USA > Michigan > Calhoun County > History of Calhoun County, Michigan, a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 102
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On the 24th of May, 1862, was solemnized the marriage of William F. Neale to Miss Susan Barton, of Battle Creek, and the great loss and bereavement of his life came when she was summoned to eternal rest, on the 6th of November, 1908. In 1884 Mr. Neale erected his home resi- dence, at 163 Van Buren street west, and in March, 1906, he sold his interest in the shoe business to George F. Neale. Since the death of his wife he has found a pleasant home in the family of John B. Neale and wife, who at the present time occupy the old homestead on Van Buren street west. Here he is waiting the solution of the great beyond, firm in the belief that "Life is ever lord of death, " and that "Love can never lose its own."
Of the second and third generations of the Neale family of Battle Creek I shall present a mere catalogue :
George F. married, on the 8th of June, 1893, Miss Lydia Gage, of Barry county, Michigan and following is a brief record concerning their Vol. II-44
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children : Bertha Louise, born May 8, 1895, and is a member of the class of 1913 in the high school; George M. born November 4, 1896, and was drowned March 5, 1904; William F., Jr., born January 18, 1899; Lydia Worlock born October 5, 1900; and Charles Gage born May 11, 1902. The three last mentioned are doing good work in the public schools, and this family represents the lineage of Michael Neale.
John Byington Neale, son of William F., and wife was wedded, on the 30th of December, 1891, to Miss Ida Mary Peters, of Marshall, and they have one child, Rachel Mary, who was born May 8, 1896, and who is a member of the class of 1914 in the Battle Creek high school. John B. Neale is superintendent of the Gage Printing Company, of this city.
Christopher Alfred son of William F., and wife was born July 16, 1869, and died February 18, 1885, of cerebral meningitis.
Robert Michael, son of William F., and wife was born December 7, 1870, and is now a resident of Grand Haven, Michigan. He married Miss Louise Hatch of Battle Creek, March 16, 1898. Their son Robert Louis, born March 23, 1900, is a student in the seventh grade in the Grand Haven public schools.
William A. Neale, son of Maurice H., and wife was born March 16, 1862, and is a printing compositor by vocation. On the 31st of July, 1895, he married Miss Nettie M. Stillson, of Battle Creek, and they have no children.
Maurice E. Neale, second son of Maurice H., and wife was united in marriage, on the 14th of September, 1895, to Miss Margaret Brigstock, of Battle Creek, and their only child, Maurice B., is in his first year in the high school.
GEORGE F. NEALE. More than sixty years ago was established in a modest way a boot and shoe shop in a building that stood on the site of the present modern and handsomely equipped shoe store of George F. Neale, at 11 Jefferson avenue, north, in the city of Battle Creek, and the enterprise has been continuously conducted by representatives of the Neale family since 1850. It was founded by Michael and Maurice H. Neale, the latter of whom later sold his interest to a younger brother, Wil- liam H., who is now one of the venerable citizens and pioneers of Calhoun county and the only one of the three brothers now living. Michael Neale was the father of him whose name initiates this review, and on other pages of this publication are given adequate data concerning the family history, so that it is not necessary to repeat the same in the present connection. No name has been more prominently and worthily identified with mercantile and civic interests in Battle Creek for a longer period of years than that borne by the subject of this review, and both as a citizen and business man he has well upheld the prestige of his patronymic, the while he has been continuously identified with a line of enterprise that has been followed by the family for three or more genera- tions. His establishment is one of the oldest and most popular of the mercantile houses of the metropolis of Calhoun county, and he has fully upheld the high reputation that has so long been enjoyed by the family of which he is a worthy scion.
