USA > Michigan > Genesee County > History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions, Volume II > Part 72
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Charles E. Rolland completed his schooling in the high school at Fen- ton. On July 14, 1909, he married Grace L. Donovan, who was born in Oakland county, Michigan, and is a daughter of Thomas. L. and Clara (Gardner) Donovan. Mr. Rolland has been engaged in the dry-goods busi- ness for five years, the firm being a corporation in which his brother, Fred Rolland; his brother-in-law. C. B. Scott, and himself are the principal stock- holders. The business was incorporated in February, 1910. They carry on
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a general dry-goods business and handle carpets and rugs. A large and carefully selected stock is to be found in their store at all seasons and their hundreds of customers are drawn from all over the county. C. B. Scott was born in Oakland county, Michigan, July 29, 1865, a son of William F. Scott and wife. He formerly owned the store in which he is now a partner, conducting it alone for some time.
Politically, Charles E. Rolland is a Republican. He belongs to the Masonic order, and is a Knight Templar, past commander of the local commandery. He and his wife are members of the Episcopal church.
CLINTON D. DOANE.
Farming as now carried on, or as it should be conducted, is somewhat of an intricate science, and the best and brightest minds of the country have not thought it beneath their dignity to give it the best of their genius. One of the thoughtful and painstaking farmers of Forest township, Genesee county, is Clinton D. Doane, also president of the Otisville State Bank and leading business man. He was born in Wyoming county, New York, Febru- ary 20, 1850, and is a son of Erastus W. and Hannah Jane (Skinner) Doane. The father, who was born in Pembroke, Genesee county, New York, March 17, 1826, was a descendant of Deacon John Doane, who joined the Plymouth colony. Erastus W. Doane was a son of William, son of Israel, Jr., son of Israel, Sr., son of Price, son of Israel, son of Daniel, the latter being a son of Deacon John Doane, mentioned above, who immigrated from England to Massachusetts in the year 1629, from whom sprang the numerous Doane family in America. He served as a deacon in the Plymouth colony for a number of years. Hannah Jane Skinner, mother of the sub- ject of this sketch, was born in Norwich, Connecticut, August 16, 1827, of English descent. When a young girl she came with her parents to the state of New York, where she grew to womanhood, met and married Erastus W. Doane. They lived in Wyoming county until 1867, when they moved to Eldred, McKean county, Pennsylvania, where Mr. Doane bought a farm of one hundred and thirty-six acres, on which he spent ten years. He then sold it and entered the mercantile business in Eldred, which he continued for fifteen years, then retired from active life. His death occurred there, February 24, 1906; his widow died in Cleveland, on July 13, 1912. They were parents of three children, namely: Cassius E., born May 25, 1847,
Liniers Doane Clinton D. Doane
BANK
OTISVILLE STATE BANK.
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died in Eldred, Pennsylvania, October 30, 1868; Clinton D., of this sketch; Martha, born December 7, 1852, is the widow of Arthur Lovejoy, and lives in Eldred, Pennsylvania.
Clinton D. Doane received his education in the schools of Franklin- ville, New York, then graduated from Pembroke Free Academy, in Cattar- augus county, New York, having completed the English course there. He remained with his parents in Eldred, Pennsylvania, until he was twenty years old, then, in 1870, he went to New York state for one year to com- plete his education. He then came to Genesee county, Michigan, locating in Genesee township, where he taught one term of school, following teaching in this county for a period of twenty-five years, during which period he was one of the best known and most popular of our common school teachers. While teaching in Forest township he met and married, on March 14, 1875, Linnie Jane Seeley, a daughter of Norris O. and Elizabeth Seeley. He con- tinued to teach, but he purchased a farm of seventy-six acres in that town- ship, which place he increased to one hundred and sixteen acres, then sold forty acres. They lived there fifteen years, then moved to Otisville and bought a farm near the village, consisting of twenty-eight acres. He owns a total of one hundred and ninety-four acres of land in Forest and Thet- ford townships. He has lived at Otisville since 1889. He was one of the principal organizers of the Otisville State Bank, on March 26, 1907, and he has been a stockholder, director and president of the same ever since. Its pronounced success has been due to his able management and keen business acumen and foresight. It is one of the sound and popular institutions of its kind in this section of the state.
Specific mention should be made of Mr. Doane's operations as an apiarist, in which he has been interested for thirty-five years. He has given close attention and careful study to bee culture and has been unusually suc- cessful. During these years he has always kept from three hundred to five hundred colonies of bees, whichi have produced from five to eight tons of honey each year. In recent years he has kept between four hundred and five hundred colonies, separated in four yards and producing from seven to eight tons of honey. The management of bees is no easy thing and Mr. Doane enjoys a well-earned reputation through his success as an apiarist.
