USA > Michigan > Genesee County > History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions, Volume II > Part 13
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preaching, he was compelled to preach while asleep. Often people congre- gated after he had gone to bed to hear him preach, and pronounced his sermons wonderful. Among those who had heard him was a Mr. Sutton. who finally located in Flint, Michigan, who often testified to the fact that he had heard Mr. Bates preach in his sleep.
Noah and Sarah Rogers, the Doctor's maternal grandparents, lived near Binghamton, New York, where they died. Their family consisted of the following children: Orrin, Nancy, Phila and Emeline.
Dr. Noah Bates was reared on his father's farm, near what is now known as Bealton village. He attended the district schools and when four- teen years old entered the grammar school at Simcoe, the county seat of Norfolk county, where he spent three years, then entered Toronto Univer- sity, where he studied over one year. After leaving the university, he taught school seven years, then came to the United States in 1864 and entered the medical department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, graduating in March, 1866. He began the practice of his profession in Linden, Gene- see county, soon thereafter, but, after spending two years at Linden, moved to Grand Blanc where he practiced three years. He moved to Flint in 1871 and has practiced here ever since, a period of forty-five years, during which his name has become a household word throughout the county where he has spent a half century. He has been very successful as a general practitioner and surgeon and has always enjoyed a large practice.
Dr. Bates was married on December 7, 1859, to Elvira Chapin, a daugh- ter of Lyman and Matilda (Fairchilds) Chapin. She was born in Brant county, Ontario, February 17, 1841, where her parents resided many years on a farm. Mr. Chapin engaged in farming, also ran a saw-mill, and was a skilled mechanic. He came to Lapeer county, Michigan, where his death occurred in 1876 at the age of sixty-four years. Mrs. Chapin died in Ontario in 1875 at the age of fifty-nine years. They were the parents of eight chil- dren, namely: Mary, Charles, Melissa, Elvira, Sarah, Milton, Festus® and Smith. Elam and Mary Chapin, paternal grandparents of Mrs. Bates, were natives of New England and were the parents of three children, Lyman, Charles and Mary. Elam Chapin married a second time and five children were born to his last union, Lewis, Norman, Sallie, Harriet and Tryphena. The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Bates were Isaac and Lucy ( Kilburn ) Fairchilds, who lived many years on a farm at Oakland, Ontario. Isaac Fairchilds was a great hunter, a man of powerful physique, and was popular among the Indians. He had the following children: Timothy, Asahel. Samuel, Frank, Matilda, Polly, Millie and several who died in infancy.
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Three children were born to Doctor Bates and wife, namely: Frances Laura, who was graduated from the Flint high school, after which she taught for several years, lives at home; Nellie Matilda, who married J. D. Dorb, of Flint, died, leaving two children, Ralph and Dorothy; AAlma Phila is the wife of Joseph A. Evans, and they have one son, Dallas Chapin Evans.
In 1909 Doctor and Mrs. Bates celebrated their golden wedding anniver- sary and they have now lived together nearly fifty-seven years.
Politically, Doctor Bates is a Republican. He served as coroner for six years, also health officer for several years, and was county and city physi- cian for a period of seventeen years. He belongs to the Genesee County Medical Society, of which he was president for four years. and is still one of the directors of the same; also belongs to the State Medical Association. Fraternally, he is a member of Genesee Lodge No. 174, Free and Accepted Masons, in which he is serving his thirty-sixth year as secretary, and to Washington Chapter No. 15, Royal Arch Masons. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church.
DR. ELDEN RAY SLUYTER.
Dr. Elden Ray Sluyter, a well-known young osteopathic physician at Flint, with offices in the Paterson block, is a native son of Genesee county and has lived here all his life. He was born in the village of Fenton in 1893, son of Edgar and Winifred (Woodin) Sluyter, both natives of this county, who are now living at Flint.
