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 105
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Although always possessing a cheerful and happy nature, he was not exempt form the discipline of sorrow. During his life in Marshall he was called upon to give back four of his five children. His wife died in 1860 and he later married Mrs. Harriet Cook, who survived him.
CHARLES PHILO DIBBLE, eldest child of Philo and Susan Lawson Dibble, was born August 28, 1815, in Skaneateles, New York. From his parents' home the ground sloped gently to the Skaneateles Lake, and doubtless his strong love for the beauties of nature was the result of his early life by that beautiful sheet of water.
Boy playmates, growing together into lifelong friends, were found among the Allis, Porter, Pardee, Jerome, Brinkerhoof, Roosevelt, and Sandford families. Well disciplined in school were they, for the early residents of Skaneateles appreciated the advantages of sound mental training. Charles was set to studying Greek when only nine years old. When older he attended the famous Homer Academy.
At the age of fourteen he critized the way in which an employe was conducting the store of his father in Kellogsville, a small village seven miles from Skaneateles. His father finally said, "You may take the store and have any profit you can make out of it." Charles went to Kellogsville, took charge of the store, conducted it for a year and then sold out, making a good profit out of his year's work.
Returning to Skaneateles, he entered the store of Mr. Pardee. As a clerk, he so won the affection of his employer, that in revisiting Skan- eateles more than thirty years afterwards, Mr. Pardee was one of his most frequent visitors, and he expressed often his great affection for "Charlie."
In 1835, as we have told in the sketch of Philo Dibble, Mr. Dibble, with his father, drove through the country as far west as Chicago. They then decided to make their future home in Marshall. He returned to Marshall in 1836 and commenced his successful mercantile life there. At the same time he superintended the building of a home for his father's family, and the brick block, long known as Dibble's Block, on State street. He moved his stock into the brick block and continued the business through many years. In 1865 he took his eldest son, Charles A., into partnership and gradually placed the management of the busi- ness in his hands. This enabled him to take more time for his many outside interests.
With others, Mr. Dibble, put through wild land, the Marshall and Bellevue plank road, finally making it into a hard gravel road.
He subscribed liberally and worked for new railroads, factories, in short, for any betterment of Marshall. The Agricultural Society was one of his interests. Mr. Dibble was vice-president of the First
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National Bank from its organization; he served as acting president during the years that the Hon. Charles T. Gorham served his country as Minister to the Hague and later in the official life at Washington.
Mr. Dibble was married September 14, 1842, to Miss Hetty John- son of Ithaca, New York. He was more than fortunate in the choice of his life's partner. His home life was a happy incentive to the develop- ment of the best, in all who were sheltered there. And the gentle in- fluence was radiated through home, church and community, a blessed though unconscious urging towards the truly good in life. "Hospi- tality without grudging" was extended in that home. Relatives and friends were ever welcomed, and many a laborer in God's vineyard, minister, traveler or teacher, found there the cordial welcome and kindly strengthening interest while they rested.
All through his busy life, Mr. Dibble responded fully to the outside demands upon him. Anything that was for the best interests of the town was his interest. At his death it was said that "no man in the county ever enjoyed the confidence of the people to a greater extent than Hon. C. P. Dibble." He was president or treasurer of many or- ganizations formed in the county, township or city. Always faithful himself, he had a warm appreciation for the same honest, helpful traits in others. Above all other interests, his home, his church and the schools were dearest to Mr. Dibble.
He bought in 1859 the place now owned by his son, William J. Dib- ble, and interested himself in making it into the beautiful residence, Oaklawn, which adorns the city. Oaklawn has an historical interest. It was the chosen place for the home of Sidney Ketchum, one of the founders of Marshall. Mr. Ketchum first built a log house on the western side of the large lot; the first boards sawed in the county were used in making a door for the log house. The door was afterwards used in the brick house which Mr. Ketchum erected in 1838. This house was long known and spoken of as the Mansion House. Some years previous to the purchase of the place by Mr. Dibble it was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Pierce. They conducted an excellent Young Ladies' Seminary, a boarding and day school. This, in time, became unnecessary because of the high standing achieved by the public schools. Over thirty oak trees were in the grounds when Mr. Dibble bought the place. Many of them are still standing. Directly in front of the house in the center of Madison street stood an oak tree with a board seat or platform in it, from which, according to tradition, early settlers shot the bears.