George F. Neale was born in Battle Creek on the 27th of June, 1858, and is a son of Michael and Mary Louise (Worlock) Neale, both of whom were born and reared in England, where their marriage was solemnized in 1848. In the same year the young couple embarked on a sailing ves- sel and set forth to establish a home in America. After a weary voyage of several weeks' duration they landed in the port of New York City, whence they came forthwith to Battle Creek, where they passed the residue of their lives. Michael Neale having been summoned to eternal
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rest in August, 1895, and his loved and devoted wife having passed away on the 3d of December of the following year. Michael Neale was born and reared at Sudbury, Lancastershire, England, and was a son of Gabriel Neale, who there followed the vocation of shoemaker and under whose effective direction each of the three sons, Michael, Maurice H. and William F., learned the trade of boot and shoemaking in a most thor- ough way. The sons all came to Battle Creek in an early day and in 1850 Michael and Maurice H. opened a shoe shop on the site of the present store of the former's son, George F., of this review. In those early days they manufactured all of the boots and shoes handled in their shop, as this was before machinery was invented for this purpose, but eventually they developed their business into a general handling of boots and shoes of regular machine manufacture, thus keeping in pace with the march of progress. The enterprise was conducted by the founders under the original title of Neale Brothers until the '80s, when Maurice H. sold his interest to his brother William F. The title of the firm was then changed to M. & W. F. Neale, and this continued until the death of Michael Neale, in 1895, as already noted. His son, George F., then be- came associated in the business and this alliance continued until 1906, when the present proprietor purchased the interest of his uncle, since which time he has individually conducted the large and prosperous business, the establishment being one of the veritable mercantile land- marks of Calhoun county.
Michael Neale was a man of strong individuality, fine mental powers and impregnable integrity, so that he ever commanded unqualified con- fidence and esteem in the community which represented his home for nearly half a century. He took a deep interest in all that touched the wel- fare of his home city, which he had aided in developing from a mere village, and while he was never ambitious for public office he served for a number of years as justice of the peace. He was a stalwart and effective advocate of the principles of the Republican party. His only child is George F., to whom this sketch is dedicated.
George F. Neale, whose name initiates this article, is indebted to the public schools of his native city for his early educational discipline, and from his youth to the present time he has been identified with the shoe business, as he began to assist in the store of his father and uncle when he was a mere lad. It may readily be understood that he is thoroughly familiar with all details of this line of enterprise, is a good judge of values and is able to select stock that will satisfy his large and appreciative trade, the reputation of the fine old establishment consti- tuting its best commercial asset. Mr. Neale is progressive and public- spirited and is ever ready to lend his influence in the furtherance of measures tending to advance the best interests of his home city and county, to which his loyalty is of the most insistent type. He is asso- ciated with his cousin, Ned Neale, in the ownership of the building in which his store is located, the same having been erected by the original firm of Neale Brothers, and he is also the owner of other realty in the city, including his attractive residence property, at 157 Van Buren street, west. Mr. Neale is a Republican in his political adherency but has never had aught of aspiration for public office. He is not identified with any fraternal organizations but holds membership in the Athelstan Club.
On the 8th of June, 1893, Mr. Neale was united in marriage to Miss Lydia Gage, daughter of Charles C. and Sarah (Van Horn) Gage, who still reside on their fine farm, in Assyria township, Barry county, where Mrs. Neale was reared, though she was born in Pipestone township, Cass
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county, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Neal have four children,-Bertha Louise, William F., Lydia Worlock, and Charles Gage. The elder daugh- ter is a member of the class of 1913 in the Battle Creek high school.
ALBERT H. SMITH. is a prominent agriculturist of Newton town- ship, Calhoun county, and is a scion of one of the worthy German families of that township. He was born January 26, 1874, the eldest son of John J. Smith and his wife, Anna Rommel, both of whom receive more extended mention in the sketch of the former to be found elsewhere in this volume. Albert H. Smith was reared in his native township of Newton and there received his education in the district schools. He chose as his occupation that to which he had been reared, farming, and has followed that line of endeavor to the present time. For seven years he worked on his father's farm and for others by the month; then in 1910 he bought 130 acres. This tract lies just south of the 160 acres on which he resides, the property of his wife's mother, Mrs. Luther Hurd, and both farms are under his management. The usual lines of agriculture are followed and as a specialty he gives much attention to the raising of fine blooded sheep. He enjoys a beautiful home and pros- perity has repaid his efforts, making him one of the substantial men of his community.