Edgar Sluyter is the younger of the two sons born to his parents, pioneers of Genesee county, who became settlers here back in the days when the Indians still roamed the forests hereabout, the elder son being Walter Sluyter. Grandfather Sluyter pre-empted a farm from the gov- ernment on the banks of Long Lake and there he established his home, he and his wife, both of whom lived to old age, spending the rest of their lives there. Edgar Sluyter was reared on the homestead farm and in turn became a farmer on his own account, the owner, in partnership with his brother, Walter, of a fine farm of one hundred and thirty-one acres in Fen- ton township. He married Winifred Woodin, who also was born in this county, her parents having been pioneer residents of the Swartz Creek neighborhood and the parents of seven children, Etta, Emma, Winifred, William. Edward, George and Burnside. After his marriage Mr. Sluyter
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continued to make his home on the farm until 1900, in which year he sold the place and inoved to Flint, where he has since made his home, with residence at No. 610 Clifford street. Mr. Sluyter is a member of the firm of Smith, Bridgman & Company, general merchants of Flint, and is one of the best-known business men in the city. He and his wife are members of the Court Street Methodist Episcopal church. They have two sons, both osteopathic physicians, the subject of this sketch having a brother, Dr. Edward Glenn Sluyter, of Alına, this state.
Elden Ray Sluyter was about eight years of age when his parents moved from the farm to Flint and he grew to manhood in that city. Fol- lowing his graduation from the Flint high school in 1911 he clerked in a store for a year and then went to Kirksville, Missouri, where he entered the American School of Osteopathy, from which he was graduated in June. 1915. Thus admirably equipped for the practice of his profession, Doctor Sluyter returned to Flint and opened offices in the Paterson building, where he ever since has been located. Doctor Sluyter has a wide acquaintance throughout the city and county and is building up a lucrative practice. He is a member of the Methodist church and a Mason, a member of Genesee Lodge No. 174, in the affairs of which he takes a warm interest. The Doctor takes a proper interest in the general social and cultural activities of his home town and all movements having as their object the promotion of the best interests of the community find in him an earnest supporter.
ARTHUR E. RAAB.
Arthur E. Raah, former city treasurer of the Hetchler-Raab Company, real estate and insurance, No. 120 West Kearsley street, Flint, is one of Flint's native sons and has lived in that city all his life. He was born on May 23, 1884, son of George and Harriet (Tomlinson) Raab, the former a native of Germany and the latter of this state, who are still living in Flint and to whom six children were born, namely: M. Bertha, who married Edward C. Spalding and died in December, 1914; Myrtis A., of Los Angeles, California : Alice C., at home; Rev. Irving T., a Presbyterian minister at Benton Harbor; Ethel E., a teacher at Caro, and Arthur E.
George Raab is the son of Eberhard Raab and wife, who came to the United States from Prussia in 1856 and settled in Flint, this county. estab- lishing their home in that portion of the city now comprised in the fourth
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ward, but which then contained but two houses. There they spent the rest of their lives, the mother dying at the age of fifty and the father living to the age of seventy-four. They had two sons, George Jacob and Jacob George. George Raab was nine years old when he came to this country with his par- ents and he grew up at Flint, becoming a proficient cabinet-maker. In 1863, at the age of sixteen, he enlisted as a private in Company F. Fourth Michigan Cavalry, and served with that command until mustered out at the end of the war in 1865. He was one of the detail commissioned to capture Jeffer- son Davis and still has in his possession a small hand-mirror taken when the vanquished president of the Confederacy was captured. Upon the comple- tion of his military service George Raab returned to Flint and resumed work at his trade. Presently he went to Holly, where he worked for some time, but afterward returned to Flint, where he began clerking in a furniture store, later engaging in the grocery business and then became the local agent for the Singer Sewing Machine Company. For twenty-five years Mr. Raab has served as a member of the board of county supervisors from the fourth ward, city of Flint, and it was he who introduced the resolution for the erec- tion of the present Genesee county court house. He is an Odd Fellow and he and his wife are members of the Methodist church. Mrs. Raab is a daughter of Ernest Tomlinson and wife, both now deceased, who were the parents of eight children, William, John, Warren, Mariette, Myrtis, Orpha. Frank and Harriet. Ernest Tomlinson came to this country from England, married in the East and then came to Michigan, settling near Fulton in pioneer days. He was a well-to-do farmer and was the founder of the town of Sherwood. He died at the age of seventy-five, after which his widow moved to California, where she lived to the age of eighty-five years.
