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 55
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There Mr. Whitney was interested in a chair factory, which he conducted for some time. Subsequently he removed to Dowagiac, and also followed manufacturing there. He spent his declining days at St. Joseph, following fruit farming, for which the neighborhood is noted. He took great interest in horticulture, and it was to him a pleasure as well as an occupation. He was everywhere known as Deacon Whitney, having always served in that capacity in the Congregational church, in every community in which he lived. He also served as township treas- urer in Lincoln township, near St. Joseph, filling that position for many years. He died in 1880, many years after the demise of his wife.
Henry Allen Whitney was a little lad of only four years when he was brought by his parents to Michigan in the early days. He received his rudimentary education in the primitive schools of that time, and in reaching his majority set about learning the trade of a painter and decorator in Battle Creek. He later had charge of the furniture store of Henry Gilbert and others, acting in that capacity for about ten years. A part of that time the business was conducted under the name of Mr. Whitney.
During this period of his business activities Mr. Whitney was elected alderman from the Fourth Ward. He became City Recorder for four years during one of the busiest periods of the city's history. It was during this time that the waterworks, the street car system and the electric lighting system were installed, putting Battle Creek on a plane with other metropolitan communities. For four successive terms Mr. Whitney was elected Recorder, always on the Republican ticket. His father had been a noted Abolitionist, and his own sympathies in early life were with this movement. Upon the organization of the Repub- lican party he at once affiliated with it and his allegiance to its tenets has never wavered. He has consistently supported the nominees of his party and his own political activities have been consistently under its auspices. He went over Berrien county, Mich., in the interests of the first Republican paper published in that county, it being known as the Niles Inquirer, and owned by Mr. Carlton, of Niles.
Following his service in the Recorder's office Mr. Whitney was elected County Superintendent of the Poor for three terms, covering a
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period of nine years. The following years, on account of the fusion of forces of three or four other political divisions, the Republicans failed to carry the county. Mr. Whitney was out of office for one term. He was then re-elected Recorder for the term of 1898-9, and after three years was again chosen Superintendent of the Poor, so that now he is serving his 21st year, or will be in January, 1913.
No more capable official has ever occupied this important position, according to those who have full opportunity for observation and who are cognizant of all the circumstances. For over 17 years he was county agent of the State Board of Corrections and Charities, and upon him devolved the care of all juvenile offenders in the county, as well as a supervisors interest in the orphans who came under the care of the state. It was his province to pass judgment upon the homes of those who sought to adopt children, in order to guard against the latter fall- ing into the wrong hands. He was the second man to hold this position under the state law governing that branch of eleemosynary work.
When Mr. Whitney came to this county from Niles in 1863 he first canvassed for Richie's steel engraving of Carpenter's painting, made in the White House, Washington, D. C., of President Lincoln and his Cabinet, and Carpenter's steel engraving of Washington and his Cab- inet. This gave him a wide acquaintance and when he embarked in the furniture business later he had the friendship of a large number of people. This furniture business was later purchased by Ranger & Farley and Mr. Farley is today running the same establishment. Mr. Whitney does not have charge of juvenile offenders now, but is confin- ing his attention to the supervision of the poor.
On September 11, 1860, Henry Allen Whitney was married to Miss Anna E. Bellows, of Climax, Kalamazoo county, Michigan, a daughter of William Edway Bellows, who removed to this vicinity from Bellows Falls, Vermont, in 1836. It was for this family, as may readily be conjectured, that the Vermont city was named. Mr. Bellows was a cousin of Doctor Bellows, who became prominent in connection with the sanitary commission during the Civil war, and who was a represen- tative of a famous old New England family. Mrs. Whitney was born in New Hampshire in 1834, and came to Climax with her parents when she was four years old. There was a large family of children. Prof. Bellows and Mrs. Garrett Decker were brother and sister of Mrs. Whit- ney. The professor was at the head of the department of mathematics at the State Normal at Ypsilanti for twenty-four years, and he was the organizer of the Central State Normal School at Mt. Pleasant, Michi- gan.
