USA > Michigan > Genesee County > History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions, Volume II > Part 23
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Harry H. Bassett received his schooling at Utica and at Ilion, New York, and was graduated from the high school of the latter city with a state academic certificate. He then began work for the Remington Arms Com- pany at Ilion and was connected with the factory and the office of that com- pany for fourteen years and six months, being gradually promoted until he became assistant to the general manager. He then transferred his services to the Weston-Mott Company at Utica, as assistant superintendent of that company's extensive plant at Utica, and when that concern was moved to Flint in 1907 he became manager of works in the new plant, and has ever since then made his home in Flint. In 1913 Mr. Bassett was promoted to the position of general manager of the company and in 1916 was elected vice-president of the company, continuing as active general manager of the plant, and is now thus occupied, one of the strongest and most influential individual forces in the rapidly expanding industrial life of Flint. Mr. Bassett is also a member of the board of three directors of the Weston-Mott Company. That company is now employing more than two thousand two hundred persons. Its chief output is automobile axles, hubs and rims and the products of its great plant are sold in all parts of the world. Mr. Bassett is a member of the Society of Automobile Engineers and has long taken an active part in the affairs of that organization. Politically, he is
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a Republican and, fraternally, is affiliated with the Masons and with the Elks. He is president of the Flint Country Club and a member of the Question Chib.
Mr. Bassett has been twice married. His first wife, who was Nina Cole. daughter of Fred and Rose Cole, of Flint, died on August 17, 19II. To that union one child was born, a daughter, who died in infancy. On October 30, 1913, Mr. Bassett was united in marriage to Jessie M. Hood, who was born in Jackson, this state, daughter of Rodney Hood and wife, natives of Michigan, the former of whom for years has been engaged in the lumber business at Jackson. Mrs. Bassett's mother died in 1886. Mr. and Mrs. Bassett hare a very pleasant home at 421 East street and take an earnest interest in the general social and cultural activities of their home town
JEPTHA SKINNER.
Conditions are so widely varied in the vast area of the Middle West that is devoted to agricultural pursuits; the results desirable by both indi- viduals and communities are so widely divergent, and the fact that most profitable results to one might mean positive loss to another, make any gen- eral rules, laid down to cover the entire country in question, unsuited to many farmers. Each must work out his own problem as has Jeptha Skinner, of Argentine township, this county. He was born in the neighboring county of Oakland. August 13, 1871, and is a son of Jepthae and Caroline (Wilkin- son) Skinner. The father was born in Ontario, Canada, and when four- teen years old came with his parents to Oakland county, Michigan. His father was also named Jepthae, and the latter spent the rest of his life in Oakland county where his son, father of the subject of this sketch, grew to maturity and married Caroline Wilkinson, who was born in England, and was a young girl when her parents brought her to Michigan and settled in Oakland county. There the parents of the subject of this sketch settled after their marriage and engaged in farming until 1873 when they moved to Genesee county, buying one hundred and sixty acres in Argentine town- ship, all wild land, which the father cleared and on which he established the future home of the family, living there until 1903, when he and his wife retired from active life and located at Byron, in the neighboring county of Shiawassee, where his death occurred on March 13, 1913, and where his widow is still living. Six children were born to them, namely: Hattie E.,
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who died when twenty years of age, after devoting some time to school teaching; Jeptha, the subject of this sketch, and J. D., Bert, Frank and George, all living in Argentine township. The father of these children was one of the most successful farmers in his community. Through his own efforts he developed a farm from the wilderness, increasing its acreage to two hundred and forty. He was a Republican and a Baptist.
Jeptha Skinner was two years old when his parents brought him from Oakland county, and he grew up on the home farm and attended the district schools in Argentine township and the Byron high school. He lived at home until his marriage, September 12, 1900, to Tela E. Bishop, a daughter of Henry and Charlotte Bishop. After his marriage he settled on his present farm of two hundred and twenty acres in Argentine township, where he has lived ever since and has been very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser. He has four children, namely: Harold, who is attending school in Byron; Mary, who is attending the district schools; Ruth, and Jeptha. the baby.
Politically, Mr. Skinner is a Republican. He served as highway com- missioner from 1908 to 1910, inclusive, and for the past two years has been a member of the town board and a justice of the peace.
