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 55
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In 1870 some 25 members went out from the Evangelical Lutheran Church and under the past- orate of Rev. Frederick Zimmerman formed this church, which was organized May 14, 1870. A lot was presented by the Eureka Iron Company, and a church erected costing $7,000, and seating 400.
It was dedicated in June, 1872. Mr. Zim- merman was succeeded on August 17, 1875 by Rev. P. Vontobel followed in June, 1877, by Rev. Theo. Munzert; in July, 1879, by Rev. J. G. Fetzer; in April, 1885, by Rev. Julius Schuman ; on March 10, 1887, by Rev. F. Smidt. In 1880 the parish numbered 75 families, and now in- cludes 130 families, representing about 800 per- sons. In connection with the church there is a parochial school in charge of the pastor, and hav- ing about 100 pupils. The value of the church . property, including the pastor's residence and the school-house, is about $9,000.
Societies.
Wyandotte Lodge, No. 170, F. & A. M., was organized January 30, 1865.
E. B. Ward Lodge, No. 172, I. O. O. F., was granted a charter on November 18, 1871.
Wyandotte Council, No. 321, Royal Arcanum, was instituted May 2, 1879.
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Turner Lodge, No. 563, Knights of Honor, was instituted March 14, 1877.
Wyandotte Branch, No. 36, C. M. B. A., was organized July 25, 1886.
Division No. 3, A. O. H., of Wayne County, came into existence October 23, 1882.
Iron City Lodge, No. 73, A. O. U. W., was insti- tuted May 4, 1880.
Eureka Assembly, No. 6056, Knights of Labor, held its first meeting March 14, 1886.
Eureka Conclave, No. 41, Royal Adelphia, was instituted May 16, 1887.
The Arbeiter Verein was organized November 10, 1872.
The Wyandotte Courier.
This paper was independent in politics, and de- voted to the interests of the county, literature, agri- culture, etc. It was first issued on June 5, 1867, and was the first newspaper ever published in the Iron City. The office was in the second story of the Farnsworth Block, where the city hall is now located. J. Lee & Company were the publishers. It was issued Thursdays, at $2 a year. The office was destroyed by fire in July, 1867, with a loss of $3,100. The paper was started up again on a small scale, but the great strike of the rolling mill men that year compelled its suspension.
The Wyandotte Enterprise.
This was published by Daniel E. Thomas, who at that time was superintendent of the public schools. He did the editorial work, O. T. Brinton furnished the financial backing, and A. Griffin did the mechanical work, the firm name being Brinton, Thomas & Griffin. The paper was soon left on the hands of Mr. Griffin, who, with Morgan Bates, Jr, published the paper about two years. Mr. Bates' interest was then purchased by John E. Nellis, and the publication was continued until 1878, when the establishment was moved to Detroit, and the name changed to the Wayne County Courier.
The Wyandotte Herald.
This was first issued on January 2, 1879, under the management of G. W. Owen. In October, 1880, Frank S. Abbott, of the Richmond Re- view, purchased the paper and continued it until August 25, 1882, a part interest being held from October, 1881, until January, 1882, by Virgil Miner, of Jonesville. On August 25, 1882, S. H. Egabroad assumed control, and with his son Henry continued the publication until July 2, 1886, when J. D Haven purchased the paper. It is published every Friday, at $1 per annum. In connection with the Wyan- dotte edition, the same matter is published as the Flat Rock Herald and also as the Carlton Herald.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
JEROME HOLLAND BISHOP was born at Oxbow, Jefferson County, New York, on September 3, 1846. His father, Wm. Bishop, was a descendant of the Bishops who settled near Springfield, Massa- chusetts, before the Revolutionary War. His mother, Betsey Jerome (Stearns) Bishop, was from near Syracuse. Her mother was a sister of Judge Jer- ome, of Palmyra, New York, and aunt to Leonard, Lawrence and Addison Jerome, of New York City, men well known on both sides of the Atlantic. Mr. Bishop's boyhood and the years of his early manhood, were spent at Redwood, New York, to which place his parents removed when he was four years old. He received a thorough education in a private academy, and at the early age of fifteen be- gan teaching school. The first school over which he presided was at the village of Chippewa Bay, on the St. Lawrence river. At eighteen he was su- perintendent of the village schools of Redwood. He next taught at the Lowville Academy, and then in Dyrenfurth College, Chicago. When but twenty-two years old, he was made superintendent of the village schools of Decatur, Michigan, coming
to Michigan in the winter of 1869. From Decatur he went to Wyandotte, as superintendent of the schools of that city, holding the position from 1871 to 1875. Up to this time. Mr. Bishop had always been engaged in the profession of teaching, with the exception of two years as head clerk in Sterling and Mosher's bookstore, in Watertown, New York, and a year as book-keeper in Memphis, Tennessee. He now determined to seek some other occupation which furnished a wider field for his energy and a greater reward for his activity. Commencing in 1875 with the manufacture of wool dusters, sheepskin mats were added in 1878, animal skin rugs in 1884, and Asia Minor angoras and China goat skin rugs and robes in 1888 and 1889. There being no one in America, except those engaged in the same busi- ness in New York, who knew how to manufacture these goods, Mr. Bishop was forced to depend entirely upon himself, and was compelled to orig- inate every method and to invent every process ; and in this lay the secret of his ultimate success, as his methods finally became the best in the world, and were known only to hiniself. The
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RESIDENCE OF JEROME H. BISHOP. Wyandotte, Mich.
