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 48
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Mr. Hunt was married first, January 14, 1862, to Miss Harriett E. Earl. Mrs. Hunt was born in Columbiana county, Ohio. Four of their children died, and the two now living are: Elmer, one of Eckford town- ship's able farmers ; and Earl, of Tekonsha township. Mr. Hunt married second, February 3, 1898.
JAMES R. HAUGHEY. It is to such safe, sane and conservative busi- ness men as James R. Haughey, junior member of Stephens and Haughey Real Estate and Loan Company, of Battle Creek, that Calhoun county owes its present prosperous condition. Those whose only interest in business lies in looking after personal gains do little or nothing to ad- vance their communities, but the men who have the welfare of their sec- tions at heart so conduct their operations as to build up and develop the resources of the country, thus opening up new avenues for the prosecu- tion of undertakings that will bring out the best resources of the locali- ties in which they live. Having all the essential qualities of a useful and successful business man, quick to perceive, ready to act, Mr. Haughey
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meets minor business questions with great ease, while, careful to act rightly, larger matters are the subject of full consideration, and it is this careful consideration that has made him a safe and important factor in developing his community's interests. Mr. Haughey was born in Bowersville, Green county, Ohio, June 25, 1859, and is a son of John Quincy Adams and Lavina (Paulin) Haughey.
John Q. A. Haughey was born at Bowersville, Ohio, and in early manhood engaged in agricultural pursuits, carrying on general farm- ing and devoting much attention to stock raising. During the Civil war he conducted a cold storage plant at Cincinnati, at a time when meat and produce were bringing exorbitant prices. He moved to Michigan about 1872 or 1873 and settled on six acres of land known as the old Elder White place, adjoining the sanitarium, this being platted off by Mr. Haughey into lots and sold. Subsequently he engaged in seat manufacturing and built the old factory standing on the corner of Tompkins and Champion streets. His real home when he first came to Battle Creek was what is now the Old Peoples' Home, of the Adventist society. It is located on Aldrich street, and this he sold. Finally he made an exchange of some property in Battle Creek for 380 acres of land at Assyria, Barry county, and there he died two years later, July 1, 1909, at the age of eighty years, three months and seventeen days. His widow still survives and makes her home on the old McCardle farm, three and one-half miles northeast of Battle Creek. She was born three miles north of Jamestown, Green county, Ohio. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Haughey : Alonzo Alfred, a well-educated man and stockraiser by occupation, who resides with his mother; David Paulin, deceased, who lived for some years at Bowersville, Ohio; Prof. Joseph H., a graduate of the Seventh Day Adventist College of Battle Creek; and now connected with the college of the same faith at Ber- rien Springs, Michigan; and James R.
James R. Haughey received his education in the college of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Battle Creek, and as a young man engaged in contracting and building, and for nine months was foreman at Phelps Sanitarium. At one time he owned fifteen houses in Battle Creek, but these have all been sold, and now, as a partner of Mr. Steph- ens, with whom he has been associated since December, 1911, he has carried on extensive operations. Property is bought and sold, money loaned, houses rented and rents collected, a general collection agency operated, pension vouchers executed, and lands handled in Oklahoma, the Dakotas and Alberta. The well-equipped offices are situated at No. 24 Main street, East, where the partners treat their many clients with the utmost courtesy and consideration. Mr. Haughey is considerate and broad in his judgment of general business conditions and tendencies and a most certain and intuitive judge of the character of men.
On June 24, 1883, Mr. Haughey was married to Miss Sue Alice Smith, who was born at Oakland, Coles county, Illinois, and they have had three sons and three daughters, as follows: Arthur R., of Chicago; Hazel E., now Mrs. Daniel Hickey, of Battle Creek; Ruby Alice, now Mrs. S. E. Gross, wife of the famous founder of Gross Park and other suburbs of Chicago, and millionaire builder of more than 3,000 houses, who is now residing in Battle Creek; Myrtle Alice, who is attending school; and Norman Ryder and Milburn Mathias, at home. These chil- dren were all born in Battle Creek with the exception of Myrtle, who was born in Assyria, Barry county ; and Norman, who was born three miles west of Battle Creek, in Bedford township. The daughters are very talented musicians, and their mother possesses one of the most artistic voices in the city. The family home is at No. 39 Hill street.