On December 9, 1896, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Jennie Hurd, a daughter of Luther Hurd, more extended mention of whom will be found in the sketch of Jesse A. Hurd. Three children have been born to their union: Dean R., Wilbur H. and Wilma L., aged re- spectively twelve, ten and six years, the eldest two of whom are now attending school.
Mr. Smith is a stanch adherent of the tenets of the Republican party and has been influential in public affairs of a local nature. He is the present highway commissioner of Newton township and has also served two years as township treasurer. Fraternally Mr. Smith af- filiates as a member of the Knights of the Maccabees and is also a mem- ber of his local Grange. He is a young man of vigor and ability, aligned with that class of citizens who stand for progress and have made Newton township one of the most prosperous sections of the county.
JOHN J. SMITH. Since the birth of our nation German-American citizens have entered prominently into the life of our country. As agriculturists they have been successful everywhere and there is no community in which the thrifty German is not a welcome citizen. Among the prosperous farmers of that nationality in Calhoun county, Michigan, is John J. Smith, whose property is located in Newton town- ship and forms one of the comfortable homesteads of that section.
Mr. Smith was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, November 10, 1846, the oldest son of Joseph and Elizabeth Schmidt, both natives of the Fatherland who spent their entire lives in the land of their birth. The father had passed away before his son John came to this country. A daughter, Mrs. Mary Russ, and a son, Joseph Schmidt, also survive the parents and are residents of Germany.
John J. Smith acquired his education in the splendid public schools of Germany and since his residence in America has become proficient in the use of the English language, both to read and to write it. A num- ber of English as well as German periodicals are received at his home regularly and by their means Mr. Smith keeps well versed in the affairs of the day. He emigrated to this country in 1869, a young man twenty- three years of age, and came directly to Calhoun county, Michigan,
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locating in Newton township. Four years after his arrival he became an independent owner of property when he bought sixty acres of his pres- ent homestead. A subsequent purchase of forty acres has been added to the original tract and the whole Mr. Smith farms, both intensively and extensively, progressive methods being those used in the management of his interests. To this bestowal of thoughtful care the soil has responded with an abundance that makes his farm one of the best in the town- ship.
In 1873 Mr. Smith married Miss Anna Rommel, who was the young- est of the five children born to her parents, Carl and Margareta Rom- mel. Both parents of Mrs. Smith were natives of Germany and emi- grated from that country in 1869, locating in Newton township, Cal- houn county, where the father died a short time after their arrival. Mrs. Rommel survived until 1895, when she too passed away.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith have three children : Albert H., a prominent farmer in Newton township, whose individual sketch will be found else- where in this work; Jeanette, now Mrs. Henry Spooner, and John A., whose untimely death on his twenty-fifth birthday, July 9, 1905, be- reaved his parents of a loved son and also left a widow and two chil- dren to mourn his untimely passing. The two children, thus orphaned, are Leon B. and Elmer J. Smith, and they make their home with the subject, who is also their grandfather.
Politically Mr. Smith is a Republican, and his religious faith is ex- pressed by his membership in the Lutheran church.
COLONEL HIRAM F. HALE. This venerable and distinguished citizen of Battle Creek has had a varied and interesting career, in which he has proved his powers as a man of affairs, as a gallant soldier and military officer, and as a citizen of the highest loyalty and public spirit. For nearly a decade past he has maintained his home in the Post Tavern, in Battle Creek. Colonel Hale is a scion of a family whose name has been linked with the annals of American history since the early colonial era and the original American ancestor came from England to estab- lish a home in New England, that cradle of so much of our national history.
Colonel Hiram Fillmore Hale was born at Lockport, Niagara county, New York, on the 23d of December, 1833, and is a son of Hiram and Lucretia (Johnson) Hale. The mother was a sister of Franklin John- son, who was one of the early presidents of the Massachusetts Life In- surance Company. Hiram Hale was engaged in the buying and ship- ping of wheat during the earlier part of his active business career, and later he became general agent for a leading life insurance company. He became established in Michigan and passed the closing period of his life in Battle Creek, where he died when about sixty years of age, secure in the high regard of all who knew him. His widow survived him a number of years and was a resident of Colorado at the time her death occurred, when she had reached the venerable age of eighty-three years. She was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, as was her husband. Of their family of sons and daughters, Colonel Hale is now the only surviving member.