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struggle was long and often doubtful, but after fif- teen years of perseverance, he has now the satis- faction of making the finest goods in his line in either Europe or America, and of having the larg- est works of the kind in the 'world. In politics, Mr. Bishop is an ardent Republican. He was, twice elected Mayor of Wyandotte, serving in 1885 and 1886. Such was the satisfaction given by his first administration that he was elected the second time without opposition, being supported by Re- publicans and Democrats alike. For several years he was a member and president of the Board of Education. It was through his efforts, whilst Mayor and President of that board, that the public library and reading room was established, and largely by his means it was furnished with books, and he still gives largely to its support. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and for the past fifteen years has been superintendent of the Sunday School. A liberal giver to his own church, he is also noted for his generosity to all churches in need of aid.
He was married in 1867 to Jennie Gray, at Red- wood, New York. She died at Wyandotte, in 1873, leaving a daughter, named Maud. In 1876 he mar- ried Ella Clark, of Wyandotte, daughter of I. S. Clark. His family now consists of himself and wife, his daughter, his son Clive, aged 12, and Della and Mabel, aged nine and six years respectively. His residence, lately erected, is the finest and largest in the city, and in every way an attractive and pleasant home. Mr. Bishop is one of the most popular men in the city, approachable, generous and kind-hearted. The good fortune which has attended his efforts is used for the good of others as well as for himself, and kind and genial to all, he dispenses with liberal hand the profits annually received from his business. Strong in his determinations, energetic in action, firm in his friendships, public-spirited and upright, he is a good citizen, an invaluable friend, and has fairly won the favors which kind fortune has be- stowed upon him.
GEORGE CLARK was born in the town of Kingston, Ontario County, New York, on March 9, 1804, and died at Ecorce, Wayne County, Michi- gan, on October 14, 1877. His grandfather, Watt- rous Clark, was a native of Norwich, Connecti- cut, where he was born on June 20, 1742, and where he died in 1822. His wife, Lucy, was born on November 9, 1741. At the outbreak of the War for Independence, in 1775, Wattrous Clark was one of the first patriots to respond to the call of his country. He distinguished himself for his bravery, and was engaged in most of the early battles, in- cluding those at the siege of Boston and the battles of Bunker Hill, Trenton, Princeton, New York,
White Plains and others. He drew an officer's pen- sion until his death. His son, Charles, aged eigh- teen was in active service at New London and at the massacre of Croton Heights. The gun which he carried in those conflicts attracted much atten- tion at the Centennial exhibition, held at Croton Heights on September 6, 1881.
John Clark, the son of Wattrous and the father of George Clark, was born at Norwich, Connecti- cut, on Nov, 14, 1777, and died in Brownstown township, Wayne County, Michigan, on February 22, 1827. His mother, Sally (Person) Clark, was born in Brunswick, New York, June 1, 1780, and died at Buffalo, New York, April 18, 1813. John Clark married his second wife, Sally Swain at Buf- falo, on November 10, 1813. She was born at Buf- falo, October 25, 1786, and died at Brownstown in July, 1859.