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JOHN J. WALBRIDGE. A former resident of Battle Creek, who is still well remembered by many of this city's old-time business men, was the late John J. Walbridge, whose death occurred April 28, 1889, and whose widow, a lady of eighty-two years, resides at No. 79 Maple street. Mr. Walbridge was born in Orleans county, New York, May; 4, 1826, and was a son of John J. Walbridge, who was born in Ver- mont in 1778 and served as a member of the State Legislature there at the time Seward was governor of the state. He died in Orleans county in 1841. His wife was Caroline M. Collins, and they had but one child, John J. Jr., and the mother passed away in Battle Creek, Michigan, November 4, 1888.
John J. Walbridge was educated in the public schools of Orleans county, New York, and on coming to Michigan settled first at Lowell, where he established himself in business. In the fall of 1865, after nearly a year spent in the commissary department at Chattanooga, Tennessee, during the Civil war, Mr. Walbridge came to Battle Creek, and from that time to within a year of his death he was engaged in traveling for a Chicago wholesale grocery. His father was a strong Whig, but Mr. Walbridge adopted the principles of the Democratic party, and supported its candidates throughout his life. While a resid- ent of the East, he belonged to the Odd Fellows.
Mr. Walbridge was married April 16, 1850, at Gaines, Orleans county, New York, to Miss Martha Moss, who was born October 5, 1831, in Genesee county, New York, daughter of Samuel and Mercy (Sher- man) Moss. She was educated at Albion Seminary and Mount Hol- yoke College. There were two children in the family: Fred J., born July 4, 1851, in Gaines, Orleans county, New York, and now manager of the account department of the Nichols & Shepard Company, with which firm he has been connected forty years; and Henry Clay, born September 8, 1853, in Gaines, and for twenty years a resident of Chi- cago, Illinois, where he is employed in the grocery department of Siegel, Cooper & Company. Mrs. Walbridge is a member of the First Presbyterian Church, but attends St. Thomas' Episcopal Church on account of its convenient situation, it being just across the street from Mrs. Walbridge's residence, which is located at No. 79 Maple street. Here she has resided only eight years, the home being that of her sister, Mrs. Thomas, and is an old city landmark, being located on the two cornered lot across from the Public Library, at Maple, West Van Buren and Adams streets.
Mrs .. Walbridge has passed her eightieth year, but is still in full possession of all of her faculties, and looks like a woman of twenty years younger. An interesting conversationalist, .she recalls many in- cidents of pioneer days in Battle Creek, and her reminiscences are instructive and of much historical value. She has a handsome collec- tion of old dishes, many of which were presented to her by her numer- ous warm friends in Battle Creek. Kind hearted and charitable and possessed of a lovable nature, she has made many friends in Battle Creek, who have been drawn about her by her many fine qualities of mind and heart.
ROBERT MOSS WALBRIDGE, son of Henry Clay Walbridge, of Chicago, Illinois, was born October 13, 1876, in what was then Lakeport, Bon- homme county, Dakota Territory, but is now Yankton county, South Dakota. Since he has been two years of age, however, he has resided at the home of his grandmother in Battle Creek, in which city he is well known in business circles as manager of the Battle Creek office of the Western Union Telegraph Company. Henry Clay Walbridge,
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who is connected with the grocery department of Siegel, Cooper & Company's big store in Chicago, was born in Lockport, New York, and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Celia Smolik, and who also resides in Chicago, was born at Radnitz, thirteen miles from Prague, in Bohemia.
Robert Moss Walbridge was educated in the public schools of Battle Creek, and then learned the trade of telegrapher, working for one year in the offices of the Postal Telegraph Company. In 1894 he entered the employ of Nichols & Shepard Company, with which concern he was connected for about ten years in the collection department, but since March, 1907, has had charge of the offices of the Western Union Tele- graph Company. He is recognized as a business man of much natural ability and capacity, and as a citizen who has the public welfare at heart. Under his efficient management the company's lines are giving excellent service and the business of the concern has increased com- mensurately. Fraternally, Mr. Walbridge is connected with the Knights of Pythias, and he and Mrs. Walbridge are members of the Episcopal Church and attend with St. Thomas' congregation. He is a great reader and a lover of books, being intensely interested in everything pertaining to nature and history. His numerous friends testify to his popularity, and he belongs to that type of men representa- tive of Battle Creek's best citizenship.
