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 71
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On October 15, 1840, at Binghamton, New York, Mr. Brewer mar- ried Miss Emily L. Butler and brought his bride to his western home. To them were born six children, of which number George and Emma died in infancy. The others are Mary Eliza, now Mrs. Wheeler ; Charles D .; Edgar G. and Mark B., all of whom are residents of Mar- shall, and worthy representatives of the fine old name which their father established in this city seventy-five years ago.
For many years Mr. Brewer resided at the corner where now stands the Presbyterian church, but in 1859 moved into the new and elegant residence at the head of Eagle street, since known as Oak Hill, a place which has ever been noted for its warmth of hospitality.
Politically, Mr. Brewer was ever a Democrat. He was a man of prominence in Marshall all his life, and when the village was incorpo-
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rated in 1837, was chosen treasurer, and reelected to the same office in 1841, 1848-9 and 1850. He was village recorder in 1839, 1843, 1845 and 1846, and gave the best of service to the village in those offices.
Mrs. Brewer died October 29, 1887, some two years previous to the passing of her husband, and although almost a quarter of a century has flown on the wings of time, both their memories are still green in the hearts and minds of all who knew them in the years of their activity.
JOHN MCKINNEY. In the list of successful agriculturists of Cal- houn county, who from modest beginnings have risen to positions of influence and prosperity, mention belongs to John McKinney, who has a well improved farm of 222 acres in Sheridan township.
Born December 19, 1869, on the farm on which he now resides, John Mckinney is the fifth born of the eight children of his parents, John and Hessie (Hastings) Mckinney, the others being: James Boyd, born in 1857; Peter, born in 1860; William, whose birth occurred in 1862; Hessie; Mary; Isabel; and Samuel J. T. Both parents were natives of Ireland, where the father was born July 13, 1828, and the mother on April 21, 1882. John Mckinney, Sr., came to America, as a young man and a few years later was joined here by his parents, James McKinney and wife, both natives of the Emerald Isle, where the former was born April 7, 1806. He located first in Tecumseh county, Michigan, but later came to Calhoun county, where he purchased forty acres of land. He had been married in Adrian, Michigan, in 1856, to Hessie Hastings, and with her as his helpmeet he set about making a home. Determined and persevering, he prospered and through the energetic manner in which he conducted his agricultural pursuits he amassed a property which placed him among the most successful men in his vocation in Sheridan township. At the time of his death his original holdings had increased to one hundred and sixty acres, all the result of his own industry and ability.
In politics, Mr. Mckinney was a Democrat and he had served his township as treasurer, highway commissioner and supervisor. His re- ligious faith was represented by his membership in the Presbyterian church, and he maintained a membership in the Ancient Order of United Workmen in a fraternal way.
After pursuing his education in the local district schools, John Mc- Kinney, Jr., took up farming with his father. In 1902 he bought the interests of the other heirs of his father's estate, and it with other lands which he has purchased, forms his farmstead of 222 acres. He, too, is numbered among the successful farmers of Sheridan township, the lessons that he learned as a boy under the direction of his father having stood him in excellent stead in his pursuit of agriculture. Like his father, Mr. Mckinney is a Democrat and gives his allegiance to that party.
Mr. Mckinney married Miss Addie Peterson, a daughter of John Peterson of Jackson county, where he still resides.
NELSON EMMET SHERMAN. A man who will be remembered only by the older generation in Battle Creek, and whose remarkably promis- ing career was cut off in the flush of young manhood, was the late Nel- son Emmet Sherman, who at various times held positions of public trust and responsibility, and who had gained an enviable eminence in the ranks of the legal profession. He was born December 31, 1837, at Albion, Orleans county, New York, and at the age of fifteen years ac-
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companied his parents to Battle Creek, which city was his home during the remainder of his life.
Mr. Sherman pursued his scholastic and professional education in the schools of his adopted city, completing the required course and graduating from the high school. Sometime afterwards he entered upon the study of law in the office of the Hon. L. D. Dibble, and was admitted to the bar in 1864. While pursuing his professional studies, he was in 1861 elected to the office of city treasurer of Battle Creek, being successively elected in the following year, and in 1864 and 1865 held by appointment of the city council, the office of city attorney. He was also, in 1867, elected alderman from the First Ward, holding the office for the full term of two years, and in all these positions acquitted himself in a manner to retain the universal esteem of his fellow-citizens by the ability and fidelity with which he discharged the duties re- quired of him. After having acquired quite a large experience and a very promising position in his profession, Mr. Sherman entered into part- nership with Myron H. Joy, Esq., of Battle Creek, with whom he was associated in legal practice at the time of his death, January 8, 1872.