Arthur E. Raab was graduated from the Flint high school in 1902 and then taught school for one term. In 1903 he entered Albion College and in 1905 the University of Michigan, taking the literary course, after which he entered the employ of the old Flint Wagon Works. After a year of employ- ment there he went with the Buick Motor Company, with which concern he was employed until the time of his election to the office of city treasurer, five years later. He served two terms in that office and upon the completion of his public service was made secretary-treasurer of the Manufacturers Fireworks Company. In January, 1916, Mr. Raab formed a partnership with Clarence O. Hetchler in the insurance and general real estate business and is now thus engaged, with offices at No. 120 West Kearsley street. Mr. Raab is a Republican and has long given close attention to local political affairs, being one of the active workers of his party hereabout.
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On October 27. 1909, Arthur E. Raab was united in marriage to Laura D. Spaulding, who was born on July 5, 1885, daughter of Edward C. and Frances (Freeman) Spalding, both natives of this state, to whom two daughters were born, Mrs. Raab having a sister, Florence. Edward C. Spalding is a son of Dr. David Cox Spalding, who served as regimental surgeon of the Tenth Michigan Cavalry during the Civil War, with the rank of major. Doctor Spalding was for years one of the leading citizens of Lyons, in Ionia county, this state. He married Martha A. Ingersoll, of Marshall, this state, and to that union were born two children, Elizabeth, who died in childhood, and Edward, who is still living. Mrs. Raab's maternal grandfather. William Freeman, also was a native of Michigan, as was his wife, and the two were long prominent residents of Ionia county, where they died when well along in years. Mr. and Mrs. Raab are members of the Presbyterian church, Mr. Raab being a member of the session and superin- tendent of the Sunday school. He is a past master of Flint Lodge No. 23. a Royal Arch Mason, a member of Flint Council No. 56, Royal and Select Masters, and a Knight Templar, member of Genesee Valley Commandery No. 15.
THOMAS W. SMITHSON.
Journalism is a field in which many enter, but few remain, partly because to succeed in it one must be energetic and persistent and at the same time be possessed of a peculiar natural ability. One of the successful newspaper men of Genesee county is Thomas W. Smithson, publisher of the Otisville Star. He was born in Weston, York county, Ontario, August 25, 1850, where he grew up and attended school. He learned the printer's trade in the Times office in Woodstock, that province. In the fall of 1880 he came to Otisville, Michigan, from London, Ontario, and started the publication of the Weekly Telegram. He remained here a little over a year, when he removed to Otter Lake, and in November, 1883, went to Clio, where he published the Star for a period of twenty-three years. Failing health, resulting from overwork. caused him to suspend the publication of that paper in January, 1907, and after three months' recuperative rest he returned to Otisville and has since managed the Star alone. It is one of the best papers of its type in this sec- tion of the state and has steadily grown in circulation.
Mr. Smithson was twice married. His first wife, whom he married in
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London, Ontario, in 1878. died in Otisville, May 25, 1910. and on June 17. 1911, he married Mrs. Jane Metz, his present wife.
Mr. Smithson is a member of the Masonic order, the Eastern Star and the Maccabees. He is a Republican, but has never allowed his political lean- ings to bias him in the conduct of his newspaper. He has never aspired to office, although he held the presidency and clerkship of Clio for years and has also been village clerk in Otisville. Naturally of a retiring disposition. he has largely confined his efforts to the newspaper business, in which he has rounded out a half century and is probably the oldest printer-publisher in Genesee county, in point of service.
REV. HOWARD J. CLIFFORD.
The Rev. Howard J. Clifford, pastor of the Parkland Presbyterian church at Flint and formerly and for years one of the best-known and most influential officers of the Salvation Army in the United States, is a native of England and comes of a family long noted in the gospel ministry in that country. He was born in the County of Oxford, October 13, 1875. son of Edward and Mary Hannah (Jones ) Clifford, both also natives of Oxford and who are still living there, to whom five children were born, of whom, the subject of this sketch was the fourth in order of birth, the others being as follow: The Rev. Harry Clifford, pastor of a Baptist church at Los Angeles, California: George, who died at the age of twenty-seven years ; Florence, who married Frank McDiarmid and is now deceased. and Mar- garet, who married William Collins, of Oxford, and continues to live in the city of her birth.
