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 11
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1794 to 1805 (except 1798) he represented the town in General Assembly.
1807 chosen as a representative and member of the council acting part of the time in one body and part in the other.
1808 again elected to the council, and with the exception of 1813 and 1814 when he was in congress, was annually reelected to this body until 1826.
1803 elected assistant judge of Chittenden county court, Water- bury, at that time belonging to that county, and reelected the two fol- lowing years.
1806 elected chief judge of Chittenden county court, and held the office until 1811.
1811 Washington county was organized and Judge Butler was elected chief judge of that county court, and, excepting the two years when in congress, 1813, 1814 and 1818, held that office until 1825.
1806 member of the Council of Censors.
1822 member of Constitutional convention.
1804 and again in 1820 a presidential elector.
1812 member of congress on the Republican general ticket.
1826 elected governor of the state, and was reelected the following year, each time without an organized opposition.
Immediately after his second election, he declined to run again, and at the close of that term retired from official life, having been in office without interruption from the organization of the town in 1790, often holding two or more important offices at the same time.
In addition to these civil and political offices he was on the com- mittee to fix the site for the first state house in Montpelier; was a commissioner in 1807 to help determine the place and plan for the state prison, and subsequently a commissioner to locate the state arsenal. From 1810 to 1816 he was a trustee of the University of Vermont. There was hardly an office of honor or trust in the gift of the people or legislature that he did not fill. In this respect the career of Gov- ernor Butler from an unlettered pioneer-(his schooling was limited to six months in his boyhood)-from a hunter and trapper up through almost every grade of office to the chief magistracy of the state, is a most remarkable one, and has few parallels in history.
Mr. Butler had a religious as well as a political history. His was the first conversion in Waterbury. About a year after he was bap- tized and united with the Baptist church in Bolton. At the organiza- tion of the Baptist church in Waterbury in about 1801, Mr. Butler
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was ordained as its pastor, and amid the many civil offices he filled, he continued to discharge the duties of this office until within a few years of his death, and that without salary or remuneration. He died July 12, 1838, in the seventy-fifth year of his age.
These are the main facts in the life of the distinguished ancestor of Hiland George Butler. The many public honors and positions of trust that came to him were won by his sterling traits of character. The public knew that whatever trust might be reposed in him was safe, and that whatever was given to him to do would be done, and so they always found it.
George Ide Butler, the father of Hiland G., was a very prominent Seventh Day Adventist and was president of that denomination for a period of fifteen years, which is the longest any man ever held that office. He followed Elder James White to the office. He left his native state at an early day and came to Iowa, where he resided until the subject was a youth of eighteen years of age. He then removed to Michigan, where he was elected president of the general conference of Seventh Day Adventists. He was a man of signal ability and has been prominent in several connections, having been president of the old Review and Herald Publishing Company and also president of the Southern Pub- lishing Company, of Nashville, Tennessee, which latter office he re- tained up to two years ago. He is now seventy-eight years of age and lives retired at Bowling Green, Florida, where he has an orange grove of fifteen acres, and engages in the raising of both oranges and pecans. He has resided in Florida for the past twenty-three years. The ad- mirable wife and mother was called to her eternal rest in 1900, and is interred in that state. There were three children in the family: An- nie, the only daughter, died when fourteen years of age. The other two were twin brothers, William Pitt Butler and Hiland George Butler of this review. William Pitt Butler now lives at Berwyn, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, and is manager and owner of a one-third interest in the Johnson Fare Box Company and the Johnson Coin Counter Company, of Chicago, Illinois. He was at one time employed in the offices of the old Review and Herald Publishing Company, but has been a citizen of Chicago for the past twenty years. These twin brothers were educated in the public schools of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and both learned practical occupations, Highland George being a book edge gilder by trade and having learned the work when he was employed by the Re- view and Herald Publishing Company, at which time he had the con- tract for gilding all the books they published. He worked for them about six years and then went to Florida, on account of the failing health of his mother, with whom he wished to be in companionship in her last days. In that southern state he lived for three years, and for a part of the time was engaged in the orange business. However, the cold winter of 1903-4 not only killed the oranges, but blasted all his hopes of getting rich in this field of endeavor. To quote his own phraseology, he "went broke on the proposition," and wishing to part with the fickle south, he sent his wife back home on a passenger train, this consuming all his spare cash, and he himself returned by freight, deadheading his way all the distance back from Florida. For a time in his younger days he "braked" on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and he knew just about how to "handle the boys" who re- mained officially ignorant of his presence.