Mr. Walbridge was married February 1, 1908, to Miss Margaret Helen Hartley, who was born in Binghamton, New York, and educated there. They have two children: Caroline Hartley and Margaret Eliza- beth, both born in Battle Creek. The family residence is at No. 79 Maple street.
FRANK E. SMITH. Working for other persons in various occupa- tions until he was able to do something on his own account, and since then and before taking an active part in public local affairs in several different public offices of his township; giving faithful and intelligent attention to church duties, political requirements and the interests of one good fraternity ; manifesting always an earnest, practical and service- able interest in the progress and further development of his locality and the welfare of its people, Frank E. Smith, one of the enterprising and progressive farmers of Marengo township, Calhoun county, has pursued the ordinary course of sturdy American manhood, and made his mark on the section in which he lives. Mr. Smith is a native of Northampton county, Pennsylvania, where he was born on November 1, 1856. His parents, Benjamin F. and Susan (Spangenberg) Smith, are also natives of Pennsylvania, the former born on July 15, 1830, and the latter on October 21, 1836. Both are still living and have their home in Marengo township not far from where their son resides. Four children were born of their union: Frank E., the interesting subject of this review; D. S., who is serving the government as a rural mail carrier from Marshall; John R., who is engaged in the same occu- pation as his brother D. S .. and a fourth child who died in infancy.
The father came to Michigan in 1884 with his wife but the children had preceded them, having come here in 1880, and located first in Eck- ford township, where he followed farming for a time, then moved to Marengo township, and here he and the mother have lived ever since. As a young man he worked at the carpenter trade, but after his arrival in this state he became a farmer, and this line of endeavor occupied his attention until his retirement from active work a few years ago, about 1908. In politics he is a Republican. but he has been much more deeply interested in church work than political affairs, although never
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neglecting a good citizen's duty in connection with matters of public interest. He has long been a leading member of the Methodist Epis- copal church and a very active church worker, serving as steward and class leader of the congregation to which he belongs for many years. The mother is also a member of that church.
Frank E. Smith's grandparents on his father's side were Ludwig and Catherine (Groob) Smith, both Pennsylvanians also by nativity and lifelong residence, and both nearly eighty years of age when they died. In his young manhood the grandfather was a school teacher, but he too later became a farmer and made that his employment for the rest of his life. The maternal grandfather was Daniel Spangenburg. The former was born and passed the whole of his life in New Jersey, where he was a farmer from his youth to the end of his earthly career. He chose farming as his life work and after tilling the soil for a few years in Pennsylvania, came to Michigan, arriving in the year 1880. In 1883 he bought the old Rogers homestead of ninety-five acres, which is one of the best farms in Marengo township, and is well improved with good buildings of every kind necessary for its purposes. On this farm Mr. Smith erected all the barns and smaller structures and made many other improvements, converting it into a beautiful rural home. He does general farming, and at one time for some years he also raised thoroughbred sheep of superior strains, but he has not been engaged in any live stock business for some time except what has been necessary for his farming operations and incidental to them from year to year.
Mr. Smith was married on January 24th, 1883, to Miss Nettie F. Rogers, a daughter of Isaac and Margaret (Travers) Rogers. The mother died in 1875 at the age of 56 years, and the father in 1888, aged 75. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have two children: Margaret S. and Arthur R. Both are highly esteemed and prominent in its social life and other activities.
In his political relations Mr. Smith is connected with the Repub- lican party and belongs to the progressive wing of the organization. He served as township clerk one year, and has been filling with credit to himself and benefit to the township the office of supervisor. In religious affiliation he is a prominent member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and has been, steward and Sunday school superintendent of the congregation to which he and his wife belong. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Order of Gleaners, and in this fraternity he also takes a cordial and helpful interest. He is thoroughly progressive and enterprising in his own affairs and displays the same qualities in reference to the affairs of his township and county, being always ready to aid in promoting their improvement along all lines of wholesome and enduring advancement, intelligently desirous of promoting the wel- fare of their residents in every way and sparing no effort on his part to accomplish the utmost good for the people around him.
