughter of Mr. C. G. Southworth. Their present residence is in South Bay City.
W. L. Roor, banker, is a native of Ohio. In 1869 he came to Bay City from Ashtabula County, Ohio, and was engaged in selling fruit trees for five years. In 1874 he opened a small brokers' office on Water Street. By careful management of his business it pros- pered so well that he finally did a regular private banking business, which he still continues. Mr. Root is a careful and reliable busi- ness man, and is in prosperous circumstances.
CAPT. WILLIAM KEITH is a native of Grosse Isle, Mich., and has been best known in connection with the business of the lakes, having sailed a vessel for twenty years. In 1870 he came to Bay City from Detroit, and has been a resident of the city since that time. He does quite an extensive business in marine insurance, vessel agency and salt commission. The captain is a genial gentleman, and still figures largely in the commerce of the lakes.
DR. J. A. WATERHOUSE is a native of Warren County, Penn. He studied medicine at Portage City, Wis., and graduated at the Eclectic Medical Institute, Cincinnati, in 1879. Soon after gradu- ation he came to Bay City and founded the Bay City Hospital, one of the most important institutions in the Saginaw Valley. Dr. Waterhouse first started in the Smith & Hart Block, on Water Street, where he occupied four rooms. It was generally predicted that his enterprise would prove a failure, but he was sanguine in his expectations, and subsequent experience has shown that he was not mistaken. The four rooms became much too small for the in- creasing business, and he moved to his present location, at the corner of Third and Saginaw Streets, where thirty rooms are occu- pied, and even now the necessity for more room is daily being manifest. Last year 4,000 patients were treated, and that number will be considerably increased the present year. A branch hospital has been started at Stevens Point, Wis., which is in successful operation. Dr. J. A. Waterhouse is assisted by his brother, Dr. H. M. Waterhouse, who is a skillful surgeon. These gentlemen belong to the Eclectic school of practice, and have been very suc- cessful in their treatment of all diseases brought to their charge. Their institution has been built up under adverse circumstances, but it has outlived them all, and is now one of the prosperous and important enterprises of the valley.
J. C. NOTTINGHAM, M. D., is a native of Marion, Ind. He is a graduate of Bennett College, Chicago, and began practice at Marion in 1871. In the Spring of 1882 he settled in Bay City and succeeded
Dr. Walsh, who removed to Detroit. Dr. Nottingham's practice is homeopathic, and he is regarded as a very skillful physician. He has elegant office rooms at 213 Fifth Street, and residence 418 Washington Street.
WILLIAM McCOOL, of the firm of McCool & Co., is a native of Canada, and when a boy went to Chicago, where he remained several years. After returning to Canada and remaining a short time, he came to Bay City in 1867, and made a permanent location. In 1872 he bought out the harness shop of Hemstreet & Wanless, and succeeded them in business, the firm being McCool & Co. The shop at that time was on Center Street, where Van Syckle's book store now is. Subsequently they removed the shop to its present location just east of Saginaw Street. They do a very ex- tensive business and keep a large number of men employed manu- facturing. Mr. McCool is an energetic and enterprising business man, and has been very successful.
ED. WOOD is the pioneer jeweler of Bay City. He is a native of England and came to this country in 1846. He learned his trade at Horicon, Wis., and in 1862 came to Bay City from Racine, Wis. He first opened a store in a small frame building on Water Street, where the Munger Block now stands. There was one jewelry store here when he came, but it was not of long duration. In 1879 he moved into the elegant quarters which he now occupies in the Fraser House Biock, on Center Street. He held the office of city treasurer one term, and is now alderman from the Fourth Ward. He has held the office of alderman from the same ward for five years prior to the present term. He has always done a prosperous business, and has an excellent reputation as a citizen and business man.
WILLIAM A. SUSAND was born in the county of Waterloo, Ont. Came to Michigan in 1860, living for a while at Port Huron. After- wards lived in Port Sarnia, Ont., and Detroit, Mich. Was on a steamer on the Mississippi River for eighteen months, after leaving which he kept a restaurant at Yazoo, Miss. Came to Bay City in 1868, and was in the barber shop business until 1877, when he bought some land in the eastern suburbs of Bay City and is now a successful market gardener. He married Victoria Ward, of Lynch- burgh, Va., in 1866. They have one child living.
ALFRED P. LYON, of the law firm of Shepard, Lyon & Clark, is a native of Milford, Mich. He graduated at the law department of the Michigan University in 1872, and began the practice of law in Bay City the same year. In 1875 he became associated with T. F. Shepard, the firm being Shepard & Lyon. This firm was succeeded, January 1, 1880, by the present firm. Mr. Lyon held the office of prosecuting attorney of the county from January, 1879, to January, 1883.
JOHN ROGERS is a native of Canada, and came to Bay City in 1878 to take the position of cutter in Mr. I. F. Plumsteel's boot and shoe manufactory. Mr. Rogers still continues in that position, and by his skill contributes very largely to the success of Mr. Plumsteel's business. In his line of work he is regarded as one of the very best.
