History of Calhoun County, Michigan, a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume II, Part 12

Author: Gardner, Washington, 1845-1928
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 838

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 12

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To Mr. and Mrs. Metcalf there have been born four children : How- ard Howe, May 14, 1889; Harold Chester, June 13, 1890; Earl Fos- ter, September 3, 1891; and Mildred Ida, born November 1, 1892, all in Battle Creek. All the boys are graduates of the Battle Creek High school. Howard attended the University of Michigan, taking a two- year course in the engineering department, and is now draughtsman for the American Steam Pump Company. Harold Chester, who has charge of the business office of the Battle Creek Journal, graduated from high school in the class of 1909, and in the fall graduated from the Michigan Business and Normal College. Earl Foster, who is with the office force of the Michigan Carton Company, of Battle Creek, was a fellow student with his brother both in high school and college. Mildred M. is now attending St. Mary's College at Monroe, Michigan. The members of this family are widely known throughout Battle Creek and are general favorites in the social life of the city.

SAMUEL STEVENS, M. D. The world instinctively and justly renders deference to the man whose success in life has been worthily achieved, who has attained a competence by honorable methods, and whose high reputation is solely the result of preeminent merit in his chosen pro- fession. We pay a deservedly high tribute to the heroes who on the bloody battlefields of war win glorious victories and display as much courage and skill as are required to wage the bloodless conflicts of civil life. Especially in the arduous career of a physician are required all the qualities which go to make the ideal soldier-courage, daring, self- control, and the keen judgment necessary to make an instant decision when life itself is at stake. Absolute indifference to physical comfort as contrasted with his duty, combined with a hardy frame and a complete knowledge of his profession; these they must have in common, but the physician must add to all these the divine gift of sympathy and a per- sonal magnetism which often does more for his patients than medi- cine.

A man who represents in his personality all those qualities which go to make up the ideal physician is Dr. Samuel Stevens, whose birth oc- curred in Cass county Michigan, June 15, 1868. He is the son of D. W. and Elizabeth (Hultz) Stevens, the former a native of Port Byron, New York and the latter of Cass county, Michigan. The father, who is a veteran of the war between the states, has devoted his life to the ac- tivities of an agriculturist ever since the close of the war and is at pres- ent living on his farm in Cass county. The worthy wife and mother passed to the Great Beyond in May, 1903. The father, who was living in the Empire state at the outbreak of the Civil war, enlisted in Bat- tery L of the New York Heavy Artillery as a volunteer and served for over two years, seeing much active service. He and his wife were the parents of six children, two being sons and four daughters. Dr. Stev- ens is the eldest member of the family and the only one residing in Calhoun county.

For his preliminary education, Dr. Stevens is indebted to the dis- trict schools of his locality and he subsequently entered the high school

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of Vandalia, Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1888. Upon making the decision as to his life work he entered the medical department of the Illinois State University and in 1894 re- ceived his well-earned degree from the College of Physicians & Sur- geons at Chicago. By no means of the type which is content to "let well enough alone" Dr. Stevens has subsequently taken a good deal of post-graduate work, among the institutions which he selected as an assistance to his keeping step with modern progress being the Chicago Polyclinic, the New York Polyclinic, the New York Hospital, the New York Skin & Cancer Hospital and St. Bartholomew's clinic. He has also attended clinic at Grant Hospital of Columbus, Ohio, and Harper Hos- pital Detroit, Michigan.

Dr. Stevens began his practice in Keeler, Van Buren county, Michi- gan, and he went thence to Dowagiac, Michigan; after a short period he removed to Kalamazoo, where he engaged successfully in practice, and in October, 1908 he came to Battle Creek, where he has received general recognition for ability of high order and where he has built up a lucra- tive practice. He does a general practice and has also followed the tendency of the age toward specialization, those diseases to which he has devoted a particular amount of study being rectal, skin and genito urinary diseases.

Dr. Stevens is a public spirited citizen, being helpfully interested in all causes likely to redound to the welfare and progress of the whole community. He is independent in politics, in that he ever endeavors to discover and support the best man and the best principle. He owns a considerable amount of property, both here and in Kalamazoo and has other interest of importance. He is a member of the First Presby- terian church of Battle Creek, Michigan.