JAMES W. PERRY, a veteran of the Civil war, may be found a resid- ent on his estate of one hundred and seven acres in Pennfield township, Calhoun county, Michigan, in which location he has made his home for the most part since 1855, which year marked the advent of the Perry family into Michigan. He was born in Ireland, October 14, 1840, and is a son of William and Elizabeth (Brown) Perry, both of whom were born and reared in the north of Ireland, where their marriage was solemnized. They came to America in 1841, when the subject of this review was an infant of one year, and located in Canada, where they made their home until 1855. In that year they made their way to Michigan and William Perry purchased a farm in Pennfield
Of Corpening
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township which he cleared and cultivated and on which he maintained his home until his death, which occurred on March 17, 1897, when he was eighty-nine years of age His devoted wife survived him until 1906, passing away at the patriarchal age of one hundred and four years. William Perry was a Republican in his political adherence after becoming a citizen of the United States, and the years of his life in Michigan brought him a pleasing degree of prosperity as a farmer and business man.
James W. Perry was primarily educated in the public schools of Canada and later attended the schools of Calhoun county. When the dark cloud of Civil war darkened the national horizon he made mani- fest his inherent loyalty to the cause of the Union by enlisting as a soldier in a Michigan company, under General Fremont. After he was dismissed from the army, his regiment became known as the Sixty- Sixth Illinois Western Sharpshooters. Mr. Perry participated in a number of important engagements during the progress of the war, including the battles at Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh and Atlanta, at which latter place he received his honorable discharge. On his return to Michigan Mr. Perry purchased the old homestead farm on which he has since resided. He has devoted himself to diversified agriculture during the long intervening years to the present time, and in these lines of enterprise has enjoyed success. In his political atti- tude, he is an independent, preferring to support men and measures meeting with the approval of his careful judgment rather than to vote along strictly partisan lines.
In 1865 Mr. Perry was united in marriage to Miss Electa Bayles, a daughter of William Bayles, who was born and reared in the state of New York, from whence he came to Michigan in 1857. He settled at Hastings and there resided until he entered the army for service in the First Michigan Engineers and Mechanics. He was a member of the Union forces for a period of three years, and then returned to Michi- gan. Subsequently he went west and he died at Leavenworth, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Perry have three children, concerning whom the follow- ing brief data is here entered: Frank is engaged in the transfer busi- ness at Battle Creek; Guy is likewise a resident of Battle Creek and devotes his attention to the automobile business; and Blanche, who is the wife of William Bloom, resides at the parental home. With refer- ence to the religious affiliations of the Perry family, they are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. .
Mr. Perry has lived a life of usefulness such as few men know or realize. God-fearing, law-abiding, progressive, his life is as truly that of a Christian gentleman as a man's can well be, and throughout his life he has unwaveringly clung to the right as he has interpreted it.
CLIFTON L. CORPENING. As manager and lessee of the Post Tav- ern, Clifton L. Corpening has a very responsible part in maintaining and extending the reputation of one of the chief cities of southern Mich- igan. The Post Tavern, which was constructed over ten years ago by Mr. C. W. Post, is a hotel with a reputation far beyond that of the usual commercial hotel in cities much larger the Battle Creek. It has all the facilities, comforts and luxuries offered by the high-class Ameri- can hostelry, and during the year 1912 a ten story annex is being erected, which is to be not only the loftiest building in this part of Michi- gan, but will make the Tavern one of the finest hotel structures in the country. Constructed in the main to match the present Tavern, the annex will represent the latest ideas in hotel architecture and
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equipment. An overhead bridge corridor will connect the Tavern with the Post building on the opposite side of the street, and with other building construction and improvements soon to be made by Mr. Post in this immediate vicinity, this section of the city will be completely changed.
Twenty years of experience in the hotel business equipped Mr. Cor- pening for the important task of supervising the Tavern. A native of North Carolina, born at Statesville, December 5, 1873, he was the son of Dr. Thomas J. and Susan (Boyd) Corpening, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of South Carolina. The father, who was a dentist by profession, died in 1891 at Morganton, North Carolina, where he practiced during the court sessions, though his regular residence was at Statesville. In the latter city the mother died in 1900. There were eleven children in the family, three of whom died in infancy, and the five sons and three daughters now living are as follows: Thomas B., of St. Louis; R. I., of Dallas, Texas; Clifton L .; Arthur G., of Rock- ingham, North Carolina; Edmund O., of Dallas, Mrs. D. M. Furches, of Statesville, the widow of the late distinguished jurist D. M. Furches, who was an associate justice of the North Carolina supreme court and ten years before his death was appointed chief justice; Miss Lelia, of Rockingham, North Carolina; Miss Julia Altona, of Statesville.