Mrs. Whitney passed away on July 6, 1905, at her home in Battle Creek and is buried in Oak Hill cemetery. She was a bright, intellec- tual woman, a teacher in the Sunday school for many years, and inter- ested in all departments of church work. She was a school teacher first at Climax, then at Kalamazoo, Augusta, Niles and Pawpaw, Mich. Mrs. Whitney attended Olivet College in her youth and later grad- uated from Albion College. She and her husband were blessed with five children, of whom four are living. The deceased one is T. Schuyler, a son, who died on February 11, 1911. Those surviving are Kate W., Harlan K., Rose M., and Lavinia V. Miss Rose is a graduate of the University of Michigan and previous to her matriculation at that in- stitution she attended the State Normal at Ypsilanti. She taught in High school five years in Coldwater and five years at Pontiac and at Adrian high school where her health broke down. Miss Lavinia attended the state normal for two years and took a teacher's diploma in music. All of the living children are graduates of the Battle Creek High
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School and all were born in this city except the eldest daughter, who was born in Niles.
Mr. Whitney and all of his children are members of the Presby- terian church and are active in church work. Mr. Whitney was one of the charter members of Security Lodge, A. O. U. W., and for ten years was its financier. He was also a member of the National Union and officiated and is now its secretary, having been secretary over twenty years. He has been local treasurer for the Standard Savings and Loan Association, of Detroit, Mich., for a decade and is regarded as one of the most conscientious, upright and honorable citizens of his home community.
HARLAN K. WHITNEY. From the very beginning of time the art of the engineer has existed. When it became necessary for man to con- struct habitations, to lay out highways or bridge chasms, then the science of engineering had its inception-born from man's necessity. And it is today just as necessary, as the railroads are driven through mountains or across morasses, or the waters are pent up in flood season that they may refresh the soil in dry periods, where buildings rear their cobwebs of steel or subways burrow through rock to give man more room for transit, there the busy engineer is to be found, doing today in perfected form what earlier members of the calling did more crudely and against greater disadvantages, but none the less accurately.
Engineering is the science of exactness. Mistakes may be made in some of the professions, and amended or overlooked, but in engineering the least error is soon glaringly apparent. Every foot of property in city or country depends upon the word of some engineer. The angle of elevation on the outside rail of a curve that carries the flying train in safety around the bend without hurling the passengers off at a tangent is calculated by some engineer, when the walls of tunnels that have for years been driven toward each other from opposite sides of a granite mountain, unite smoothly and exactly it is another triumph for the keen eye and the trained mind of the engineer.
A worthy present day prototype of the master minds who have accomplished so much in this direction is Harlan K. Whitney, of Battle Creek, who was born in this city, December 6, 1864, a son of Henry A. and Anna E. (Bellows) Whitney, of whom a separate sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Harlan K. Whitney graduated from the Battle Creek High School in the class of 1883 and afterward spent two years as a member of the engineering force of this city and on the Board of Public Works. During this period-1891-2 he gave close attention to civil engineering and surveying. On May 1, 1893, he started in business with John Elsmere under the firm name of Elsmere & Whitney, sur- veyors and civil engineers, with offices in the Upton Block.
Their partnership continued for one season, being dissolved during the winter of 1893-4. Mr. Whitney continued the business and soon secured a patronage that was of large proportions and constantly increased. In 1895 he entered the engineering department of the University of Michigan and spent a year there, perfecting himself in his chosen pro- fession. He has given especial attention to land surveying and the platting development and beautification of cities and residence sections, and has since that time followed this line, his headquarters being at Battle Creek, but his work extending through the states. He has been called as far south as Alabama, his work in the latter place being on a cement factory proposition.
For two years Mr. Whitney filled the position of city engineer for the City of Albion, during which time the first triple-arch concrete
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Harlan K. Whitney
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bridge with steel reinforcement ever constructed in the United States was built at Albion, Mich., under his supervision. He at the same time conducted the general city work for Albion and also looked after his business at Battle Creek. He laid out a plan for a sewer system for Albion, which included the business section, and superintended the con- struction of a portion of the district.