Mrs. Stevens was previous to her marriage Miss Ruby Pearl Berger, of Klinger Lake, St. Joseph county, Michigan. She was born and reared in that locality and is a graduate of the White Pigeon high school. In the family are two children, namely: Lola E., now teaching music in Fresno, California; and J. Harold, with the Pennsylvania Railroad in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The attractive Stevens' residence is sit- uated at 520 Lake avenue, while the subject's office is in the Tacoma Block.

WILLOUGHBY L. GODFREY, M. D. The world instinctively pays de- ference to the man whose success has been worthily achieved and whose prominence is not the less the result of an irreproachable life than of natural talents and acquired ability in the field of his chosen labor. Dr. Godfrey occupies a position of distinction as a representative of the medical profession at Battle Creek and the best evidence of his capability in the line of his chosen work is the large patronage which is accorded him. It is a well known fact that a great percentage of those who enter business life meet with failure or only a limited measure of success. This is usually due to one or more of several causes- superficial preparation, lack of close application or an unwise choice in selecting a vocation for which one is not fitted. The reverse of all this has entered into the success and prominence which Dr. Godfrey has gained. His equipment for the profession was unusually good and he has continually extended the scope of his labors through the added efficiency that comes from keeping in touch with the marked advance- ment that has been made by the members of the medical fraternity in the last third of a century. Since 1876 Dr. Godfrey has been engaged in the practice of medicine at Battle Creek and the vears have told the tale of an unusually successfully career, due to the possession of innate

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talent and unusual ability along the line of one of the most helpful professions to which one can devote his energies.

Dr. Willoughby Lyman Godfrey was born just three miles south of Battle Creek, in Battle Creek township, Calhoun county, Michigan, on the 25th of April, 1852. He is a son of Lyman and Laura Jane (Carr) Godfrey, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter of whom was a native of New York. Lyman Godfrey was a child of seven years of age at the time of his parents' removal to Michigan. His father built the first log house in Battle Creek township and as it was a large one many of the old pioneers spent their first days and nights therein. Grandfather Godfrey started the first brickyard in Calhoun county and after Lyman grew to manhood he purchased it and ran it for a number of years. He married Laura Jane Carr in Battle Creek township about the year 1835; she came to Michigan with her parents when she was a little girl. Mr. and Mrs. Lyman Godfrey became the parents of four boys and four girls, all of whom are living, in 1912, except a daughter who died at the age of three years and a son who died in his tenth year.

The eldest child in a family of eight, Dr. Godfrey, of this notice, was reared to adult age and obtained his preliminary educational train- ing in the district schools of Calhoun county. Subsequently he at- tended the public schools of Battle Creek and in 1873 he was matricu- lated as a student in the University of Michigan, in the medical de- partment of which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1876. He initiated the active practice of his profession at Battle Creek in March, 1876, and here he has resided during the long intervening years to the present time, in 1912. He controls an extensive patronage and · has achieved a wonderful amount of good along the line of his chosen work. His office is at No. 2 East Main street. In his political con- victions Dr. Godfrey is a stalwart Republican and he takes an active interest in all matters projected for the good of the general welfare. He was the first married man to become a member of the Athelstan Club at Battle Creek and he is still affiliated with that organization.

March 3, 1881, at Battle Creek, was celebrated the marriage of Dr. Godfrey to Miss Lettie L. Lock, a daughter of H. L. and Lorenda L. (Kent) Lock, of Battle Creek. Mrs. Godfrey was born in the state of Vermont and she received her education in Battle Creek, whither she came with her parents about 1874. She was graduated in the Battle Creek high school. Dr. and Mrs. Godfrey have no children. Their home is maintained at No. 60 Marshall street and the same is the center of many attractive gatherings. Dr. and Mrs. Godfrey are accorded the unalloyed confidence and esteem of their fellow citizens, who love and honor them for their exemplary lives.

SAMUEL R. EATON, M. D. One of the able and representative phy- sicians and surgeons of Calhoun county, Dr. Eaton is engaged in the successful practice of his profession in the city of Battle Creek, with office headquarters at No. 2 Main street, east, and with residence at 36 West Van Buren street. He is a native son of Michigan and a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of the state, besides which both his paternal and maternal ancestors settled in New England in the early colonial days.

Dr. Samuel Reed Eaton was born in the city of Detroit, Michigan, on the 21st of November, 1863, at which time his father was at the front as a soldier in the Civil war, the latter having not seen his son until the future physician was one year old. Dr. Eaton is a son of Alonzo and Frances E., (Reed) Eaton, the former of whom was born

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in Washtenaw county, Michigan, and the latter in the city of Detroit, from which statement it becomes evident that both families were founded in the Wolverine commonwealth in the early pioneer days. Alonzo Eaton became a popular and influential citizen of Detroit, where he served as register of deeds of Wayne county for four years,-from 1868 to 1872. Thereafter he conducted a successful conveyancing and real estate business in the Michigan metropolis, in which city he con- tinued to maintain his home until his death, which occurred in the year 1898. The mother of Dr. Eaton passed to the life eternal in 1867, when he was a child of three years. At the inception of the Civil war Alonzo Eaton promptly tendered his services in defense of the Union. He enlisted in the Twenty-fourth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, in which he became quartermaster's sergeant, under Digby Bell, who later served as United States collector of customs at the port of Detroit. He lived up to the full tension of the great conflict through which the in- tegrity of the Union was preserved, was promoted to the office of first lieutenant, took part in many important engagements and after being captured by the enemy was held in Libby prison for a period of six months. He ever retained a deep interest in his old comrades in arms and was a valued member of the Grand Army of the Republic for many years prior to his death. His political allegiance was given to the Democratic party.

The original progenitor of the Eaton family in America immigrated from England in 1635 and first located at Watertown, Massachusetts, this place having been the nucleus of the present city of Boston. Later on settlement was made at Dedham, Massachusetts, and representa- tives of the name were closely identified with the development and progress of the old Bay state. Dr. Eaton is a descendant, on the mat- ernal side, of Rufus Blodgett, who was a patriot soldier in the Contin- ental line in the war of the Revolution. The genealogy is briefly traced herewith. Thomas Blodgett, the first of the family in America, was born in England, in 1605, and in 1635, in company with his wife, Su- sanna, and their two sons, Daniel and Samuel, he came to the new world, to become one of the early settlers of Massachusetts. The subject of this review is descended from Thomas, the second son, and thence through the latter's son Thomas. The next in line was Joseph and the latter's son Joseph figures as the next in the ancestral line. Joseph Blodgett, II, married and became the father of eleven children, all of whom were born in Brimfield, Hampden county, Massachusetts, and of the number Rufus was the great-grandfather of Dr. Eaton. Four of the sons, including Rufus, were valiant soldiers in the war of the Revo- lution and each received an honorable discharge after the close of the great struggle for independence. Solomon, one of the number, was present at the surrender of General Burgoyne. A son of Samuel, an- other of the brothers, became the owner of a large estate on the site of the present city of Washington and there he erected the first house. He invested ten thousand dollars to assist in the erection of the original capitol and White House. Rufus Blodgett was born July 19, 1761, and died on the 8th of January, 1828. On the 17th of January, 1788, he wedded Bathsheba Hubbard, who was born November 22, 1762. They reared several children, and their daughter Fanny married Sam- uel Reed, who died in December 25, 1851, he having been one of the early settlers of southern Michigan. Samuel and Fanny (Blodgett) Reed became the parents of two children, George Clark and Frances Eliza. On the 8th of October, 1859, was solemnized the marriage of Frances Eliza Reed to Alonzo Eaton, and they became the parents of two children,-Glendora Frances, who is now the wife of William E. Vol. II-6

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Fenwick, of Bisbee, Arizona, and Dr. Samuel Reed Eaton, who is the immediate subject of this sketch. Touching the agnatic ancestry it may further be stated that John Eaton and his wife, Abigail (Damon) Eaton, set sail on the ship "Elizabeth and Ann," from England, in 1635 and landed at Watertown (now Boston), Massachusetts, whence they removed to Dedham in 1837, these having been the founders of the American family of which Dr. Eaton is a representative.

