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 103
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WILLIAM LEONARD KING was born at Bloomfield, Seneca county, Ohio, on the 14th of February, 1844, and his death occurred at his home, in Clarence township, Calhoun county, Michigan, on the 4th of September, 1910. He was a son of Ignatius S. and Susan (Brown) King, who were representative of the pioneer element in the Buckeye state and who became pioneers of Eaton county, Michigan, where they established their home, in Eaton township, in 1853. The father reclaimed a farm from the forest wilds and became a citizen of influence in the community in which he lived and labored to goodly ends, both he and his wife con- tinuing to reside on their old homestead until they were summoned to the "undiscovered country from which bourne no traveler returns." William L. King was a lad of nine years at the time of the family re- moval to Eaton county, Michigan, and there he was reared to manhood under the sturdy and invigorating discipline of the pioneer farm, the while he duly availed himself of the advantages of the common schools of the locality and period. In after years he never wavered in his al- legiance to the great basic industry of agriculture and through its medium he achieved success worthy of the same.
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In his home county, on the 4th of July, 1866, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. King to Miss Mercy Elizabeth Foster and she was sum- moned to eternal rest on the 15th of March, 1873, and the only child of this union is Charles H. King, of Chicago, Illinois. On the 18th of February, 1875, Mr. King contracted a second marriage, by his union with Miss Hester Yoxheimer, daughter of the late David Yoxheimer, of Clarence township, Calhoun county, to whom a special memoir is ded- icated on others pages of this work. Mrs. King survives her honored husband and still resides on the old homestead, in Clarence township. Mr. King continued to be actively identified with agricultural pursuits in Eaton county until 1878, when he removed to the old homestead of his wife's parents, in Clarence township, Calhoun county, of which he purchased a part of, and where he continued to carry forward his en- ergetic and successful enterprise as a farmer and stock-grower until the close of his long and useful life. Two children were born to the second marriage,-Zoe, who is now the wife of Dr. George R. Pray, a representative physician and surgeon in the city of Jackson; and Harry M., who resides upon and owns a part of the old homestead farm, in Clarence township. ,
Mr. King was a man of broad views and well fortified opinions, and he was intrinsically reserved and unassuming in all the relations of life. He was generous and tolerant in his judgment of his fellow men, and this attitude forefended objective enmities, with the result that there is all of consistency in saying that he did not have an enemy in the world. His political support was given without reservation to the cause of the Democratic party and he was liberal and public-spirited as a citizen. He served several times as treasurer of Clarence township and was otherwise given marks of popular confidence and esteem. He was affili- ated with Springport Lodge, No. 131, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in the neighboring village of Springport, Jackson county, and his funeral services were held under the auspices of this lodge, inter- ment being made in the Springport cemetery.
Mrs. King, as already stated, resides on the old homestead, which is hallowed to her by many gracious memories and association, since the same has been her place of abode during practically her entire life.
EDWIN H. LUFF. It is due to the efforts of the energetic, progres- sive and intelligent farmers that agricultural conditions in Calhoun county are now in such a healthy condition. Intelligent working of the soil, recognition of the value of crop rotation, and the use of modern machinery, have improved conditions wonderfully during the past sev- eral decades, and one who is assisting in the advancement of the county's agricultural interests is Edwin H. Luff. Mr. Luff may lay claim to the distinction of being a native born citizen of Calhoun county, his birth having occurred January 10, 1874, and is a son of Henry O. and Par- melia J. (Lewis) Luff.
Samuel Luff, the grandfather of Edwin H., was born in England, from whence he brought his family to the United States in 1830, settling in Vermont for ten years, and then coming to Michigan and settling in Marengo township, living there for five years, then moved to Lee town- ship. Here Samuel Luff purchased the farm now occupied by Edwin H. Luff, and when he died, his son, Henry O. Luff, who was born in England in 1826, inherited the property. He was engaged in agricul- tural pursuits, throughout his life, and at the time of his death, in 1908, was the owner of sixty acres of good land. He was a Republican in poli- tics, but did not care to enter public life, his private enterprises satis- fying his ambitions. He and his wife, who passed away December 25,
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1896, were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and the parents of nine children, of whom Edwin H. was the sixth in order of birth, while only one other child resides in Calhoun county, namely : Laura, who married Raleigh Comstock.