He also was acting county surveyor for two years, during which time he planned and supervised the building of three miles of narrow gauge railroad for the Peerless Portland Cement Company at Union City, Mich. Especial attention has been given by Mr. Whitney to the platting of cities and their subdivisions. He has platted over 1,000 acres of land. He laid out the grounds and walks for the Phelps Sanatorium, which was one of the first pieces of landscape gardening in this part of Michigan. Artistic platting particularly appeals to him and he readily recognizes the possibilities of a piece of ground and utilizes it to the best advantage.
Mr. Whitney's activities extend to all branches of his profession. He is chief engineer for the proposed Battle Creek and Grand Rapids Electric Road and the Kalamazoo, Gull Lake and Northern. He has kept up his local and general work at all times and is never too busy to give prompt service to his customers. He keeps two experienced engi- neers on his staff at all times, and frequently increases the force to a material extent, four being the usual number. He was assistant city engineer for about three months during the period when the Maple street pavement was put in. He was also engineer for the Post Land Company and held many other important commissions that might with justice be enumerated. He and Col. Jacobs have had offices in the Ward building since the first of November, 1905. Mr. Whitney is unmarried and resides at the old family home at No. 70 Cherry street.
He is by no means so engaged with business and professional affairs that he neglects more important duties of church and society. He is a member of the First Presbyterian church and one of its most earnest and zealous communicants. He is an elder and was clerk of the session for about six years. The Sunday school department finds in him a warm supporter, and has for many years. He was secretary of the Board for a while and is now leader of the men's class in the Sunday school. He was one of the founders of the Y. M. C. A. of Battle Creek, was on its first directorate and during the first year or so attended to the important duties of recording secretary. From the age of his majority Mr. Whitney has always been a stanch supporter of the Pro- hibition party, and is at present identified with the Progressive move- ment. He was a member of the Battle Creek Country Club the first two years of its existence, and has long been a member of the Michigan Engineering Society.
MARTIN H. GOODALE. One of the substantial and well ordered en- terprises lending to the commercial precedence of the metropolis of Cal- houn county is that conducted by the Helmer-Goodale Drug Company, which conducts both a wholesale and retail business. Of this corporation Mr. Goodale is now the executive head, and he has been long and prom- inently identified with the drug business in Battle Creek, where he is known and honored as a loyal and progressive citizen and enterprising business man.
Martin H. Goodale claims the historic old Western Reserve of Ohio as the place of his nativity and is a scion of one of the sterling fam- ilies of that favored section of the Buckeye state. He was born at War- ren, the judicial center of Trumbull county, Ohio, on the 28th of October,
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1861, and is the only child of Ebenezer H. and Mary H. ( Welch) Goodale, the former of whom was born at Glastonbury, Connecticut, and the latter at Warren, Ohio, where their marriage was solemnized. The father was a carpenter by trade and became a successful contractor and builder in Trumbull county, Ohio, where both he and his wife continued to reside until their death. He whose name initiates this review is indebted to the public schools of his native place for his early educational discipline, and as a youth of sixteen years he first came to Michigan. For a period of about four years he was employed on the farm of William Brown, one of the old and representative citizens of Pennfield township, Calhoun county, and later found employment in a drug store in Battle Creek, in which city he established his home when he was twenty-six years of age, having in the meanwhile passed a portion of the intervening period in Ohio. For one year he was a student in the Hahnemann Homeopathic Medical College, in the city of Chicago, and he then returned to Battle Creek, where he learned the drug business in the establishment of the late John Helmer with whom he continued to be associated for about ten years. Finally, in 1901, he opened the Post Tavern Pharmacy, in the fine hotel building erected in Battle Creek by Colonel C. W. Post, and this he conducted under the firm name of H. M. Goodale & Com- pany until he sold the stock and business to Frank L. Mc- Clintock, the present owner. Prior to establishing this enterprise Mr. Goodale had purchased the bankrupt drug business of Parker Brothers, and the enterprise was continued under the title of Wheaton & Goodale until sold to the present proprietor, Sidney