USA > Michigan > Ionia County > History of Ionia County, Michigan : her people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 17
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ARTHUR NEWEL HALL.
Arthur Newel Hall, one of the best-known and most substantial farm- ers of lonia county, proprietor of a fine farm in lonia township, situated on rural route No. I, out of fonia, is a native son of that same township, having been born on a pioneer farm there on February 22, 1848, son of Joshua Starke and Sarah J. (Haight ) Hall, prominent pioneers of this county, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of New York City, further details regarding whose history in this county are set out in a biographical sketch relating to the late Joshua S. Hall, presented else- where in this volume. Joshua S. Hall was born in London county, Con-
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necticut, in February, 1816, son of Henry and Ruth (Starke) Hall. the former of whom was a soldier in the War of 1812, and the latter was related to the family of General Starke, of Revolutionary fame. In 1836 Joshua S. Hall, then about twenty years of age, came to Michigan and settled in Ionia county, thus having been one of the very earliest settlers of this county. He bought government land and in 1842 married Sarah J. Haight, a pioneer school teacher, who had come to this county with her parents from New York City in 1840, and who was then teaching in Orleans township one of the first schools organized in the county. Joshua Hall became one of the most substantial farmers in Ionia county. For years he was a justice of the peace and did much to advance the cause of stable government. In the fall of 1896, during the height of the memor- able political campaign of that year, when gold had practically disappeared from circulation, he drove up to the door of the First National Bank at Ionia in a lumber wagon, carried a heavily-weighted grain bag into the bank and handed it to the teller, with the remark, "Here is something that may help you out." The teller poured the contents of the bag onto a table and there was revealed a horde of twenty-dollar gold pieces, amounting to a sum variously reported as high as twenty thousand dollars. Joshua S. Hall died at his home in this county in 1907, at the age of ninety-one, hav- ing been a continuous resident of Fonia county for more than seventy years. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, all of whom are still living, and of whom the subject of this biographical sketch is the third in order of birth.
Arthur N. Hall was reared on the home farm in lonia township and on February 22, 1872, his twenty-fourth birthday, was united in mar- riage to Tilla Martin, who was born near Welland, Ontario, daughter of Andrew and Lenora ( Martin) Martin, who, though bearing the same name, were unrelated. Andrew Martin was born in Canada on August 29, 1808. son of a British soldier, who was of German birth. Lenora Martin was born in New York state on Angust 2, 1818, and was married in Canada in 1835. Her father was a cousin of Commodore Perry and was a soldier in the War of 1812. One of her brothers fought under General Taylor during the Mexican War and was killed in battle in Mexico. Her great- grandfather and one of his sons were soldiers in the patriot army during the Revolutionary War. It was in the fall of 1864 that Andrew Martin and his family moved over the line from Canada and came to Michigan. arriving at Belding, this county, on November 8, of that year. They settled in Otisco township, but about 1870 moved over into Easton township,
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where Mr. Martin spent his last days, his death occurring on May 24. 1882. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and took a warm interest in the affairs of that organization. His widow survived him many years. The last twenty years of her life were spent in lonia and she died at the home of her daughter. Mrs. Hall. in 1905. She was one of the leaders in the Woman's Relief Corps and took a prominent part in the activities of the ladies auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic.
After his marriage Arthur N. Hall began farming for himself on his own farm in Orleans township and remained there until 1876, in which year he moved to his present farm in section 7. Ionia township, where he ever since has made his home. He started in there with sixty acres, but now has a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres. well improved and productive. In 1884 he built a fine brick house on the place and he and his family are very comfortably situated. Mr. Hall has given much atten- tion to dairying, in addition to his general farming, and has done much to advance the dairy interests of this county. For sixteen years Mr. Hall served as justice of the peace in and for Ionia township and served two terms as supervisor, in all his public activities giving his most earnest thought to the general welfare. For some years during the time of the Grange's activities hereabout, Mr. Hall was one of the leading local mem- bers of that organization.