In 1867 Mr. Nelson was married to Miss Mary J. Hubbard, daugh- ter of the late C. B. Hubbard, of this city, and she now lives with their only child, Howard B., a well known manufacturer of brass goods of this city. Mr. Sherman was a man of remarkable uprightness, and besides being endowed with a peculiarly genial temperament, possessed those sterling qualities which caused him to share in an unusual degree the public confidence. His candor and fairness, as well as his readiness and fluency as a public orator, were gaining for him not alone a fine reputation as an attorney, but enabled him to wield much influence in the political affairs of the county and to be of great service in the political canvass in this section. His conscientious performance of duty, both in public and private was a conspicuous trait of his charac- ter and will ever be most pleasantly associated with his memory.
HOWARD B. SHERMAN. Twenty years ago was founded the H. B. Sherman Manufacturing Company, at Battle Creek, then a small com- pany manufacturing only several articles, and during this time has so increased its scope that today it is known as one of Battle Creek's leading industries. The founder of this large campany, Howard B. Sherman, is a business man whose accomplishments mark him as one of the section's most progressive citizens, and he has also the added distinction of being a native son. Mr. Sherman was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, June 14, 1869, and is a son of Nelson E. and Mary J. (Hubbard) Sherman, a sketch of whose lives will be found on an- other page of this work.
Howard B. Sherman was the only child born to his parents, and his education was started in the public schools of Battle Creek. On reaching his majority he gave his attention to the brass worker's trade, and in 1893 became the founder of the H. B. Sherman Manufacturing Company, of which he at that time was sole owner. In 1895 the busi- ness was incorporated as a stock company, and W. C. Robinson be- came a stockholder and treasurer. The business from a small begin- ning, when but one or two articles were manufactured, has enlarged to the present time, when a large line of steam fitters' and plumbers' brass goods is manufactured, many of the articles being patented specialties which were invented by Mr. Sherman. Among other items manufac- tured is a roofing nail, known as the "Simplex" nail, which is manu- factured in a separate factory on Kalamazoo street, erected and equipped for this particular purpose. A large business has been
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worked up on these roofing nails, which are sold in all parts of the United States and for which there is a growing demand. The company also operates a large smelting works in which is manufactured the ingot brass used in their regular line of work. This smelting works is also a separate factory building located on Kalamazoo street, and in this is manufactured both brass and copper ingot which is used by the con- cern in its own business and the surplus is sold on the outside. The present factory building was built in 1900, while the smelting works and nail factory were built in 1907 and 1909, respectively. There are employed in this factory from 150 to 175 hands steadily throughout the year. Mr. Sherman, the active head of this great enterprise, has at all times displayed remarkable business ability and commendable spirit, and is vice-president of the Central National Bank. Last year, through his efforts, the Country Club was reestablished and placed upon a substantial foundation. He is also a popular member of the Athelstan Club of Battle Creek and the Union League Club of Chicago.
On September 27, 1893, Mr. Sherman was married to Miss Ida May Mitchell, daughter of Robert Mitchell, of Battle Creek. They have two children : Marion Louise, at present attending Miss Sommer's school in Washington, D. C., and Nelson E., attending the Battle Creek pub- lic schools. The family residence is located at No. 121 Maple street.
CHARLES D. BREWER. On November 8, 1901, Charles D. Brewer, 'Gave his honors to the world again,
His blessed part to Heaven, and slept in peace."
