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 33
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On October 3, 1901, Mr. Knight was happily married, the young woman to become his wife being Miss Isabelle Watson, of Raleigh, North Carolina. Mrs. Knight was born at Burlington Beach, near Toronto, Canada and was educated at Battle Creek. They share their household with three small daughters,-Geraldine, aged seven; Frances, aged five ; Dorothy, aged two, and one son, David Willard the youngest. Mr. and Mrs. Knight are prominent in social circles here and maintain an attrac- tive household at 44 North avenue.
Mr. Knight's fraternal affiliations are with the Knights of Pythias, No. 35, of Battle Creek; Lodge No. 29, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows; the Fraternal Order of Orioles; Knights of the Modern Maccabees; Modern Brotherhood of America and Fraternal Order of Eagles. His brother, Lloyd O. Knight is also located in Battle Creek. Further men- tion of the family history is made in the sketch of the father, Andrew Knight, which appears on other pages of this work.
LELAND H. SABIN. Among the able and representative members of the Battle Creek bar is the junior member of the law firm of Stewart & Sabin, Leland H. 'Sabin, who has won reputation for his thorough. knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence and as an advocate of dis- tinctive ability. He is a native of Michigan, and was born May 14, 1872, at Centerville, Saint Joseph county, son of Dr. Marden and Mary (Smith) Sabin, both of whom reside in Centerville, where Dr. Sabin has a large practice although now living somewhat retired. Dr. Sabin is a veteran of the Civil war, having enlisted some time during 1862 in the One Hundredth Indiana Volunteers as a private, and after serving about three years was honorably discharged as captain of his company. A stal- wart Republican, he has been state senator and village president for a large part of the time, and has also acted as president of the village school board. In 1910 the degree (honorary) of Master of Arts was conferred upon him by the University of Michigan. He and his wife had two children : Mrs. H. Curtis Hoffman, of Oak Park, Illinois; and Leland H.
Leland H. Sabin received his preliminary education in the village schools of Centerville, and in 1891 graduated from the high school at Ann Arbor. In the class of 1896 he was graduated from the University of Michigan, in law, and in 1898 completed his studies in the literary department, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Thus thoroughly fitted for the practice of law, he returned to Centerville and entered the office of Mr. H. P. Stewart, but after one year came to Battle Creek;
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where he practiced alone from 1898 until 1902 and in the latter year Mr. Stewart came here and a professional partnership was formed, under the style of Stewart & Sabin. Mr. Stewart still maintains an office in Centerville, but Mr. Sabin has no connection therewith. In political matters Mr. Sabin is a Republican, and fraternally he is connected with the local lodge of the Masonic order. He also is a popular member of the Athelstan Club. of which he has been president and is the present chief executive of the Country Club. Member of Baptist church of Centerville. His modern residence is situated at No. 136 Henry street, and is a center of culture and social refinement. Mr. Sabin is constantly gaining ground, both professionally and in a personal way, being a desired addition to every social circle, and having a potential influence in regard to all matters of public interest.
On June 2, 1909, Mr. Sabin was married to Miss Eloise Skinner, who was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, daughter of B. T. Skinner, who is still living, her mother having died in 1909. Mrs. Sabin was educated in the public schools of Battle Creek, and was graduated from the high school in 1900. She and Mr. Sabin have one son: Brainard S., who was born in Battle Creek, April 19, 1910.
HUGH P STEWART. As a member of the bar of Calhoun county who holds distinguished professional prestige and marked honor as a public- spirited citizen, Hugh P. Stewart, of Battle Creek, senior member of the law firm of Stewart & Sabin, is well worthy of mention in a work of this nature. He was born in St. Joseph county, Michigan, July 6, 1856, whence his parents, Daniel and Mary (McFarland) Stewart, na- tives respectively of Albany and Saratoga, New York, had come in 1837. They had been married in the Empire state, and drove through to Michigan, where Daniel Stewart was engaged in farming and contract- ing and building until his death in 1876, his widow surviving until 1887. Of the eight children born to them, only three are now living.