To Arthur N. and Tilla ( Martin) Hall four children have been born, as follow : Cora Eugenia, born on February 6, 1873. married Dr. George P. Winchell, of Ionia, and died on March 19, 1900, leaving one daughter, Dorothy Mildred : Roy A., June 4. 1875. who owns a farm across the road from that of his father, married Margie Ladow and has two daughters, Esther and Velva; Herbert Chester. October 8. 1884, a well-known young lawyer of lonia, now prosecuting attorney for this judicial district, and Ralph Emerson, May 27, 1894, a senior in the lonia high school and one of the leaders in that school's famous football team. Mr. and Mrs. Hall and all their children are earnest members of the Church of Christ at lonia and the family takes its proper part in community good works.
Herbert C. Hall, prosecuting attorney for this judicial district, entered the University of Michigan after his graduation from the lonia high school and was graduated from the law department of that institution in 1906. In that same year he was admitted to practice in the courts of Michigan and the next year entered the United States consular service, serving until 1000 as vice-consul at the port of Calais, France. Upon his return to the United States in 1900 he opened an office for the practice of law at Chi-
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cago and remained in that city for four or five years. In April. 1914, he returned to lonia and has ever since been engaged in the practice of his profession there. In November of that same year he was elected prose- cuting attorney of Ionia county and entered upon the performance of the duties of that office on January 1, 1915.
On October 15, 1913, Herbert C. Hall was united in marriage to Ber- tha Wurster, who was born at Ionia, daughter of Jacob and Henrietta ( Neuman) Wurster, who came to this country years ago and settled at Ionia, where Mr. Wurster is engaged in the poultry business. Mrs. Hall has two sisters, Louise and Emma, she being the youngest of the family. Mr. Hall is a member of the Church of Christ and is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at lonia. His wife is a member of the German Lutheran church.
CHARLES E. HOTCHKISS.
Charles E. Hotchkiss, a well-known farmer of Otisco township, this county, proprietor of "Arlington Heights Farm," a well-kept place of eighty acres, three miles south and one mile east of Belding, on rural route No. 4. in section 25, Otisco township, is a native of Illinois, having been born in that state on November 18, 1861, son of Aaron A. and Amelia R. ( Rose) Hotchkiss, both natives of New York state, who came to Michigan in 1864, settled in Keene township, this county, where they lived on a rented farm until 1873, in which year they bought a farm in Otisco township, on which they spent the remainder of their lives. They were the parents of eight children, of whom five are still living, namely: Alfred A., a farmer, living in Evergreen township, in the neighboring county of Montcalm: Charles E., the subject of this sketch: George E., a farmer living in Jonia town- ship, this county; Nina, wife of Eli Witt, of Otisco township, this county. and Cora, wife of Leslie Monteith.
Charles E. Hotchkiss was about three years old when his parents came to this county and he was reared on the home farm, receiving his education in the district school in the neighborhood of his home. He went West in 1885, and for two years was engaged there as a laborer on railroads, on farms and in the timber woods, after which he returned home and resumed his place on the home farm. On February 24. 1892, he married Mary .1. White, who was born in Keene township, this county, May 25, 1869, was educated in Olivet College and had been teaching school for six years before
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her marriage. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hotchkiss established their home at "Arlington Heights Farm," where they since have resided and where they are very pleasantly and comfortably situated.
To Charles E. and Mary A. ( White ) Hotchkiss two children have been born, Lyle E., born on June 8, 1894. who attended the Belding high school, later entered the lonia County Normal School, from which he was graduated. after which he taught school a couple of years and is now a student at Ferris Institute at Big Rapids, and Blanche M., July 30, 1896, a graduate of the common school and an attendant at the Belding high school. Mr. Hotchkiss is an "independent" Republican and has served his com- munity as a member of the school board.
JOSHUA S. HALL.
Among the sturdy pioneers who cleared the forests and brought the land hereabouts to a proper state for cultivation, there were few who were more energetic than the late Joshua S. Ilall, for years a well-known and prominent resident of Easton township, this county. Joshua S. Hall, one of the earliest settlers of lonia county, was born in New London coun- ty. Connecticut, February 24, 1816, son of Henry and Ruth (Starke) Hall, the former of whom was a soldier in the War of 1812. He was reared on a farm and in the fall of 1835, he then being nineteen years of age, came to Michigan with an uncle, a brother of his mother, the two making their way by canoe and over Indian trails to lonia county, where Mr. Starke bought one hundred and fourteen acres of government land in section 6, of lonia township. Mr. Starke quickly became dissatisfied with pioneering and sold the tract to his nephew for one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre and returned East. Joshua S. Hall erected a log cabin on his place, where he kept "bachelor's hall," and proceeded to clear the land. He married in the fall of 1842 and settled on a new place in Orleans town- ship, but presently returned to his old place and lived there a number of years, then returned to Orleans township and later bought a farm of eighty- two acres in section 1. Easton township. where he spent the remainder of his life. his death occurring in March, 1907.