Mr. Edward Clifford, now on the superannuated list, was for fifty years an active preacher of the Wesleyan Methodist church at Oxford, preaching three sermons each Sunday, with hardly an exception. He is now in his seventy-seventh year and his wife in her seventy-sixth year. The latter was the last-born of the four children which blessed the union of her parents, Joshua and Sarah ( Bissell) Jones, natives of Oxfordshire, the former of whom was a retainer. or confidential steward, of the Albright family, and both of whom lived to old age. the others of their children being Henry, George and Alfred. Edward Clifford's father. David Clifford, son of Will- iam Clifford, in his young manhood was a forester on the estate of Lord Churchill. He married Edith Myles and later became an itinerant preacher
Hard
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in the Wesleyan Methodist church and continued thus engaged the rest of his life, becoming one of the most influential figures of that church in Eng- land. He and his wife both lived to ripe old ages. They were the parents of fourteen children who grew to maturity and several who died in youth, those who reached maturity being Edith, Hannah, Harriet, Emily, Margaret, Annie, Rhoda, Price, Edward, William, John, Henry, David and James. All the sons in this remarkable family became ministers of the gospel and nearly all the daughters married ministers.
The Rev. Howard J. Clifford obtained in his native land an excellent educational equipment for the difficult labors of the ministry, to which he afterward was called, taking a course of theological training for the Wesleyan Methodist ministry, afterwards coming to the United States. He began preaching in England in 1895 and in 1901 came to the United States, land- ing at the port of New York on the day President Mckinley was shot at Buffalo. He went directly to Youngstown, Ohio, and there entered the work of the Salvation Army. After some time spent at Youngstown, he was transferred to Cleveland, Ohio, and thence to Chicago. After several other appointments, he was sent to Flint, at the close of 1907, as adjutant of the local corps of the Salvation Army at that place. During his service at Flint, in that connection, Adjutant Clifford conceived the idea of erecting the present citadel of the Salvation Army on Beach street, known as the best Salvation Army building in the United States. He also organized the famous Salvation Army band at Flint, an organization which has long had an international reputation and which is said to be the best Salvation Army band in the country. In 1912 Adjutant Clifford was promoted to the rank of divisional commander, with the whole of southern California in his juris- diction, and moved to Los Angeles, where he established his headquarters. While there he was greatly attracted to the democratic principles embodied in the discipline and government of the Presbyterian church and identified himself with that church. In September, 1913. he was ordained to the ministry of the Presbyterian church by the presbytery of Logansport, synod of Indiana, and immediately thereafter was called to act as assistant pastor of the First Presbyterian church at South Bend. Indiana, under the Rev. C. A. Lippincott, remaining thus engaged until he accepted the call. in October, 1915. as pastor of the newly organized Parkland Presbyterian church at Flint and has ever since been pastor of that church. In March, 1916, Mr. Clifford began the erection of a new twenty-thousand-dollar church edifice. his congregation having outgrown its original quarters. Mr. Clifford is a thirty-second-degree Mason, affiliated with the Bay City Consistory, Ancient
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Accepted Scottish Kite, and is chaplain of Flint Lodge No. 174. Free and Accepted Masons, at Flint.
On October 9. 1902, the Rev. Howard. J. Clifford was imited in mar- riage to Marian D. King, who was born at Watford, a suburb of the city of London, June 22, 1881, daughter of William and Mary ( Birch) King, both of whom were born at Rickmansworth, a suburb of London. William King was a son of William and Elizabeth King, who were the parents of six children, Thomas, Sophia, Alfred, William, Frank and Jesse, and his wife was the fourth in order of birth of the five children born to her parents, the others being Joseph. William. Jesse and Thomas Birch. William King, father of Mrs. Clifford, died in 1913, at the age of sixty-seven years, and his widow is still living at Watford. He was a building contractor and was for years chairman of the urban council. He and his wife were the parents of ten children, of whom Mrs. Clifford was the fourth in order of hirth, the others being Minnie, Frank. William, Amy, Bert. Katie, James, Edith and Thomas. Mrs. Clifford finished her schooling in a private sem- inary at Watford and is an able and competent helpmeet in the difficult labors of her husband's ministry.
To the Rev. Howard J. and Marian D. (King) Clifford four children have been born, namely: Harry, born at Cleveland, Ohio; Conn Louis, born in Elkhart, Indiana: Louise C., born in Battle Creek, Michigan, and William George, born in Los Angeles, California, a most interesting and engaging group of youngsters.
WILLIAM A. PATERSON.