The last-born of his father's children, Hugh P. Stewart received his early education in the schools of St. Joseph county, and as a youth studied law under the preceptorship of the late ex-Judge R. W. Mellendy, who was attracted to the lad, saw promise in him, and educated him in law, literature and other branches according to his own ideas. In 1878 Mr. Stewart was admitted to the bar and at once commenced practice in the village of Centerville. A stanch Republican in politics, he was prosecuting attorney of St. Joseph county for four years, acted as a member of the Constitutional convention, and in 1893 was nomi- nated for circuit judge, but owing to political conditions at that time, met with defeat. For one year Mr. Stewart was in partnership with Leland H. Sabin in Centerville, and followed the latter to Battle Creek in 1902, the firm of Stewart & Sabin now maintaining well-appointed offices at 602-603 Ward building, while Mr. Stewart also continues his offices in Centerville, where he also has his home. He is known as a thoroughly well equipped lawyer, strong advocate and safe counsellor, is a man of individuality and high attainments, and enjoys unmistakable popularity in both professional and social circles. Fraternally, he be- longs to the Blue Lodge and Chapter at Centerville, the Council and Commandery at Three Rivers, and the Consistory and Shrine at Grand Rapids, and is also a valued member of the Athelstan Club of Battle Creek.
On December 17, 1884, Mr. Stewart was married in Centerville to Miss Anna Harbrouck, who was born, reared and educated in that place, where their two children were also born: Madge Anna, a grad- uate of the Ann Arbor high school and the literary department of the University of Michigan ; and Donald P., both residing at home.
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HON. ALBERT CHARLES KINGMAN. For a quarter of a century one of the most skilful and successful members of the Calhoun county bar was Albert Charles Kingman of Battle Creek. A few years ago Mr. Kingman retired from the active ranks of the legal practitioners, leaving the honors and rewards of the profession to the succeeding generation of attorneys. However, he has by no means retired from all the public activities of his city and county. In 1908 and again in 1910 he was elected to the state senate from the ninth district, comprising Branch and Calhoun counties. His broad experience and ability have been of great service in the work of the upper house. In his home city Mr. Kingman is prominent in the public and social affairs of the community. The Kingman residence, at 27 Elm street, is one of the best constructed and most beautiful homes in Battle Creek, an inviting and reposeful place in which to spend the latter years of a successful career.
Senator Kingman was born at Corning, Steuben county, New York, June 18, 1850. His father was Wilson Kingman, a tinsmith by trade ยท who in later years was also a hardware dealer. His mother's maiden name was Abigail Hungerford. When Albert C. was quite young the family moved to Angelica, Allegany county, New York, where they lived until 1867, during which time the son received a part of his education in the local academy. In 1867 the family came to Michigan and located at Cassopolis, where the Kingman name is well known, and here the parents spent the remainder of their lives, and they are buried in Cass county.
In 1868 Mr. Kingman entered Kalamazoo College as a freshman, and was graduated there with the degree of A. B., in 1872, and two years later was given the degree of A. M. at the same institution. In the meantime he had begun the study of law at Dowagiac and then at the University of Michigan, and in 1874 was admitted to the bar. In April, 1877, he located at Battle Creek and soon had a large and profit- able practice in this county. Besides his profession he has been inter- ested in much of the business progress of this city, and is still a stockholder in the Nichols & Shepard Company, the Old National Bank and other local enterprises. However, almost his only business activity now is connected with his real estate holdings. In 1902 he erected the Kingman block, one of the well known office buildings, and has his own office in one of the suites of that block.
For many years he has been one of the influential members of the Republican party. Besides the honor and responsibility conferred on him by his election to the state senate, he also served on the school board for six years and represented the Fourth ward in the city council two years. For fifteen years he was president of the board of the Inde- pendent Congregational church, and was chairman of the building committee when they built what is considered the finest church edifice in Battle Creek and one of the best in the state. He is also a member of the Country Club.
At St. Joseph, Michigan, May 2, 1876, Mr. Kingman was married to Miss Emma M. Edwards. Mrs. Kingman is a native of Milwaukee, and received her education at Fox Lake Seminary in Wisconsin and at . Kalamazoo College. Her parents, William and Sarah (David) Ed- wards, both now deceased, were born in Wales, and her father was one of the early settlers and for many years engaged in the jewelry business at Milwaukee. Miss Regina Kingman. the only child. was graduated from the Battle Creek high school in 1903 and then attended the Uni- versity of Michigan for two years. She now resides at home and is a teacher in public school No. 3.