In his native city Colonel Hale received excellent educational advan- tages, as gauged by the standard of the locality and period. It is im- possible to enter into full details concerning his long and active career in connection with activities of broad scope and importance. He came to Michigan prior to the inception of the Civil war and promptly ten- dered his services in defense of the Union. He enlisted in the Sixth Michigan Cavalry and was made major of this gallant command, with
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which he participated in many important engagements marking the progress of this great conflict through which the integrity of the nation was preserved. He also served for a time as commander of Company A., Merrill's Horse Guard, one of the finest cavalry regiments in the United States army. He resigned his command and thereafter served as pay- master of the United States army, with which he was connected for about five years. Receiving the brevet title of colonel, the honored sub- ject of this review made a splendid record of service to the Union army, and has ever maintained a deep interest in his comrades in arms, as signified by his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. He is also an appreciative member of the Michigan Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, the head- quarters of the commandery being in the city of Detroit. The only other citizen of Battle Creek who holds membership in this noble organ- ization is Dr. A. W. Alvord.
Colonel Hale has been concerned with no small amount of railway promotion and construction, largely in the west, and he was vice-presi- dent of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad at the time of the build- ing of its original lines. He was numbered among the pioneers in exploiting the gold-mining industry in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and was very successful in his operations. His constructive and ad- ministrative ability has been brought to bear in divers other lines of enterprise but for the past twenty years he has lived a virtually re- tired life. He passes the winter season in the south, customarily at Biloxi, Mississippi, and during the remainder of the year maintains his home at the Post Tavern, as previously noted. In politics the Colonel has ever given a stanch allegiance to the Democratic party, and he has been an effective exponent of its principles and policies. He has been affiliated with the Masonic fraternity from the time of attaining his legal majority. He was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in the lodge at Weedsport, Cayuga county, New York, and became master of the same in the following year. He is also identified with the capitular order of Masonry, but his further progress in the fraternity was inter- rupted at the time of the Civil war, never to be resumed. He is a com- municant of the Protestant Episcopal church and still holds member- ship in the church of this denomination at Junction City, Kansas, where he at one time maintained his home for a number of years. In Battle Creek, he is a member of that representative social organization, the Athelstan Club.
Colonel Hale has been married three times, first to Miss Josephine Colvin, who died at Lockport, New York. There are no surviving children of his first marriage. Those of the second marriage are : Hiram S., who is a resident of Denver, Colorado; William T., who resides at Hancock, Michigan; Harry S., who maintains his home in Denver, Colorado, and Annie, the wife of Frederick H. Plummer, of Beatrice, Ne- braska. Colonel Hale next married Mrs. Helen (Nichols) Caldwell of Battle Creek. She was the widow of J. M. Caldwell and a daughter of the late John Nichols, one of the founders of the great threshing-ma- chine manufactory still conducted under the title of Nichols & Shepard, in Battle Creek. . No children were born to this union, and Mrs. Hale passed away on the 8th of December, 1903, her memory being revered by all who came within the sphere of her gracious influence in the city that was so long her home and in which her interests were centered.
DAVID YOXHEIMER. For nearly half a century was David Yoxheimer numbered among the representative citizens of Clarence township, and he was one of the most venerable pioneers of Calhoun county at the
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time of his death, which occurred on the 18th of September, 1911, at which time he was ninety-four years of age. He established his home in Clarence township in 1863, and became one of the representative farmers of that part of the county, and contributed in generous meas- ure to its civic and industrial development and progress. His character and services were such as to render most consonant the offering of a tribute to his memory and a brief review of his career, the while his name merits enduring place on the roster of the sterling pioneers who aided in the development and upbuilding of Calhoun county.
David Yoxheimer was born at Bethlehem, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, on the 11th of August, 1817, and was a stion of one of the stanch old families, of German lineage, that was founded in that state in an early day. He was a son of George and Hester Yoxheimer, who continued to reside in the old Keystone state until the second decade of the nineteenth century, when they removed to Ohio and numbered themselves among the pioneer settlers of Mahoning county, where they passed the residue of their lives and where the father reclaimed from the wilderness a productive farm.