Mr. Corpening received his early education in the Male Academy at Statesville, but since his father's death in 1891 he has been continu- ously identified with the hotel business. And few of the American hotel men have made a better record of progress and success than he. Begin- ning as clerk, he was connected with hotels in Statesville and Durham, North Carolina, at Omaha and Council Bluffs, and with the opening of the Post Tavern on January 1, 1901, became chief clerk. On Jan- uary 1, 1910, he leased the Tavern and has since been its active man- ager. The success of this enterprise has devolved upon him more than any other individual, for he has been intimately associated with the patronage upon which every hotel depends, and he has supervised and maintained a service that has given the best satisfaction. The Tavern now has one hundred and twenty guest rooms, and with the completion of the annex will have eighty more. It is conducted on the American plan, and the rates are three to four dollars a day.
Mr. Corpening is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias lodge, and the Athelstan and Country clubs. He is one of the leading members of the St. Thomas Episcopal church, being treasurer and a vestryman, and is also a member of the music and finance committees. On April 29, 1908, he was married to Miss Bertha L. Wheaton, of Battle Creek. Her father is Charles Wheaton, now a resident of Cleveland, Ohio; her mother died when the daughter was three years old. Mrs. Corpening was born at Mancelona, Michigan, was educated there and in the Busi- ness College at Battle Creek, and for eleven years before her marriage was bookkeeper for the Ellis Publishing Company of this city, and for the past six years has been vice president of that company. Mr. and Mrs. Corpening make their home in the Tavern.
ADELBERT JEFFERSON MURRAY. The Murray family is one of the oldest and most prominent in the history of Calhoun county, having been identified with this portion of the state of Michigan for more than seventy years. Its early members bore their part in the pioneer devel- opment, and all have occupied places of distinctive worth and honor as citizens.
The representative of this family above named is a native son of Calhoun county. His long continued work as a farmer, his well known position in business and his prominence in public affairs are such that
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no introduction is required for the better acquaintance of this citizen. He was born in Lee township, August 15, 1846, a son of Arunah and Susan (Saunders) Murray, the former a native of the town of Pawlet, Rutland county, Vermont. The paternal grandfather, David W. Mur- ray was a farmer and wool and cloth dresser in Vermont, whence he re- moved his family to Sedina, Genesee county, New York. His name be- longs among the Calhoun county early settlers, for he came out to this state in 1840, and after four years' residence in Marengo township settled on section 13, Lee township, which continued his home until his death at the age of seventy-five.
Arunah Murray, the father, was one of the interesting and enter- prising old settlers of Calhoun county. His early boyhood was spent near the Erie Canal, which was then at the height of its prosperity, and he began his career as a tow-boy, which later brought him to the position of boat captain. During the winters he worked in the lumber woods. While a resident of New York he married a native of Sedina, Miss Susan Saunders. Her father, Benjamin Saunders, a New York farmer, was also a settler in Eckford township, Calhoun county, where he spent the latter years of his life. Susan Saunders' grandfather, Matthew Bond, during the war of 1812, had been captured by the Indians, who held him prisoner a number of months and tortured him by burning his feet.
Arunah Murray and wife in 1840 made their journey to Calhoun county in a wagon, and after six weeks of travel arrived at Marengo, which was their first home. They soon afterward packed their goods and drove on to northwestern Illinois, but were discouraged from making a home there and returned the same winter to Calhoun county. In 1844 they bought forty acres on section 12, and with the pioneer axe and plow laid the forest and disclosed the soil for cultivation. Having traded this land in 1854 for eighty acres, he once more applied himself to the labor of developing a homestead from the wilderness. This was the homestead where he and his wife spent their last years, and was one of the fine farms and country homes of Lee township. His wife died there December 2, 1890, and he passed away August 13, 1897. He had been treasurer of the county, and was otherwise active in citizen- ship and business.
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