However, his influence in the line of advancement and public spirit and his connection with such institutions as contributed to the mate- rial, intellectual and spiritual welfare of the community constituted him a factor whose personality will not soon be forgotten, or his use- fulness lost in effect. Mr. Brewer was born in Conneaut, Ohio, on February 22, 1839, the son of Francis E. and Chloe B. (Sheldon) Brewer, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Leonidas, Michigan. Francis E. Brewer migrated from his native New England to Ohio in company with his parents, in pioneer days, and when the movement of emigration began to take its direction towards the north- west they went on to Michigan, locating in Coldwater. After making their home in the locality mentioned for some time, they removed in the early 50's to Battle Creek and here the father secured employment with Adams & Smith, carriage manufacturers in the early days. Both parents died many years ago and are buried near Marshall, Michigan. These admirable citizens became the parents of three children, the sub- ject being the eldest in order of birth. The two daughters, Emily Frances and Mary died in young womanhood.
Mr. Brewer received such limited public school education as the early days afforded as a student in the schools of Coldwater and Bat- tle Creek. He also resided in Kansas with his father for a considerable period in his early youth, this being previous to the removal to Battle Creek. They went to that state for the purpose of taking up land, but times were so hard there and the difficulties to be overcome so great, that they decided to come back to Michigan. They located here about the year 1857. When young Charles was a youth of about fifteen years, he bade adieu to his desk in the village school room, and set forth like the proverbial hero to seek his fortune. He first went to St. Charles, Illinois, where he worked for a short time and then proceeded to St. Louis, Missouri, where he secured work with a Mr. Fisk, a whole- sale boot and shoe merchant of that city. Later his employers estab- lished a wholesale boot and shoe house in Chicago, under the firm name Vol. II-31
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of Fisk, Kirkland & Company, which was one of the best known con- cerns of its day and generation. Mr. Brewer worked for them for a time in that city and then worked for twelve months in Chicago in the commission business in association with his cousin, Correl Smith. Sub- sequent to that venture, Mr. Brewer returned to his boyhood home and took the management of the Battle Creek Journal, acting in the capa- city of business manager, and this office he retained for many years, much of the success of this well known publication being traceable to his excellent executive ability and unimpeachable business methods. He was also connected with the office force of the Advance-Thresher Com- pany for a number of years. He had a wide acquaintance in Calhoun county and enjoyed general esteem for his many good gifts of mind and heart. The demise of this gentleman, as mentioned in a preced- ing paragraph, occurred in 1901.
Mr. Brewer laid one of the most important stones in the founda- tion of his success by his marriage on November 29, 1865, to Miss Fran- ces Willard, daughter of the late Hon. George Willard, a representative and honored gentleman whose biography appears on other pages of this work. It was with Mr. Willard that Mr. Brewer was associated in the publication of the Journal, and it was after leaving the Journal that he became identified with the Advance-Thresher. The union of the subject and his wife was blessed by the birth of three children, all of whom survive him. Two daughters, Emily I. and Charlotte, reside in Battle Creek; and the son, Willard Brewer, is located in St. Joseph. Michigan where he is the publisher of the St. Joseph Daily Press. He was born and educated in Battle Creek and also attended the business college of this city. The girls are likewise natives of this city, and Charlotte, the younger, graduated from the high school in the class of 1889 and has ever since been one of Battle Creek's most efficient teachers. He was a member of Independent Congregational church, with which his family are connected.
Mr. Brewer belonged to the ancient and august Masonic Order, retaining his membership with a Chicago lodge, and never transferring it to the Battle Creek lodge. When residing in St. Louis, he became a member of the home guards of that city, known as the Hallack Guards and at the outbreak of the Civil war, they were sworn into service. They subsequently became a regiment, but Mr. Brewer did not re-enlist with his comrades. The Hallack Guards saw some hard service, situated as they were on the border between the north and the south. It is an interesting circumstance that in Winston Churchill's novel, "The Crisis," he made the captain of the Hallack Guards the hero of his story.
Mr. Brewer was associated with his father-in-law, the Hon. Mr. Willard, in the Journal office, for the decade between 1868 and 1878. He was sixty-two years of age when he passed to the Great Beyond and in the prime of his mental activity. He was genial and kindly, an interesting conversationalist, and the possessor of social and literary attainments of high order, He was, in very truth, one of Battle Creek's most highly esteemed citizens and his memory will long remain green in the community where he so long resided and was so well and favor- ably known. His wife died July 6, 1912 at her home in Battle Creek.