Politically, Mr. Doane is a Republican. He has served two terms as village president, was school inspector for several years and served as justice of the peace for fourteen years. He is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church of Otisville and for the past twelve years has been a deacon in
(46a )
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that congregation. He was one of the organizers and a charter member of Otisville Lodge No. 401, Free and Accepted Masons, in 1890.
Mr. Doane had three children, namely: Byron C., born June 16, 1877, is a Pullman conductor on the Louisville & Nashville railroad, running between Cincinnati and Jacksonville, Florida; Cornelius D., born May 26, 1879, lives in Forest township; Bessie Belle, born February 12, 1886, died November 28, 1904.
CLIFFORD JUDSON PHILLIPS.
Clifford J. Phillips was born in Genesee county, December 11, 1882, and is a son of Judson and Grace E. (Bishop) Phillips. His maternal grandparents, Frederick and Margaret (Pratt) Bishop, came to Genesee county in 1861, and engaged in the grocery business at Fenton for some time. Frederick Bishop was an active man in the affairs of his community in the early days. He was a son of Julian Bishop, who was a pioneer county surveyor and civil engineer in this county, having removed to Michigan from Livingston county, New York. He also taught school in his early career. At the time of his death, he had his home near Holly, Michigan. Margaret Pratt was a daughter of Ebenezer Pratt, a native of Ontario, New York, who married Rachel Ann Dibble, of Dutchess county, that state. They came. to Genesee county, Michigan, in 1834, among the first settlers, and took up land from the government. Mr. Pratt was a carpenter and con- tractor. Mr. Phillips' paternal grandfather, Charles B. Phillips, was a native of New York state. He came to Michigan late in life and settled at Hartford, later moving to Fenton, where he resided until his death. Judson B. Phillips was born on November 18, 1854, and died on May 30, 1894. For a number of years prior to his death he was superintendent of the A. J. Phillips Company, and was one of the principal stockholders of that concern. After his death his widow remarried and is living with her second husband, Hadley Gould, in the village of Fenton. Clifford Judson Phillips was one of two children by her first marriage, the daughter, Nellie, having died in 1900. Her second marriage resulted in the birth of two children, Elizabeth and Kenneth, both living at home.
Clifford J. Phillips was educated in the public schools of Fenton and is a graduate of the high school. He also attended school at the Michigan Military Academy and Colorado College. On June 28, 1905, he married Mabel Corrigan, who was born in Fenton, March 24, 1885, a daughter of
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Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Corrigan. To this union two children have been born, Nellie, born on August 15, 1906, and Charles Judson, September i9, 1914.
Mr. Phillips was a stockholder of the A. J. Phillips Company of Fenton until the business was sold. He is at present employed in the offices of the Aetna Portland Cement Company, of Fenton. Politically, Mr. Phillips is a Republican. He is a member of the local school board, and belongs to the Masonic order, including the Commandery, and is a past commander of that organization. He and his family are adherents of St. Jude's Episcopal church.
HENRY G. MASON.
One of the highly-respected and substantial farmers and stock raisers of Genesee county is Henry G. Mason, owner and proprietor of "Hickory Grove Stock Farm," situated one and one-half miles east of the village of Grand Blanc, on the Perry road, where he is extensively engaged in rais- ing thoroughbred Holstein cattle. Mr. Mason was born on January 13, 1847, in Springfield township, Oakland county, Michigan, the son of Daniel and Maria (Best) Mason, both of whom were natives of New York State.
Daniel Mason was born in New Hartford, New York, where he grew up and where he married Maria Best, of the same place. They came to Michigan about 1845, and located on a farm in Oakland county, and when Henry G. was about two years old the family moved to Bangor, about where Bay City is now located, where there was a saw-mill and lumber camp. They conducted a boarding-house for the lumbermen at that place for two years, after which they moved to a farm in section 13, in the east edge of Mundy township, Genesee county, situated on the Fenton road, and there they again engaged in the hotel business, conducting what was known as the Mason Hotel, which did a very flourishing business in that section prior to 1850, but after the railroads were put through this part of the state, their business fell off, and they later sold the farm and moved to Flint, where Daniel Mason died on April 14, 1880. Mrs. Mason then made her home with her son, Charles in Grand Blanc township, where her death occurred on November 2, 1903. They were the parents of four chil- dren: Mary, deceased, who was the wife of David Schram; Charles, deceased; Frances, deceased, who was the wife of John Wolverton, and Henry G., the only survivor of the family.