On September 18. 1842, Joshua S. Hall was united in marriage to Sarah \. Haight, an Orleans township school teacher, who was born in New York City on March 6, 1822, daughter of Marael G. and Jane ( Lynch)
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Haight, the former of whom was a captain during the War of 1812, and who were the parents of eight children. In 1834 the Haights came to Michigan and located in Washtenaw county, where they lived until the early forties, when they came over into lonia county, where Sarah .A. Haight was engaged as a teacher in the district schools until her marriage to Mr. Hall. To Joshua S. and Sarah A. ( Haight ) Hall seven children were born, namely : Henry J., who lives just at the western edge of Ionia, on the state road, in Easton township; Luther E., a farmer, living in section 36. Orleans township: Arthur N., who lives northeast of Ionia; Ruth, who married Perry Freeman and lives in Boston township; Frank, who lives on the state road in Easton township: Ada, who married E. B. Higbee, of Ronald township, and John A., who now lives in Cuba, where he is engaged in raising oranges, bananas and pineapples. The mother of these children died on March 17, 1895.
JAMES A. ALDRICH.
James A. AAldrich, a well-to-do retired farmer of Boston township, this county, and an honored veteran of the Civil War, now living at Saranac, in the southern part of Ionia county, is a native of Canada, but has been a resident of Michigan shice he was four years old. He was born at Yar- mouth, Canada. August 27, 1841, son of Robert S. and Sarah ( Weed) Aldrich, both natives of New York state, who later became residents of Michigan.
Robert S. Aldrich was born in New York state in 1811 and grew to manhood in his native state. There he married Sarah Weed, who was born in 1812, and moved over the line into Canada, where he entered a tract of land from the government and engaged in farming. Three years later he returned to New York state, where he remained until 1845, in which year he and his family came to Michigan and located at Galesburg, Kalamazoo county, where Robert S. Aldrich worked at his trade, that of a painter, for about four years, after which he moved onto a farm in Augusta township. that county, where he lived until he came to lonia county in 1863. locating on a farm near Boston Center. Ten years later, in 1873, he moved to Eldorado, Kansas, where he spent the remainder of his life. Robert S. Aldrich and his wife were the parents of four children, of whom but two now survive, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Melissa, widow of Lee Davis, who is now living in El Dorado, Kansas.
MR. AND MRS. JAMES A. ALDRICH.
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James A. Aldrich was but a child when his parents came to this state and he received his schooling in Kalamazoo county. . At the age of twenty- one he enlisted for service as a soldier of the Union during the Civil War and went to the front as a member of Company L. Sixth Michigan Cavalry. During the engagement at the Yellow Tavern in the battle of the Wilderness he received a severe wound in the spine. During this battle while executing left flank under General Custer, Mr. Aldrich received his wound. The Con- federates were trying to cut off his division. The Union army were trying to capture a Confederate battery and when half-way toward the battery dur- ing the charge, subject was shot. He was disabled for further service. After receiving the wound he was taken to the United States hospital at Point Lookout, Maryland, and there he suffered from gangrene and was confined there until after Lee's surrender. Subject was honorably dis- charged in June, 1865. He saw service at the battles of Hanover, Gettys- burg, Falling Waters and ten or twelve other cavalry engagements. Mr. Akfrich was long in recovering from the effect of his wound, but upon finally regaining his health and strength engaged in farming in Boston township. Ionia county. He married Mary A. Lawler, of Calhoun county, and after marriage settled on his farm of eighty acres in Boston township, which he cleared and cultivated. To that union three children were born, as follow : Willard, who was graduated from the law department of the Michigan State University at Ann Arbor, but later turned his talents to the service of the gospel ministry and became a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. for some years being thus engaged before his death in California: Robert, who was graduated from the Saranac high school and is now engaged in the insurance business in Portland, head of the western branch of the Health and Accident Insurance Company, of Saginaw, and Mary A., who died at the age of nine months. Upon the death of the mother of these children
Mr. Aldrich married Betsy A. Gould, the first white child born in Boston township. this county, who died in 1909, without issue. On November 20. 1912, Mr. Aldrich married Nettie J. Barber. Upon retiring from the active labors of his useful career as a farmer. Mr. Aldrich sold his faim and moved to Saranac, where he and his wife are very pleasantly situated.
