History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, Part 71

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott
Number of Pages: 761

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T. P. Sheldon & Co., private bankers, located in the Sweetland block, on Main Street, are proprietors of the oldest banking institution in Kalamazoo, and it is possible that Mr. Sheldon has been longer in this business than any other individual banker in the State of Michigan. He opened a banking-house at this place in 1844, and continued to manage its affairs alone until 1850, when Horace Mower was admitted as a partner. Mr. Mower died in 1860, and in 1862 Henry Breese, Mr. Sheldon's present partner, be- came a member of the firm. The name of the house, T. P. Sheldon & Co., was adopted when Sheldon & Mower became associated. A general banking business is trans- acted. Mr. Sheldon has been a resident of the State since 1831, in which year he located in White Pigeon, St. Joseph Co., and became deputy receiver of the land-office, retaining the position after the office was removed to Kalamazoo, and coming here with it in 1834. Mr. Breese came somewhat later,-subsequent to 1840,-and for several years resided in Schoolcraft township. Mr. Sheldon is of the opinion that but one man is now living in Kalamazoo who was a man grown when he (Sheldon) removed here, and that is Rodney Seymour, whose first visit to the locality was made in September, 1830.

The Kalamazoo City Bank was first organized as a savings bank June 1, 1870, by Col. F. W. Curtenius, Horace M. Peck, and C. S. Dayton, and was subsequently

* In April, 1837, according to the files of the Kalamazoo Gazette, contracts were let for a new banking-house, with dwelling-house at- tached, the whole to cost from $8000 to $10,000.

COL. DELOS PHILLIPS.

Delos Phillips was born in Hamburg, Erie Co., N. Y., on the 24th day of October, 1839, and moved with his parents to Ypsilanti, Mich., when about six years of age.

He is the second of eight sons, six of whom are now living. He availed himself of the advantages of the very thorough schools at this centre of learning, and at the early age of fifteen was prepared for a scientific course in the university. The next four years were passed in preparation for a full classical course, and he feels especially indebted to Prof. Joseph Esterbrook and Hon. S. M. Cutcheon, who had charge of his preparation.

At the early age of seventeen, he taught a district school in the neighboring township of Augusta, and the next year in Nankin, Wayne Co. We find him entering the university in the regular classi- cal course in the fall of 1859.

His fellow-students during the next three years, in the class of 1863, found him a thorough mathematician, good in all branches of study, and perhaps as good a general scholar as the class possessed; he, at this time, being more noted for general information and good delivery in oratorical efforts than for special minuteness in classical or mytho- logical lore.

The highest honors of the university at that time were considered to be in the position of president of the students' lecture association, to which he was elected in June, 1862.

During the previous year it had been hard to restrain his feelings of obligation to enter his country's service in the war of the Rebellion, and the vacation of 1862 gave him time to think of the country's need of men.

A dozen of his fellow-students called at his father's house, and of- fered to enroll their names, if he would. He had previously refused a captain's commission through fear of the responsibility, but now he could not resist the demands of patriotism, though he very much de- sired to complete his college course, now within one year of its close.

At this time, Hon. Chauncey Joslin, a warm personal friend, tried all his powers of persuasion to induce him to finish his course, and pursue the profession of law by entering his office as a student.

But the needs of the country and his willingness to serve in any capacity at length induced him to enlist as a private soldier in the 17th Michigan Infantry.

He carried a musket through the bitterly fought engagements of South Mountain and Antietam, Md. Gen. W. H. Withington, of Jackson, then in command of the regiment, for gallantry on the battle- field of Antietam, recommended him for a commission as 2d lieuten- ant, which he received in another company, there being no position vacant in his own.

On the 4th of July, with the surrender of Vicksburg, he was pro-

moted 1st lieutenant, and again, in October of same year (1863), captain of his own company. He was present at every engagement of his command, and the 17th was a fighting regiment, until he was captured, in May, 1864, at Spottsylvania Court-House, Va.