WILLIAM H. HORTON.
The gentleman whose name forms the caption of this sketch is essentially a man of affairs, sound of judgment and far-seeing in what he undertakes. Every enterprise to which he has addressed himself has resulted in gratify- ing financial returns, while at the same time he has won and retained the good will and confidence of his fellow men.
William H. Horton, watchmaker, jeweler and optician of Flint, Michi- gan, was born in Atlas township, Genesee county, March 29, 1869, and is a son of Carlton I. and Etta F. (Frost) Horton, also natives of Genesee county, where they grew up, were educated and married and devoted their active lives to general agricultural pursuits. When starting out in life the father purchased a farm of one hundred seventeen and one-half acres, which he cleared. improved and placed under a high state of cultivation and on which he reared his family. He subsequently purchased one hundred and twelve acres additional, making a total of two hundred twenty-seven and one-half acres of good land. He succeeded through his own individual ef-
WILLIAM H. HORTON.
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forts and became one of the leading farmers of his township. His death occurred here in 1887, at the early age of forty-six years. His widow sur- vived until 1911, dying at the age of sixty-seven years. He held various township offices and both were members of the Baptist church. They were the parents of only two children, Sumner, who lives in the city of Flint, and William H., of this review. Ira J. and Ruth Horton, the paternal grand- parents of these children, were natives of New York state, whence they came to Genesee county, Michigan, in an early day and located on a farm in Genesee county, taking up government land, living in a rude log cabin for some time. They cleared and developed their land and finally established a comfortable home, in which they spent the rest of their lives, his death oc- curring at the age of sixty-three years. They were the parents of five chil- dren, namely: Mary, Newman, Carlton, Marvin and Charles. The mater- nal grandparents, Jonathan Frost and wife, were also natives of the state of New York. They were pioneers in Genesee county, Michigan, locating 011 a farm in Atlas township, where they spent the rest of their lives, her death occurring in middle life, his at a later period. They were parents of four children, Etta, Rhoda, Emily and Ephraim. Grandfather Frost was twice married, the last time to a Mrs. Haws, to which union one child was born, Jennie Frost.
William H. Horton was reared on his father's farm in Atlas town- ship, attended the district schools, also the Goodrich high school and, later, a business college in Flint. Two years after that he began learning the jeweler's trade and in 1890 established a business of his own at Clarkston, Michigan, remaining there six and one-half years, then went on the road, traveling for a jewelry house for fifteen years. During that period he was interested in a jobhing business in Detroit-whole jewelry. In 1909 he sold out and came to Flint, where he has since resided, although he continued to travel two years for a Chicago house. He then began the manufacture of steel tapes and rules in Flint, which he followed three years, selling out in the spring of 1914, and the following October bought his present jewelry business at No. 403 South Saginaw street, which he has since conducted in a highly satisfactory manner, enjoying a good trade. He carries a large and carefully-selected stock of jewelry, such as is found in modern jewelry establishments, and also maintains well equipped watch manufacturing and repair departments, as well as an optical department.
Mr. Horton was married, October 19, 1890, to Pearl Smith, a daughter of Hiram V. and Emma ( Slade) Smith, who now live in Lansford, North Dakota, and were parents of three children, Pearl, Nellie and Wilfred. The
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paternal grandparents, James Smith and wife, had four children, Hiram, Frank, Nellie and May, and the maternal grandparents, Luther Slade and wife, had two children, Emma and Will. Mrs. Pearl Horton was a native of Bay City, Michigan. She was a member of the Episcopal church. Her death occurred in April. 1906, at the age of thirty-three years. On October 31, 1909, Mr. Horton married for his second wife, Mrs. Alice Swinler, widow of Edward Swinler and a daughter of John K. and Julia (Putnam) Van Tine. She was born in Flint, Michigan, where her parents were early settlers, her father dealing in farm implements here for many years, and here his death occurred in 1914, at the age of eighty years. Mrs. Van Tine survives. To these parents three children were born, Frank, Edith and Alice. The paternal grandparents of these children, John Van Tine and wife, were early settlers in Genesee county, as were also the maternal grandparents, the Putnams.