The beautiful home early had its sorrows;
"Its pensive memories, as we journey on, Longings for vanished smiles and voices gone."
Three of the eight children were successively called by death, each one full of promise, on the threshold of manhood and womanhood, Ben in 1862, Louise in 1873 and Walter in 1883. "Not lost but gone before."
Both Mr. and Mrs. Dibble were brought up in the Presbyterian faith. Friendship for the rector, Rev. Montgomery Schuyler, led them, in their early residence in Marshall, to attend the services of Trinity church and soon no other church was home for them. There they found many of their warmest friends and co-workers, all inspired by love and thankfulness to God, to give and do their best for church and com- munity.
Bishop Gillespie gave his appreciation of what Mr. Dibble had been to the church in the following words: "Coming to the parish he long served as warden and in the ministries of an attached layman, we sadly miss Mr. Charles P., Dibble. The genial 'host of the church,' the fre-
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quent delegate to our conventions, and in all our diocesan life a mem- ber of the board of missions, he was identified with us, a layman es- teemed and valued. He was an intelligent, earnest churchman, quietly giving his judicious efforts to his own parish and the diocese. Many of the clergy will recall the genial hospitality of his home."
His interest in the schools was well summed up in the following resolutions adopted by the School Board at the time of his death; and some years after he ceased to take an active part in the work of the board. The Hon. Charles P. Dibble was a member of the School Board of the city of Marshall from 1850 to 1879, and an able and efficient member thereof, discharging his duties with such integrity of purpose as to secure the approbation of all our citizens. He was likewise an earnest worker in the cause of education, promoting it by his wise coun- sel and was ever ready to render aid and assistance in building and fostering this great public interest. To him should be accorded the honor of having largely contributed and made attainable our present high character in matters of education. Faithful to every public trust, eminently honorable, courteous and just in all his relations with his fellow men, in private life he was without spot or blemish. He needs no other memorial than the sentiments of respect now abiding in the memory of the community in which he lived a long and useful life.
"Resolved, that this expression of respect for his memory and regret for his death, on the part of the present School Board, be entered on the record for this evening's proceedings."
Mr. Dibble died on April 22, 1884, while he and Mrs. Dibble were visiting their son, Henry M. in Aiken, South Carolina. His body was brought to his home and after public services in Trinity church, was interred in the family lot, in beautiful Oak Ridge Cemetery.
MELVILLE J. WOOD. The genealogical and biographical. facts relat- ing to Melville J. Wood, the prominent fur buyer of Athens, are full of interest. In a general rather than exhaustive outline of these facts, we note that his grandfather, Timothy Wood, who was of English origin, came to Michigan at a very early date, settling here before the war and remaining until the close of his life, at the age of ninety years. Timothy Wood's son, Smoloff Wood, in 1854, brought his two sons, also, to Michi- gan, making the journey by boat to Detroit and traveling thence by teams to Athens, where they settled on a farm of 80 acres. Smoloff Wood was extensively known as the proprietor of Pine Creek hotel, which was located four miles north of Athens on the stage route, and was one of the most famous hostelries of the state in slave days. Of wide fame were the Pine Creek Hotel dances, which sometimes continued for ten nights in succession. Smoloff Wood was also heavily engaged in cattle buying. His acquaintance was most extensive for those early days and even in that period when fraternal organizations were far less accessible be- cause of the newness of the country, he was a prominent member of the Masonic order.
Melville Wood, who was born in Euclid, Ohio, on March 12, 1845, was ten years of age when the trip was made to Michigan. He was married at the age of 24 to Jennie Strambro, a daughter of Dr. C. M. and Levina (Underwood) Strambro, her father having been one of the earliest medi- cal practitioners of the county. To Melville Wood and his wife, Jennie Strambro Wood, were born three children: C. L., who is at home and in business with his father; Burr, who died in childhood; and Ray, who is also in Athens and engaged in the fur and dairy business. The first Mrs. Melville Wood died in 1900. Mr. Wood was a second time married,
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in 1902, to Mrs. Emma C. Culp, who was a widow and the daughter of Mr. Brunson.
