USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > History of Detroit and Wayne County and early Michigan: A Chronological Cyclopedia of the Past and Present, Vol. II > Part 17
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instrumental pieces he wrote the "Glen Mary Waltzes," which for a quarter of a century were published by Oliver Ditson & Co. After graduat- ing in 1841 Mr. Willis went to Germany and de- voted himself to the study of musical science at Frankfort-on-the-Main. He completed an elabor- ate course in harmony and musical form under the direction of the venerable Schnyder von Warten- see, and in Leipzig a course on counterpoint and instrumentation with Hauptmann, Professor in the conservatory, and Cantor of the " Thomas Schule." Subsequently he had the good fortune to pass a summer in the Taunus Mountains in company with Mendelssohn, the poet Freiligrath, Gutzkow, the dramatic author, and the professor-poet, Hoffman von Fallersleben. Mendelssohn reviewed some of the work Mr. Willis had done with Schnyder, and revised his compositions. These manuscripts bearing Mendelssohn's pencil marks, together with a canon which the great composer wrote in Mr. Willis's album at parting, form a highly valued souvenir. While passing a winter in Homburg, Mr. Willis's familiarity with German enabled him to do some literary work for Gustav, the reigning landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, who conferred upon him a diploma with the honorary title of Professor.
Returning to America after six years of absence, Mr. Willis visited Yale College and for a time occupied himself with a class of tutors and pro- fessors who desired to practise colloquial German. He afterwards went to New York, where he became connected with the press, and wrote for the Albion, the Tribune, the Musical Times and the Catholic World. He subsequently bought and edited the Musical Times, which later on was consolidated with the Musical World. After some years he started a magazine called Once a Month. It was devoted to the fine arts. He also wrote a work entitled "Our Church Music," which met with high commendation from the London Athenaeum. He next brought out a volume of "Church Chorals " and numerous "Stu- dent Songs," and " Miscellaneous Lyrics." During the war he competed for a prize offered for the best national song, and his "Anthem of Liberty," to which he also composed the music, was pronounced best by the committee. Richard Grant White, in his subsequent collection of these songs gave it enthusi- astic praise. Mr. Willis afterwards wrote the song "Why, Northmen, Why?" and others of a patri- otic type which were rehearsed in schools and sung at public gatherings.
In 1851 Mr. Willis married Miss Jessie Cairns, of Roslyn, Long Island. Mrs. Willis died in 1858. Her pure and lovely nature is tenderly delineated in her husband's "Memorial," and the pages also con- tain lines from William Cullen Bryant, "Fanny Fern" and other eminent persons. In 1861 Mr. Willis
married Mrs. Alexandrine Macomb Campau, of Detroit. During a four years' residence in Europe, where he went for the education of his children, while residing in Nice, he collected his national songs and miscellaneous lyrics into a volume, entitled "Waif of Song," which was published by Galignani, of Paris. The first volumes of the book were sold during the Nice carnival of 1876, for the benefit of the poor, by Mrs. Willis, who presided over the American Kiosque in the public square.
While in Europe, Mr. Willis's three daughters Annie, Blanche and Jessie, married three officers of the United States flag-ship "Franklin," then lying near Nice, under command of Admiral Worden. Annie married Lieutenant Ward ; Blanche. Lieu- tenant Emory (since then widely known as com- mander of the "Bear " in the Greely relief expedi- tion); and Jessie, Lieutenant Brodhead, son of the gallant Michigan cavalry colonel in the War of the Rebellion.
During late years Mr. Willis has resided almost continuously in Detroit, and has devoted his time to literary pursuits, publishing among other works a volume of lyrics, entitled "Pen and Lute." In 1887 he was elected one of the Commissioners of the Public Library. He is thoroughly identified with the city, and his recognized ability, high social position and pure character, have made him a well- known and esteemed citizen.
ORLANDO B. WILCOX, Brigadier-General, and Brevet Major-General United States Army, was born at Detroit, April 16, 1823. He graduated from West Point in 1847, was appointed Second Lieutenant Fourth Artillery and served in the Mexi- can war as Lieutenant in Lloyd Tilghman's Mary- land Volunteer Battery, and in Lovell's Fourth Artillery Battery on expedition to Cuernaraca, Mexico, and in 1850 was with the same battery under General Sumner in his campaign against the Arrapahoe Indians, and was then on sea-coast and lake artillery service up to 1856.