WILLIAM CONNOR. A man of advanced and progressive ideas, en- terprising and stirring. William Connor, a valued and eminently re- spected citizen of Marshall, has been one of the foremost in advancing the welfare of his adopted city. contributing generously of his time, energy and money towards projects conducive to the welfare of the
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community, and the good of his fellow-men. As a commercial traveler he formed a large circle of warm friends and well-wishers, and as a prosperous merchant in Marshall gained to a marked degree the con- fidence and esteem of his associates.
Mr. Connor was born in 1830, at Wakefield, England, a city lying a dozen miles, perhaps, to the south of densely populated Leeds. Pri- vate instruction prepared him to enter Queen Elizabeth's College, where he was educated under the Rev. Dr. Carter, at that time the distinguished head of that institution, from which he was duly gradu- ated. Brought up under such influences, he early turned his attention to work that was both useful and good. The first appointment that he received was that of superintendent of the Infant Sunday School of the Church of Saint James, a stepping stone, as it proved later, to gen- eral superintendent and treasurer, positions which he held many years. He also filled, to the eminent satisfaction of those who elected him, the office of Rector's warden, as well as that of secretary of the Saint James Temperance Society; and was likewise honored by being one of the first members of the English School Board.
In 1854 Mr. Connor took the degrees of Free and Accepted Masons, and subsequently became a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; of the Manchester Unity; the Independent Order of Fores- ters; the United Ancient Order of Druids; and of the Shepherds.
Years before, his older, and only surviving, brother had taken up his residence in Boston, Massachusetts, and in 1879 Mr. Connor came to the United States to visit him. Here the usual again took place. He liked America; he liked his American cousins, and he decided to take up his abode with them. This conclusion reached, be brought forward the recommendations that those who knew him were only too glad to furnish, and he soon secured a position to travel in Michigan for the firm of Michael Kolb & Son, clothing manufacturers of Roches- ter, New York.
In 1880 chance and circumstances brought Mr. Connor to Marshall, Michigan. From the moment he stepped into her confines he was pleased. Whether there was a fancied resemblance to the old city that had sprung up in the English meadows and spread over them, or wheth- er something about the welcoming streets that gave him a kindly greet- ing touched a responsive chord in his English heart has never been known, but he liked the place, and stayed there, and the old Scotch song that embalms in verse the fact that
"Maxwellton braes are bonny, when early fa's the dew,"
was realistic enough to find itself rising with increasing frequency to his willing lips whenever he thought of the American Annie Laurie whom he had found in one of. Marshall's happiest homes. There can be only one ending to the song as he had learned to sing it, and after he had lived in Marshall a year he married the girl whose "throat was like the swan," Malinda Ann, the daughter of Edward and Lavinia Ward.
Happily married and settled, Mr. Connor began life in earnest as an American citizen, and the many friends he made, whenever the thing was possible, pushed him to the front. He was the "most popu- lar man in town" and "lest he should forget" it they gave him a gold headed cane, so engraved, as a willing testimonial of the regard they had for him. The city needed an alderman-he had just the build for that official-and in 1889 he took an honored place among the city fathers of Marshall. Trinity Episcopal Church wanted a vestry- man, and who so well as this man, with his church training and church experience, could perform the duties of that office ? Indeed they all
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wanted him, and fortunate enough it was for all that there was enough of him to go round.
"Wilt thou?" said the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Daisy Lodge, No. 48, Grand Rapids; Knights of Pythias, Lodge No. 540, Owosso; the Knights of Maccabees; the Peninsular Club; and the church offices of the Good Shepherd, an Episcopal church at Grand Rapids; and he wilted. In them all he has shown himself to be the warm-hearted, generous, uplifting spirit which those horizon-widening organizations wanted, and knew he would be.
As a commercial traveler-that touch of the trading world which makes this man and the tradesman kin-he holds the same relation to his brethren that Mahomet held to the mountain. "If the mountain will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet must go to the mountain." For years the mountain of this special branch of trade has been stationary, and the traveling Mahomets have reversed the order of things, and have come to him. For twenty years Mr. Connor was connected with the same clothing house, at Grand Rapids, and for eight months of every year the principal part of his customers went from all parts of the state to Grand Rapids, where, at his quarters at Sweet's Hotel, he catered to their wants and wishes. It was one of those rare instances which shows, as nothing else so effectively can, that when confidence is once established between a salesman and his customers the implicit trust in his judgment and integrity will go where he goes, although it be to the very ends of the earth.