He to whom this memoir is dedicated was a mere boy at the time of the family immigration to Ohio and in Mahoning county he was reared to manhood under the conditions and influences of the early pioneer epoch in the history of the old Buckeye state. There he gained practical ex- perience that proved of great value to him in the ordering of his affairs in later years, as he repeated much of this experience in grappling with the forces of nature after he had become a pioneer in the comparative wilds of Calhoun county, Michigan.
In Mahoning county, Ohio, on the 17th of December, 1842, was sol- emnized the marriage of Mr. Yoxheimer to Miss Harriet Towns, who likewise was a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of that section of the state. Within a comparatively short period after his marriage Mr. Yoxheimer removed to Stark county, Ohio, where he became a successful farmer and where he continued to reside until the autumn of 1863, when he disposed of his property in that county and came to Calhoun county, Michigan. He purchased a tract of land in Clarence township, a portion of the same having been reclaimed from the forest, but the major part having been still covered with the native timber. With the passing years the concrete evidences of his energy and industry were shown in the reclaiming and developing of the wooded portion of his farm, and his progressiveness and good judgment enabled him to make the old homestead one of the fine farms of Calhoun county. He and his gracious wife endured the vicissitudes and hardships inci- dental to pioneer life, but their home was one of contentment and happiness.
Mr. and Mrs. Yoxheimer ordered their lives in accord with the highest principles of integrity and honor, strove to do good unto all men and were kindly and sympathetic in their association with others. They were held in unqualified esteem and affectionate regard in the community that represented their home for nearly a half century, and after long years of loving companionship they were not long to be sep- arated in death. Mrs. Yoxheimer was summoned to the life eternal on the 6th of November, 1900, and her husband, venerable in years and weighed down with the sorrow begotten of the severed ties, followed her to the "land of the leal" on the 18th of September of the fol- lowing year.
Mr. Yoxheimer was a man of splendid vitality and he continued in active supervision of his farm long after the time when the average man of such advanced age would have been found retired. For forty-eight
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years he resided on the old homestead and there his death occurred, the place having been endeared to him and his cherished wife through the gracious memories and associations of many years. He was ever ready to adopt improved methods and accessories in connection with the work of his farm, and it may well be noted that he had the dis- tinction of being the first to bring a threshing machine into Clarence township. This equipment he operated profitably for a number of years. Though he never manifested any desire for the honors of public office, Mr. Yoxheimer gave his influence and co-operation in support of those measures and enterprises that were projected for the general good of the community, and well informed concerning the questions and is- sues of the day, he accorded unswerving allegiance to the Democratic party. During the years after the most of the children had departed from the old home it was their custom to assemble each year at the home- stead on the occasion of their father's birthday anniversary and to pay honor to him and the devoted mother with all of filial solicitude. In their declining years Mr. and Mrs. Yoxheimer were cared for with the utmost devotion and sympathy by Mr. and Mrs. William L. King,-their daughter and her husband,-who provided for them every comfort and attention that love and sympathy could suggest. The two families lived together for more than twenty years, in the closest ties of affection and mutual interest, and the home relations were in every respect ideal.
The remains of Mr. and Mrs. Yoxheimer rest in the family lot in the cemetery at Springport, Jackson county, not far distant from their old homestead, and after years of earnest and useful endeavor they "rest from their labors," the while the record of their lives offers both lesson and inspiration. They became the parents of nine children, con- cerning whom brief data are entered in conclusion of this memoir: Har- mon is a resident of Springport. Jackson county, as is also Rachael, who is the wife of Morton Austin; Hester resides on the old homestead, in Clarence township, and is the widow of William L. King, to whom a specific memoir is dedicated on other pages of this volume; Milo and Orville maintain their home in Brookfield, Eaton county, as does also Retta, who is the wife of Frank E. Dewey ; Ella resides in Jackson, this state; Mary Jane is the wife of William Bell, of Marion, Iowa; and Clara is the wife of Daniel Annis, of Kansas City, Missouri. Fourteen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren are now numbered among the descendants of David Yoxheimer.
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