Although his business interests are the most prominent feature of Mr. Wood's life, it is interesting to know that he served during the last year of the Civil war, although he was then but eighteen years of age. He is still sensitive to the public welfare and although he is not a politi- cian, he has served for some time as deputy sheriff. His nature is emi- nently social and he holds membership in the Masonic Lodge, No. 220, of Athens; in that of the Elks, No. 131, Battle Creek; and in the organiza- tion of the Knights of the Grip.
At the time of his marriage Mr. Wood owned fifty dollars, a horse and a sulky. He is now among the notably well-to-do men of the county. A life-long characteristic of Mr. Wood's has been his fondness for hunt- ing, fishing and trapping, which, during his boyhood days upon the farm, constituted his diversion. Agricultural pursuits, however, were never congenial to Melville Wood, whose commercial instincts craved development and exercise. At the age of twenty-five he initiated his first enterprise of a business nature by going to the village of Athens and establishing a retail shoe store. He was successful to such a degree that ever since that time, in spite of Mr. Wood's other interests, the shoe business has continued and is known today as that of M. J. Wood & Son.
Very soon after he had begun the above mentioned enterprise, he consented to undertake a fur-buying commission for a Detroit firm. This work was at first local, but it was accomplished with such satis- factory results that Mr. Wood was soon urged by Henry A. Newland and Company of Detroit to represent them throughout the entire state dur- ing the fur season. The offer was accepted in 1875 and for nearly a quarter of a century, Mr. Wood remained an able and highly appreciated buyer for this house. On the death of the senior member of the firm, Mr. Wood accepted a similar position with the house of Wright Broth- ers of Boston. His fur negotiations are now carried on regularly in all the larger towns and cities throughout both the southern and the north- ern peninsulas. The trade of which he has charge is remarkably large and of a high quality. Mr. Wood has furthermore the enviable reputa- tion of being particularly fair and liberal with his shippers. His busi- ness is by no means limited by state boundaries, for he receives ship- ments of fur from points in practically all parts of the United States. He is the largest fur buyer in the state of Michigan, if not in the entire country. Many who do not know him personally are familiar with his name from its frequent appearance in the commercial departments of numerous magazines. When one considers his achievements in this line ; his local business mentioned above; not to mention the fact a part of his young manhood was given to the service of his country (with the Twelfth Michigan Infantry, Company H)-his many sided activity and his success therein seem to proclaim him a remarkable man.
The fact that his success in his most conspicuous line has not come easily is indicated in the following excerpt from a very complimentary article published by the Detroit Herald of Commerce, an article which has provided a part of the data for this biography :
"Mr. Wood has had many thrilling and perilous experiences during his life as a traveling man. Once while on a trip to Northern Michigan, at Mackinaw, he was obliged to cross the strait to St. Ignace. The steam- boat became frozen in the ice and the party of seven men and one woman started across the strait in a covered stage. As the mercury registered about twenty-five degrees below zero, it was anything but a comfortable ride; and to add to the discomfort of the passengers, when nearly two miles from land, the whole outfit-stage, horses and driver
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-broke through the ice and went down into the cold, dark water beneath. The occupants of the stage managed to tumble out of the rear end, and paddled for ten feet through the water to solid ice. Every one of them suffered severely from the frost and another stage coach came to their relief as quickly as possible, taking them on to St. Ignace. When the accident occurred, our subject lost his satchel, with all his papers, but the entire party congratulated themselves that more serious results did not follow."
The article above quoted shows a cut of Mr. Wood, holding a beauti- ful silver-gray foxskin from Ontonagon county, one for which he had paid $100. His list for that season, which was typical, is as follows: "Fitch, 2; civet cat, 9; fisher, 14; otter, 30; lynx, 38; badger, 46; wolf, 39; bear, 51; opossum 87; beaver, 67; housecat, 169; wildcat, 67; deer, 80; sable, 198; fox, 478; raccoon, 3,582; mink, 4,721; skunk, 7,467; muskrat, 49,987."