It would be an easy matter for the writer to end here the brief story of this successful salesman's life. A man, if he is what he ought to be, is something more than a thing that buys and sells for gain. True, there must be a man behind the bargain; but unless there are mind and manhood behind the man, the ring of the coin that settles the question of exchange is as sounding brass or tinkling cymbal, and, so far as real manhood is concerned, signifies nothing. There may be a glittering record of profits, and the bank account may reach far into the third period of numbers, but it too often happens that the amount, large as it may be, to represent faithfully the influence of the wealth- gatherer upon the community in which he lives, must drop its sig- nificant figures, and leave a line of noughts.
William Connor is not that kind of a citizen. He has bought and sold, but his neighbors in the meantime have not been forgotten. The public weal and he have been no strangers, and more than one com- munity has heard the sound of his voice, and has been benefited by heeding his opinion. An Englishman, he emigrated to the United States, but none advocate more strongly than he the measure and the principle behind it, that an indiscriminate emigration law has a strong tendency to interfere largely with the progress of the honest and in- dustrious workman.
As a churchman, he has made his influence felt. Tongue and pen have not been wanting in the expression of his opinion. While a com- municant of the church at Marshall, Mr. Connor advocated the free and unappropriated pew system, and it was introduced; and when years had burdened him with church honors, his only anxiety was to step aside to make room for younger men to be brought into church work.
Fraternal organization threw wide open to him its genial doors, and good will on the threshold gave him a welcoming hand; but when he had settled down into its routine, no opinion ever received more respectful consideration than his. If a lodge was to be christened, he christened it; and the wonder was that he alone should hit upon the only appro-
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priate name for it. He is a member of many fraternities, because he believes in fraternity, and says so. When asked what he thought of the Knights of Pythias, he answered that Pythianism, a thoroughly American organization, is making great progress, and doing as much good as any fraternal order to alleviate wickedness and vice; that so beautiful and tender are its teachings, that it has found its way into Europe, and will soon have lodges throughout the world. Believing this, Mr. Connor is a consistent Pythian, and so leaves the seal of his own character upon any organization to which he belongs.
Like Othello, Mr. Connor has "done the State some service." He became an alderman of the city of Marshall for just that purpose. He was found to be a man with practical ideas, and, given the opportun- ity, they asserted themselves. The city was behind the times, and he knew it. He advocated the purchase of the Perrine Water Power, and of the putting in of the electric light system, averring that all such possessions should be the property of the city. An injunction alone restrained the issuing of bonds for this purpose; but two years later, when the city had caught up with the advanced ideas of its ahead-of- his-time alderman, it became the owner of the great water power; is today the owner of its electrical light plant; and is putting in a sys- tem of sewerage which-when done as it should, and probably will be- will be a blessing to the town's prosperity, Mr. Connor believes, being of more benefit than giving bonuses to induce manufacturers to locate here-a system, speaking from his own experience, that is "a fraud upon the citizens." So declares the business man as an alderman, and so stands the record of a man who has left his impress upon the town which he has aided with his helpful citizenship.
The pleasantest truth to write opposite Mr. Connor's name is his loyalty to America. He remembers-none more tenderly than he-the beautiful land he has left; its mist-mantled coasts and sun-flooded splendors of summer sea; its wind-swept uplands, and its spreading meadows, daisy-pied and checked with hedges of blossoming hawthorn; rivers that wind by crumbling tower and ivy-mantled castle rich in tradition of prose and song; and more than all the home, "and every loved spot which his infancy knew," and, loving not England the less, but America more, he has not tried to turn a corner of the United States into a bit of "Merrie England," nor to here carry out any of the old ways and traditions. The Queen is still the Queen to him. God bless her, but he uncovers his head as loyally to the United States. England's history is his history, but the splendid record of her heroes does not dim the deeds of Washington, whose name he reveres, and, hat in hand, he is glad to do honor to the patriotism of this country, the land of his adoption, which has won and has sustained this coun- try's freedom, and there is no pleasanter ending to this narrative of life, as worthy as it has been useful and interesting, than these three lines which the hand of the successful salesman has written down :
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