Edwin H. Luff was educated in the district schools of his nativity, and as a youth assisted his father in the work of the home farm. He continued to reside on the old homestead, which he has owned since the death of his father, and now has 146 acres, under a high state of cultivation. He has erected a new home, substantial barn and appro- priate outbuildings, and has devoted his attention to general farming and the raising of live stock. Mr. Luff, like his father, is a Republican in politics, and at the present time is serving acceptably as justice of the peace of Lee township. He and Mrs. Luff are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the work of which they have been active.
In 1896 Mr. Luff was united in marriage with Miss Anna B. Orrison, the estimable daughter of John Orrison. Her father, a native of the Buckeye' state, moved from there to Calhoun county during the early sixties, but at this time is a resident of Jackson county, where he fol- lows farming. At the outbreak of the Civil war he went back and en- listed in an Ohio regiment, and served gallantly for three years. Mr. and Mrs. Luff have two interesting children: Marion, who is attending school; and Henry, eight years old, also a student. Mr. Luff has been an energetic and industrious worker since the time he left school, and his energies have been expended in such a way as to benefit the interests of his community. He has a wide acquaintance in Marengo and Lee townships, enjoying the friendship of many of this section's best people.
WILLIAM R. VESTER has been actively identified with the mercantile interests of Calhoun county since 1903, which year marked his estab- lishment in that line of enterprise in Level Park, and here he has since built up a thriving trade. A native son of Michigan, he was born May 8, 1869, in Barry county, and is a son of Rufus W. and Lucinda (Lydy) Vester, the former of whom was a native of Monroe county, Michigan, while the latter was born in Ohio. During the Civil war Rufus W. Vester served two years in Company E, Michigan Light Artillery, and after receiving an honorable discharge from the army at the expira- tion of that time, he turned his face toward Michigan again and there- after gave his attention to agriculture, being for many fruitful years engaged in tilling the soil in Barry county. He has in recent years sold his farm and divided the accumulation of years among his children, retaining only what he actually required for his immediate needs, his present home being at Covert, Michigan.
Educated in Michigan, William R. Vester was graduated from the Ypsilanti Normal School with the class of 1896, and during his student days he supplied his more pressing needs by teaching school in Barry county during alternate seasons. For six years after his graduation he held a position in Battle Creek as proof reader on the Review Herald, and in 1903 he came to Level Park, where he established himself in the mercantile business. He put in a fine and comprehensive stock of general merchandise, and in the management of that business has since been par- ticularly successful, although without experience in the mercantile line previous to his launching of this enterprise. He has drawn to himself a pleasing patronage and the demands of his business are such that his entire time and attention are required for the proper conduct of its various details. In the early years of his residence here, however, prior to that stage in the business when it made such heavy draughts upon his
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energies, Mr. Vester taught school for three years in the vicinity of Level Park. He is one of the leading and influential citizens of the commu- nity which represents his home and the center of his commercial activi- ties, and has borne his full share of the civic burden since his establish- ment here. He is a Democrat, and with his wife, is a member of the church of the Seventh-day Adventists.
In 1895 Mr. Vester was married to Miss Clara Fleming, a daughter of Thomas Fleming, who was for many years a prosperous farmer in Barry county, where he made his home until his death, which occurred in 1902. He was a leading member of the Democratic party organiza- tion of his community and was ever an ardent advocate of the doctrine of Free Silver. Mr. and Mrs. Vester have two children ;- William F., now a student in the Battle Creek high school, and Lucile M. attending school in Level Park.