But he determined not to remain a prisoner, and after eleven days' captivity, with four others, escaped from the cars near the northern border of North Carolina. Traveling through three hundred miles of hostile territory, the party reached the Union lines at Charleston, on the Kanawha.

Arriving in Detroit, he was placed in command of the military dis- trict of Lake Superior, and assisted in raising the 28th and 29th Michigan Infantry Regiments. He was commissioned lieutenant- colonel of the former, and commanded it from its organization, in Oc- tober, to December, 1864.

In January, 1865, he resigned his command, settled his accounts with all departments satisfactorily, and prepared to fulfill business engagements at Marquette, Lake Superior, when he was requested by President Haven, of the university, to confer with the faculty with a view to graduation in June.

They tendered him a diploma on account of his services as a soldier upon his studying eight weeks, and passing the studies of the second semester.

Through the partiality of President A. D. White, of Cornell Uni- versity, at that time Professor of History in the University, he was chosen as the valedictorian of his class.

He left Lake Superior in 1866, and in June became a citizen of Kalamazoo County, where he has since resided, engaged in the busi- ness of a manufacturer and dealer in musical merchandise.

In 1868 he was elected to the State Senate, at the age of twenty- nine, being the youngest member of the body. He served on the committee of three which gave to Michigan the present free school system ; his associates being Hon. P. R. L. Pierce, of Grand Rapids, and Hon. L. D. Norris, of Ypsilanti. He was chairman of the com- mittee on military affairs, and served on the committee upon reform schools.

In 1876 he was presidential elector, and by vote of the electorial college selected as messenger to Washington.

In 1878 he was honorably mentioned by the leading press of the State as Republican candidate for Secretary of State, but declined the proffered honor.

In politics he has always been a Republican, and a friend of the laboring man. He has for four years been chairman of the Kala- mazoo County Republican Committee, and manages its affairs with good judgment. He possesses the good opinion of the people of his own county, and has received the especial mention of the press of the State for efficient work.

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VILLAGE OF KALAMAZOO.

reorganized as a private bank. It has an extensive business, and is very popular. Its officers, who are all prominent citizens, are F. W. Curtenius, President ; Horace M. Peck, Vice-President ; C. S. Dayton, Cashier. Bank located at northwest corner of Main and Burdick Streets.

The Michigan National Bank was originally established as a private bank, in June, 1856, by Messrs. Woodbury, Potter, and Wood. In 1857, when nearly all the banks succumbed under the great financial crash, this one promptly met all its obligations and weathered the storm. In June, 1865, a charter was received, and the institution was organ- ized as the Michigan National Bank, with a capital of $100,000, limited to $500,000. Its officers were J. P. Woodbury, Allen Potter, W. A. Wood, J. Parsons, A. Thomas, S. S. Cobb, J. C. Bassett, F. W. Curtenius, H. Bishop, Directors ; William A. Wood, President; Allen Potter, Vice-President ; J. W. Taylor, Cashier; Edwin J. Phelps and Edward Woodbury, Tellers. Its capital remains the same, and it has a surplus of $100,000. Its present officers are J. P. Woodbury, Allen Potter, W. A. Wood, J. Parsons, S. S. Cobb, H. Bishop, John W. Taylor, F. Bush, W. G. Pattison, Directors ; W. A. Wood, President ; Allen Potter, Vice-President; J. W. Taylor, Cashier.

The First National Bank was organized in December, 1863, with a capital stock of $50,000, limited to $500,000. The capital has since been increased to $100,000. The present officers (January, 1880) are R. S. Babcock, T. S. Cobb, Hiram Arnold, Latham Hull, E. O. Humphrey, Ne- hemiah Chase, Directors ; R. S. Babcock, President ; T. S. Cobb, Vice-President ; Chauncey Strong, Cashier.