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After returning from the "Sunny South," thus ingloriously by freight, Mr. Butler began looking about him for an honest means of livelihood, his courage by no means impaired by the buffetings of for- tune. He secured a position with the old Sanitarium Food Company
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as bookkeeper, and finally developed into manager of the concern and continued in the interest of the Kellogg people until about three years ago. While in their employ he went to England with friends of Dr. J. H. Kellogg, who is his brother-in-law. A Sanitarium Food Company had been started by friends of the Kellogg people in that country and had not proved a success and Mr. Butler was sent to the scene for the purpose of inculcating the element of success into its affairs, and also to straighten them out. He succeeded in this purpose beyond the most sanguine expectations and the British company has ever since been a money maker. In Battle Creek he has had charge of the Sani- tarium Food Company and the Sanitas Nut Food Company, and from these two was developed the Toasted Corn Flakes Company, of which Mr. Butler may be termed the father. He superintended the building of the Kellogg Toasted Corn Flakes plant in this city, its owner, W. K. Kellogg, also being his brother-in-law, and until quite recently he was superintendent of the same. He selected its site and made every plan in the way of buildings, etc., to the minutest detail and the world knows that the concern has proved a success. He made the first toasted corn flakes ever made. Until October, 1909, he was a stockholder and mem- ber of the Toasted Corn Flakes Company, but at the date mentioned he sold out his interests here. He had become inoculated with the de- sire for the west and he went to the Bitter Root Valley in Montana, where he made himself the possessor of one of the finest ranches in all the west, this consisting of one thousand acres and from its superb orchards he sold $10,000 worth of apples in one season. He also main- tained a splendid dairy, one of the finest and best conducted in all the Golden West. He was very fond of this section of this glorious country of ours, but the climate proved inimical to his wife's health, and in December, 1910, not without regret he sold his ranch for $75,000.
In June, 1911, Mr. Butler returned to Battle Creek and is now connected with the Hygienic Food Company, one of the oldest companies of its kind in the business. It had, however, been allowed to run down and Mr. Butler's energy and enterprise proved a wonderful asset in its fortunes. He bought up considerable of the stock and last fall was elected to the presidency of the company, the other officers being H. R. Scoville, of Ypsilanti, Michigan, vice president ; Ralph H. Holmes, of Battle Creek, treasurer; and Fred Wells, of Battle Creek, secretary. That delightful food, Mapl-Flake, is manufactured from both corn and wheat and the business is growing by leaps and bounds, Mapl- Flake proving in its excellence its own best recommendation. With Mr. Butler's brains and genius for telling but conservative advertis- ing, its future is assured.
Mr. Butler is a Mason. He takes no small amount of interest in public affairs and was chairman of the committee of the first anti- saloon league, the same putting Battle Creek on a dry basis for the years 1909 and 1910.
On February 3, 1887, Mr. Butler was happily married, the young woman who became his wife and the mistress of his household being Clara Belle Kellogg, daughter of the late John Preston Kellogg, one of Battle Creek's most prominent citizens, and a sister of Dr. J. H. Kellogg, now head of the Battle Creek Sanitorium and a man of national reputation. Mrs. Butler was born and reared here and re- ceived her education in the old Battle Creek College. She is a woman of charming personality and has proved an ideal life companion, as her husband says "she is one of the best women and most satisfactory companions in all the world." This year they will celebrate their silver wedding anniversary. They have four children. William Pitt Butler,
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the eldest son, is associated with his father in the Hygienic Food Com- pany ; Mary Adelaide is now in school for girls at Haddonfield, New Jersey ; Ethel Priscilla is a junior student in the Battle Creek High school and is one of the most proficient in athletics of the young women of this city; the youngest member of the family, George Ide, is also in school here. William Pitt is married, his wife previous to her mar- riage having been Ethel Reliance Hott, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George S. Hott, of 170 Post avenue, this city. The engagement of these popular young people was announced April 20, 1909, and the bride- elect went to Montana, where she met her future husband and was married. They have a small son, William Pitt, born near Stevens- ville, in the Bitter Root Valley, Montana, the date of his birth being November 28, 1910, and according to his grandfather, the amount of noise he makes would indicate that he is destined to be a great orator in his day.