William A. Paterson, former mayor of Flint and one of the best-known manufacturers of that city, a large realty owner and for many years prom- inently connected with the industrial life of this section of the state, is a native of Canada, born in the town of Guelph, Ontario, October 14, 1838. He is a son of Archibald and Jane (Ingles) Paterson, natives of Scotland, the former born at Oban, county of Argyle, and the latter at Paisley, county of Renfrew.
Archibald Paterson was the son of Archibald Paterson, a resident of Oban, Scotland, who died there at an advanced age, the father of five chil- dren, James, Hugh, Angus, Archibald and Mrs. McIntyre. The junior Archibald Paterson emigrated to Canada in his young manhood and located
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in the neighborhood of Guelph, Ontario, where he became a farmer. He also was a very competent carpenter and was the leading craftsman in that line in his neighborhood. He married Jane Ingles, daughter of John and Margaret (Lakey) Ingles, the former a Paisley weaver, who had emigrated with his family to Canada, also settling on a farm in the Guelph neighborhood, where he and his wife spent their last days. They were the parents of five chil- dren, John, James, Jane, Margaret and Anna. Archibald Paterson developed a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres and was a man of prominence in his community. He was for many years an elder in the Presbyterian church and for years served as precentor of the congregation. His wife died in 1849 and he survived for years, living to the great age of eighty-nine. They were the parents of seven children, of whom the subject of this biographical review was the third in order of birth, the others being Jolin I .. James, Margaret, who died in young womanhood; Mary, who married Charles Kay, of Toronto: Adam and Jane, the latter of whom died in her youth.
William A. Paterson was reared at Guelph, receiving his education in the schools of that city, and there he learned the carriage-ironing trade, at cighteen years of age being a proficient journeyman craftsman. He then, in 1857, came over the border into the United States and spent several years working at his trade in the New England States, going thence to Kentucky, where he was working when the Civil War broke out. Shortly afterward he went to Aurora, Illinois, where he went to work in a factory that was manufacturing ambulances for army service and was thus employed until the close of the war, after which he and his brothers, John and James, went to Kincardine, in Bruce county, Ontario, on Lake Huron, where they estab- lished a wagon factory. In 1869 Mr. Paterson left Kincardine and came to Michigan. After spending a few months at Pontiac he went to Flint, where he opened a little shop for buggy repairs. From the very first this shop prospered and he presently was compelled to rent a larger place. He then built a small factory of his own and thus the Paterson industries at Flint had their beginning. At first Mr. Paterson was able to do all the work in his shop himself, but presently had to employ a helper and then more and more assistants until, in the palmy days of the buggy business, his factory employed a force of one hundred and fifty men. In all the years since ·Mr. Paterson erected his first shop in Flint there has never been a year in which he has not erected some form of a building in that city, either a factory, a residence or a business block and he thus has long been recognized as one of the most potent individual factors in the development of the city of Flint.
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During the time Mr. Paterson was engaged in the manufacture of buggies, W. C. Durant secured a patent on a new road cart and engaged him to manufacture a sample cart after his model. So effective did this sample prove that the next order was for one hundred carts, the next for five hun- dred and then the orders began to come in by the thousands, after which the Durant & Dort Company erected a factory of their own, which later was developed into the present automobile industry of that company, the little road cart manufactured in Mr. Paterson's shop thus having proved to be the nucleus around which eventually gathered Flint's present ex- tensive automobile interests, which have done so much toward promoting the city's later growth. In 1909 Mr. Paterson engaged in the manufacture of automobiles and has since then given the greater part of his time to the development of that industry. He erected a fine five-story brick fac- tory and about seventy-five persons are now engaged in the manufacture of the Paterson automobile. the popularity of which is being demonstrated by the fact that the orders for the same for the current year are about three times the volume of any previous year. Mr. Paterson was one of the organizers of the Union Trust and Savings Bank of Flint and is vice-president of the same. Among the many buildings he has erected in Flint and which stand as monuments to his business sagacity and enterprise may be mentioned the Paterson block, the Dryden block, the Ingles block, the Dresden hotel and numerous others, including quite a number of the hand- somest residences in the city. Mr. Paterson is a Republican and in the days when he took a more active part in political affairs than he does at present was recognized as one of the leaders of that party in Genesee county. He served as mayor of Flint for a number of years and his administration was marked by many notable public improvements. He has a fine home at No. 310 East Third street, where he is very pleasantly situated in the genial "sunset time" of his long and useful life.
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