To Mr. Horton's first union two children were born, Beatrice and Marjorie. To his second union one child has been born, Alice Katherine.
Politically, Mr. Horton is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to Flint Lodge No. 23, Free and Accepted Masons; Washington Chapter No. 15, Royal Arch Masons ; Genesee Valley Commandery No. 15, Knights Tem- plar; Elf Khurafeh Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Saginaw; also to Bay City Consistory, being a thirty-second-de- gree Scottish-Rite Mason. Mrs. Horton belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church.
WILLIAM H. LAHRING.
Although many believe to the contrary, "luck" plays a very unimportant part in the average man's career. We generally like to excuse our own shortcomings and account for the success of other men on the ground of "luck." A fertilized soil, rotation of crops, well-fenced land, intelligently- tilled fields, well-kept machinery, painted houses, convenient outbuildings and blooded live stock are not the result of luck unless hard work, persist- ently and intelligently directed, can be characterized as luck. William H. Lahring, owner of "Sunnyside Farm," a fine place in Argentine township, this county, has not depended on luck, but on industry and the exercise of sound judgment for his success in life. He was born on the above-men- tioned farm, November 8, 1870, and is a son of Lewis and Sally ( White- head) Lahring. The father was born in Germany, where he lived until he
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was twelve years of age, when his widowed mother brought him to America. After spending a short time in the state of New York they came to Michigan, locating near Holly, in Oakland county. They landed in this country with little capital and had to work hard to get a start. Lewis Lahring presently came to Genesee county and bought the farm in Argentine township, which his son, William H. Lahring, now owns, becoming. owner of three hundred and twenty acres there. About five years after locating there he married Sally Whitehead and they spent the rest of their lives on that place, his death occurring at the age of eighty-four years. To these parents six children were born, three of whom died in infancy, and one after reaching maturity, the only one now living besides the subject of this sketch being Luella J .. wife of Ralph Collins, of Argentine township, this county.
William H. Lahring grew up on the home farni and received his edu- cation in the district schools. He remained on the homestead which he now owns, and which consists of four hundred acres, well improved and under a fine state of cultivation, and on which he carries on general farming and stock raising on an extensive scale. The place is known as "Sunnyside Farnı."
In December, 1897, William H. Lahring was married to Belle Wood and to this union three children have been born. Caleb Lewis, Sally N. and Catherine Ellen.
Mr. Lahring is living in the village of Byron, just across the line in Shiawassee county. He votes independently. He formerly served two years as township treasurer. Fraternally, he is a member of Byron Lodge No. 80, Free and Accepted Masons: Diamond Chapter No. 139, Royal Arch Masons, and of the lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Owosso.
WALTER MORRISON.
Farmers as a class are intelligent, industrious and economical, and many of them are men of good business judgment. Further, those who have made a thorough study of the business side of farming know that it is not an easy matter to make money on the farm. Walter Morrison, a farmer of Clayton township, this county, looks well to the financial end of farming. He was born in Maple Grove township, Saginaw county, Mich- igan, August 15, 1876, and is a son of Frank and Emma (Flint) Morrison. The father was born in County Antrim, in the north of Ireland,
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from which country he immigrated to America when a young man-eighteen years of age-locating near Buffalo, New York, where he worked on a farm and in the winter time attended an academy in Buffalo. He received a good education, and remained in the state of New York six or seven years, then came to Michigan, locating in Maple Grove township, Saginaw county, when that locality was a vast forest, with only a clearing here and there. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres, which he cleared and improved in general, erecting a dwelling and suitable outbuildings, but pres- ently sold that place and moved to a farm in that same township, where he spent the rest of his life. His family consisted of six children, five of whom are still living.
Walter Morrison grew up on the home farm. He received a good common-school education and remained at home until he was twenty-one years of age, when he moved to Venice township, in the neighboring county of Shiawasse, where he worked on a farm for two years; then worked in the town of Flint one year, at the end of which time he returned to country life, buying a farm of one hundred and ten acres in Clayton township, this county, where he has spent the past twelve years, and where he has been engaged in general farming and stock raising. His place is known as "Fairview Farm" and is well located and well tilled.