John Clark was an active participant in the War of 1812, and was captain of a troop called Sauger- ties Rangers. His family at that time were living at Black Rock, New York, where they were de- spoiled by the enemy of nearly all that they posses- sed. It was amongst such exciting events that the late George Clark passed his youth. Amongst the many reminiscences of those times, Mr. Clark was particularly fond of relating how, on one occasion, when a party of American soldiers were eating at their house, their meal was suddenly brought to a close by a cannon ball fired by the enemy, which entered the room and cut off two of the table legs, but harmed no one. In connection with this war, Mr. Clark loved to relate how he and his brothers rolled cannon balls down a hill to the soldiers to be loaded on the boats His boyhood was spent at Kingston, Buffalo and Black Rock, New York and at Rocky River, near Cleveland, Ohio. The family came to Ecorce in 1819. and soon after went to live in a log house just below Wyandotte. From there they moved to Brownstown township, but most of Mr. Clark's life was spent at Ecorce. He was extensively engaged in farming and fishing, and as one of the pioneer fisherman of the lakes, he probably did more than any other man to develop and bring to its present high state the great fishing interest of the northwest. In 1833 he obtained . possession of Grassy Island, in the Detroit River and erected thereon large fisheries. He also oper- ated fisheries in Ohio, at Maumee, on Lake Huron, at Fort Gratiot, at Belle Isle, and on Fighting Is- land, in the Detroit river. He was not, however. merely a fisherman ; he made the life and habits of the different fish a subject of much study and held high rank as a pisciculturist. Early realizing that the waters of the great lakes would soon be depop- ulated of their inhabitants, unless something was done to offset the great annual losses, he was one of
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the first and most strenuous advocates of the artifi- cial propagation of fish. Owing to his abundant knowledge concerning fish and their habits, he was enabled to render much aid to Prof. J. W. Milliner, Deputy United States Fish Commissioner, and as- sisted him very materially in collecting specimens of the diffe ent varieties of fish that have their home in the waters of the great lakes. When the State Fish Commission was organized in 1873, Governor Bagley appointed him one of the commis- sioners, and his extensive practical knowledge was of very great value to the State. He held the of- fice of Fish Commissioner until the time of his death in 1877. Outside of his regular avocation of farming and fishing, Mr. Clark found his greatest pleasure in perfecting different devices which had originated in his fertile brain, and he invented what is known as Clark's Metallic Life Raft, now in gen- eral use on the lake steamers.
Although leading an unusually busy life, he found time to give to literary work, and wrote sev- eral articles for Professors Agassiz and Baird, on the different varieties of Michigan fish, and also supplied them with specimens. The Michigan Farmer, of Detroit, for a number of years received many valauble articles from his pen. Politically he was an energetic and zealous Republican from the organization of that party. During the War of the Rebellion, he spent considerable money and time in forwarding provisions and clothing to the Michigan soldiers, and also cared for and relieved from want many soldiers' families. He never held any office except the one already named, and though frequently urged to accept various positions he always declined. In 1874 the Republican Con- vention, assembled at Wyandotte, unaminously nominated him for representative in the State Legislature, but despite the flattering manner in which the nomination was tendered, he refused to become a candidate. He was eminently a self-edu- cated man, having received but little education in schools, and his success in life was due to his own inherent energy and ability.
An intimate friend of Mr. Clark's describes him as " a man of remarkable force of character, of strong purposes and of great self-reliance. His business enterprises almost always of a conservative order, were carefully managed, and his property, of which there was considerable, was left in a good condi- tion He was public-spirited and progressive to a high degree. He had his peculiarities, as all men have. who, with small advantages, and amid many obstacles, rise by their own efforts to positions of prominence and influence, but these did not lessen the high respect in which he was held in the county and State, and wherever he was known. Beneath his brusque exterior there was a kind and most
considerate heart. He was a man of unswerving integrity and rare good judgment. Simple in his habits, and by nature unostentatious, his rise to the position of universal confidence and esteem which he occupied is attributable solely to his sterling worth."
He was married at Ecorce in 1837, to Eleanor Sutliff, who was born at Salem, New York, Jan- uary 6, 1812, and died at Ecorce, March 19, 1849. They had five children, viz., Catherine, born in the township of Brownstown, November 15, 1838, and died at Ecorce, August 23, 1870; Annie R., born in Brownstown, November 22, 1840; Eleanor, born at Ecorce, November 26, 1842; Edith E., born at Ecorce, May 20, 1845 ; Laura J., born at Ecorce, on September 17, 1847.