HAMMOND J. COLEMAN has for years been known for one of the most extensive dealers in wool, grain, coal and pelts in Marshall, where he has made his home for the best part of his life. He was born in 1855, in Calhoun county, and is the son of Lincoln and Parmley (Bethel) Cole- man. The father was born in 1825, and died in 1912, in the eighty- seventh year of his life. He was a native son of England who emigrated to America in young manhood, settling in Kalamazoo county, and later moving into Calhoun county, where he settled permanently and there passed the remainder of his life. He was the owner of a good farm, well stocked and equipped, and he did considerable in the way of sheep- raising. He was prosperous and was regarded as one of the enterprising and representative men of his neighborhood.
Hammond J. Coleman was born on his father's Calhoun county farm , and as a boy attended first the district schools, and later the high school at Marshall, their near-by town. Upon leaving school he turned his at- tention to stock-dealing, even in that early day his young mind recogniz- ing the splendid possibilities that business offered. He carried on that industry in connection with his farming of a general nature, and in 1882 he formed a partnership with his brother, George W., under the firm name of Coleman Brothers, and engaged in the sale of groceries. Their place of business was centrally located in Marshall, and they soon had built up a thriving business in their line. They continued to be thus associated until 1904 when Mr. Coleman purchased the interest of his brother. George W., and thereafter conducted the establishment on his own responsibility. Mr. Coleman, as might be expected. is well known to the farming interests of Calhoun county, practically every farmer in the county having done more or less business with him in the years that he has been identified with his present line. which since 1888 has been represented by wool, hides, coal, grain and seeds, that year making the change in his business from a straight grocery establishment to one of its present character.
Mr. Coleman has been prominent in the public life of Marshall, and has sustained his full share in the civic burden with the passing years. He has served as alderman of the second ward, and in 1892 was elected mayor of the city, serving two terms in that capacity, and discharging the duties of his high office in a manner most creditable to himself and the city.
In 1882 Mr. Coleman was married to Miss Belle Cameron of Marshall, and one daughter has been born to them,-Bethel J., now in school at St. Thomas.
The family home is maintained at No. 308 North Division street, where they have a fine and commodious residence. Mr. Coleman's fra-
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ternal relations are represented by his membership in the A. F. & A. M .. Lodge No. 20.
CASH L. TUCKER. It is a very encouraging fact that among Calhoun county's enterprising and progressive citizens are numbered many men who are in the very prime of vigorous manhood, for it is to this class that the county looks for its development. Especially is this so among the agriculturists, and in every section are found men who have already made a success of their enterprises, and who bid fair to make their com- munities into the garden spots of the state. In this class stands Cash L. Tucker, one of the skilled agriculturists of Lee township. whose well- tilled fields testify to his ability and enterprise. Mr. Tucker is a native Michigander, his birth having occurred October 27, 1865, in Lansing, Clinton county, and his parents being Samuel and Eliza Jane (Thom- kins) Tucker, natives of New York, where the former was born in 1834 and the latter in 1840. His father died in 1912, but the mother still survives. making her home at De Witt, Clinton county. They had a family of four children. as follows: Frank, who is deceased: Cash L .; Earl, residing in De Witt; and Fred, residing on the old homestead.
Mr. Tucker's father came to Michigan during the same year that Cash L. Tucker was born. in 1865, and located in Clinton county, where he spent the remainder of his life in farming. He owned 212 acres of good land, and devoted a great deal of his time to sheep-raising, with which he was identified for upwards of a quarter of a century. He be- longed to the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Knights Templar of Masonry, and was a Republican in his political views, while his wife was an active member of the Order of the Eastern Star.
Cash L. Tucker secured a good common school education, attending the institutions in De Witt, and was reared to the occupation of an agri- culturist. He continued to reside on the old home farm, assisting his father until 1912, during which year he came to Calhoun county and purchased 100 acres of good land in Lee township. This he has put in an excellent state of cultivation, and on it has erected a comfortable modern residence and substantial barns and out-buildings, the general appearance of the property being such as to reflect credit upon its owner. He is interested in all matters pertaining to the welfare of his com- munity, and at all times is ready to lend his aid and influence in behalf of movements tending to the general good. Like his father, Mr. Tucker is a Republican, but he has never had the time nor the inclination to engage actively in political work, although he has taken a good citizen's interest in the leading questions and movements of the day.