On June 19, 1901, Walter Morrison was married to May Augsbury, a daughter of Hiram and Addie (Williams) Augsbury, a well known family of Genesee county, where Mrs. Morrison grew to womanhood and was educated. Politically, Mr. Morrison is a Democrat. He served as town- ship treasurer for two years, also three years as township clerk, and he has been supervisor since 1914, which office he still holds. As a public servant he has discharged his duties in an able and satisfactory manner. Fraternally, he is a member of Lennon Lodge No. 537, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
JOHN H. HOUTON, M. D.
Dr. John H. Houton, well-known physician at Flushing, is a native of Michigan, born near Dearborn, in Wayne county, May 20, 1875, son and only child of Henry and Mary ( Stevenson) Houton, both now deceased. Henry Houton was a native of Kentucky, a shoemaker by trade. He lived to be about forty years of age and spent most of his active life in Detroit. Michigan. Mary Stevenson was born in Ohio and was married in Michigan.
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Doctor Houton received excellent scholastic training for the practice of his profession. He obtained his early schooling in the Wayne county public schools and at the St. Johns high school, later attending school in Detroit and afterward entering medical college. He completed the course and was graduated from the Michigan College of Medicine and Surgery in 1904. In that same year he located at Flushing, where he ever since has been engaged in the practice of his profession and has been quite successful. On June 3, 1903, he was married to Lillian May James, who was born at Little Current, Manitoulin Island, Ontario, November 25, 1881.
Doctor Houton was an interne at the emergency hospital for fourteen months and worked his way through school entirely. He is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the blue lodge and the chapter in Flushing. He has an elegant home in Flushing, one of the finest houses in the town.
CHARLES B. SIEGEL.
Charles B. Siegel, a prominent farmer and breeder of Durham cattle, lives on his ninety-acre farm, four miles west of Flint, known as "Maple Rest Farm." Mr. Siegel was born in Flint township on March 15, 1872, and is the son of Christian and Augusta (Schimmick) Siegel, both natives of Germany, born near the river Rhine. Both grew up in their native country and were married there. Before coming to the United States in 1870, Christian Siegel served three years in the German army. Upon com- ing to this country they located in Flint, where Mr. Siegel worked for a year in a sawmill, after which he was with William Comfort for a year on a farm in Flint township. He then rented a farm for twenty years, at the end of which time he purchased the farm now owned by Charles B. Siegel and it was there that he and his wife both died some years later. Augusta Siegel died in 1892 and Christian Siegel on March 5, 1909. After the death of his first wife Mr. Siegel married Maggie Frayner, who still lives in Clay- ton township.
Christian and Augusta Siegel were the parents of the following chil- dren: Charles B., the subject of this sketch; Emma, the wife of Philip Bobine, of Flint; Otto, Fred, Edward, Birt and William, all of Flint; John, who died in infancy ; Lewis, who lives in St. Johns, and Ida, who is the wife of George McClinchey, of Flint.
Charles B. Siegel grew to manhood on the farm where he now resides,
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and received his education in the schools of Flint township. He remained at home until June 3. 1891, at which time he married Angie, daughter of Sebine Bockway and wife. the former a native of Scotland and the latter of Canada. To that union two children were born, Alma May, the wife of Ernst Burleson, of Swartz Creek, this county, and Mildred, who lives with her sister. The mother of these children died on December 22, 1912, and on November 17, 1914, Mr. Siegel married Mrs. Ethel Isabelle ( Northcott) Miller, who was born in Tippecanoe county, Indiana, on the farm where Purdue University is now located, a daughter of David Jennings and Mary Jane (Oden) Northcott. She lived there until she was eight years of age, when the family moved to Big Rapids, this state, where she lived for seven years, or until the death of her mother. She then became a resident of Bay City, where she married W. J. Miller and lived for seven years, after which she came to Flint, where she lived until her marriage to Mr. Siegel. By her first marriage Mrs. Siegel is the mother of the following children: Louise. the wife of W. G. Crawford of Flint; Richard R., Irene, William W. and Leona A.
Charles B. Siegel is a Republican and has served his township as high- way commissioner for two terms. For more than twenty years he has oper- ated a threshing outfit in his neighborhood during the seasons.
ADELBERT W. CARRIER.