Kalamazoo Business College .- This institution was es- tablished Dec. 19, 1869, by W. F. Parsons, a graduate under P. R. Spencer, author of the Spencerian system of penmanship. The class first organized by Mr. Par- sons consisted of 20 members. Both penmanship and telegraphy are taught in this school, although not so much is now being done with the latter branch as formerly. The college was established in the rooms now occupied, on the third floor of the " House Block," southeast corner Main and Burdick Streets. The total number of students who have entered this institution is 940, and the present class numbers about 95. Of the graduates, many have obtained situations with business houses in the larger cities of the country, and all are in business in various places " throughout all the land." Prof. Parsons served three years in the army, being captain of Company C, 29th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, belonging to the 13th Army Corps, and doing duty in the Department of the Gulf. His college has won a wide reputation, and is regarded as one of the prominent educational institutions of Kalamazoo.

Wholesale Houses .- Kalamazoo is represented in the jobbing line by the following houses :

Groceries : F. S. Stone & Son, Trowbridge & Crosby, B. Desenberg & Co.

Kalamazoo Oil Company.

Dry-goods : M. Israel & Co., Wm. B. Clark's Son.

Notions and knit goods : Sam. Rosenbaum.

Wagons, etc. : H. A. Stone.

Tobacco and liquors : D. Lilienfeld & Brother.

Millinery : C. C. Capen, W. J. Morse.

Furniture : E. A. Carder & Sons, Starkey & Gilber, John McKee.

Drugs : Clapham & McDonald.

Organs : Col. Delos Phillips.

Breweries .- The breweries of Kalamazoo are the follow- ing, viz. : " Kalamazoo Steam Brewery," Asylum Avenue, George Kinast, proprietor ; " Portage Brewery," on Lake Street, near Portage Creek, G. Numaier, proprietor; B. Locher, 7 Walnut Street; Henry Schroder, proprietor " Frank's Brewery," 77 Kalamazoo Avenue ; George Judd, Malt House, on North Burdick Street.

NEWSPAPERS.

Kalamazoo Gazette .- The Michigan Statesman and St. Joseph Chronicle was established at White Pigeon, St. Joseph Co., Mich., about Dec. 1, 1833, by John D. De- frees, now of Washington, D. C. Henry Gilbert purchased the paper in June, 1834, and continued its publication at White Pigeon until September, 1835. The United States land-office had been removed from this place to Kalamazoo (then called Bronson) in the spring or early summer of 1834, and thither, in September, 1835, Mr. Gilbert followed with his printing establishment. The name of the paper was changed to Michigan Statesman, Jan. 24, 1835. The first paper was struck in Bronson, Oct. 2, 1835. Albert Chandler was associated with Mr. Gilbert for a short period at that time in the conduct of the paper.

In 1836 the whole printing material of the office was sold and removed to Indiana; and Mr. Gilbert went East and purchased an entire new outfit, the publication of the paper being suspended for a few weeks during the interval. The name was changed to Kalamazoo Gazette, which it has since borne, Jan. 23, 1837. Samuel Yorke At Lee took editorial charge at this time and made it a political power in the West. He was a facile, pungent, and witty writer, and the Gazette became a great favorite under his manage- ment. On the 7th of October, 1837, the paper was en- larged to a seven-column folio, and on December 9th of the same year, Mr. O. S. Case, a brother-in-law of Mr. Gilbert, became associated in its publication. This partnership was dissolved Sept. 15, 1838, and Mr. Gilbert again assumed entire control. June 1, 1839, he sold a half-interest to E. D. Burr, and retired from the management. On the 26th of February, 1841, he again assumed entire control, and on the 8th of October following sold a half-interest to Mr. D. S. Meritt, who withdrew from the paper Feb. 26, 1842.

Mr. Gilbert continued to manage the paper until 1844, when it passed into the hands of Hascall & Adams. In 1845, J. W. Breese tried his hand for a few months and retired; and in May, 1846, the establishment, title, and good-will, fell into the hands of Volney Hascall. In the hands of this bright scholar and able writer the paper took rank as one of the best in the West, and had a national as well as State reputation. For sixteen years, from May, 1846, to November, 1862, the Gazette continued to prosper under his hands, when, having secured a competency, and on account of failing health he sold the establishment to J. R. Mansur.