Mr. Clark married his second wife. Orpha Wright, on July 17, 1851. She was born in the State of New York in 1826, and died at Ecorce in 1854. They had two children, namely, Charlotte O., born at Ecorce, October 6, 1852, and Clay W., born at Ecorce, in March 1854, and died in September of the same year. On January 10, 1856, Mr. Clark married Rebecca J. Widner, who was born at Chili, Mon- roe County, New York, on September 19, 1827. She is still living at the family homestead in Ecorce. The children of his last marriage were Florence C., born April 12, 1857, and died September 28, 1883; Carrie E., born December 16, 1858, and died Jan- uary 6, 1880 ; Frances G., born April 4, 1861 ; George, born November 22, 1863 ; Mabel M., born July 19, 1866, and Jessie L, born October 23, 1869, and died March 14, 1872.
THOMAS D. EVANS is a native of Wales, and was born in the thrifty manufacturing town of Blaina, Monmouthshire. This county, though in- cluded among the English countries for over half a century, is considered a part of Wales ; nine-tenths of the population talk the vernacular, and are thoroughly Welsh.
George and Ann Evans, the parents of Thomas D. Evans, after their marriage settled at Blaina, on September 28, 1847. George Evans was a native of Monmouthshire, and was born in the village of Varteg, seven miles from Blaina, on June 20, 1818. His parents were also natives of the same place, and the family can be traced back on the parish records for several generations. They were prominent in local affairs, and well known as of great integrity. Ann Evans was born at Bryn Maur, five miles from Blaina, in the county of Brecon, on September 22, 1827. She also descended from a long line of Welsh ancestry. Her father, James W. Jones, was a min- ing superintendent and contractor, and his ances- tors were among the oldest and most prosperous, as well as respected, of the inhabitants of the parish.
Durante
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When Thomas D. Evans was only six months old, his parents decided to emigrate to America, and on March 10, 1848, they left Newport on the sailing vessel Erin, and after calling at Bristol and Liverpool, on the 16th were fairly on the ocean bound for New York The voyage was an un- eventful one, with the exception that there were four births and seven deaths during the passage, and on April 20, 1848, they arrived at Staten Island. The family left New York the following month for Pittsburg, the journey being made prin- cipally by canal and over the old gravity roads across the mountains, three weeks being consumed in the trip. They settled at Stewart's Town, now known as Etna Borough, opposite Pittsburg, which, even at that time, was the centre of the iron trade of America, and George Evans was soon enrolled among the toiling thousands in that city. Being an experienced heater and roller, he had no diffi- culty in obtaining good work, and he worked for the firm with whom he began, Messrs. Spang, Chal- fant & Co., until his death, on June 1, 1886. He was the first tube and pipe welder west of the Alleghenies, the tube works of Messrs. Spang, Chalfant & Co., being the third built in the United States. He was the father of eight children, five of whom had grown up before he died ; two he had followed to the grave. Of the children Thomas D., was the only one born in the old country, the re- mainder being all born in Etna Borough. The sons were brought up to work in rolling mills, and all who are living are still working in different capacities in such mills. The widowed mother is still living, and is a most devout and consistent member of the Baptist Church at Etna, known to the entire community for her many deeds of char- ity and benevolent acts. She is in the enjoyment of excellent health, very active, and promises to be a source of much comfort to her children, and a pillar in the church of her faith for some years yet to come.
The school days of Thomas D. Evans were un- eventful. He was attentive to his lessons, but left school when nearly fifteen years of age to enter the rolling mills of Messrs. Spang, Chalfant & Co. When he entered the mills to commence the battle of life, the country was in the vortex of the great Civil War. The impetus that the war gave to the iron industry of the country was something marvel- ous, and the skilled and experienced ironworkers found ready and lucrative employment, the higher and best paying branches being much sought, roll- ing in particular, especially in guide mills, which paid the highest wages, To attain this latter posi- tion was Mr. Evans' ambition, when he first entered the mill. For the first few years he worked in vari- ous positions, gradually rising from one position to
another, until finally, after five years, he succeeded to the position of roller, which position he held the succeeding seven years.
