History of Kent County, Michigan, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 78

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Chapman, Charles C., & Co. (Chicago)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : C.C. Chapman & Co.
Number of Pages: 1434

USA > Michigan > Kent County > History of Kent County, Michigan, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 78

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Henry Lohr, son of Peter and Elizabeth Lohr, was born Oct. 15, 1841, in Bavaria, Germany. At the age of 16, he came alone to America, where he has made his own progress in life. He was married April 28, 1867, to Susannah Brookman, of Cincinnati. They have six children -- John, born Sept. 15, 1864; Michael Henry, Dec. 31, 1867; Anna Theresa, July 28, 1870; Elizabeth C., Nov. 28, 1872; Cecilia B., April 28, 1875, and Frank William, April 20, 1881. A niece, Anna B. Wagner, born April 1, 1866. Mr. Lohr came to Michigan in June, 1869, and after a stay of

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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY.

nine months in Walker, he went to Paris and remained two and one-half years, since which period he has lived in this tp. He owns 10 acres of choice land on sec. 8, where he carries on market- gardening, and raises all kinds of vegetables suitable to the demands of the trade in the city. He is an independent Republican. Both himself and wife are members of the German Catholic Church.

Sanford W. Lyon was born at Naples, Ontario Co., N. Y., in August, 1837. He is a son of Bunson K. and Paulina Lyon, both natives of Vermont. He came to Grand Rapids in June, 1861, and in August, 1862, enlisted in Co. B, 21st Reg., M. V. I., and was dicharged at the close of the war. He was wounded in the last engagement in which his regiment took part-at Benton- ville, N. C. He served in Co. B about 18 months, and on his transfer to Co. A, was placed in command, which he retained dur- ing the war. On his return he bought 14 acres of land near the city, on sec. 28, where he engaged in market gardening, and which he still carries on successfully. He was married Sept. 4, 1862, to Harriet A. Tracy, of Grand Rapids. She is daughter of Addison and Teusa Tracy, both natives of Pittsfield, Mass. Mr. Tracy was born Aug. 24, 1796, and died March 5, 1864. Mrs. Tracy was born March 8, 1803, and is still living. . Mrs. Lyon was born Dec. 30, 1836, in Amherst, O. Mr. and Mrs. Lyon have had five children, born as follows: Harley H., Sept. 26, 1864; Elroy T., Jan. 22, 1868, died Sept. 22, 1872; Mary M., Dec. 1, 1870; Wiley T., Aug. 12, 1874, and Laura P., July 22, 1876. Mr. Lyon is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and in politics is a Republican. Mrs. Lyon's brother was a soldier in the same regiment with her husband, and died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 1, 1863. A brother of Mr. Lyon, who enlisted in the war, was taken prisoner and starved to death in the stockade prison at Andersonville, March 20, 1865.

Philip M. McFall, son of Joseph and Lydia McFall, was born Dec. 12, 1855, in Algoma, Kent Co. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, and his mother was born in Ohio. His father was a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, and died in a hospital in 1865. Mr. McFall was married Dec. 12, 1876, to Almira A. Ly- man, of Grand Rapids, born in the District of Columbia Sept. 30, 1855. Her father was a native of Orange Co., N. Y. He was a soldier in the late war. Her mother was born in Hampden Co., Mass. Both are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. McFall have one child living-Theresa D., born Sept. 2, 1880. Mr. McFall by occupa- tion is a farmer, and in political views a Republican.

Lafayette Mead was born in Leroy, Wayne Co., N. Y., Oct. 18, 1824. His father, Lewis Mead, was born in Vermont in 1782, and died in Oakland county in 1862. His mother was a native of Vermont, born in 1785 and died in Michigan in 1865. His grand- father, Timothy Mead, and his great-grandfather, bearing same name, were born in the Green Mountain State. The former was a soldier of the Revolution, and his son, Lewis, of 1812. Lewis

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GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHI ?.

Mead and family settled in Lyons, Oakland Co., in 1832, when there were but two families within six miles. Mr. and Mrs. Mead died where they located. Mr. Mead, of this sketch, was married Oct. 27, 1850, to Sarah A., daughter of John and Mary Forbes, of Paris, born in Canada April 26, 1829. Her father was a native of New York, born Dec. 14, 1800; her mother, a native of New Brunswick, was born April 10, 1803, and died July 18, 1861. Six children of Mr. and Mrs. Forbes are living. They settled in Paris in 1841. In 1850 Mr. Mead, of this sketch, purchased 80 acres of land on sec. 10, in Paris. He resided on the farm 15 years, selling it and taking charge of the county farm two years. He then pur- chased 104 acres of most desirable land on sec. 34, Grand Rapids. It is situated two and a half miles from the city, on the south bank of Reed's lake, a. summer resort of considerable celebrity. Mr. Mead spent the year 1859 at Pike's Peak, Col., with a party of six from Kent county, who went to that land of promise with their horses. He is a Republican in politics, and both himself and wife are connected with the East Street Methodist Church.

Munson & Knapp, proprietors of the Grand Rapids nurseries. These popular nurseries were established in the spring of 1873, by Win. K. and Edward A. Munson, under the firm name of Munson Bros., both of whom had served an apprenticeship in the large nurseries of Geneva, N. Y. They first rented 10 acres of land of E. U. Knapp, on sec. 17, tp. of Grand Rapids, one and one-fourth miles N. E. of the D. S. & M. R. R. depot. In the spring of 1878 E. A. Munson sold his interest to Chas. E. