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 46
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On November 4, 1897, Mr. Hicks became a recruit to the ranks of the benedicts, his chosen lady being Josephine A. Werstein, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leopold Werstein, of whom more extended mention is made on other pages of this work. Mrs. Hicks was born and reared here, being a pupil in the public schools and subsequently attending Sacred Heart Convent at Grosse Point, Detroit. She received her fin- ishing education in the Anna Brown School for girls in New York City. To Mr. and Mrs. Hicks have been born two children, but both are deceased. John W., born December 13, 1898, died on December 17, 1898; and Frances Josephine, born May 2, 1900, died November 29, 1909. The Hicks residence, one of the favorite gathering-places of the city, is located at 60 Chestnut street.
Louis E. Hicks, brother of the foregoing, was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, July 28, 1879 and here received his education. He is asso- ciated with the Postum Cereal Company, Ltd., having charge of the personal books of C. W. Post. He has been with Mr. Post for fifteen years and for awhile was employed in the general offices. From May, 1903, until May, 1904, Mr. Hicks was in Peoria, Illinois, in the inter- est of Mr. Post, that gentleman manufacturing health sugar and candy at that point. The enterprise lasted only for the comparatively brief period of fourteen months, as the machinations of the sugar trust made it impossible for them to secure sufficient sugar to run their plant. One of the fifteen years in which he has been associated with Mr. Post, Mr. Hicks was with the Malta Vita Company-from May, 1902, to May, 1903. His relations with this representative Battle Creek firm have always been of the happiest character. Mr. Hicks is a member of the Athelstan Club and is a loyal adherent of the Republican party.
On December 14, 1904, Mr. Hicks was united in marriage to Miss Myrta Louise Johnson, of this city, daughter of Joseph S. Johnson. Mr. Johnson is one of Battle Creek's pioneer mail carriers, having been in the service of Uncle Sam for over twenty years. The mother, who died in March, 1894, was Emma Jane Johnson previous to her marriage. The father and two sisters make their home at 68 Merritt street, this city. Mrs. Hicks was born and educated here and is the second of her father's three daughters, Eva being the eldest and Helen the youngest. Mr. and Mrs. Hicks share their home with one son, Richard Joseph, born in this city, November 24, 1906. Their home is situated at 26 Chestnut street. Mrs. Charles H. Hicks resides the greater part of the year with them, but usually goes south in the winter. The name of Hicks is one held in high esteem in this city.
JOHN C. REYNOLDS, M. D. The professional career of Dr. Reynolds excites the admiration and has won the respect of his contemporaries,
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and in a calling in which one has to gain reputation by merit he has advanced steadily until he is acknowledged as the superior of most of the members of the profession in this part of the state, having long since left the ranks of the many to stand among the successful few. He has been most successfully engaged in the practice of his profession at Battle Creek for the past thirty years and here he is recognized as a citizen of intrinsic loyalty and public spirit.
A native of Canada, John C. Reynolds was born near Port Hope, Province of Ontario, April 15, 1857, and he is a son of Francis and Margaret (Kells) Reynolds, both of whom are deceased, the former of whom died in 1885 and the latter of whom passed away in 1908, at the age of eighty-six years. Francis Reynolds was a prosperous farmer in Canada during his early life; he was the owner of a large estate but, being possessed of an extremely kind heart, he signed notes for a number of would-be friends and eventually lost practically everything he owned prior to his demise. His last words to his children were to the effect that none of them should ever sign a note for a friend. In 1862 he left his native heath and came to the United States, locating in Rochester, New York, where he remained for a period of three years, at the ex- piration of which he came to Battle Creek, Michigan, here passing the remainder of his life. After disposing of his farm in Canada he turned his attention to other lines of business, in which he achieved a fair suc- cess. Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds became the parents of five boys and six girls, of whom but four boys and one girl are living, in 1912, namely,- Margaret, who is the widow of Ezra Kipp and who resides on Adams street in Battle Creek; Frank, the oldest child, is now a resident of Pensacola, Florida; William maintains his home in Texas; Dr. John C. is the immediate subject of this review; and Joseph W. is an attorney at Duluth, Minnesota. One brother, Thomas, was drowned at Battle Creek when twenty-one years of age.
Dr. John C. Reynolds received his early educational training in the public schools of Rochester, New York, whither his parents removed when he was a child of five years of age, and in the schools of Battle Creek. At the age of nineteen years he began studying medicine under the able preceptorship of Dr. Austin S. Johnson, of Battle Creek. Sub- sequently he attended a course of lectures at the Pulte Medical Col- lege, in Cincinnati, Ohio, in which excellent institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1882, duly receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine. He initiated the active practice of his profession at Bat- tle Creek immediately after leaving college and has been a practicing physician in this place ever since. In order to better qualify himself for his chosen work he took a post-graduate course in the Chicago Homeo- pathic Medical College in 1895. He controls a large general practice but devotes special attention to the diseases of the head, throat and lungs, along which lines he is particularly skillful. In connection with his work he is a valued and appreciative member of the Michigan State Medical Homeopathic Society and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with A. T. Metcalf Lodge, No. 419, Free and Accepted Masons; and Commandery, of the Knights Templars. He is also connected with the Knights of Pythias. In politics he is a stalwart Republican and he has served as alderman of the Fifth ward for two terms. He is the owner of a great deal of valuable city property, both business and residential, and his home and office are at No. 16 North Division street. No one in this city holds a higher place in the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens than does Dr. Reynolds, who manifests so deep and sincere an interest in all matters affecting the general welfare.
On the 5th of August, 1885, Dr. Reynolds married Mrs. Elizabeth
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H. Briggs, a daughter of Major Hudson, who was a resident of Paw Paw, Michigan, prior to his demise, in 1884. Their only daughter Al- line B .- married D. Graham Wells of Detroit, and they have four chil- dren, Martha E., Helen, Mirian, John A.
CHARLES H. ETSON. The career of Charles H. Etson offers both lesson and incentive to the younger generation because he has, through his own unaided efforts, carved a name for himself and achieved a suc- cess which is well worthy of recognition and emulation. He has ever been on the alert to forward all measures and enterprises projected for the good of the general welfare and has served his community in various official capacities of trust and responsibility. He has been highway commissioner and has also served as justice of the peace of Pennfield township. He is the owner of a finely improved farm of two hundred acres in Pennfield township and devotes his attention to diversified agriculture and stock-raising.
Charles H. Etson was born in Michigan, September 16, 1835, and he is a son of Caleb M. and Lovina (McArthur) Etson, the former being born in New York state. Caleb Etson came to Michigan in 1835 and settled on a farm. Two years later he met with financial reverses and lost everything. He then moved to Eaton county, Michigan, where he took up land and again took up the responsibilities of life where he had started before, and for thirty years thereafter he made his home in Eaton county. He then went to the west, where he remained for a few years, returning to Michigan where he passed his remaining days. Solo- mon McArthur, the maternal grandfather of Charles H. Etson, was born and reared in New York, and he passed away in Michigan, whither he came in 1840.
To the public schools of his native place Charles H. Etson is in- debted for his preliminary educational training and for two terms he was a pupil in the public schools of Battle Creek. He had been variously engaged until 1870, in which year he purchased a small tract of land and engaged in farming. He has since added to his original purchase and now has an estate of two hundred acres embracing some of the best land in Calhoun county.
Mr. Etson has ever given his political allegiance to the Republican party and has served that organization in various capacities of im- portant order. He has been honored by his fellow citizens with elec- tion to the office of highway commissioner and justice of the peace, serving in the latter capacity for a period of years. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and take a healthful interest in the various departments of the good works of that body. Al- though now in his seventy-seventh year, Mr. Etson is still strong and active and retains all the elasticity and energy of his earlier years. He is a public-spirited citizen and a kind, generous-hearted friend, who is never to be found wanting when his services are required in behalf of those less fortunate than himself.
In 1859 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Etson to Miss Mary A. Van Volkenborgh, a daughter of Adam VanVolkenborgh, who came from New York to Michigan in 1844. Mr. and Mrs. Etson are the parents of five children: Frank owns and operates a farm; Dennis assists his father on the home farm, and Genevieve, Door and Fred all reside at home.
STEPHEN W. THOMPSON. A retired farmer of Marshall, and a citi- zen of good repute and high standing, Stephen W. Thompson proudly wore the "blue" during the Civil war, bravely doing his duty in camp
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and on the field of battle, and also suffering for a time the hardships and horrors of prison life. He was born, July 31, 1842, in Oakland county, Michigan, of English lineage. His father, John B. Thompson, a native of England, immigrated to America in 1833, coming almost directly to Michigan. . He subsequently married Mary Jane Baker, who was also born and reared in England, and settled on a farm in Spring- field township, Oakland county, where he remained a number of years, being engaged in tilling the soil and raising stock. On retiring from active labor, he removed to Marshall. Of their children, the follow- ing named grew to years of maturity: Margaret, Sarah, Stephen W., John C., and James M.
Brought up on the home farm, Stephen W. Thompson was well drilled in the rudimentary branches of study in the rural schools of Oakland county, and as a youth became exceedingly familiar with farm work of all kinds. On August 20, 1862, inspired by patriotic ardor, he enlisted in Company B, Fifth Michigan Cavalry, which was commanded by Colonel Broadhead, and with his regiment went to the front, where he participated in several engagements, including the bat- tle at Gettysburg. Captured by the enemy, Mr. Thompson was taken first to Richmond, thence to Libby Prison, from there being sent to Belle Isle. Being paroled in March, 1864, Mr. Thompson was granted a furlough, and spent two months at his home. On May 7, 1864, he rejoined his regiment in Annapolis, Maryland, and the following few months saw active service at Winchester, and at other points, being honorably discharged from service June 27, 1865, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Returning home, Mr. Thompson remained in Oakland county for some time. When ready to begin farming for himself he came to Cal- houn county, and having purchased forty acres of land in Clarence township at once began its improvement. Laboring earnestly and judi- ciously, he put the land under a good state of cultivation, erected a substantial set of buildings, and was there prosperously engaged in agri- cultural pursuits until 1903. Removing then with his family to Mar- shall, Mr. Thompson has since devoted his time to his general affairs. Having been severely injured in the breast while serving as a soldier, Mr. Thompson is badly crippled, being unable to perform much manual labor, and on account of his affliction he draws a good pension. He is an active and prominent member of the C. Colegrove Post, No. 166, Grand Army of the Republic, which he has served as commander two years. A straightforward Republican in politics, Mr. Thompson has filled some township offices, including those of highway commissioner and township treasurer.
In 1870 Mr. Thompson married Anna Britton, of Oakland county, a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Cash) Britton. She was born in England in 1841. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are the parents of three children, namely : Elmer L., a farmer in Clarence township; Winnie, wife of Willis Hammond, of Marshall; and Flora B., who married Rev. John Bretz, a Methodist Episcopal minister.
JOHN HEYSER, actively identified with industrial and manufactur- ing interests in Calhoun county, Michigan, makes his home at Battle Creek. He is deeply interested in community affairs and his efforts have also been a potent element in the business progress of this section of the state. He has with ready recognition of opportunity directed his labors into various fields wherein he has achieved success, and at the same time has conducted a business enterprise that has proved of more than local value, largely promoting the commercial activity of the state.
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Mr. Heyser is general superintendent of the Union Steam Pump Com- pany of Battle Creek and is president of the Advance Pump & Com- pressor Company of this city.
A native of Marshall, Michigan, John Heyser was born on the 3d of January, 1858. He is a son of Phillip and Agnes (Schmidt) Heyser, both of whom were born in Germany and both of whom are now de- ceased. On other pages of this work appears a sketch of Frederick J. Heyser, brother of the subject of this review, and therein is given a summary of the lives of the parents, so that further data in that con- nection is not deemed necessary at this juncture.
John Heyser was educated in the public schools of Marshall, Michi- gan, and as a youth he learned the machinist's trade in the Michigan Central Railroad shops, at Jackson, Michigan, working there for a period of seven years, at the expiration of which he came to Battle Creek, where for three months he was in the employ of the Grand Trunk Railway Company. Soon thereafter he began to work for the firm of Nichols & Shepard, remaining with that concern for five years. In 1885 a number of mechanics started a jobbing shop, which was a copart- nership business and which included the following men: Mr. Allen Preston, Mr. James Gridley, Mr. Edward Keet and the subject of this notice. One year and a half later this copartnership was merged into the Union Manufacturing Company of Battle Creek. In 1891 the con- cern was reorganized into what is now the Union Steam Pump Com- pany, in which Mr. Heyser is a heavy stockholder. He is the only one of the original founders still connected with the company and he has been general superintendent of the concern since 1893. The Union Steam Pump Company are manufacturers of the Burnham and the Moore steam pumps and they also manufacture air compressors, con- densers and power pumps. The plant at Battle Creek is well equipped in every detail and a splendid business is controlled by the company. Mr. Heyser is likewise connected with the Advance Pump & Compres- sor Company of Battle Creek, being president thereof. He is a director and stockholder in the Old National Bank of this city and is financially interested in a number of other business enterprises of broad scope and importance.
In politics Mr. Heyser is an uncompromising supporter of the prin- ciples and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Benevolent & Protective Or- der of Elks; the Athelstan Club and the Country Club. He is a shrewd business man and an enterprising citizen and is held in high esteem by his fellow men, who honor him for his exemplary life and sterling in- tegrity of character.
November 24, 1887, Mr. Heyser was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Weickgenant, a sister of Jacob Weickgenant, one of Battle Creek's most prosperous merchants. Mr. and Mrs. Heyser have four children-three boys and one girl, namely,-Harold L., who was grad- uated in the Battle Creek high school in 1908 and who is now a student in the University of Michigan; Agnes was graduated in the Battle Creek high school in the class of 1911; and Richard and Robert are 'both pupils in the Battle Creek public schools. The Heyser home is maintained at No. 181 North avenue and it is a center of most generous hospitality.
RORERT A. ROE. Among the families identified by long residence and influential activities with Calhoun county is the one which was founded here in 1876 by the late Robert A. Roe, who died at his home near Battle Creek, April 6, 1894. His family are still represented in
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1
the city and county and are well known and public-spirited citizens.
Robert A. Roe was born at Kennitty, Kings county, Ireland, in 1824, and had reached the age of three-score and ten at the time of his death. Reared and educated in his native land, he landed at New York during the fifties, and for many years was a resident and successful business man in Brooklyn. He conducted a hardware store across the river in New York city in the days before the erection of the Roebling suspension bridge, when a ferry was the only means of getting over East river. In the spring of 1876 he moved west and located on a small farm of about thirty-eight acres just outside the present city limits of Battle Creek. This place, in Bedford township, is now called Washing- ton Heights. Here he was quietly engaged in the occupation of farm- ing until overtaken by death nearly twenty years later.
·In his boyhood home in Ireland he had played with and in boy fashion domineered over a little girl named Mary J. Duncan. In 1849 her parents had emigrated to America and located in Pittsburg, where she was reared and lived until about 1866, when she took up her resi- dence with a brother in Brooklyn. Here she again met the companion of former years, and whom as a child she had disliked so much. But this did not interfere with their pleasant course of love and courtship, and in 1868 they were united in marriage at her brother's home in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Mary (Duncan) Roe was born in 1835 and surviving her husband fifteen years died in Battle Creek, October 21, 1909, being at the time of one of the oldest residents on Green street where her home was.
Several of Mrs. Roe's brothers attained prominence in the business world. One of them was Thomas J. Duncan, who died in Belfast, Ire- land, June 1, '1871. He was frail in health and never married, and much of his wealth went to the cause of religion and charity. He was an intimate friend of the late Bishop Matthew Simpson of the Methodist church, and traveled extensively in his company through Europe and elsewhere, contributing liberally to causes which the Bishop advocated. His name is especially remembered here in Battle Creek because of his gift of ten thousand dollars to the Methodist church, a donation which was made in the sixties when gifts of such size were rare. Other brothers of Mrs. Roe were William C., George S., Richard C. Frank H. and Col. James F. Duncan. George S. Duncan more than sixty years ago entered a telegraph office at Pittsburg as a messenger boy, and his immediate predecessor in that humble capacity was Andrew Carnegie, who had by dint of application gained his first promotion toward busi- ness eminence by becoming a telegraph operator, and young Duncan was soon advanced in a similar way. Colonel James Duncan was a well known oil operator in the early days of the Ohio oil fields.