During the Burn's Riot in Boston, in 1854, he rendered valuable service in preserving the peace. On January 1, 1858, he resigned his commission and commenced the practice of law at Detroit, and continued therein until the war with the South began. He was among the first to offer his ser- vices to the Government, and on May 1, 1861, was appointed Colonel of First Michigan three months' volunteers, and with his regiment left the city for Washington on May 13. He participated in the capture of Alexandria and Fairfax Court House, and at the first battle of Bull Run, on July 21st, commanded a brigade composed of the First and Fourth Michigan, the Eleventh New York Fire Zouaves, and the Thirty-fourth Pennsylvania.
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In this engagement he was badly wounded, cap- tured, and held as prisoner of war, being part of the time in the hospital at Richmond, at Charles- ton, S. C. Jail, Castle Pinkney, Columbia Jail, Libby Prison and Salisbury Prison as hostage for privateers, etc. He was released on August 18, 1862, and returned to Detroit on August 27. His return being anticipated, arrangements were made for giving him a public welcome, and it is safe to say that no such hearty and general welcome was ever before extended to any citizen of Detroit. There was an immense procession, arches were erected and an address of welcome delivered. In testimony of his gallantry at Bull Run he was appointed Brigadier-General August 20, 1862, to rank from July 21, 1861.
After his release he served with distinction at the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, in com- mand of the First Division of the Ninth Corps, and in command of the Ninth Corps at the first battle of Fredericksburgh. He marched in command of the Ninth Corps to Kentucky and commanded succes- sively the Ninth Corps and the District of Central Kentucky and the District of Indiana and Michigan during the drafts riots and Morgan's Raids, and the District of the Clinch, in Cumberland Mountains, East Tennessee, holding communication open be- tween Kentucky and East Tennessee, during the siege of Knoxville and successfully repulsing sepa- rate attacks at Walker's Ford and Strawberry Plains, and remained in command of the Division of the Ninth Corps to the end of the war. He fought in the battles of the Wilderness and at Spottsylvania ; was in skirmishes on the Talopot- omy, battle of Bethesda Church and participated in attacks on and operations around Petersburgh, and in actions on Norfolk and Weldon roads, and at Gurley House ; was at Pegram Farm and Hatcher's Run, and at the seige of Petersburgh, his division was the first to break through and receive the actual surrender of the city. He commanded the Detroit Department of the Lakes, with headquarters at Detroit, from December 26, 1865, to January 15, 1866. He was brevetted Brigadier-General for "gal- lant and meritorious service in the battle of Spott- sylvania Court House," and Major-General "for services in the capture of Petersburgh," and Major- General of volunteers for his participation "in the several actions since crossing the Rapidan." On January 15, 1866, he was mustered out of volunteer service and returned to Detroit. On July 28, fol- lowing he was reappointed in the regular service as Colonel of the Twenty-ninth Infantry, and was afterwards transferred to the Twelfth Infantry. From November, 1866, to March, 1869, he com- manded the District of Lynchburgh, Va. From April, 1869, to April, 1878, except fifteen months'
recruiting service as Superintendent, he commanded a regiment on the Pacific coast and then served in and commanded the Department of Arizona for four years and a half, suppressing Indian hos- tilities of Chimehuevas, Apaches, etc., in Arizona and Southern California, operating in New Mexico, on Mexican frontier, Colorado and Gila Rivers, etc., and received therefore the thanks of the Legislature of Arizona. From September, 1882, to October, 1886, he was in command of his regiment and post at Madison Barracks, New York. He was pro- moted to be a Brigadier-General on October 13, 1886, and assigned to command of the Department of the Missouri. On April 16, 1887, he retired from active service and returned to Michigan, stop- ping for a time in Ann Arbor and then going to Washington, D. C., where he is acting as Superin- tendent of the Army and Navy Bureau Department of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York.
In his earlier life he found time to indulge in lit- erary pursuits and is the author of stories entitled, "Walter March" and "Foca." He also wrote " Instruction for Field Artillery."
He was first married in August, 1852, to Marie Louise Farnsworth, daughter of the late Elon Farnsworth. His children by this marriage are Lieutenant Elon F. Wilcox, Sixth Cavalry, United States Army ; Marie Louise, wife of Lieutenant S. C. Miller, Twelfth Infantry ; Grace North, wife of E. T. Comegys, Assistant Surgeon United States Army ; Orlando B. W., Jr., law student at Univer- sity of Michigan, and Charles McAllister, cadet at Orchard Lake Military Academy. After the death of his first wife in November, 1881, he married Julia Elizabeth Wyeth, daughter of John McRey- nolds, of Detroit. They have one child, Julian Wil- cox.
