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 81
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110
November 15, 1899, Mr. Kirschman married Miss Winifred Alles Fuhrman, daughter of John C. and Margaret (Alles) Fuhrman, of Muskegon. She is a native of Hersey, Osceola county, Michigan, and received her education in the Muskegon high school and at the Uni- versity of Michigan, while her husband was also a student there. Both her parents are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Kirschman have two chil- dren: Robert Everett, born at Houghton, Michigan, and Winifred Alles Oesterle, born at Hersey, Michigan.
ROBERT J. KELLEY. The death of Judge Robert J. Kelley, at Battle Creek, March 8, 1909, closed the career of one of Michigan's leading lawyers and public men. His accomplishments and his personality combined to make him a distinctive character in the life of the state. The closing years of his life were spent in Battle Creek, where he was one of the successful lawyers, and at the time of his death he was the senior partner in the firm of Kelley & Kirschman, the latter being now prosecuting attorney for Calhoun county.
Robert J. Kelley was born at Monroe, Michigan, September 3, 1843. His parents were John and Mary N. (Henderson) Kelley .. His father, a native of county Down, Ireland, came to America in 1814, and spent a number of years as a resident of New Hampshire. During
1153
HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY
his employment in a factory at Dover he met and married Miss Hender- son, who was a native of New Hampshire, and about 1838 they came west to Michigan, which was then a new state. He remained a resident of Monroe county until his death in 1868, having for a number of years been engaged in farming. His wife survived until 1871, and at her death left eight children. In 1861, when the Civil war broke out, there were four sons and six daughters in the family. All the sons entered the army, three of them becoming members of the Eighteenth Michigan Infantry, while Robert J. joined the Fifth Michigan Cavalry. Thomas, the eldest, gave his life to the Union, his death occurring near Lexing- ton, Kentucky.
On the old homestead in Monroe county, Robert J. spent most of the years of his boyhood, and was educated in the country schools and the high school at Monroe. At the age of eighteen he became a student at the Ypsilanti Seminary, of which Prof. Joseph Esterbrook was the principal. The following year, September 2, 1862, instead of returning to school work, he enlisted in Company K, of the Fifth Michigan Cavalry. This regiment, which made a notable record, and with the First, Sixth and Seventh regiments of this state constituted General Custer's brigade, the record of which has a place of distinction in the history of the war and was one of the fighting machines that made up the Army of the Potomac. Gettysburg, Brandy Station, Cold Harbor, Trevillian Station, the struggles in front of Petersburg and Dinwiddie courthouse were the most important battles in which Mr. Kelley participated. At the time of Lee's surrender, the Fifth Michi- gan occupied a place on the extreme left of Grant's army. Then fol- lowed the grand review in Washington, and soon afterward the regiment was ordered to Fort Leavenworth, and was finally mustered out in Detroit, July 3, 1865.
After nearly three years of military experience, the young veteran soldier resumed his academic course at Ypsilanti, and having completed it, entered the law department of the University of Michigan, where he was graduated in March, 1868, and soon afterward obtained his license to practice. Becoming a resident of Alpena in 1869, he began a successful career as a lawyer and for many years held a place of large influence in the Republican party. In 1877 the Alpena district sent him as representative to the state legislature. Two subjects of legislation in which he took a very prominent part are events in the history of the state. One was the bill, in the passage of which he was very instrumental, providing for the first state gravel road ever con- structed in Michigan. Another was the measure securing the school district organization for each township, whereby the public schools were placed under the central authority of a township board of trustees.
In 1888 his private practice was exchanged for judicial service through his election as judge of the twenty-sixth circuit, which included Alpena, Presque Isle, Otsego and Montmorency counties. At the close of his second term, December 31, 1899, he retired from the bench, and in May of the following year became a resident of Battle Creek, where he was engaged in practice until the time of his death. He was counsel for a number of the larger corporate interests of this city, and was also finan- cially interested in several manufacturing enterprises here.