Mr. Butler takes the usual interest of the well balanced man in outdoor sports and particularly enjoys ice skating, in which he indulges with his children. In fact, he is willing to challenge any lot of men of his age to a race on the ice at any time, and considers the question of having a small pair of skates made for his year-old grandson, who enjoys a warm place in his grandfather's heart. The family are all strict vegetarians and have been such for years. The Butler family at present reside in a rented property at 125 Garrison avenue, but will erect a residence of their own within a short time. They are popular as well as important members of society and are renowned for their hospitality and kindliness. The plant of the Hygienic Food Company is situated at 150 McCamly street, south.
JOSEPH W. GETHING, M. D. In no profession is there more con- stant progress than in that of medicine and surgery, thousands of the finest minds the world has produced making it their one aim and am- bition to discover more effectual methods for the alleviation of suffer- ing, some more potent weapon for the conflict with disease, some clever device for repairing the damaged human mechanism. Ever and anon the world hears with mingled wonder and thanksgiving of a new conquest of disease and disaster which a few years ago would have been placed within the field of the impossible. To keep in touch with these discoveries means constant alertness, and while there may be in many quarters great indolence in keeping pace with modern thought, the highest type of physician believes it no less than a crime not to be master of the latest devices of science. To this type belongs Dr. Jo- seph W. Gething, his constant thought and endeavor being devoted to the profession of which he is so admirable an exponent.
Dr. Gething is a native of this locality, his birth having occurred in Battle Creek township, March 29, 1872. He is the son of Thomas and Ellen (Morgan) Gething, both natives of England. Upon their immi- gration to this country with their parents they settled in New York, and in the year 1854 came on to Michigan, and made location in Battle Creek township. Thomas Gething, father of the Doctor, was a farmer by occupation and owned a good farm of two hundred and forty acres in Battle Creek township. He died in 1875 (May 24), at the early age of forty-two years, but the mother survives and makes her home at 540 West Main street, her home being the residence adjoining that of the subject. The Doctor and his brother, C. M. Gething, still own the old homestead farm upon which they were born and which is dear to them with many associations.
Dr. Gething was thus left fatherless at the age of three years, be-
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ing the youngest of three sons. The eldest, William Gething, Jr. re- sides on a farm in Battle Creek township, but C. M. Gething has wan- dered farther afield and is now located at Vancouver, British Colum- bia. He is a mining expert and holds a government position. The subject, sooner than he might otherwise have done, found himself thrown upon his own resources. He received his preliminary educa- tion in the district schools and later became a student in the Battle Creek High school from which he was graduated. He then entered the Adventist College of this city and took a course preparatory to university work. Having chosen as his own the medical profession he entered the Rush Medical College, connected with the University of Chicago and was graduated from the same in June, 1901, and sub- sequent to that took a course in the Cook County Hospital for the space of one year. He inaugurated his practice in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, in 1902, and remained there for two years, following that in 1904 remov- ing to Battle Creek, Michigan, where he has practiced ever since. Dr. Gething's brother, C. M., is also a graduate of the Adventist College of this city, of the class of 1895. The subject has proved remarkably successful and has built up a lucrative practice.
In the matter of politics the subject of this brief review is an en- thusiastic supporter of the policies and principles of the grand old party. Fraternally, he belongs to the Elks. He is connected with the various professional bodies,-the Calhoun Medical Society, the Mich- igan State and the American Medical Association, and an active worker in all.