HAL C. WYMAN, M. D., was born March 22, 1852, at Anderson, Indiana. His ancestors emi- grated to New England in 1638, and his father, Dr. Henry Wyman, was one of the early physicians of Michigan, and gained distinction not only by his successful practice, but more especially as a sani- tarian. He was the chief originator of the so-called "Swamp Land Laws " of Michigan, under which the swamps were drained and the healthfulness of the peninsula vastly improved, and among the early benefactors of Michigan there was no man, per- haps, to whom the inhabitants are more deeply indebted.
Hal C. Wyman was educated in the public schools and at the Michigan State Agricultural College. He began the study of medicine with his father, and subsequently attended the medical department of the University of Michigan, and
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graduated in 1873. He then went to Europe and studied medicine and surgery in the schools of Edinburgh, Berlin, and Paris, and on his return commenced practice at Blissfield, Michigan. Leav- ing Blissfield he assisted in the organization of the Fort Wayne Medical College, in Indiana, in which he held the chairs of Pathology and Clinical Surgery until 1879. He was then invited to Detroit to fill the chair of Physiology in the Detroit Medical College, and after a time accepted the same chair in the Michigan College of Medicine, and dis- charged the duties it involved until 1885, when he resigned in the interest of a large and in- creasing practice, which has since occupied his entire time.
In 1886 he was appointed by the Trustees of the Minnesota Hospital College, at Minneapolis, Special Lecturer on Surgical Physiology, and early in the same year Governor Luce, of Michigan, appointed him a member of the State Board of Charities and Corrections. The Michigan State Board of Agriculture conferred upon him the degree of Master of Science for researches and investigations in animal physiology. He is full of philanthropic zeal, and is the founder and President of the Board of Trustees of the Detroit Emergency and Accidental Hospital, one of the most useful humanitarian institutions in the city. He is also Professor of the Principles of Surgery and Oper- ative Surgery of the Michigan College of Medicine and Surgery, established in 1888. He is a member of the local State and National medical societies, and holds honorary titles from leading foreign medical and scientific societies. In all that pertains to medical science, Dr. Wyman is a close and thorough student, and is a notably successful prac- titioner. While familiar with the various branches of medicine, his special studies have been in sur- gery, and his writings and numerous scientific papers have been mainly upon surgical subjects. His practice is also largely surgical, and by his skill and success he has attained high rank in the profession, both at home and abroad. Profession- ally and socially he is one of the most genial of men, and society loses much from the unremitting labor which his large practice imposes upon him. He is thoroughly conscientious in his practice, care- fully, zealously and studiously considers the welfare of his patients, and is large-hearted in all his deal- ings with them. He has large capacity for the discharge of professional work, and is a ready, fluent, and effective speaker, as well as an able, scholarly, and vigorous writer.
He was married October 30, 1879, to Jennie L. Barnum, of Adrian, Michigan. They have three daughters, Gladys Prudence, Carrie Louise, and Jennie Abigail Wyman.
CHARLES CHESTER YEMANS, M. D., was born at Massena Springs, St. Lawrence County, New York, May 24, 1834. His ancestors were among the pioneers of New England. His grand- mother Yemans was a daughter of Judge Daniel Carpenter and sister of Governor Dillingham, of Vermont. His father, William Yemans, was born at Norwich, Vermont, in 1810. He was a builder by profession and erected rolling mills at Wyan- dotte, Chicago, Milwaukee and in other cities. His mother's maiden name was Nancy Lockwood. At the time of her marriage she was teaching school at Massena Springs.
The name Yemans is prominent among the origi- nal settlers of Taunton, Massachusetts, and Tolland, Connecticut, and as early as 1742, the name was spelled interchangeably Yemans, Yeomans or You- mans. The grandfather of C. C. Yemans moved from Tolland, Connecticut, to Norwich, Vermont, and from there in 1836, his son William Yemans moved with his family to Russell, Geauga County, Ohio, and thence in the following year to Chagrin Falls, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where the family re- mained ten years. His wife died at Chagrin Falls in 1846, and the next year the father removed to Cleveland, Ohio, leaving C. C. Yemans at the home of a farmer, where he was expected to work for his board and have the privilege of a few months' schooling during the winter. Not relishing this arrangement, the son during 1847 secured the posi- tion of cabin boy on board the screw steamer Bos- ton, Captain Munroe, plying between Buffalo and Chicago, and continued on the lakes for seven years, becoming acquainted, by actual experience, with all the hardships and privations connected with a sailor's life.