Only the most practical and experienced farmers are making any con- siderable profit out of their business. Some even contend that most of the money made on the farm in recent years has been made, not by farming. but by the rise of prices on farm lands. Adelbert W. Carrier, of Clayton town- ship, this county, is making general farming pay, for he employs the most modern methods of management. He was born in Gaines township, this county, May 7, 1867, a son of George L. and Mariah W. (Warner) Carrier. The father was a native of the state of New York and there spent his early life, coming to Michigan when a young man, locating in Genesee county before the time of the Civil War. During the war he enlisted in Company K, Fifth Michigan Cavalry, serving almost the entire duration of the con- flict, at the close of which, having made an excellent record, he was honor- ably discharged. Returning to Genesee county he married Mariah W. War- ner, a native of Plymouth, Michigan, who had moved with her parents to
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Gaines township, this county, when a girl. She received a good education and taught seventeen terms of school in Gaines township and in Vernon township over the line in Shiawasse county.
George L. Carrier finally settled on a tract of one hundred and sixty acres, where the town of Duffield now stands, and there he and his wife spent the rest of their lives, his death occurring on December 11, 1877. His widow survived thirty-seven years, dying at an advanced age on February 18, 1914. To these parents five children were born, namely: Adelbert W., the subject of this sketch ; A. G., who lives at Duffield, this county ; Mary A., who married Archie L. Scott, of Flint, and who died in November, 1913: Fred J., who lives in San Francisco, California, and Lyman, who lives in Washington, D. C., where he is employed in the government service.
Adelbert W. Carrier grew up on the home farm and received his edu- cation in the district schools of Gaines township. He left home when nine- teen years of age and worked out as a farm hand awhile. On March 16, 1897, he married Lillian S. Woods, a daughter of Edward C. Woods, a well known farmer of this locality. After his marriage Mr. Carrier lived one year at Duffield, then moved to Saginaw county, buying a farm there, on which he lived until 1912, when he moved to his present farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Clayton township, Genesee county, which place he has improved in an up-to-date manner. He raises considerable live stock in connection with general farming.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Carrier, Claude W., Delbert I. and Lester C. Politically, Mr. Carrier is a Republican, but is not very active in public affairs. Fraternally, he is a member of Lodge No. 537, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Lennon, and is also a member of the Knights of the Maccabees.
AUGUST C. STEINDAM.
August C. Steindam, a well-known and substantial farmer of Flint township, this county, and highway commissioner for that township, is a native of Prussia, but has been a resident of this country since he was fifteen years of age, at which time, in 1881, his parents, Frederick and Mary (Sells) Steindam, also natives of Prussia, came to the United States with their family and settled on a farm in Ottawa county, Ohio, where they spent the remainder of their lives. They were the parents of three children, Minnie,
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the wife of William Milbroth, of Ottawa county, Ohio; William A., a farmer in that same county, and August C.
Born on August 8, 1866, August C. Steindam was about fifteen years of age when he came to this country with his parents in 1881. He remained on the farm in Ohio with his parents until he was nineteen years old, when, in 1885, he came to Michigan and located at Flint, where he was employed in the factory of Durant and Dort for five years, at the end of which time he began working on the Langgrith farm in Flint township, the farm on which he now lives and where his wife was born, and after awhile assumed the management of the farm, operating the same on a sharing basis, and after his marriage established his home there and has since lived there, long having been regarded as one of the most substantial farmers in that neighborhood. Mr. Steindam is a Republican and has long given close attention to local political affairs. In 1913 he was elected highway commissioner for Flint township, and has since been serving in that important public capacity.
On December 20, 1899, August Steindam was married to Grace Lang- grith, who was born on the farm on which she still lives, September 30, 1865, daughter of Frederick and Elizabeth (Burton) Langgrith, the former a native of Germany, and the latter of whom was born on the ocean while her parents were on their way to this country from England. She was reared on the same farm in Flint township and received her schooling in the schools of that neighborhood. Mr. and Mrs. Steindam are members of the Lutheran church, and take a warm interest in the various beneficences of same, as well as in all neighborhood good works, and are helpful in the work of pro- moting all measures having to do with the advancement of general conditions in their home community. Mr. Steindam is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees and takes an active interest in the affairs of both of these organiza- tions.
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