On April 18, 1905, Dr. Gething was happily married to Lydia E. Phillips, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Phillips, pioneer settlers of this locality, now deceased. The father was a farmer by occupation. Mrs. Gething was reared and educated here and is a graduate of the Battle Creek High school of the class of 1899. She subsequently at- tended the Ypsilanti Normal school for one year. Both the Doctor and his wife are members of the St. Thomas Episcopal church and aligned with the best interests of the community, of which they are generally recognized as estimable members.
FOSTER MARTIN METCALF. It has been said that the beginning of civilization is the discovery of some useful arts, by which men acquire property, comforts or luxuries. The necessity or desire of preserving them leads to laws and social institutions. In reality the origin, as well as the progress and improvement of civil society is founded on mechanical and chemical inventions, and in reviewing the circumstances of the life of Foster Martin Metcalf, of Battle Creek, there is a pleas- ure in looking upon and contemplating an active and useful career passed for the most part in the development of some of the most useful of industries. Mr. Metcalf was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sep- tember 26, 1857, and is a son of Martin and Julia Ann Cushman (Arms) Metcalf.
The Metcalf genealogy is traced back to the first Michael Metcalf, who was born June 17, 1587, and from whom Foster M. Metcalf is de- scended through Michael Metcalf (2), born August 29, 1620; Jonathan Metcalf, born September 10, 1650; John Metcalf, born in 1678; John Metcalf (2), born in 1704; Joseph Metcalf, Esq., born in 1744; Rev. Da- vid Metcalf, born in 1785; and Martin Metcalf. Martin Metcalf was born near Utica, New York, son of David and Mabel Bell (Tolles) Metcalf, December 12, 1823. His father was a native of Massachusetts, and be- came one of the pioneers of Oneida county in 1814. At the age of sixteen years Martin Metcalf entered upon a successful business career
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as a hardware merchant, selling chiefly through peddlers who traveled throughout the Empire state. With this experience he came to Battle Creek in 1847 and established himself in the same line, sending teams throughout the country, but, having been burned out June 9, 1849, at the time the old Liberty Press was destroyed by fire, he then went to Detroit, where he engaged in his occupation as a coppersmith for E. Shepard & Company, and subsequently went to Grand Rapids, where he was employed in the same calling by Foster & Perry, afterward being admitted into partnership in the firm, which, as Foster, Martin & Company, and later as Foster & Metcalf, was continued from 1857 to 1865. In the winter of 1869-70, Mr. Metcalf again became a resi- dent of Battle Creek, where he engaged in the general hardware busi- ness for the three following years, after which he established himself as a real estate, pension and patent attorney, a profession which he followed up to the time of his death, December 26, 1897. In the prep- aration of papers, in acting as solicitor and counsel in patent cases, and in the management of litigation both in the patent office and courts of law, he met with a large measure of success, as he did also in the presentation of claims to the pension bureau, in which his pertinacity was a conspicuous feature and won for him a distinguished record in the department at Washington for his energy and fidelity to the inter- ests of his clients.
Mr. Metcalf was a pioneer in the propagation of fish by artificial methods, and for several years was a co-worker with the Hon. Spencer F. Baird, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and commissioner of fisheries. He was the first to discover the habits of the Michigan grayling, and their propagation by artificial means. For two or three years he maintained a hatchery near Battle Creek where he raised trout, grayling and German carp. For many years he was a regular contrib- utor to the House Journal, while that paper was edited by the Hon. N. P. Willis, many of his earlier writings being under the nome de plume of "M. Forrest."
Mr. Metcalf was a man of extensive reading, varied knowledge and large intelligence. He devoted many years to gathering the genealogy of the Metcalf family, and accumulated extensive records of great value, collaborating with other members of the family in publishing a record, but much of his material has never been published. He took a lively interest in the progress of invention and science, a trait inherited in no small degree by his children, and was for many years a correspon- dent of the late Prof. Winchell, of the University of Michigan, taking an active and prominent part in the investigation which led to the discovery and development of the salt industry of Michigan. He was also a conspicuous and efficient promoter of the provision secured from the legislature of Michigan offering a bounty per bushel for the salt manufactured when this great industry was first inaugurated within the borders of the state. In 1862 he was appointed by President Lin- coln, consul to Mexico, but in the disturbed condition of that country and his own, and by the advice of friends in New York resigned his commission, a copy of which follows:
"DEPARTMENT OF STATE "WASHINGTON, April 24, 1862.