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CHARLES F. MCKENZIE, LL. B. Prominent among the members of the legal profession in Calhoun county is Charles F. Mckenzie, of Battle Creek, who has taken a prominent place among the active and progressive legists of the city, and who has rendered signal service in official capaci- ties. Mr. Mckenzie was born in Banfield, Michigan, September 7, 1874, and is a son of John and Carrie E. (Fish) Mckenzie.
John McKenzie was born near Aberdeen, Scotland, and was a rep- resentative of the old Mckenzie clan of that country. When seven years of age he emigrated to Ontario, Canada, with his parents, the family being established near London, where Mr. Mckenzie was reared to maturity. In 1865 he removed to Barry county, Michigan, and there engaged in farming near Banfield. In that locality he was married to Miss Carrie E. Fish, of that county, in which locality her parents had located on their removal west from New York. She died May 6, 1903, and he passed away in 1910, on the old homestead in Barry county, where they had spent the greater part of their lives.
Charles F. Mckenzie was educated in the district schools near Ban- field, after which he attended Albion College, and there took an elective course preparatory to taking up the study of law. Having spent four years at Albion College, he went to Ann Arbor and became a student in the law department of the University of Michigan in 1896, and after studying there for a time engaged in business in Detroit for one year. He had for some time been a member of Company L, Detroit Light In- fantry . of the National Guard when the Spanish-American war broke out, and with his company he enlisted and was mustered into the United States service as a member of Company L, Thirty-second Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry. The command was sent to Tampa, Florida, and was stationed there and at Fernandina until the close of the war. Upon his return to the North, Mr. Mckenzie took up his law studies in Ann Arbor, and after two years graduated with the class of 1900, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Immediately thereafter he was admitted to the bar and went to Detroit, where he remained with a prominent law firm for some time. During the fall of the same year he came to Battle Creek, Michigan, opening an office at No. 306 Post building, and since has built up a large and representative business. He has been connected with a number of well known cases of importance in the city, and is acting in the capacity of attorney for a number of large corporations. Politically a Republican, Mr. Mckenzie was made alder- man of the third ward, serving until April, 1908, to fill a vacancy, and was then elected to the office for a regular term of two years, beginning April 1, 1908, and ending in April, 1910. He also served as circuit court commissioner from 1904 to 1906. He belongs to the A. T. Metcalf Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 419, of this city, and to the Knights of Pythias and the Athelstan and Community Clubs. He was one of the early members of the Association of Spanish War Veterans, becoming a charter member of the post in this city. He has held the office of chaplain and has served as aide-de-camp on the staff of M. Emmett Murell, the commander-in- chief, which gives him the rank of colonel. his commission bearing the . date of January 2, 1903. In September, 1903, he attended the national encampment held at New Haven, Connecticut, and took an active and interested part in founding the command at Battle Creek.
On December 14, 1899, Mr. Mckenzie was united in marriage with Miss Birdie L. Miles, of Battle Creek. daughter of Amos S. and Alice A. (Marsh) Miles. and to this union there has been born one daughter: Pauline Louise. The modern family residence of the Mckenzies is sit- uated at No. 21 Glenwood avenue.
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MILES S. CURTIS. As postmaster of Battle Creek since 1906, Miles S. Curtis has performed a large amount of useful public service for his home city and has managed the affairs of his office to the best advantage and convenience of the citizens. Mr. Curtis has been a resident of Cal- houn county nearly forty years, and the family name has been identified with worthy citizenship and business ability throughout this period.
Miles S. Curtis was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, April 1, 1852. His father was Elijah Curtis, a native of New York state, who settled in Ohio when he was about twenty-one years of age. At the three-months' call for soldiers in the Civil war he enlisted, served the entire time, then entered the longer service in the Nineteenth Ohio Infantry, and finally was in the Twenty-ninth Ohio when he was wounded and discharged. His occupation had always been farming. Having relatives in Calhoun county, where he had visited occasionally from 1868 on, in the spring of 1874 he settled here permanently on a farm three miles north of the city of Battle Creek. After the death of his third wife, about 1878, he made his home with his son Miles until his death, which occurred in his eighty-seventh year. His first wife's maiden name was Harriet St. John. One of the children, Lorrell, who was seven years older than Miles, went into the army at the age of nineteen as a member of the Twenty-fifth Ohio battery of light artillery, and died in service, being buried at Little Rock, Arkansas.
The present postmaster received his early education in his native state of Ohio, where he lived until he had attained his majority. He was in school at the Grand River Institute in Austinburg six years, then taught a term in district school, and for a time had charge of the book- keeping and penmanship department in the high school at Jefferson, Ohio. In 1873, when he moved to Michigan, he went on the farm with his father, but after his marriage moved to a farm of his own, part of which he still owns. Since the fall of 1895 he has been a resident of Battle Creek, and for ten years held the office of grand keeper of records and seals for the Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the Battle Creek Lodge No. 35 of this order, and is one of the leading representa- tives of the order in Michigan, having been through all the degrees and held all the offices of the Grand Lodge.
His first appointment as postmaster came on June 26, 1906, from President Roosevelt. His second appointment was made by President Taft and is dated June 13, 1910. He has taken an active interest in pub- lic affairs for many years, was supervisor of Penfield township two terms, and in 1895 was a member of the legislature and served two years. Then in 1898 was elected for one term to the office of mayor of Battle Creek. Besides his prominent connection with the Knights of Pythias he is also a member of the Masonic order. He is a member of the Athel- stan Club of Battle Creek.
The Curtis family home is at 163 Calhoun street. October 31, 1879, Mr. Curtis married Miss Mary E. Nye, of Battle Creek. After serving one term as mayor, Mr. Curtis refused to accept another term and also refused to accept another term in the legislature, believing it his duty to serve the Knights of Pythias and served twelve years as grand keeper of records and seals and gave up that office when appointed postmaster of Battle Creek by President Roosevelt.
They are the parents of two sons: Lorrell N. is connected with the Merchants Savings Bank of Battle Creek: Claude C., who graduated in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1907, is now employed with the Stone-Webster Company of Boston, having recently been transferred from Portico to the main office in Boston. Lorrell N. is married and has a son, Wilbur N., born February 24, 1906. Claude is Vol. II-15
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single. Both sons were born and received their early education in Battle Creek.
FRED G. REMINGTON. The practical management and success of the Battle Creek Gas Company depend on the capable services of Mr. F. G. Remington, the general superintendent. He has been identified with the company for the past eight years. Previous to that he was connected with the gas company of Detroit, his entire business career having been spent in this line of manufacturing.
Mr. Remington was born in Detroit, March 24, 1872, a son of Fred A. and Mary (Greenfield) Remington, who reside at 936 Lafayette boule- vard in Detroit. For the past ten years or more his father has been connected with the Detroit City Gas Company. Of the five children, Fred G. is the oldest and the only representative of the family in Battle Creek.
After his public schooling in Detroit he spent one year in the phar- macy department of the Detroit College of Medicine, but then gave up his intention of pursuing this profession, and began as an apprentice in the various branches of the gas business with the city company. He was clerk in the station B plant, also worked at station A and main offices, and then following another period in the station B he came to Battle Creek as superintendent of manufacture for the local company. In April, 1904, he was made general superintendent, in addition to his previous duties taking charge of the distribution department, which in- cludes the laying of mains and all the service of supplying the facilities of distribution to the consumers. He has thus managed all the large extensions of the company's facilities during the last eight years. He also owns some of the stock in the plant.
With fraternal affairs his interest is with the Masonic order, his membership being in the Palestine lodge at Detroit, and the B. P. O. E. at. Battle Creek. His family belong to the Episcopal church. Mr. Remington's home is at 611 West Main street. His wife to whom he was married April 15, 1903, was formerly Miss Emma Schmeltz. Mrs. Remington was born and received her education in Detroit. Her father was the late Henry J. Schmeltz of that city, where her mother is still living.
WILLIAM J. FOSTER. Progressively identified with the interests of Battle Creek and vicinity, the family of which Mr. William J. Foster is a representative has witnessed and contributed to the increase and prosperous growth of this city since 1867. It is an old and honored name in this part of the county, and the essential facts of its history should be recorded in this work.
Joseph Leonard Foster, who founded the family here, was born in Oneida county, New York, August 5, 1815. As a resident of his native state for half a century, he became a substantial farmer and acquired the reputation of an authority by his success in sheep husbandry. He was married February 21, 1838, to Miss Jane McCrory. Born in Ire- land, at the age of eight years she was brought to America in her parents' family, and spent seven weeks in passage on an old sailing ves- sel. This worthy couple in 1867 came west and settled on the estate in Battle Creek township on Goguac prairie, with which locality the name has since been specially identified. Here the parents lived until their death, about 1895, one having survived the other only about six months.
Their son William J. Foster was born in Wyoming county, New York, February 11, 1839, being the only child. His early education was obtained chiefly at the Wyoming county academy, and on leav-
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ing school he returned to his father's farm and began the career in agriculture and stock raising by which he acquired his substantial posi- tion in material affairs. He moved with his father and mother to Cal- houn county, where he has been influential in business and in public life. The Foster estate, which originally comprised one hundred and sixty acres was contiguous to the town of Battle Creek, and with the growth of the city one hundred acres have already been absorbed and cut up into city lots. Mr. Foster is owner of one hundred and sixty acres of farm land at another location in Battle Creek township.
Both he and his father have gladly co-operated with the progress of their home community. The farm separates Battle Creek from the attractive Goguac lake, and when the old horse-car line was constructed the late J. L. Foster contributed a strip of ground through his estate for the use of the road. Mr. William J. Foster took a like progressive attitude when the electric line was built, allowing the company to run its way through the middle of his farm.
In 1901 the votes of the second district of Calhoun county elected Mr. Foster as their representative in the state legislature, where he justified the expectations of his many friends by working for the best interests of his locality and state and gaining a reputation for sound principles and thorough integrity as a legislator. In politics he is a Republican, is a member of the Masonic order of Battle Creek, a mem- ber of the Athelstan Club, and attends, though not a member, the Con- gregational church.
Mr. Foster's first wife, whom he married in New York state, died at Battle Creek in 1891. There were no children by that union. June 30th, 1897, he was married to Mary E. Linihan. Her father, Martin Linihan, was one of the old and respected settlers of Battle Creek town- ship, where she was born and reared and after her education in the Battle Creek schools she was engaged in teaching in this city and at Homer. Mr. and Mrs. Foster have one son, Joseph Leonard Foster, who was born in Battle Creek, July 22, 1906. The comfortable home of the family is located just outside the city limits, on rural route No. 10.
ABRAM ROBERT MCINTYRE, retired railroad official, was born near Montreal, Canada, on the St. Lawrence river, January 24, 1851, and is. a son of Abram Harvey and Jane A. (Donaldson) McIntyre, both na- tive Canadians. Abram Harvey McIntyre was for a number of years a. hotel keeper, but during the latter years of his life engaged in farm- ing. Of the thirteen children born to himself and wife, six died in childhood. His wife passed away in Canada in the sixty-fifth year of her age, and after her death he lived at various times at the homes of his children, his demise occurring in Canada when he was eighty-one years old. Five children are still living: Abram Robert; Mrs. Daniel Waldorf, of Cornwell, Canada; Mrs. Herman Waldorf, also of Corn- well; Lillian, of Ossining, New York, and for a number of years mat- ron of the Old People's Home, a charitable institution maintained by wealthy patrons; and James Albert, freight agent of the Michigan Central Railroad, at Union City, Michigan.
Abram Robert McIntyre was educated in the schools of Canada, and in 1866 left home and went to work for the Grand Trunk Rail- road as operator. In 1869 he was transferred to what is now West Detroit, where he remained until April, 1870, then going to Fort Gra- tiot, Michigan. In April, 1876 he left the service of the Grand Trunk, finding that he could better himself as to working hours and in other ways, and came to Battle Creek as chief dispatcher for the Peninsular Railroad. He had charge of the line betwen Lansing and Valparaiso
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