Considering the significance of the above quoted figures and the fact that the foregoing data are incomplete though interestingly sug- gestive it can hardly be gainsaid that Mr. Wood is one of the most con- spicuous figures in his community and in his especial line a man of na- tional reputation.
CHARLES E. GORHAM. It is no slight distinction that applies to Mr. Gorham in connection with his incumbency of the office of president of the First National Bank of Marshall, for his father, the late Hon. Charles T. Gorham, was the founder of the institution and the same is the old- est in the state as well as one of the most substantial and popular in all southern Michigan. It represents the outgrowth of a private banking business that was established by Charles T. Gorham in the year 1840, and its history has been one of careful and honorable policies and continu- ous success. The name of the Gorham family has thus been closely iden- tified with banking and other financial interests in Calhoun county for nearly three-fourths of a century, and upon the family record in social and private life during these long years there has rested no semblance of blemish, so that the statement made in the initial sentence of this article is fully justified. Specific mention of the late Hon. Charles T. Gorham is made in a memorial tribute on other pages of this publication, and thus further data concerning the family history are not demanded in the present connection. It may be said, however, that this honored pioneer came to Marshall in 1836, the year prior to the admission of Michigan to statehood, and that he became one of the most honored and influential citizens of this section of the Wolverine commonwealth. In Marshall he first engaged in the mercantile business, in association with Charles M. Brewer, and the firm built up a most prosperous enterprise. He retired in 1840 and engaged in the private banking business, which he conducted until 1865, when he effected the establishing of the first national bank in Calhoun county. He continued as president of the First National Bank of Marshall until two years before his death and was suc- ceeded by his son Seldon H., who retained the presidency until his death, on the 18th of October, 1902, when Charles E., of this review, a younger son, succeeded to the presidency, so that the executive head of the insti- tution from the beginning to the present time has been a member of the Gorham family.
The First National Bank of Marshall bases its operations upon a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars and that its management at all times has been careful and conservative is evidenced by the fact that it has successfully weathered all financial storms that have swept the country during the long period of its existence-its solvency and
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policies having at no time been a matter of the least conjecture. It is one of the most substantial and popularly valued financial institutions of Calhoun county, with large deposits and prosperous business. The personnel of its executive corps at the present time is as here noted : Charles E. Gorham, president; Frank A. Stuart, vice president; Charles H. Billings, cashier ; and Glenn E. Grant, assistant cashier. In addition to the president, vice president and cashier the directorate of the bank includes Samuel F. Dobbins, George W. Leedle, Charles E. Gauss, and James L. Dobbins.
Charles E. Gorham was born in the city of Marshall, Michigan, on the 5th of September, 1855, and here acquired his early educational dis- cipline in the public schools, after which he passed five years in Europe, where he availed himself of the advantages of the best of educational institutions. In 1877 he became messenger in the First National Bank of Marshall, and he was soon promoted to the position of teller, from which he was later advanced to that of assistant cashier. Upon the death of Norris J. Frink he was elected cashier of the bank, and of this office he continued the able and popular incumbent until the death of his elder brother, Seldon H., in 1902, when he was elected to succeed the latter in his present office of president. His entire business career has thus been one of close identification with this one institution, and in his sev- eral executive capacities he has done much to further its success and prestige. He is recognized as one of the able and representative factors in banking operations in southern Michigan and in his home city and county has ever maintained secure vantage ground in popular confidence and esteem. He and his family reside in the beautiful old Gorham homestead, comprising a stately house erected by his father and sur- rounded by large grounds with abundance of fine shade trees and shrubbery.
In politics, though never an aspirant for public office, Mr. Gorham gives unqualified allegiance to the Republican party, and he is affiliated with St. Albans Lodge, No. 20, Free and Accepted Masons; Lafayette Chapter, No. 4, Royal Arch Masons; and Marshall Commandery, No. 17, Knights Templars, all in his home city, as well as with Moslem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in the city of Detroit.