F. L. WANDS is a native of Albany, N. Y., and came to Bay City in 1876. Soon after settling here he opened an insurance office, having been in that business in Albany since 1864. He has done a very satisfactory business since locating here, and represents a choice list of companies, among which are the Commerce Insur- ance Co., Albany; Fireman's Fund, California; Union, Philadel- phia; Equitable Life Insurance Co., New York; Grand Rapids Insurance Co., Grand Rapids and Cooper Insurance Co., Dayton, Ohio.
C. D. VAIL is the senior member of the well known firm of Vail & Eddy, dealers in furs, hats, gents' furnishing goods, etc., Fraser House Block, corner Center and Water Streets. The other member
yours truly
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
of the firm is Mr. John F. Eddy, of the lumber firm of Eddy, Avery & Eddy. Mr. Vail is a native of New York State, and came to Bay City in the Spring of 1869. For a time he was in the employ of F. H. Blackman & Co. In 1874 the present firm went into business, the name of the firm at that time being Eddy & Co. The style of the firm was changed the first of January, 1882. Mr. Vail was married October 27, 1875, to Miss Elizabeth Mckay, daughter of Mr. Alex- ander Mckay, one of the pioneers of Bay City. The firm of Vail & Eddy have one of the finest stores in the city and do an extensive and prosperous business.
R. SCHEURMANN, wholesale and retail dealer in boots and shoes, at 802 Water Street, is one of the pioneer business men of Bay City. He is a native of Germany, and came to this country in 1853. After remaining a year in New York City, he came West to Detroit, and thence to Saginaw. In 1857 he came to Bay City, or Lower Saginaw as it was then called. In 1866 he opened a boot and shoe store on a small scale on Water Street. In 1870 he removed to his present location, where he occupies two large floors and does a very exten- sive business. The lower floor is occupied with the retail depart- ment and the second floor is devoted to the wholesale trade. Mr. Scheurmann has worked his way up from the foot of the ladder, having no capital when he came here. He has always pursued an honorable course, and occupies a leading position among the busi- ness men of the city.
ABRAHAM HYMAN, proprietor of the Buffalo Clothing House, at 910 Water Street, is a native of New York City. In 1866 he came to Bay City from Buffalo, N. Y., and engaged in the clothing busi- ness near his present location. Mr. Hyman does an excellent busi- ness, and is an influential member of the community. He was in- strumental in securing the organization of the Jewish Reform Church, and is one of its most active and liberal supporters. Mr. Hyman also owns extensive real estate interests in the city.
F. A. SCHLIEPER, of the firm of F. A. Schlieper & Co., drug- gists, 402 Center Street, succeeded C. C. Whitney & Co., in May, 1881. Mr. Schlieper came to Bay City from Vassar, Tuscola, Co., in 1876, and in the Spring of 1881 went into business as above stated. His family consists of a wife and one child. Mrs. Schlieper is a daughter of Mr. Jay, proprietor of the Campbell House.
C. YOUNG & Co., proprietors of the Bay City Brewery, succeeded the firm of Van Meter & Co., in 1875. The present firm is composed of Charles and Walter D. Young, sons of Mr. George Young, of Bay City. In 1875 Charles bought a half interest in the brewing busi- ness of Van Meter & Co., and in 1878 Walter D. Young bought the remaining interest, and the firm became C. Young & Co. The brewery is located on South Water Street, and manufactures 15,000 barrels of beer a year.
C. M. CURRY came to Bay City to remain permanently, in 1870, from Pontiac. He had been at this point to remain a few months at a time since 1863. For the past eleven years he has been engaged in the sewing machine business, having the agency of the Domestic machine. He occupies part of the store room at 813 Water Street. He has been in the business so long and is so well and favorably known that he has an excellent business.
NELSON NELLES, lumber and log inspector, and dealer, Bay City, is a native of Canada, and for some years was prominently identified with lumbering interests at Vienna. In 1870 he came to Bay City from Ohio, and in 1871 engaged in business as lumber and log inspector and dealer. Mr. Nelles is a thorough going busi- ness man, and is successful in his undertakings. His office is in the Bank Block.
A. C. MAAS, merchant tailor, is a native of Germany, and came to this country in 1865. He was in Chicago most of the time until
1876, when he came to Bay City, and entered the employ of F. H. Blackman, as cutter. In 1881 he bought out Mr. Blackman, and is now doing an excellent business. His store, at 105 Center Street, is one of the choicest business locations in the city.
WILLIAM PARKER has been identified with the business interests of Bay City ever since it has been a city. He came here in 1865 from East Saginaw, and went into the furniture business, and for many years carried on a very extensive establishment. For the last four years he has almost exclusively engaged in upholstering, and does some of the best work done in the city. Mr. Parker was active in the organization of the Congregational Church of Bay City, and is still one of its most active members.
J. N. SIRMYER is a native of Germany, and settled in Bay City in 1850. About 1865 the firm of James Rice & Co. went into the clothing business on Water Street, and Mr. Sirmyer went into their employ as salesman. In 1873 he formed a co-partnership with the late Guardis D. Edwards, under the firm name of Sirmyer & Ed- wards. This firm succeeded Rice & Co. In January, 1874, Mr. Edwards died, but the style of the firm has remained the same, Mr. Sirmyer having charge of the business. The present location of their store is 806 Water Street. They do a very extensive business in clothing and merchant tailoring, especially the latter. Mr. Sirmyer is a popular merchant and an excellent business man.
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