"To the person in charge of the Archives of United States Consulate, Aguas Calientes, Mexico.
"SIR: The President having appointed Martin Metcalf, Esq., of Michigan, to be Consul of the United States at Aguas Calientes, Mex- ico, I will thank you to deliver to him the records and archives of the
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Consulate, the seal, press, flag and arms, together with the Statutes at Large, Wheaton's Digest, and all other books and property in your pos- session belonging to the United States. I am, Sir,
"Your obedient servant, (Signed) "F. W. SEWARD, "'Assistant Secretary."
At the time of his comparatively sudden death deep sorrow was expressed by a very wide circle of acquaintances in the vicinity of Battle Creek and throughout the state. Mr. Metcalf was married Jan- uary 6, 1857, to Julia Ann Cushman Arms, daughter of the Hon. Albert Arms, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and to this union there were born three children : Foster Martin, September 26, 1858; Albert Ball, September 7, 1860, and Fannie Marie, July 6, 1869. The mother passed away July 6, 1906. Albert Ball Metcalf was married November 23, 1893, to Mattie Moore, daughter of William Moore. Fannie Marie Metcalf, who was educated in the schools of Battle Creek, married Edwin A. Bush, and now resides in this city.
Foster M. Metcalf received his education in the schools of Grand Rapids and Battle Creek, to which latter city he was brought by his parents when eleven years of age, and in 1880 entered the employ of the Upton Manufacturing Company. When that company removed its plant to Port Huron, he accompanied the force, but after one and one- half years returned to Battle Creek and set up the first engine of the Advance Thresher Company's manufacture, having returned for that purpose. He continued with the Advance Thresher Company for about two years, and then enlisted his services with what was then known as the Battle Creek Machinery Company, but which later became the Battle Creek Steam Pump Company, and is now known as the Ameri- can Steam Pump Company, manufacturers of Marsh and American steam pumps and woodworking machinery, and one of the largest con- cerns of Battle Creek. He has been the mechanical engineer for this company since 1896, and has established and maintained a far-reach- ing reputation in his chosen field of endeavor. A stalwart Republican, he has been a member of the board of public works for nearly two years, and at the present time is acting as secretary of that body. He is a mem- ber of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and fraternally is connected with A. T. Metcalf Lodge No. 419, of Battle Creek, which lodge was named for his uncle Abraham T. Metcalf; has attained the chapter degree, and also holds membership in the Elks.
On June 20, 1888, Mr. Metcalf was married to Miss May Howe, who was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, daughter of Chester D. and Sarah E. (Fonda) Howe. Chester D. Howe, who was a well known contractor and builder and highly esteemed citizen of Battle Creek for thirty-two years, was born April 10, 1825, at Springwater, Liv- ingston county, New York. At the age of twenty-four years he was united in marriage with Miss Eunice M. Dake, who died June 19, 1852, and some three years later, in the spring of 1855, Mr. Howe came to Battle Creek. Here he continued to reside until his death, March 23, 1887, when his community lost an honorable and upright citizen, his many acquaintances a warm-hearted friend, and his family a kind, generous and indulgent father. On November 26, 1857, he was mar- ried to Sarah E. Fonda, who was born in Bellevue, Michigan, Febru- ary 28, 1835, daughter of William C. and Lauretta Fonda. She re- moved with her parents to Pennfield when two years of age, and there resided until her marriage to Mr. Howe, and from that time lived in Battle Creek until her death, December 15, 1896. She was a devoted
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member of the Presbyterian church, having made that her place of worship for thirty-three years, and possessed a beautiful Christian character, being much beloved by all her friends and associates. She selected the text for the pastor, Rev. W. S. Potter, which she wished to be used at her funeral: "Thanks be to God Who giveth us the vic- tory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Mr. and Mrs. Howe were both buried at Oakhill cemetery. They were the parents of two children : May and Ida M.
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