On the 3d of June, 1885, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gor- ham to Miss Florence E. Walton, who was born at Rockford, Illinois, and whose father, Rev. J. E. Walton, was rector of Trinity church, Prot- estant Episcopal, in Marshall, at the time of her marriage, her father having been one of the distinguished members of the clergy of his church in Michigan for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Gorham became the parents of two daughters, the elder of whom, Marion W. died on the 7th of May, 1904, at the age of eighteen years, and the younger of whom, Gail, is a member of the class of 1912 in Mount Vernon Seminary, at Wash- ington, D. C.
LEVI S. WARREN, attorney at law of Albion, Michigan, is an enter- prising citizen, born in the village of Fenton, Genesee county, Michigan, on March 5, 1844. He is the son of Samuel N. Warren and Anna K. (West) Warren, natives of Vermont and Kentucky, respectively. The parents of Mr. Warren were among the very early settlers of Michigan, the father coming from Vermont and locating in Oakland county, Michigan, in 1827. The mother came from Kentucky with her parents and settled in the same county in 1829, where they were married on December 31, 1834. Samuel N. Warren died in Ann Arbor in his ninety-
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second year and the mother in her ninetieth year. The great-grandsire of the subject, David Warren, served in the War of the Revolution.
Levi S. Warren acquired his education in the city of Flint and in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, which he entered in September, 1862, enrolling in the literary department. He remained at his studies until the holiday vacation when he returned home and on January 4, 1863, he enlisted in Company F, of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry, Col. Robert G. Minty commanding the regiment. Mr. Warren was sent with his regiment to Tennessee and later to Alabama, and he served until March, 1865, taking part in such engagements with the enemy as his regiment participated in. He was wounded at Kingston, Georgia, by a gun shot through the left leg. In March, 1865, he received an honorable discharge and returned to Flint, Michigan. In that city he read law under Hon. Josiah Turner, Circuit Judge, with Hon. Charles D. Long, late Supreme Judge, and was admitted to the bar in Genesee county in October, 1877, and there began practice, continuing until March, 1891, when he removed to Albion, here he opened an office and engaged in the real estate business until 1900. In that year he was appointed special examiner of the pension bureau and remained in that work until August, 1907, when he resigned his position and returned to Albion, Michigan, his home.
Mr. Warren was married to Mary A. Garrison, his present wife, in the Episcopal church at Marshall, Michigan, on April 19, 1866. Their only child, Eleanor Anna Warren, was born at Flint, Michigan, March 9, 1869, and died August 8, 1886. She is buried in the family lot at Glen- wood cemetery, in Flint. Mr. Warren, being in moderately good cir- cumstances, gives but a portion of his time to the duties of his office, and and his evenings are spent in his library,-one of the best selected private libraries in the city of Albion.
HON. SAMUEL DICKIE, president of Albion College, and prominent in this section of the state as an educator and strong temperance advocate, has been a resident of the state of Michigan since he was a boy of seven. He is a Canadian by birth, born in Canada, on June 6, 1851, and the son of William and Jane (McNabb) Dickie, both natives of Scotland. The father was born at the home of the poet, Robert Burns, in Mauchlin, Scotland, while the mother was born in Glasgow. In early life the family made their way to Canada, there locating, and in 1858 they removed to Lansing, Michigan, where they passed the remainder of their lives.
In the public schools of Lansing Samuel Dickie received the founda- tion of his education, and in 1868, when he was seventeen years of age, he entered Albion College, from which institution he was graduated in 1872 with the degree of M. S. For four years thereafter the young man was employed as superintendent of the schools of Hastings, Mich- igan, and from 1877 to 1888 he occupied the chair of astronomy and physics at his Alma Mater. He won great popularity as an instructor, and his influence with the student body who sat under his teaching was particularly strong. In 1901 he was made president of the institution, and he has since retained that important position, in every way justify- ing the wisdom of the choice of the board of trustees.
When Dr. Dickie reached his majority in 1872 and came to the choosing of his political faith, he was turned toward the prohibition party, as the result of the resolution incorporated as the sixteenth plank of the Republican platform. Since that time Dr. Dickie has given staunch allegiance to the interests of the Prohibition party and has voted with it on all state and national issues. During the session of the na- tional Prohibition convention, held in 1884, he occupied the chair, and
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