Mr. Aldrich is a Republican and for years has given his thoughtful atten- tion to local political affairs. For several terms he served as justice of the peace in and for Boston township, served one term as highway commissioner and two terms as a school inspector. He is an active member of the local post of the Hiat P. Clark Post No. 153, Grand Army of the Republic, and is past commander of that patriotic organization. He also is a member of
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Boston Lodge No. 146, Free and Accepted Masons, in the affairs of which he takes a warm interest, and during the activities of the Grange hereabout was one of the most influential members of that organization, serving for six terms as master of the local grange. Mr. Aldrich sold his farm when he moved into town about eight years ago.
BENJAMIN AND JAMES VOSPER.
The Vosper Brothers, Benjamin and James, well-known lawyers and lumbermen of lonia, this county, are native sons of Ionia county, having been born on a pioneer farm in Boston township, sons of Richard and Mar- garet ( Brandt ) Vosper. the former a native of England and the latter of New York state, early settlers and honored residents of this county.
Richard Vosper was born in the town of Launceston, in Cornwall, England, son of Benjamin Vosper and wife, both natives of that same county, the former a butcher, who were the parents of six children, Benja- min, Mrs. Martha Tresise, Ann, Mrs. Mary Wise, Thomas and Richard. The latter received his early schooling in the town of his birth, and at the age of fourteen emigrated to Canada, coming thence to Michigan and after awhile settling in this region, having been one of the early settlers in Kent and Ionia counties. For a time he followed the carpenter's trade in Grand Rapids, and in 1836 came to lonia county, purchasing a quarter section of land in Boston township, a portion of the village of Saranac being situated on part of this tract, and there he spent the remainder of his life. About the time of his coming to this county, Richard Vosper married Margaret Brandt, who was born in Wayne county, New York, her parents having been farmers living about twenty miles from the city of Rochester. She was the youngest of four children born to her parents, the others having been George, John and Mrs. Emaline Carveth. After his marriage, Mr. Vosper established his home on his Boston township homestead, and there he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, for years being recog- nized as among the foremost citizens of that community.
Upon the breaking out of the Civil War, Richard Vosper volunteered his services in behalf of the Union cause and was commissioned captain of sharpshooters attached to the Twenty-seventh Regiment, Michigan Vohin- teer Infantry, in which service he continued for a year and six months. lle was severely wounded during the battle of Petersburg and received an
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honorable discharge on a physician's certificate of disability. At the con- clusion of his military service, Captain Vosper returned to this county and resumed his place in the community life hereabout. He was a man of much influence in that section of the county and for many years served as justice of the peace. He was a thoughtful student of the law and practiced law to some extent. but was not regularly admitted to the bar. He and his wife were members of the Episcopal church and were among the leaders in good works in their neighborhood. Mrs. Vosper died in 1881, at the age of sixty-one years, and Captain Vosper survived until 1901. he being eighty-four years of age at the time of his death. He and his wife were the parents of five children. as follows: Martha, now deceased, was the wife of W. A. Stearns, also deceased, and was the mother of three chil- dren. Isabelle and Chilton, both unmarried and living in New York City, and Richard, who died in early infancy: Benjamin, of the firm of Vosper Brothers, lonia; Mason, a lieutenant in the Union army during the Civil War, who was killed in battle during a charge on the Weldon railroad, near Petersburg: James, of the firm of Vosper Brothers, lonia, and Mary, widow of Aaron Clark, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, who had three sons, Aaron V. and Lloyd, ranchmen of Colorado, and Arthur Clark, a resident of lonia.