Erwin. For a period of eighteen months Mr. Goodale was a traveling representative for the wholesale drug establishment of Nelson & Baker, of Detroit, and on the 21st of December, 1908, he became one of the interested principals in the organization of the Helmer-Goodale Drug Company. His partner, John Helmer, died on the 27th of April, 1911, and since that time the practical management of the business has been maintained by Mr. Goodale, whose thorough technical knowledge and distinctive administrative ability have been the forces which have developed the enterprise into one of most substantial order. They also maintain two branch stores, one at Bellevue and one at Climax, Michigan. Mr. Goodale is secretary of the Michigan State Pharmaceutical Association, of which position he has been the incumbent since 1910, and he is also identified with American Phar- maceutical Association and the National Association of Retail Drug- gists. He has attended the conventions of the latter organization and was a member of its auditing committee in 1911. Mr. Goodale is a stockholder and director of the Tampa-Cuba Cigar Company, of Tampa, Florida, and has local capitalistic interests aside from those involved in his drug business.
Broad-minded and public-spirited as a citizen, Mr. Goodale manifests a lively interest in all that touches the welfare of his home city, and while he has never had any predilection for public office he is a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party. He is affiliated with A. T. Metcalf Lodge, No. 419, Free & Accepted Masons, and also with the local organizations of the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Order of Moose, in which last mentioned he has served two terms as dictator. He and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church and are active in the affairs of the parish of St. Thomas' church. The drug establishment of the Helmer- Goodale Drug Company is located at 9 East Main street, and the attrac- tive home of Mr. Goodale is at 41 Post avenue.
On the 15th of January, 1892, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Goodale to Miss Zulla Wheaton, daughter of Hon. Robert D. Wheaton,
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a representative citizen of Charlotte, Eaton county, Michigan, where he served as mayor and where he was a prominent and influential factor in public affairs for many years prior to his death, his widow still main- taining her home in Charlotte. Mr. and Mrs. Goodale have one daughter, Elizabeth, who was born in Battle Creek and who remains at the parental home.
OLIVER CLARK JOHNSON. In the honorable roll of those life-long residents of Calhoun county who have done so much for the development of its resources, and among the worthy sons of pioneer families of this region we number among the foremost Mr. Oliver Clark Johnson, whose father and maternal grandfather were both noted pioneers of the region. The latter, Hasel White, was a native of New Jersey (born August 16, 1775) a soldier in the War of 1812, later a farmer in New York state and subsequently a settler on Government land which he bought in Marengo township and developed into an excellent farm. A Democrat and an ardent Methodist, his strong individuality left its stamp on the community. It was his daughter, Miss Mary Ann White-born in Mont- gomery county, New York, on January 16, 1809, and died, aged 89 years, who was the wife of Corren G. Johnson.
Corren Johnson was a native of Onondaga county, the date of his birth being January 26, 1806. He was a young man when in 1831 he located on section 17, Marengo township. Mrs. Johnson ably assisted her husband in the difficult task of making a home in those wilds, and her friends of today greatly value her recollections of that primitive era nearly three quarters of a century ago. Her husband was through- out his life a prominent personality in the community, to which he con- tributed much in civic, social and religious lines of activity. Politically, he was a sound Democrat. He was for two terms called upon to serve Marengo township in the capacity of supervisor, or assessor, as the office was then called. As a member of the Christian church, he was energetic and consistent in promoting its cause. When his death occurred in January, 1858, all Marengo township acknowledged the great loss they realized in the passing of so useful and capable citizen.
His son, Oliver Clark Johnson, began his earthly existence on the farm above referred to, on the fifteenth day of March, 1838. With the growth of the region which has always been his home, he has kept a steady pace, becoming identified with all its movements for better prosperity and higher standards. His education has been such as was possible under the primitive conditions of his childhood, supplemented by his practical use of opportunities which have come his way for further broadening. His youthful training in farm industry was of the great- est value in his actual life, for he has proved himself a worthy son of his father.