This paper was in a flourishing condition when sold, but the new proprietor was not adapted to the business, and,

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HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

although a good writer, his administration was short, and the paper passed into the hands of William Shakespeare & Co. ; then changed to William Shakespeare, followed soon by the firm of Wm. Shakespeare and B. S. Gleason. B. S. Gleason succeeded, and Joseph Lomax and Elijah Clark followed. Under the firm of Lomax & Clark the paper had a short but brilliant career. In quick succession followed Joseph Lomax alone, then Lomax & Brown, and in a few weeks Joseph Lomax again. These changes took place between the time when Hascall sold the paper to Mansur and the time when the present proprietor assumed the management, a period of eight years. Through these various administrations it was conducted with average ability, and was, on the whole, successful.

In September, 1870, the present proprietor bought the paper. The late Volney Hascall, in writing a brief history of the Gazette, just prior to his death, used the following language with regard to the present proprietor :

" A. J. Shakespeare may be said to be the child of the establishment, having entered the office as an appren- tice to the writer at the age of thirteen years. and was fast promoted to " jour.," foreman, and, during the proprie- tor's absence in Europe, to the entire management of both the news and job departments. With the exception of nine and a half years spent in Niles, as the proprietor of the Niles Democrat, the Gazette has been, as it were, the home of " Shake," as his fellow-craftsmen call him.

" From the moment of his entry into the establishment as proprietor his success has been assured. Improvement has followed improvement until the Gazette is one of the best appointed country offices in the State. The weekly Ga- zette has been enlarged to a handsome eight-page paper, and a plucky, spicy, and able morning daily put on a firm foot- ing, and sure to become one of the fixtures of the place.

" The Gazette of to-day is longed for among its town and country patrons, on account of its spice and vim, even as much, or more than when the witty At Lee was at its edi- torial head in the early day."

The Gazette is now in its forty-seventh year, and one of the oldest papers in Michigan, and has ever been a staunch supporter of the Democratic party.

The Kalamazoo Telegraph .- This newspaper was estab- lished at Kalamazoo as a weekly, under the name of The Michigan Telegraph, in 1844, the first number appearing September 10th of that year, with Henry B. Miller as editor and publisher. In November, 1845, the office was removed to the basement of a building then occupying the present site of F. S. Stone's grocery, corner of Main and Rose Streets. Its first office was a little one-story building on Portage Street, which stood where Geo. C. Winslow & Bros.' marble-works now stands. Mr. Miller had been assisted in the editorship of the Telegraph from the first by George Torrey, Sr. In November, 1845, just after the office was removed, Mr. Miller sold his interest to Mr. Wil- liam Milliken, who came here from South Bend, Ind., and the paper was published and edited for the following two years or more by Milliken and Torrey, but in Mr. Milliken's name. In the spring of 1846 the office was taken to rooms over Goss & Darling's store, which occupied the present site of the House block, or a part of it, in the place which