As a Republican, Judge Kelley long exercised influence that consti- tuted him one of the leaders of the state party. He was a delegate to the national convention which nominated James G. Blaine in 1884. Especially during his later years his law practice was very extensive and he had the choice of a large clientage. He was past master of Alpena lodge No. 199, A. F. & A. M., was past high priest of Thunder
1154
HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY
Bay chapter, R. A. M., and was afterwards a member of the chapter at . Battle Creek, also Battle Creek commandery No. 33, K. T., the Detroit Consistory, and the Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Detroit. He served as commander of Farragut Post, G. A. R., at Battle Creek, and was also a member of the local lodge of Elks. After his death his extensive and fine collection of legal works was purchased by his partner, Mr. Kirschman, who has thus one of the best law libraries in Calhoun county.
In August, 1872, Judge Kelley married Miss Marion Rutherford, a daughter of Adam Rutherford, formerly a well known citizen of Alpena. The one daughter of this marriage is now Mrs. Mary C. Kelly, of East Orange, N. J. Mrs. R. J. Kelley is now deceased. She was a member of the Episcopal church during her residence in Battle Creek, and her husband was a liberal supporter of that church.
VICTORY P. COLLIER. It would seem as if a prescience had inspired the parents of the Honorable Victory Phelps Collier when they be- stowed upon him the cognomen of Victory, for his subsequent career was one long series of victories. He rose to high position in his city, county and state, and never knew from actual experience the meaning of defeat. As a matter of fact, however, his given name was the family name of his maternal grandmother. Mr. Collier was born in Victor, Ontario county, New York, on April 25, 1819. His father was Stephen Collier, an early pioneer of this region. To Victory was accorded such early education as could be acquired in the common schools of Victor, . after which he attended for a time the seminary at Lima, New York.
At the age of fourteen, owing to adverse circumstances, the boy was bound over for the sum of $50 a year to work in a dry goods store at Rush, New York. After remaining six months he left with his parents for Michigan on September 25, 1835. The trip was made by canal to Buffalo, thence by steamer to Detroit, five days being occupied in mak- ing the journey. At Detroit they secured an ox team and after travel- ing ten days arrived at Battle Creek, on October 16th. The senior Collier secured the use of two yoke of oxen in exchange for a barrel of salt in the latter part of November, and Victory P. Collier returned to Detroit for a load of household goods, which he succeeded in land- ing in Battle Creek in December. The weather was very stormy and. the cold intense, being coupled with very bad roads, and V. P. Collier never fully recovered from the injury to his health sustained on that journey.
The father located a piece of land four miles south of Battle Creek, which he sold in 1837, moving thence into a log house which stood off the main street of the village. Soon thereafter he bought government land in Barry county, and in the fall moved to Johnstown. As the country was an unbroken wilderness they were obliged to follow an Indian trail from Battle Creek, through Barry county. There were no white inhabitants in the region at that time. Mr. Collier's family was the first in Johnstown, and remained there until 1847. During this time V. P. Collier worked in the woods and was naturally entirely isolated from society.
At the age of twenty he was solicited to teach school, and with many misgivings consented to assume the responsibility. So successful was his pedagogical work during the three winter months that he re- tained the school during the two winters that followed.
His long, varied and useful public career was inaugurated in 1842 by his election to the office of sheriff of Barry county. He served one
1155
HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY
term in this office, and was later elected to the positions of school inspector and town clerk.
In September, 1847, when he was twenty-eight years of age, Victory P. Collier left home with only $2.00 in his pocket and came to Battle Creek, where he engaged for $10 a month as salesman in the store of H. Marsh & Company. The firm dissolved partnership in 1849 and Mr. Collier assumed the management of the business in connection with Mr. William Wallace. The latter disposed of his interests in 1855, and the firm became Collier & Coy. Owing to ill-health, Mr. Collier soon thereafter sold his interest to Mr. Coy, but bought it back after his re- covery, and the firm became Collier & Wallace, under which designation it continued until 1858, when on account of ill-health, Mr. Collier retired.