The late Robert A. Roe and wife were the parents of four children : William George, who died in childhood; Clara B., now a resident of Ypsilanti; Robert Percy, of Battle Creek (see sketch elsewhere) ; and Jessie L., who resides in the old home in Battle Creek. The three old- est were born in Brooklyn, and Miss Jessie in Battle Creek, and all of them attended the Battle Creek schools. Clara graduated from the high school in 1894 and from the University of Michigan in 1904. Miss Jessie is a graduate of the high school class of 1897 and from the University of Michigan with the class of 1902. The family's religious choice has been the St. Thomas Episcopal church.
ASAHEL BEACH, M. D. Dr. Beach was one of the honored and in- fluential pioneers of Calhoun county, where he established his home about three years prior to the admission of Michigan to statehood, and
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he played a large and benignant part in connection with the development and upbuilding of this now opulent section of the Wolverine common- wealth, the while he exemplified these sterling traits of character which ever beget objective confidence and esteem. Well, indeed, may a publica- tion of the province assigned to the one at hand, pay a tribute of honor to this worthy pioneer, and it is deemed a privilege to enter in these pages a brief review of his career. Dr. Beach was one of those favored mortals whom nature launches into the world with the heritage of a sturdy ancestry, a masterful mind, and energy enough for many men. Planted in a metropolis, he would have used his talents in competing with and uplifting his fellow men. Planted in the wilderness, he used them in developing the things that the environment needed. He was the type of a true gentleman and a representative of the best in the community, -dignified, and yet possessed of an affability that won to him warm friends among all classes and conditions of men.
Dr. Asahel Beach was born at Cambridge, Washington county, New York, on Christmas day of the year 1799, and was a son of Thomas and Mary Beach, honored pioneers of that county, where the father devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits and was a man of promi- nence and influence in the community. The lineage of the Beach family is traced back to stanch English origin, and representatives of the name settled in New England in the early colonial epoch of our national history. The parents of Dr. Beach continued to reside in Washington county, New York, until the close of their lives, and their names have enduring place on the roll of the sterling pioneers of that section of the Empire state. Dr. Beach was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm and in the meanwhile availed himself of the advantages of the common schools of the locality and period. This discipline was supplemented by a course of study in a well ordered academy in his native town, and in 1821 he began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Thomas Beach, Jr., who was his kinsman and a representative physician and surgeon of Ontario county, New York. Later he con- tinued his technical studies under the effective preceptorship of Dr. A. G. Smith, who likewise was one of the eminent representatives of the medical profession in western New York. After such preliminary training Dr. Beach went to Vermont and entered the Vermont Medical College, at Castleton, Rutland county, in which institution he attended two courses of lectures. He was graduated on the 24th of December, 1824, and received from this excellent college his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. Thereafter he gave his attention for some time to post-graduate study and research, under the direction of Dr. An- derson, who was professor of anatomy and operative surgery in a medical college in the city of Albany, New York. Thus admirably fortified for the work of his chosen profession, Dr. Beach engaged in active general practice at Victor, Ontario county, New York, where he remained about ten years and where his success was of unequivocal order.
In the year 1834 Dr. Beach came to Michigan and numbered himself among the pioneers of Calhoun county, this section of the state at that time having been little more than a forest wilderness. He located in township of Milton, now called Emmett township, where he secured a tract of about nine hundred and sixty acres of heavily timbered land. His intention was to devote himself to the reclaiming and cultivation of a farm in the new country, but he soon found his services much in requi- sition in ministering in a professional way to the settlers throughout a wide area of country. He was one of the first physicians and sur- geons to engage in practice in Calhoun county, and in his work he lived up to the full tension of the pioneer days,-riding on horseback through
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