had just been vacated by the Gazette. Here the office re- mained till the fall of 1846, when Milliken sold out to Torrey, and the office was removed to the second story of a wooden building on the north side of Main Street, about four doors west of Burdick Street. Meantime Mr. Milli- ken purchased type and material, and started another Tele- graph in the room vacated by Mr. Torrey, and the people of Kalamazoo had the edifying spectacle, for several months, of two papers published the same day, and each claiming to be the only true, original, and genuine Telegraph. This condi- tion of things, of course, could not last, and on June 27, 1847, Mr. Alex. Sheldon purchased both offices and consolidated them, when the old Telegraph went on without further op- position in its own ranks, and was removed back to the old stand. Mr. Torrey continued editor with Mr. Sheldon till his appointment as light-house keeper in August, 1849, at the mouth of Grand River. Mr. H. B. Miller at about the same time was made superintendent of lights at Grand Haven, having been for some time previous editor of a Buffalo German paper of the Whig stripe. The office, however (before it was sold), again for some months was shared with the Gazette, and the two papers looked very much alike, at least on the outside, for Mr. Hascall printed both of them, and much of the news and miscellaneous matter was used alike, though the politics wouldn't mix. The name of the paper had been changed to "Kalamazoo" Telegraph in 1847 by Mr. Torrey. In August he retired from five years' service in the Telegraph as editor and at times proprietor, and the office was transferred to Mr. S. N. Gantt, who printed the paper upon his own material, the Gazette office going about that time to a room over the back part of what is now McDonald's drug-store. About the first of January, Geo. A. Fitch & Co. purchased the office of Gantt. On the 5th of February following, the office and material, then in the Gray & Dennison block, was destroyed in the fire which swept away all the buildings from Burdick Street west to Sheldon's bookstore, which then stood where Giddings' harness- and trunk-store now is, and some shops back of Main Street-one of the greatest fires ever known here. It was a hard blow to Mr. Fitch, who, then a very young man, had put all the money he could raise into this investment. For several weeks he issued a small sheet to keep the paper alive in the succes- sion till he could buy and arrange a new outfit, using, in the mean time, Mr. Volney Hascall's office. At last, after nearly two months' delay, the Telegraph again appeared, -- a large and handsome sheet, the old name, " Michigan," being substituted for " Kalamazoo" in the prefix to "Tele- graph," the office being re-established this time over Mr. S. S. Cobb's store (now Lilienfeld's). For nearly sixteen years Mr. Fitch continued editor and a proprietor of the Telegraph, with a few exceptions. H. E. Hascall had the office from 1858 to 1860, while Mr. Fitch was at Lansing, in the State printing-office, and from 1861 to 1863. Messrs. H. C. Buffington at one time, and R. F. Johnstone at another, were interested as editors and publishers. In 1860, Mr. H. E. Hascall published a daily edition from May to Novem- ber, during the Lincoln campaign. When Mr. Buffington took the office in November, 1860, the daily was discon- tinued, and the office was removed to the third story of the

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House block, then but recently completed. In 1864, dur- ing the exciting period of the war, Mr. Fitch published for two months The Evening Telegraph. Mr. Fitch's connec- tion with the Telegraph covered an eventful era in our national and political history,-of great and overshadowing issues, of results supreme and commanding in their conse- quences. With many of the leading actors in the events which transpired in the period of time embraced in his con- trol of the Telegraph, Mr. Fitch was intimately acquainted, and associated in not a few of the organization and forma- tion of parties and their influences. He was the leading spirit, the originator and inspirer. He was fertile in inven- tion, logical and plausible as a talker and writer, and in the history of the Telegraph he was the man whose influence was most widely felt. He was among the first, if not the very first, to see that the end of the Whig party had come, and to understand and to make known to the State the necessity of the union of men on a set of principles which would sweep the country and bring about a new and better order of things ; and the formation of the Republican party was first advocated in the Telegraph while he was editor.

In 1865, Thomas Fitch had partial control of the paper, and Dr. James A. B. Stone was the editor. On the 4th of July, 1866, the brothers George A. and Thomas Fitch transferred the title to the brothers Clement W. and Ho- ratio H. Stone, and in April, 1867, it was removed to its present location over the post-office. In April, 1868, the daily was re-commenced, and has continued ever since. On the 9th of December, 1869, was established the Kalama- zoo Telegraph Company, Rev. G. W. Harris becoming one of the members. Horatio H. Stone died March 4, 1870. Dr. Stone remained editor, assisted by Rev. G. W. Harris. On Oct. 1, 1870, the firmn changed to Stone & Smith, H. H. Smith, now journal clerk for the national House of Rep- resentatives, and James H. Stone, now manager of the De- troit Post and Tribune, becoming the proprietors. Nov. 13, 1871, Smith disposed of his interest to Mr. H. E. Has- call. On the 25th of that month the office caught fire about one o'clock in the afternoon, and was fearfully dam- aged. Much of the material, however, was taken out, but most of the presses were destroyed ; the material that was re- moved was put into a building opposite the post-office, but on Monday (the fire was on Saturday) Mr. Shakespeare, of the Gazette, gave room for the office to "start up" again, and the Telegraph came out as usual (not missing a day of publication), remaining at the Gazette office and using its power-press till the old Firemen's Hall could be repaired ; this was about three weeks, when all was in running order again at the old stand over the post-office. On Feb. 2, 1872, Harrison E. Hascall committed suicide while tempo- rarily deranged, but the paper continued under the firm- name of Stone & Hascall till the 1st of January, 1873, when it appeared under the proprietorship of James H. Stone. On March 18, 1872, it was enlarged to a thirty-two- column daily and forty-column weekly, and printed on new type and presses.