In 1861 he engaged in the hardware business and continued in the latter line for fifteen years. He was elected state senator in 1864 and became chairman of the finance committee, which position he retained when re-elected to the senate in 1866. During the first four years of Battle Creek's existence as a city, Mr. Collier represented the fourth ward in the city council. He was elected mayor in 1875 and served one term. During the war his services were invoked as an agent to raise means for filling the quota of troops from Battle Creek. He was a member of the Republican State Central Committee for many years, and did good work for the party. His influence and acquaintanceship extended far beyond the confines of his city and county, and in 1870 he was elected State Treasurer, being re-elected two years later. In 1875, just after completing his second term as state treasurer, he was appointed United States Minister to the Netherlands by President Grant, but declined to accept the office. In 1876 he was United States Centennial Commissioner to the Philadelphia Exposition, representing the state of Michigan. In the spring of that year the President offered him the position of United States consul to Frankfort-on-the-Main, in Germany, which, however, he declined. He was also offered the posi- tion of assistant-secretary of the Interior but declined it.
In the spring of 1877 he was elected Regent of the State University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. The day after his nomination he was ap- pointed Regent by Governor Croswell to fill the vacancy then existing, but in August resigned on account of poor health. He was later ap- pointed by Governor Baldwin as one of the inspectors of Jackson prison and filled the position with marked ability. In addition to his public services he was president of the First National Bank of Battle Creek, a position which he filled with dignity and with credit to himself and the institution for twenty-five years.
Mr. Collier was married in October, 1849, to Miss Minerva Pew of Battle Creek, the latter dying in 1861. Five children were born to them. For his second wife Mr. Collier married Mary Fitzgerald, their union occurring on March 18, 1866. They had one child. The second wife died on May 3, 1897. Mr. Collier passed away at his home at 140 Maple street, Battle Creek, June 28, 1898, leaving three sons and one daughter, as follows: William W., now of Pontiac, Michigan ; George, since deceased; Victory F., and Mrs. Jessie C. Mechem, the wife of Professor Floyd R. Mechem, of the University of Chicago.
It falls to the lot of but few people to attain the name and fame that were won by Victory P. Collier, and at the same time achieve a lasting place in the hearts of one's fellow citizens. Mr. Collier was prominently identified with Battle Creek for more than half a century and was regarded as one of Michigan's most distinguished men. At the time of his death he had been retired for some years from the scene of
1156
HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY
his former activities, not through any desire for a life of ease but on account of physical disability. He suffered from blindness and it was the trouble with his eyes that finally terminated his life. He was financially, politically and socially identified with the history of Battle Creek for a longer period than the average life time, and there is no name that is more highly honored.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN SPENCER. A man of versatile talents, full of vim and energy, Benjamin F. Spencer, of Tekonsha, Calhoun county, is an accomplished, genial, man, and a royal entertainer, catering to the tastes of the public both as owner and manager of a circus, and as an operator of a motion picture show. A native of Calhoun county, he was born, August 27, 1873, in Newton township, a son of Elijah Spencer. His paternal grandfather, Cyrus Spencer, who married Martha Willea located in Eckford township in pioneer days, and having purchased two hundred and forty acres of land was there employed as a tiller of the soil until his death, at the comparatively early age of fifty-six years.
Elijah Spencer was born, February 21, 1842, in Ohio, and as a boy of eleven years came with his parents to Calhoun county, Michigan, where he assisted his father in clearing and improving a homestead. Choosing farming for his occupation, he resided in Newton township until 1900, when he removed to Clarendon township, Calhoun county, where he is still engaged in his free and remunerative occupation. He married, in 1864, Sarah Wandall, who was born in New York state, June 4, 1841, and of the six children born of their union three are living, Benjamin F. being the youngest child of the household.
Obtaining his preliminary education in the rural schools of his na- tive district, Benjamin F. Spencer subsequently entered the Marshall high school. Much attention was given to the development of his nat- ural musical talents while he was a boy, and after he left the public schools he was sent to Toronto, Canada, where he took a full course in music. Mr. Spencer afterwards taught music for two years at Mullen's Conservatory, in Sarnia, Ontario. The following twelve years he was profitably engaged in the theatrical business, and at the present time is successfully conducting the circus which he owns during the greater part of the year, employing time during the winter seasons teaching music and operating a motion-picture theater.
Mr. Spencer married, in 1901, Maude Crowell, of Thompsonville, Michigan, a daughter of Frank and Beatrice Crowell, her father being a prosperous farmer of Benzie county. Their only child, Ila Spencer, is a pupil in the Tekonsha public schools. Politically Mr. Spencer is a Democrat. Fraternally he belongs to Coldwater Lodge, No. 1023, Be- nevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and to the Yeomen of America.