Benjamin Vosper was reared on the paternal farm in Boston town- ship, receiving his elementary education in the district schools of that neigh- borhood. supplementing the same by a course in the Michigan State Normal, at the conclusion of which he entered the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, from which he was graduated in 1867. imme- diately afterward opening an office for the practice of his profession in Holland. this state, where he was located until 1871, in which year he moved his office to lonia, where he has ever since been engaged in active practice and is also extensively interested in the lumber business, in partner- ship with his brother, James. He is also interested in the mining industry in the upper peninsula of Michigan. When the Civil War broke out. Ben- jamin Vosper joined his father and his junior brother in offering his ser- vices in behalf of the Union canse, enlisting in 1862 as a sergeant in the Twenty-first Regiment. Michigan Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered into the service as second lieutenant in the Second Michigan and served for more than two years, receiving his discharge on account of disability at the end of that time, after which he pursued his studies, as set out above.
On May 7. 1873. Benjamin Vosper was united in marriage to Lucia A. Blanchard, who was born in Ionia, daughter of John C. and Harriet .1.
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( Brewster ) Blanchard, and to this union one child was born, Blanche M., now deceased, who was the wife of Harry M. Morgan, of Buffalo, New York. Mrs. Vosper is a member of the Daughters of the Revolution and of the Mayflower Society, and both she and her husband are affiliated with the Christian or Divine Science movement. Mrs. Vosper had two sisters Mrs. Hannah C. Stevenson and Mrs. Nettie A. Todd, and one brother, John C. Blanchard. Jr., all of whom are still living, her parents being ‹leceased.
James Vosper, younger brother and partner of Benjamin Vosper, also was reared on the paternal farm in Boston township, and has lived in this county all his life. Upon completing the course in the public school he entered the Ypsilanti Seminary, from which he was graduated in 1866, and for several years thereafter was engaged in teaching. He then married and settled on the old home farm. where he remained for five years, at the end of which time he formed a partnership with his brother. Benjamin. in the law and lumber business, and has ever since been thus engaged, in later years giving most of their time and attention to the lumber industry. James Vosper was admitted to the bar in 1877. The firm has large timber inter- ests in northern Michigan. Both brothers are Democrats and for years have taken an active interest in the political affairs of the county and state. James Vosper served as a member of the board of aldermen of lonia for two terms, and for twenty-six years was a member of the school board of the city of Ionia, during which time he served as president of the board for several terms.
On December 28. 1870, James Vosper was married to Livonia S. Holmes, daughter of Mirandy and Sarah A. (Seil) Holmes. Mirandy Holmes was a son of Ira Holmes, a pioneer of Chenango county, New York, from whom the village of Holmesville in said county took its name. Ira Holmes was the father of five sons and three daughters. Mirandy Holmes came to Michigan with the very early settlers, and worked as a gunsmith at Utica. Macomb county, where he married Sarah Seil. daughter of llarriet Seil, who later became by second marriage the wife of Walter Wentworth, her maiden name having been Rockwell. Mrs. Livonia Vosper has one sister, Mrs. Jetora (Holmes) Anderson, of Ovid, and thre halt brothers, Charles Floate, of Hartford. Ira Floate, of Owosso, and George Floate, of Maple Rapids, also one half sister. Mrs. Lizzie Sessions, of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Mr. and Mrs. James Vosper are the parents of three children : Isolene V., who married J. B. Chaddock, of Detroit, and has four children, Doro-
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thy W., Vosper, Paul and Esther: Zaides B., a graduate of the University of Michigan, who taught school for several years, and is now one of the force of librarians in the Detroit public library, and Richard H., unmar- ried, who is engaged in the lumber business in Mackinaw county, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Vosper are members of the Protestant Episcopal church, Mr. Vosper having been senior warden of the church for many years.
Both families of the Vospers have long occupied a high place in the social and cultural life of the lonia community, and are held in highest esteem by their many friends hereabout.
GEORGE W. AND JOHN TEBBEL.
George W. and John Tebbel, managers of the Smyrna roller mills, formerly owned and operated by their late father, W. R. Tebbel, are native sons of Michigan. George W. was born at Shiawassee, in Shiawassee county, this state. December 2. 1869, son of W. R. and Mary ( Purdy) Tebbel, the former a native of Canada and the latter of this state.
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