In 1886 Mr. Tucker was united in marriage with Miss Priscilla Smith, the estimable daughter of Samuel Smith, formerly a well-known agri- culturist of DeWitt, but now deceased. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Tucker : Ethel, residing at home. who graduated from the institution at Springport with the class of 1912. The members of the Tucker family are well known in church and social circles, and have many friends throughout Lee township.
AMOS M. JOHNSON. An able and representative agriculturist, who has done much to advance progress and conserve prosperity in LeRoy township, Calhoun county. Michigan, is Amos M. Johnson, who owns and operates a finely improved estate of one hundred acres. Mr. John- son is an energetic young man and one who is bound to succeed in a business way.
Amos Morgan Johnson was born in Newton township, Calhoun county, Michigan, the date of his nativity being the 29th of December, 1887.
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He is a son of Amos Gilbert and Lucy Belle (Morgan) Johnson, both of whom were born in Calhoun county, the former a son of Thomas Jeffer- son and the latter a daughter of B. F. Morgan. A sketch of the Morgan family appears elsewhere in this work. The father was engaged in farming operations during the entire period of his active career and since his retirement in 1911, he has resided with his family, in the city of Battle Creek. He and his wife are the parents of four children, whose names are here entered in the respective order of their birth,- Amos M., of this review, Zilpha, Carrie and Florence. In politics Amos G. Johnson is an uncompromising supporter of the principles promul- gated by the Republican party and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. He has been the incumbent of a number of important school offices and has proved himself an efficient ' servant of the public interests in those capacities. He is a man of high ideals and his innate kindliness of spirit has won friends for him in every walk of life.
The Johnson family removed from Newton township to LeRoy town- ship, Calhoun county, in 1892, at which time the subject of this review was a child of five years. He was educated in the district schools of LeRoy township and later pursued a commercial course in the Michigan Business & Normal College. As a young man he worked in a store at Sonoma, Michigan, for four years, at the end of which time he returned to the home farm, where he remained for the ensuing five months. He was employed as clerk in a feed store in Battle Creek for a few months and after his marriage in 1909, he worked with his father-in-law on the Sprague farm until August, 1911, when he assumed charge of the old Johnson homestead, on which he has since resided. This farm is one of the most attractive on the road, and comprises one hundred acres of the most arable land. In addition to diversified agriculture Mr. Johnson devotes considerable attention to the breeding of high-grade Holstein cattle. He also breeds Berkshire hogs to some extent.
January 4, 1909, Mr. Johnson was united in marriage with Miss Eda Sprague, a daughter of Thomas Sprague, mentioned elsewhere in a separate article in this work. Two children has been born to them,- Aileen and Donald. In politics Mr. Johnson gives his support to the Republican party and in religious matters, he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Johnson is also a member of the Gleaners.
BERTRAM BARKER STEVENS. A career of successful business achieve- ment and public-spirited citizenship has brought Mr. Stevens to a lead- ing place of influence in the city of Battle Creek. Coming to this city in 1886 at the age of eighteen, he learned the plumbing trade of John O. Galloup, the plumber, heating and mill supply dealer. He was in that employ for eighteen years, and then established an independent busi- ness.
Mr. Stevens is the largest contractor for plumbing and heating in Battle Creek and has few competitors for the big contracts in all this section of the state. By solid ability and a thorough experience he has built up a business of first rank. When, a few years ago, he took the contract for placing the plumbing and heating in the Grand Trunk car shops at Battle Creek, his bid for the work being forty-three thousand dollars, he succeeded in getting the largest single contract ever let in this part of Michigan. As a business record, some of his other contracts should be mentioned. He did the work in this line for both the old and the new high school buildings in Battle Creek, and the plumbing con- tract for the Marquette Motor Company at Saginaw, both the plumbing
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and heating contract for the court house at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, be- sides many others in both public and private buildings, but those men- tioned indicate the wide range of his business. He puts much energy and good judgment into his business, and for that reason he has ad- vanced far beyond the ranks of the local tradesman.