CHARLES AUGUSTUS STARK. A stretch of fair and fertile land that is neat and well-kept as well as productive is doubly a credit to its owner. Such a farm is that on which Charles A. Stark resides and which he manages, the property belonging jointly to him and his brother, A. D. Stark, whose life is reviewed elsewhere in these pages. His parents were George and Catherine Stark, of whom more detailed account is given in the sketch to which we have referred. He first opened his eyes upon life on November 9, 1854, his birthplace being Tompkins county, New York. His earliest years were spent in that eastern state, where his education was begun. He was twelve years of age when the family first sought this region, then practically a virgin wilderness, and the boy had his own share in helping to prepare it for its agricultural purposes, as well as in assisting with the buildings
1157
HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY
which were erected upon it. Such schooling as he was permitted to re- ceive after the family removal from New York to Michigan was secured in Burlington.
In young manhood Mr. Stark married Miss Clara Amelia Strong, the daughter of Nelson and Hannah (Chittenden) Strong, who were notably prominent farmers of Burlington, and who later removed to Kansas where they passed the remainder of their lives. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Stark occurred in 1879, and three children have come to them. The second of that number, George Nelson, is devoted to the pedagogic profession and is engaged in that work. Katherine Kaola is yet at home with her parents and Luella Clare the eldest, the wife of A. W. Wallis, resides in Litchfield.
Mr. Stark is a Democrat in his political theories, but with regard to local matters, his views take an independent color, with the best good of the community always the uppermost consideration. He is a mem- ber of the Maccabees, but beyond that has no other fraternal affilia- tions.
HON. ARTHUR D. BANGHAM, M. D. Aside from the important work which he has done for humanity in the line of his profession, Dr. Arthur D. Bangham is entitled to distinctive mention in this volume for other reasons. As state senator he has labored with patriotic zeal for the best interests of the commonwealth and has also been active in the promotion of some of the strongest fraternal organizations which have for their object the inculcation of principles which promote broth- erly kindness, mutual helpfulness, and which ameliorate many of the hard conditions of life. He is especially prominent and influential in community affairs and his senatorial service has also extended his labors to interests affecting the entire state.
Dr. Bangham is a native son of Calhoun county, his birth having occurred in Marengo township, November 8, 1859. His parents were Sandusky K. and Minerva E. (Hanchett) Bangham. The Bangham family is one of German lineage. Sandusky Bangham was born in York, Washtenaw county, Michigan, and was a son of John Bangham, a native of Newark, New Jersey, who as a young man moved to Somerset, Niagara county, New York, and there married a Miss Mead. After her death he married Mrs. Anna Emmons, who became the mother of Sandusky K. Bangham. John Bangham bought one hundred acres of the Holland purchase and engaged in farming in Niagara county. In his earlier manhood he had followed the trade of a tanner and prior to his marriage served his country as a soldier of the War of 1812. In November, 1834, he removed to Washtenaw county, Michigan, purchas- ing a slightly improved tract of land upon which he made his home and engaged in tanning until 1845, when he came to Calhoun county and secured a farm in Clarence township, making his home there until his death, and carrying on general agricultural pursuits. His wife, who survived him for some time, died in 1876.
S. K. Bangham was reared upon his father's farm, passing his youth, for the most part, in this county. He acquired a good practical education and after his marriage to Miss Hanchett he located in Marengo township, where he owned a farm upon which his death occurred in August, 1866. His wife was a daughter of David and Mary Hanchett, who were pioneers of Marengo township, coming to this county from Cayuga county, New York. The wife died on the home farm about 1858 and Mr. Hanchett, surviving her for some years, died in Marshall. Mrs. Minerva (Hanchett) Bangham survived her husband many years and never married again. Like him, she was a faithful member of the
1158
HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY
Methodist Protestant church of Rice Creek, and she died in February, 1903.
Supplementing his early educational privileges, received in the com- mon schools, by a course in Albion College, Dr. Bangham afterward engaged in teaching school and subsequently entered the office of the late Dr. Smiley, of Marshall, Michigan,-one of the leading physicians of this time in southern Michigan. A year later he matriculated in the medical department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and was graduated in 1882 as a member of the first class to complete a three years' course, each year embracing nine months of study. The degree of M. D. was conferred upon him at graduation, and he then entered upon active work of his profession. In the meantime he had received practical experience as one of the clinic assistants to Dr. Frothingham, professor of ophthalmology and otology.