Dr Eaton is indebted to the public schools of the Michigan metro- polis for his early educational discipline and at the age of twenty years he entered the employ of the Grand Trunk Railway Company. Through faithful and effective service he won promotion, and from 1891 to 1896 he held the position of traveling freight agent for this great cor- poration. In the meanwhile he had formulated plans for a career of broader usefulness, and in the autumn of 1896 he accordingly entered the medical department of the University of Michigan, in which he com- pleted the prescribed curriculum and was graduated as a member of the class of 1900. After thus receiving his degree of Doctor of Medi- cine he came forthwith to Battle Creek, where he has since been en- gaged in active general practice and where he has built up a large representative professional business, based alike on his technical ability . as a physician and surgeon and his personal popularity as a citizen of loyalty and public spirit. He is identified with the Calhoun County Medical Society, the Michigan State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. In politics the Doctor is aligned as a staunch ad- vocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and he and his wife hold membership in the Independent Congregational church of Battle Creek. Here also he is a member of the Athelstan Club, and is affiliated with the local camp of the Modern Woodmen of America as well as with Battle Creek Lodge, No. 12, Free and Accepted Masons.

On the 16th of June, 1899, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Eaton to Miss Mary Ione White, who was born in Ohio, where she received her rudimentary education, and who was seventeen years of age at the time of the family removal to Shepherd, Isabella county, Michigan. After completing the curriculum of the public schools in that village she took a course in the University of Michigan school of Music, and she thus developed most effectively her fine musical talent. She is a daugh- ter of Benjamin J. White, who is one of the representative business men of Shepherd, Michigan. Dr. and Mrs. Eaton have two children, -Frances Fay and Margaret Pauline.

PETER HOFFMASTER was born October 28, 1837, and died at Battle Creek December 31, 1901. He was one of the builders of business and civic leaders of Battle Creek, and to the generation that knew him and his work a review of his career is hardly necessary. None of the citi- zens of the last century deserve a higher place in the history of Battle Creek, and to the present generation his life and services have an in- trinsic value and interest.

In business the chief monument to his enterprise is the establish- ment at 17-19-21 Main street West, known throughout this vicinity as P. Hoffmaster Sons. Co. Limited. With considerable mercantile ex- perience but small capital Mr. Hoffmaster came to Battle Creek in 1872 and with Charles Austin as a partner established the first exclusive dry-goods store in the town. A room at 19 Main street, on part of the site still occupied, was the place of beginning and the stock was not remarkable in quantity or variety. But the personalities behind it gave the business the impetus of a growing concern and in a short time their trade was of a reliable and profitable character. Half of the

PHoffmaster

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store room at 21 Main street provided the first quarters for expansion, and it is noteworthy that this was the first double store in Battle Creek. Both the partners had sons whom they desired to take into the business, and to make this possible it was decided to dissolve the partnership, Mr. Hoffmaster buying the other's share in the business at that location. He then started his sons as clerks and made their promotion depend on the capability of their performances.

During the thirty years in which the business has been conducted under the Hoffmaster name its prosperity has never decreased. The original enterprise was broadened by the addition of other mercantile departments, and though always at the same site the quarters were ex- tended to meet the demands of stock and trade. Thus was created what justifies the honor of being the first large department store in Battle Creek, although it has not included the varied stocks of a general department house.

Up to the time of his death Mr. Hoffmaster was the creating and energizing spirit of this enterprise, and the business policy which he inaugurated has always been maintained through the changing con- ditions of modern trade. A foremost merchant, he was also identified with other affairs in his city. He served as treasurer of the Home Savings & Loan Association, was a director of the Merchants Savings Bank, was a trustee of Kalamazoo College, and was vice president of the Wequetonsing Resort Association at Traverse Bay, where he had a beautiful summer home in which during his latter years he spent two or three months each vear

Peter Hoffmaster was born in Poland township, Mahoning county, Ohio, a son of Gottlieb and Susannah (Eholtz) Hoffmaster. The family, which came from Germany early in the last century, was es- tablished in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1817, by George Fred- erick Hoffmaster, the grandfather. Gottlieb, the father, was born at Fellbach, Wuertemberg, April 3, 1809, and was eight years old at the time of the emigration. In 1823 the family removed to Mahoning county, where he grew to maturity. In 1832 he married Susannah Eholtz, and they continued to reside in Mahoning county for twenty- two years. In 1854 they came to Allegan county, Michigan, settling at Hopkins. Here the wife passed away on June 17, 1878. Gottlieb Hoff- master attained a great age. At his death, which occurred in Allegan county, March 21, 1903, he was very nearly ninety-four years old.