During the winter months of this period he lived for the most part at Chagrin Falls and attended the public school and Ashbury Seminary. In 1854, by means of money saved from his pay as a sailor, he entered a private academy at Chagrin Falls, conducted by the Rev. F. D. Taylor. From this institution he graduated in April, 1855, sailed part of the following season as master of a vessel and in the autumn began teaching a winter school in Flat Rock, Wayne County, Michigan. The fol- lowing summer he resided at Wyandotte, super- intending for his father the erection of the rolling mill at that place. The succeeding winter he taught school at Ecorse, and afterwards in Wyandotte and Trenton, pursuing as best he could the preparatory studies for the University. At this time valuable assistance was rendered him by Dr. E. P. Christian, of Wyandotte, with whom he began the study of Latin, and also by Dr. Nash, with whom he studied algebra and logic. In the fall of 1859 he began a classical course in the Ypsilanti . Union Seminary,
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under the tuition of Prof. Estabrooke, remaining two terms and then going to Dearborn, where he taught for one year. Returning to Ypsilanti he pur- sued his studies until the fall of 1861, and was then prepared to enter the University, but not having sufficient means he was compelled to abandon his cherished plan and instead thereof he entered the ministry the same fall as a member of Detroit Con- ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, his first pastoral appointment being at Southfield, Oakland County.
In the fall of 1862, before his pastoral term had ended, he volunteered as a private soldier, and was soon afterward mustered into the Union service as Second Lieutenant of Company D, Twenty-fourth Michigan Infantry, commanded by Colonel Henry A. Morrow. The Twenty-fourth Regiment was brigaded with the Second, Sixth and Seventh Wis- consin and Nineteenth Indiana, which brigade was known as the Iron Brigade, and took part in the battle of Fredericksburgh. In February, 1863, Lieutenant Yemans was appointed anaide-de-camp on the staff of General Meredith and acting assist- ant inspector general, and as such participated in the battles of Fitzhugh Crossing and Chancellorsville. After the battle he was taken ill with a fever and sent to Georgetown Hospital, and in July, 1863, to St. Mary's Hospital, Detroit. In August follow- ing, though far from well, he rejoined General Meredith at Cambridge City, Indiana, and after remaining about a month, his health continuing feeble, by the advice and recommendation of Ex- Surgeon-General Dr. Tripler, he resigned his staff commission, a step he has since regretted as ill- advised. After his resignation he resumed his. ministerial duties and was appointed pastor of the Methodist church at Minnesota Mine, Lake Supe- rior, and was subsequently stationed at Commerce, Plymouth, Negaunee and Ishpeming. At the two latter places he secured the erection of churches that now have large and prosperous congregations. In 1867 he served as secretary of Detroit Confer- ence, in session at Ann Arbor, and in 1870 was appointed associate pastor with Rev. W. X. Ninde. D. D., at the Central Methodist Episcopal Church, Detroit, and in this year Lawrence University, at Appleton, Wisconsin, conferred upon him the hon- orary degree of A. M.
Having previously studied and practiced under preceptors during his residence in the Lake Superior country by assisting the mining surgeons, during his pastorate at Detroit he continued the study of medicine in the Detroit Medical College and graduated in 1872. The same year he was ap- pointed city physician, served for three months, and was then appointed assistant surgeon under Dr. James A. Brown to the Detroit House of Correc-
tion, serving as such until 1876. He was then made surgeon-in-chief, a position he retained until 1880, when he resigned his commission in order to devote his time to private practice. During his term as assistant surgeon he rendered especially valuable service to the institution through two epidemics of small-pox. In 1873 he was appointed assistant demonstrator of anatomy, and in 1875 lec- turer on chemistry in the Detroit Medical College, and in 1882 was appointed United States Pension Surgeon. He was one of the organizers of the Michigan College of Medicine and held from the first the position of professor of diseases of the skin, resigning May Ist, 1887, for the purpose of devoting his entire time to special practice in derma- tology. He is a member of the Detroit Academy of Medicine and was its Vice-President in 1876, and in September, 1887, was elected President. He is a member of the Wayne County Medical Society, and was its President for two successive years ; and is also a member of the Detroit Medical and Library Association and of the Michigan Medical Association.