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Henry G. Mason received his education in the public schools of his home district, and assisted his father on the farm and in the hotel busi- ness until his marriage, which occurred when he was twenty-six years of age. For two years thereafter he lived at Grand Blanc, where he was employed in a store owned by his wife's brother, Joshua K. Perry. He then spent three years on the old home farm in Mundy township, after which he purchased an eighty-acre farm in Atlas township, where he lived four years. He then disposed of that farm and bought a farm of one hundred and five acres in or near the village of Swartz Creek, and was there engaged in farming for twenty-four years. In 1907 he sold out and moved to the village of Grand Blanc, where he bought his present home, which is a good, modern brick residence, neat and substantial. He also bought the David Dewey farm of one hundred and twenty-nine acres, which has been taken up and cleared by Charles Bates, just east of Grand Blanc, and there Mr. Mason is extensively engaged in stock raising, making a specialty of thoroughbred Holstein cattle.
On October 23, 1872, Henry G. Mason was married to Ida C. Perry, a daughter of Seymour and Mary Ann (Johnson) Perry, members of one of the pioneer families of this county. Seymour Perry was a son of Edmund Perry, Sr., and wife, who are mentioned elsewhere in this volume in the biographical sketch of Joseph Hobart. The Perry family was the second family to settle in Genesee county, and were from the beginning a highly- esteemed and influential family. Seymour Perry was ten years old when he came here in the fall of 1826 with his mother and others of the family who came to rejoin his father, who had come to Michigan in the fall of 1825 and settled one and one-half miles east of Grand Blanc. After Sey- mour Perry grew to manhood in the primitive surroundings of that early day, he purchased a farm one mile west and one mile south of Grand Blanc, and settled there in the woods as his father had done on the old home farm. For years afterward it was wild land all around him, and his children recall that in their childhood there were wolves about and many deer and other wild game came close to the house. When the children went to school they had to follow a trail through the forest one and one-half miles east to the Holly road on which the school house stood.
Seymour Perry lived on that .place nearly twenty years, and then traded with his father for a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of the old home farm east of Grand Blanc, and there spent the rest of his life. He was for years a director in the Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany of Genesee county, and took an active interest in the development
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of the county. He married Mary Ann Johnson, who was born in New York state, a daughter of Samuel Johnson and wife. To that union were born seven children: Lee C., of Grand Blanc; Joshua K., of Grand Blanc; John A., who died in 1908; Ida, wife- of Henry G. Mason; Nellie, wife of George Mason, of South Dakota; Lizzie, wife of Frank Swift, of Auburn. New York; Ella, who lives at Grand Blanc with her brother, Joshua K., and Jennie, who died at the age of two years. Seymour Perry died in Grand Blanc township in February, 1893, and his widow died in November, 1900.
Mr. and Mrs. Mason are attendants of the Congregational church, in which Mrs. Mason is an active and earnest worker, while Mr. Mason is a member of the board of trustees of the same and among its most liberal supporters. He is a Republican in politics and is public-spirited and liberal, always ready to lend his assistance to every good cause which has for its object the betterment of his community.
ANDREW J. PHILLIPS.
Upon the roll of representative citizens of Genesee county of a past generation consistently appears the name of the late Andrew J. Phillips, for over three decades a prominent manufacturer of Fenton, a citizen who was highly esteemed for his many commendable attributes of head and heart.
Andrew J. Phillips was born in Hartland township, Livingston county, Michigan, October 9. 1837. He was a son of Charles B. and Mary (Morse) Phillips. The father was a native of New York, from which state he removed to Michigan in 1836 and here took up a homestead, being among the early pioneers. He developed a good farm by hard work and per- sistent effort, and continued to operate the same until 1862 when he sold out and moved to Milford, but a few years later located in Fenton, where he spent the rest of his life. He was a Republican, and belonged to the "Hardshell" Baptist church. He was married four times. His children by Mary Morse were Alva, Emily, Andrew J., Edward, Fannie, Eliza and Charles.