The third in a family of seven, Peter Hoffmaster spent his youth on the home farm and received a fair common school education. A . fondness for reading was one of the sources from which he received not only practical benefit in business but also the breadth of view which enabled him to look upon the world with vision of its greatness and sympathetic judgment of its defects. Having worked at home until he was of age, he then determined to begin a career in business. At Wayland, in Allegan county, he obtained employment in a hotel. and the two years there gave him much valuable experience. In 1859 he became clerk in a dry-goods house of Kalamazoo, and nine years as an employe gave him the proficiency which he displayed afterward in in- dependent management. With the senior partner of the store in which he had been employed he then established a new store at Kalamazoo, and did a successful business until his removal to Battle Creek in 1872.

For many years Mr. Hoffmaster was a member of the Baptist church. served as trustee and deacon, and gave liberally for its sup- port. His personal morality was as marked as his piety. He never used tobacco or liquor in any form, and temperate habits were an in-

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tegral part of his character. His interest in young men led him to many acts of helpfulness. At Kalamazoo he was one of the enthusiastic supporters of the Young Men's Christian Association, of which he was a charter member, and he also aided in the organization of the associa- tion at Battle Creek.

Mr. Hoffmaster was married, Feb. 14th, 1861, to Miss Lavina Blod- gett. The careers of their two sons, twins, are sketched in succeeding paragraphs. On August 14, 1865, Mr. Hoffmaster married Miss Helen McGown. She was born in Battle Creek and was a daughter of Edward and Elsie (Deuel) McGown. Her father, a millwright, first came to Michigan in 1833, locating at Verona. He later returned to New York, where on July 19, 1837, he was married, and brought his bride to the new home he had made in the west. He was actively identified with the early development of Battle Creek and vicinity. Mrs. Hoffmaster gave a wealth of affection and care to her two step-sons, and reared them from the time they were children. Her death occurred Oct. 30th 1905, and both she and her husband now rest in Mountain Home cemetery at Kalamazoo.

WILLIAM M. HOFFMASTER. The chairman of P. Hoffmaster Sons Company Limited, the large dry-goods, carpet, cloak and suit store whose history has been told in preceding sketches, is William M. Hoff- master, one of the twin sons of the late Peter Hoffmaster. Besides his important place as the head of this company, Mr. Hoffmaster is closely identified with other business affairs of Battle Creek, and is a citizen of influence and progressive ideals.

He was born at Kalamazoo, August 31, 1862. When he was ten years old the family came to Battle Creek, where he attended the public schools and the Ellsworth Business College. He and his brother were closely associated even during their school days, and have worked to- gether in most of their business undertakings. He entered his father's business in 1883, three years later than his brother. He proved a capable clerk and soon gained the confidence and dependence of his father, eventually being admitted to partnership. He and his brother managed the store for two years after his father's death, until 1903, when the business was incorporated under the style noted above. Wil. liam M. Hoffmaster was elected chairman of the company, and has held that position ever since.

He was also one of the original stockholders in the Advance Pump & Compressor Company and is interested in the Union Steam Pump Co., all of which are manufacturing enterprises of Battle Creek. Like his brother, he has also helped promote the real estate development of the city, and is the owner of considerable business property and residence lots on which he has erected a number of dwellings.

As a citizen he has served on the local police commission and has given support to all the worthy movements for the upbuilding and welfare of his home city. He affiliates with the Knights of Pythias and the Elks, is a member of the Athelstan Club and at the Country Club takes his diversion in golf. He is also a director of the Wequeton- sing Resort Association at Traverse Bay, where his father had his summer home. His wife is a member of the Presbyterian church, where he attends. Mr. Hoffmaster was married October 30, 1895, to Miss Mary Elizabeth Deno, daughter of Anthony Deno, of Bay City. Their residence is at 217 Maple street.

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History of Calhoun County, Michigan, a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume II, Part 12

Author: Gardner, Washington, 1845-1928 Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago New York, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 838

Author: Gardner, Washington, 1845-1928
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 838