Mrs. Oliver Clark Johnson also comes of a pioneer family, having formerly been Miss Catherine Elizabeth Ackerson, a daughter of Ed- ward Ackerson, who was a native of New Jersey and long a resident of Marshall township, Michigan. His death occurred here in 1889 and his remains were interred in the cemetery which had been his own gift to the township. Mrs. Johnson thus shares her husband's prestige as a represen- tative of the first families of the section.
The Johnson home consists of one hundred and seventy-five acres of choice land in fine condition. Its state of cultivation is superior, its barns roomy and well-planned, its outbuildings numerous and commo- dious, its other improvements up-to-date and its management of a decidedly intelligent type.
In 1905 Mr. and Mrs. Johnson removed from the farm to a home. in
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Marshall .. They now occupy an attractive brick house, surrounded by spacious and well-kept grounds of about 121/2 acres. Mr. Johnson oc- cupies his time in looking after his various interests, enjoying social intercourse and keeping in touch with public affairs. He is a member of the Masonic order and a Knight Templar. He has held various offices of public service, including those of Township Clerk, Road Commis- sioner and Pathmaster, besides having represented his township as a member of the County Board of Supervisors: He is counted a man of superior calibre of mind and character, as well as one notable for his long connection with this locality. They have one child, Andrew and he resides at home.
JOHN C. SNYDER. In the life of John C. Snyder, one of the wealthiest and most influential farmer-citizens of Calhoun county, there may be found a lesson that will be of benefit to those who feel that circumstances have conspired against them-an example worthy of emulation by those who have allowed themselves to become discouraged by their misfortunes. Mr. Snyder is not only a self-made man; he is something more, for he has retrieved a lost fortune by steady and persevering labor, and has placed himself in a position where he commands the respect of his fellow- men and holds prestige in the world of business and finance. John C. Snyder was born in Albion township, Calhoun county, Michigan, October 2, 1856, and is a son of Phillip and Betsy A. (Snider) Snyder, natives of New York. His paternal grandfather, Abraham Snyder, took up 320 acres of land from the government, and was engaged in farming through- out his life. On the maternal side Mr. Snyder's grandfather was John Snider, a native of New York, who came to Michigan at an early day and spent the rest of his life following the vocation of a millwright. Phillip Snyder accompanied his parents to Michigan at an early period of the state's settlement, and was here educated, reared and married. His life was spent in agricultural pursuits, and he was also influential in Democratic politics, holding various township offices. He and his wife had a family of seven children, of whom John C. was the fourth in order of birth. The family was connected with the Methodist Episcopal church at Homer.
John C. Snyder was given the advantages of a district school educa- tion and was reared to the life of an agriculturist, but turned his attention to mercantile pursuits, and for ten years was engaged in business in South Dakota. Various circumstances over which he had no control caused the failure of his business ventures, and he finally lost all the money he had invested in the enterprises. Nothing daunted by his mis- fortunes, he settled down to make a new start in life, and succeeded in securing from his brother a tract of 160 acres of land in South Dakota, the greater part on credit, and so successful was this undertaking that he accumulated a tract of 1,900 acres of land, and when he left South Dakota, had a capital of $50,000. Thus financially equipped, in No- vember, 1902, he returned to Michigan, and purchased eighty acres of land in Homer township, there building a beautiful country home, and improving his property with substantial buildings, and stocking it with fine livestock. He now owns and operates 345 acres, not a foot of which is poor land, and in addition to carrying on general farming, engages extensively in buying and selling stock. For some time he was president of the Calhoun County State Bank, but at present acts in the capacity of vice-president of that institution. The leading characteristics of Mr. Snyder's life may be said to have been a persevering spirit that has led him to keep steadily on to his cherished goal, and a sturdy, courage- ous heart that has refused to recognize or admit defeat. With these,
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