Bertram Barker Stevens was born in Cass county, Michigan, No- vember 17, 1868, a son of Clinton and Candace (Rudd) Stevens, both of whom were natives of New York. The father was a railroad man until the great strike of 1894. In 1895 he located on a farm of three hundred and sixty acres which he owns in Dakota, and has been one of the prosperous farmers of the northwest. Before going west he had been a resident of Battle Creek for over twenty years. For a long time he served as one of the popular conductors on the Chicago & Grand Trunk railway. His wife and the mother of the family died in 1908 at the Nichols Hospital in this city, and is buried here. And the five children, three daughters and two sons, are living, namely : Blanche, now Mrs. Blanchard, of Dakota; Bertram B .; Mrs. Nellie Parmelee, of Jackson, Michigan; Jay R., who learned his trade with Bertram B. and is now a plumber in New York City; and the youngest, who lives with her sister in Dakota. All the children were born in Cass county except the youngest who was born at Kent, Ohio.
Mr. Stevens received his education at Battle Creek and at Elkhart, Indiana, being a graduate of the high school in the latter city with the class of 1886, following which he began his business career. In addition to the business already described, he is vice president of the Gartner Baking Company and a director of the Battle Creek Brewing Company. In politics he is a Republican, and is affiliated with the Battle Creek Lodge No. 12, A. F. & A. M., the Knights Templar, and the Knights of Pythias, Elks and Eagles. As a substantial business man he gives his support to the movements for the general improvement of the city, and has a large circle of warm friends. His best affections are for his home and family, and when away from business he is usually found at his attractive residence at 148 Lathrop avenue.
Mr. Stevens was married to Miss Maude Higgins, of Cass county, Michigan, where she was born and reared. Her mother is dead, and her father, Benjamin Higgins, now lives in Salem, Oregon, where he is a grocer. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens are the parents of three children, Hazel, John W. and Bertram B., all natives of Battle Creek. The daughter, who is a very accomplished young woman, was graduated from the high school, and is also a graduate of the Battle Creek Conservatory under Professor Edwin Barnes. John W. will graduate from the high school in 1912, and the other son is also still a student.
AUGUST KAPP. The enterprise and enthusiasm of the born mer- chant have been the elements in the success of August Kapp, now at the head of the Kapp Clothing Company of Battle Creek. The Big Store for clothes, hats and men's furnishings, at the corner of Main street East and Jefferson avenue South, is an establishment that has been created out of nearly a quarter of a century's individual energy and reliable business policy. Obvious though this is as an illustration of success, it does not tell the whole story. The difficulties overcome in at- taining all this are a greater tribute to this merchant's character than the actual figures that might represent his resources and standing in business circles.
August Kapp was born in southwestern Germany, on the Rhine river, June 2, 1865. His father, Moses Kapp, who was a farmer and cattle
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raiser during his active life, now lives retired at the old home where this son was born, and is now past eighty years of age. The mother died there in 1906. Five boys and three girls made up the family, the youngest son dying in infancy, but all the rest are living. Of the three sons who came to America, Jacob has recently sold out his gen- eral merchandise business at Three Rivers, this state, and Henry F., who is a traveling salesman for a clothing house, is also interested with his brother in the business at Battle Creek.
During his boyhood August Kapp received some education in the German schools. He was fourteen years old, when, in 1879, he landed at New York City. He was a green immigrant, and his experiences dur- ing the first few months in American environment he can now regard with humor, but at the time they were tragic. Unable to speak the Eng- lish language, the boy was at still further disadvantage. A stranger whom he met borrowed the thirteen dollars which was his capital for beginning life in the new world. Needless to say, the borrower still owes the money with interest. This was only one of the experiences he had, and as he regarded it later he could see that he had been taken ad- vantage of at nearly every turn up to the time he acquired the use of English. Night study enabled him to overcome the master difficulties of language, and he was then better fitted for his new career.
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