Andrew J. Phillips was educated in the common schools of Milford. On May 7, 1862, he married Julia Anna Bullard, who was born in Oakland county, Michigan, January 2, 1843, a daughter of Silas and Diantha (Madi- son) Bullard. After his marriage Mr. Phillips located at Milford, Michi- gan where he engaged in manufacturing pumps for a period of six years, then, in 1869, moved to Fenton, where he spent the rest of his life, and
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there he continued the manufacture of pumps, finally converting his business into a woodenware factory, owning and operating his plant alone for some time, but in later years he took in members of his family, who kept the business going several years after his death, W. B. Phillips, his oldest son, proving to be quite successful in the same. The plant was sold in 1912 to a Detroit firm, which operated it until it was destroyed by fire.
Andrew J. Phillips was very active in the affairs of his community, con- tributing freely of his means and time to charitable and other movements having for their object the general good of the people of Fenton and Gene- see county ; however, many of his benefactions were unknown to the public, as he gave through a sense of duty rather than to win the applause of his fellow men. After his death, which occurred on June 14, 1904, it was found that he had willed the town of Fenton his office building to be used as a pub- lic library, and it is now known as the A. J. Phillips library, occupying a neat frame building, a story and a half high, in the business center of the town and contains a very creditable collection of books and periodicals.
Julia A. Bullard, who married Andrew J. Phillips, was educated in the early-day schools of Oakland county, where her father, Silas Bullard, was an influential citizen. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Phillips resulted in the birth of three children, W. B., Edward and Harry J. W. B. Phillips married Sarah Gallup, by whom one child was born, Julia M., who married Charles E. Hart of Detroit, and to them one child has been born, Dorothy Hart. W. B. Phillips and wife make their home in Fenton. Edward Phillips married Elouise Fisher, lives in Fenton, and has two children, Donald and Robert. Harry J. Phillips married Georgiana Marshall and lives in Detroit. Mrs. Julia A. Phillips still lives in the commodious family home in Fenton.
A history of the Bullard family may be accurately traced back to the early settlement of America, the first of the name to come to our shores from the Old World being George Bullard, who was born in England and came to America in 1620, and from him the numerous Bullard family in the United States is descended. He was admitted freeman of and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, about 1644. He bought land and was an origi- nal grantee, and there he continued to reside until his death, which occurred on January 14, 1688. He married . Beatrice Hall of Boston, and they became the parents of four children, Mary, Jacob, Sarah, Jonathan-all mentioned in the records of Watertown, Massachusetts. The second wife of George Bullard was Mary Marplehead. Jonathan Bullard, fourth child of George and Beatrice (Hall) Bullard, married Hester Morse, December 9, 1669, she having been a daughter of Joseph and Hester Morse, of Watertown, and to
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their union four children were born, Hester, Jonathan, Hannah and Joseph .. Jonathan Bullard, Jr., married Hannah Morse, about 1698, and to them were horn ten children, Amy, Jonathan, Samuel, Thankful, Moses, Mary, Abigail, Anna, Thankful the second, and Ebenezer. Jonathan Bullard, the third, first married on March 23, 1720, Elizabeth Barnes, who died in 1723, and he subsequently married Ruth Harrington, and to them were born eight children, Jonathan, Ruth, Eliza, Abigail, Samuel, Moses, Phineas and Josiah. Jonathan Bullard, son of Jonathan and Ruth ( Harrington) Bullard, was twice married; first, to Anna Harrington, who died about 1753, and to them were born four children, Silas, Isaac, Sybilla and Hannah. His second wife was Lydia Foster, whom he married in 1755, and to them eleven children were born, Dorothy, Ruth, Jonathan, Abigail, Patty, Phineas, Moses, Valentine, Ebenezer, Hepsebeth and Lydia. The last-named Jona- than Bullard became a captain in the early wars of this country, in 1764; he was a noted man in this locality, and his name appears on the town records as early as November 4, 1759. He was selectman, town treasurer, assessor, a deacon of his church, and a member of the state Legislature from 1777 to 1780; was also a representative in 1789 and in 1793. He was active in his town during the Revolutionary War. He was often called upon to settle disputes among his neighbors. In 1750. he located in Oak- ham, Massachusetts, being one of the first in that vicinity. His sons, Silas. Isaac and Samuel, all served in the Revolutionary War. Silas married on April 9, 1770, Polly Furniss, who was born in 1751, and died on February I, 1821. He built the house where Sanford H. Bullard now resides in Oakham. His children were: Betty, Benjamin, Alpheus, Ruth, Allen, William, Polly, Silas, Edith, Meussa, Calvin and Yoel. Alpheus Bullard, mentioned above, was born in Oakham, March 22, 1775, married Patty Green in 1799. He was a farmer, and moved about considerably, going from New England to New York state, thence to Michigan in 1837, locat- ing fifty miles north of Detroit, where the death of his wife occurred on September 2, 1843, at the age of sixty years. Their children were: Hubbard, Benjamin, Joseph, Mary, Solomon, Silas and Edwin. Alpheus Bullard's second marriage was to Mrs. Martha DeWolf. Silas Bullard took up his residence in this state when his father and family settled here. He was a farmer and mechanic, but devoted most of his life to farming. He spent the last part of his life in Fenton, where he died on May 19, 1883, his widow surviving until February 9, 1888. They were parents of Edwin Alpheus Bullard, who was born on November 10, 1840. He enlisted for service in the Civil War, August 29, 1861, in the "Fighting Fifth" Regiment, Michi-
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gan Volunteer Infantry, took part in the engagements at Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Richmond and siege of Yorktown and rose to the rank of corporal. Julia Anna Bullard, who became the wife of the subject of this memorial sketch, was the second child of Silas Bullard and wife.