Locating in Dexter, Washtenaw county, Michigan, Dr. Bangham there engaged in practice for a year, after which he disposed of his interests and together with Hon. J. T. Honey and Edwin Bennett, of Dexter, took a trip through the west, visiting Washington, Oregon and Cali- fornia. They investigated the conditions of the west, looking for an opportunity for favorable investment, and spent three months on the Pacific coast. On his return to Calhoun county, Dr. Bangham, in the autumn of 1883, purchased an interest in a drug store at Homer and also located for practice in that place, his professional connection with the town antedating that of any other physician of the locality. Later he became sole proprietor of the store, which he superintended in con- nection with the duties of a large private practice. He has kept fully abreast of the times in the progress that is being continually made by the medical fraternity and his reading and investigation have covered a wide range. In 1899 he took a post graduate course in the Chicago Polyclinic. Dr. Bangham was constantly called in for consultation, his professional confreres recognizing his ability, and the demands of a large private practice left him but little leisure. He is at present a member of the Calhoun Medical Society, of which he was at one time the president, and he is also a member of the State Medical Society.
Dr. Bangham possesses excellent business ability and keen foresight and in this connection has been the promoter of various interests of importance in trade circles.
In political circles in southern Michigan Dr. Bangham is especially active, prominent and influential, known for one of the leading repre- sentatives of the Republican party. While residing in Homer he was for a number of years village trustee and for two terms was village president, during which time the electric light plant was installed and the system of cement sidewalks was adopted, the village paying one- half of the expense of laying the walks. He was president of the Board of Education for one term and championed every progressive educa- tional measure. In the active work of the party his aid has been marked. He was a member of the county executive committee for a number of years, including the period covering the Mckinley campaigns. In 1900 he was elected senator from the Ninth District of the state, com- prising Calhoun and Kalamazoo counties,-one of the most populous and wealthy districts in the state. He received a plurality of nineteen hundred and six votes, the largest vote given any candidate on the ticket, and assumed the duties of the office January 1, 1901. He was a member of the following committees during that term: Asylum for the Insane at Newberry; Education and Public Schools; Reformatory at Ionia; State Lands; State University ; Saline Interests. During that term Dr. Bangham was actively interested in the passage of a number of im- portant bills and was the author of a bill providing for the institution
1159
HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY
of a psychopathic ward at the University Hospital, which was passed. This ward has been in successful operation for a number of years and is the only one of its kind under state supervision in the United States. The doctor was reelected in 1902 by a generous plurality and in 1903 he was made chairman of the committee on education and public schools and executive business and also on the committees on apportionment, asylum for the insane at Traverse City, industrial school for boys, state lands and the state prison at Marquette. He was the father of an im- portant bill on corporation laws which passed both houses and is now on the statutes as the Bangham bill. He also introduced a bill, and se- cured its passage, making it possible for each city and village to inspect their slaughter houses and meat supplies, which was received with favor by workers in behalf of improved sanitary conditions throughout the state. He also introduced another bill requiring undertakers to know something of embalming and the proper care of bodies, for the purpose of protecting the public health and for the further purpose of advan- tageous transportation of bodies. He was the author of the bill of 1901 and amended it in 1903, making this the first law governing undertakers of Michigan placed on the statute books of the state. It is estimated that during his term of service in the senate he has probably secured the passage of as many good bills as any other member of that body. In November, 1903, Dr. Bangham removed with his family to Albion, Mich., in order that his children might have the educational advantages afforded by Albion College, and he there engaged in the active practice of his profession. In 1910 Dr. Bangham was appointed to the position of postmaster of Albion, and he is still the incumbent of that important place. In that, as in all other of his undertakings, he has proved him- self a master hand, and the office has never been more capably adminis- tered than under his regime. He was for nearly sixteen years a mem- ber of the United States pension board of Marshall, and was president of the board for a number of years, when he resigned in 1910 to accept the appointment of postmaster at Albion, Michigan.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.