In March, 1874, Mr. Lucius B. Kendall became joint proprietor with Mr. Stone, and in August of that year Mr. L. M. Gates purchased Mr. Stone's interest. In November following a joint-stock company was formed, which, with a

few changes, has continued to the present writing. During the time Mr. J. H. Stone was the proprietor, Mr. G. W. Harris and a Mr. Fleming were at different periods polit- ical writers for the journal. In 1874, Mr. H. L. Nelson was political editor.

The Telegraph was founded as a Whig paper, and has always been recognized as a leading journal, politically and locally, in Western Michigan. It was the first paper to advocate the organization of the Republican party, a move- ment which was successfully inaugurated in Kalamazoo County, and in which the State of Michigan led the rest of the Union. The weekly issue is at present a forty-column paper, has the largest circulation of any paper in Western Michigan, and enjoys a large and lucrative patronage and the confidence of the people of this section of country. The daily edition is an eight-column paper with 1000 circulation. It publishes the dispatches of the Western Associated Press, and has a well-organized system of gath- ering news from the western portion of the State. The Kalamazoo Publishing Company is composed of L. B. Kendall, Dwight May,* and W. L. Eaton. Mr. Eaton is the political editor, and George Torrey local and literary editor.

The Kalamazoo Mail .- In May, 1878, a paper, called the Legal Tender, was established by Messrs. Secord & Verity ; it was a five-column folio, and politically stood upon the platform of the " Greenback" party. Secord soon retired from the firm, and an interest was purchased by C. H. Smith. In October, 1878, the Legal Tender was consolidated with the Kalamazoo Mail, of which paper two numbers had been issued by C. G. Maynard and C. S. Townsend. The Kalamazoo Mail, as the consolidated sheet was known, was published by the proprietors of the two papers as formerly existing, under the name of the " Kalamazoo Mail Publishing Company," and continued until Jan. 16, 1879, when Maynard and Verity retired. Townsend & Smith issued it as a five-column quarto until April 17, 1879, when the former purchased the latter's interest ; in the same month Townsend sold his interest to the " Mail Publishing Company," formed about that time with a capital stock of $3000. Its officers are Jarvis D. Adams, President ; Capt. W. S. Logan, Vice-President ; Hampden Kelsey, Secretary; Thomas R. Sherwood, Treasu- rer ; Alexander Cameron, Isaac Cox, Peter A. Beebe, C. G. Townsend, Dr. I. Clendenen, J. H. Bostwick, Dr. F. H. Chase, James Campbell, A. S. Dyckman, Trustees. This company purchased the office of the South Haven Record in May, 1879, and removed it to Kalamazoo, and at present issue the Mail as a seven-column quarto, to which size it was enlarged Oct. 31, 1879. The paper is issued weekly, and has a circulation of 1872 copies. The subscription price is $1.50 per annum ; its politics are unchanged from the be- ginning, and it also aims to become a popular industrial journal. C. G. Townsend, to whom the office is leased by the company, is editor and publisher. The office is at pres- ent in the third story of the building at the southwest corner of Main and Burdick Streets, over the First National Bank.

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History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, Part 71

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott Number of Pages: 761

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott
Number of Pages: 761