In June, 1864, when in his seventeenth year, a call being made for volunteers for a hundred days for the defense of arsenals and towns bordering the scenes of action in the East, he, to the amazement of his parents, presented himself before them, dressed in uniform and ready to march. His short service was spent at Harrisburg, Pa., and Wilming- ton, Del, the company being discharged at the end of the hundred days, and he returned home and again entered the mill The taste of military life, short though it was, had determined him to again enlist should the war continue the coming Spring. He did not wait till Spring, but in 1865 enlisted in Company K, Sixty-first Regiment of Peunsylvania, for the defense of Washington. During his service, which lasted until the surrender of Lee, he participated in the siege of Petersburg, went through many thrilling and exciting marches, and was honorably discharged on June 28, 1865, and returning home resumed his tongs at the mill.
He filled the position of a roller for seven years at Spang, Chalfant & Co.'s mill, and then, being ambitious to advance, he accepted a similar position in the Sharon, Mercer County, Pa., Rolling Mills, where he remained two years. He then returned to Pittsburg to occupy a position in the mills of Lewis, Dalzells & Co., and remained a year, leaving the mill to engage in the manufacture of mill lubri- cators, in which business he engaged for another year, at the end of which time he again accepted and resumed his old position at the Sharon mills. At the end of another year he was given charge of the guide mill, a different and much more important branch of rolling, and the most advanced process then in use in iron and steel mills. After a year's work in this department, he received a call from the well-known mills of Lewis, Oliver & Phillips, of Pittsburg, which he accepted, but had not been there many months when he received a very flatter- ing offer, by telegram, from the Eureka Iron Com- pany, of Wyandotte, Michigan. He accepted their offer, and on May 13, 1879, commenced work at Wyandotte as head roller in the merchant depart- ment of the works, taking full charge of the guide and bar mills. Here he has since remained, and by strict and faithful attention to his duties, secur- ing complete and entire satisfaction in the various grades of iron passing through his hands, he soon won the confidence and esteem of the corporation, and after six years' services as head roller, on April 2, 1885, the President of Eureka Iron and Steel Company offered him the superintendency of the entire mill, which position he now occupies. As
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Superintendent he has given unqualified satisfac- tion, both to his employers and to the men under his control. Always prepared to guard and protect the interest of his employers, he is equally as zeal- ous in defending the just rights of the men. Cool, level-headed, with a keen eye, fine discriminative powers, and possessed of good common sense and practical ideas, he has received and retains a wide popularity.
He was married on January 1, 1867, at Pittsburg, to Cecelia Whitman, of Kitanning, Armstrong County, Pa. Mrs. Evans comes from a long line of Pennsylvania Germans, a distinct race of people noted for frugality, thrift and morality, who have stamped their individuality and character upon the social institutions of the State. Mrs. Evans' father, John K. Whitman. was born in Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania, and her mother, previous to marriage, was a Miss Rachel Stewart, of Indiana township, Pennsylvania Mr. and Mrs. Evans have had five children, namely, John A., born March 28, 1871 ; Henry S., born August 7, 1873; A. Burdette, born December 24, 1875 ; Elizabeth M., born June II, 1879 ; and Thomas D., born December 7, 1881. With the exception of the last named and the young- est, who was born in Wyandotte the other four were born in Etna Borough.
Mr. Evans became a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Etna Borough, Pa., when twenty-one years old, and two years later become a member of the Masonic Brotherhood, at Sharps- burg, Pa. In the fall of 1882, he took the degree of Royal Arch, in Monroe Chapter, Detroit, and in the spring of 1889 he received the Scottish Rite degree.
He is an out and out man of the people, taking a lively interest in all matters that have a tendency towards the improvement, socially. morally, sani- tarially and intellectually in the community. Al- ways ready, with a helping hand, and a kind word, it is not suprising that he should be popular, and as a fitting evidence of the appreciation in which he is held, is the fact that he was three consecutive times elected Mayor of Wyandotte. Politically Mr. Evans is a thorough and uncompromising Repub- lican, and is looked upon as one of the strongest and most influential workers in the State. He was one of the charter members of the Michigan State Republican Club, and is often consulted on matters in connection with his party. He is a regular at- tendant at the Methodist church, which he supports liberally, and contributes liberally towards other churches, as well as to general charitable or benevo- lent movements. He owns considerable real estate in Wyandotte and in other parts of Michigan, and also in Ohio and Pennsylvania. In the prime of life, in the enjoyment of excellent health, full of life,
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