WILFORD P. COOK.
It must be true that an honest, faithful, capable life, considered even its temporal relations, is not lived in vain; that its influence is not as tran- sient and evanescent as mere physical vitality, but that the progress of man- kind, in all that is virtuous and ennobling, is accelerated by it ; that although the life of one man may be a small factor in the aggregate lives of the race, yet if well spent, its after influence is perceptible and continues to endure for the good of mankind, One such life of a past generation in Genesee county was that of the late Wilford P. Cook, a well-remembered citizen of Fenton, a successful man of affairs and an active and influential man in the general upbuilding of his community along material, civic and moral lines.
Wilford P. Cook was born in Watson's Run, Pennsylvania, June 18, 1854. He was a son of Henry D. and Mary Ann (Gowdy) Cook, both natives of Pennsylvania, where they grew up, attended school, were married and spent most of their lives on a farm, but they finally removed to Con- neaut, Ohio, where they died. They were members of the Presbyterian church, and their family consisted of seven children, Emily, Lester, Sanford, Wilford P., Hattie, Harry and Anna.
Wilford P. Cook grew up in Pennsylvania and there received his edu- cation in the public schools and in an academy. He came to Genesee county, Michigan, in 1881. He engaged in the drug business at first, then turned his attention to the manufacture of whip sockets, and at the time of his death, which occurred on April 18, 1911, he was a member of the Walker Manufacturing Company. He was a member of the Episcopal church, in which he was a vestryman, and was always active in church affairs. Politically, he was a Democrat, and took a leading part in local politics and was influential in the affairs of his town and county in a public way, always alert for the good of the community. He was president of the town of Fenton for a number of years. He was a prominent Mason, having attained the thirty-second degree in that order, and was a Knight Templar.
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On June 17, 1889, Wilford P. Cook was married to Annie Barrows, who has lived in Fenton since she was about five years old, and to that union two sons were born, John L., who was educated at the University of Michigan, a member of the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity, and is now president of the Walker Manufacturing Company, and Ernest A., who was graduated from the Detroit Medical School, University of Michigan, in 1914, and went to Europe at the age of twenty years to complete his edu- cation. He is a member of the Phi Beta Pi medical fraternity.
CHARLES HENRY LEAL.
One of the enterprising merchants of Genesee county is Charles Henry Leal, whose clothing establishment in Fenton is well known through- out that locality, for he is a man with whom it is a pleasure to deal, being courteous, obliging, honest and fair-minded in all relations of life.
Charles Henry Leal was born in Delaware county, New York, Septem- ber 23, 1870, .a son of John Henry and Mary (Shirr) Leal, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter, of Berlin, Germany. John B. Leal, father of John Henry Leal, was a native of the state of New York; was for some time head salesman for the Allen-Cheldon Com- pany, later was connected with Edison, Moore & Company of Detroit, finally moving to Huron, Michigan. John Henry Leal grew up in his native state and after attending the public schools, took a course in Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, after which he became salesman for the Allen-Cheldon Company, and finally located at Fenton, Michigan, where he conducted a general store for two years, at the end of which time, in 1880, he moved to Linden, where he continued in the mercantile business until 1908. His death occurred about 1912. His wife preceded him to the grave in 1887; thus he survived her a quarter of a century. To these parents the following children were born: Cora, who married E. J. Curtis, of Chicago; Charles Henry, the subject of this sketch; Mabel, wife of Walter P. Hammond of Battle Creek, Michigan; Maud, deceased, and Roy S., who married Emma Miller and lives in Battle Creek. The father of these children was a Democrat, and he was active in the affairs of the communities in which he lived.
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