His practice has been general in its character, but has pertained largely to the diseases of the skin, a branch of medical practice to which he has given attention, and in the treatment of which he has been very successful. He has written several arti- cles pertaining to this subject which have been widely circulated and favorably noticed by several medical journals.
He is a member of Fairbanks Post No. 17, G. A. R, and of the military order of the Loyal Legion, and President of the Twenty-fourth Michigan Vete- ran Association. During the period of the great Chicago and Michigan fires in 1871 he had charge of the contributions made by the Young Men's Christian Associations of the State in aid of the sufferers, and was very energetic and successful in securing and distributing the needed goods and money which relieved thousands of cases. Of late years he has been an extensive purchaser of real estate in the northeastern part of the city, and numerous advantages in the way of new streets and other improvements have been obtained as the re- sult of his exertions and good judgment. While these improvements have contributed to his own financial advancement, his projects have been of a character to profit others also ; and as a business man his counsel is often sought. In 1887 he was the Republican candidate for Mayor of Detroit.
It is greatly to the credit of Dr. Yemans that he has obtained his position solely by his own exer- tions. He had neither patrimony nor influential friends to aid him, but he has been persistently studious and laborious, and these qualities have perhaps served him better than would other ad-
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vantages. During the years when he was slowly building up the present large practice, he made substantial use of his knowledge of Greek, Latin, German, and mathematics, supporting his family in part by giving private instructions to a number of young men in Detroit who have great reason to thank him for his patient care and attention. He has rare powers of persuasion, penetration and push, and has triumphed over obstacles that would have conquered hundreds of weaker spirits, but aided by a competent helpmate and with unfaltering courage, he has gone steadily forward, and though he may have enemies there can be no doubt of his ability to win and retain the friendship of many persons who are as warm and appreciative as any could desire.
He was married at Flat Rock, Michigan, in April, 1856, to Miss Mary Chamberlain ; they have had four children. Dr. Herbert W. Yemans, their
eldest son, was born in 1857; graduated from the Detroit Medical College in 1878, and the same year was appointed surgeon of the English steamship Palestine. Resigning his position when on the other side of the Atlantic, he entered the medical department of Strassburg University, where he remained a year and a half, becoming an accom- plished German scholar. He then returned to Detroit and for a year continued his medical studies. In July, 1877, he was appointed surgeon in the United States Marine Hospital Service, and was assigned to duty at Sitka, Alaska. He has made two voyages into the Arctic Ocean under the direc- tion of the government, and is now located at Galveston, Texas. A daughter, Thena, now Mrs. Robert Henkel, resides in Detroit. A son, Charles, was killed in 1875, in a railroad accident. A third son, C. C. Yemans, Jr., is in school at Saratoga Springs, N. Y.
CHAPTER XCIII.
JUDGES AND LAWYERS.
JOHN ATKINSON was born at Warwick, Lambton County, Canada, May 24, 1841. His father, James Atkinson, was born in Ireland, Janu- ary I, 1798, and was a man of liberal education and a surveyor by profession. He married Elizabeth Shinners in 1823. She was born in the County of Clare, near the city of Limerick, Ireland. Her mother, Lucy O'Brien, was a distant relative of William Smith O'Brien, the distinguished leader in the Irish Rebellion of 1848. In 1832 James Atkin- son, with his family, emigrated to the New World, first settling at Prescott, Canada, afterwards at Toronto, then at Warwick, and finally at Port Huron, Michigan. During the earlier years of his experience in the West, his profession afforded him but limited employment, and with all the vigor and energy of the early pioneer, he turned his atten- tion to clearing land. During the latter years of his life, especially while at Port Huron, where he located when his son John was thirteen years old, he devoted his time entirely to surveying. He had eleven children, nine of whom reached maturity. Patrick, the eldest, during the War of the Rebel- lion, was a member of Company C, Twenty- second Michigan Volunteer Infantry, was captured at the battle of Chickamauga, September 20, 1863, and died in Andersonville Prison, June 22, 1864. O'Brien J., the eldest living son, was the first gradu- ate of the Michigan Law School, and is practising law at Port Huron. Thomas is a carpenter, at the same place. William F., a lawyer at Detroit, served in the Rebellion as Captain of Company K, Third Michigan Volunteer Infantry. James J., also a lawyer in Detroit, was Adjutant of the regiment in which his brother William served.
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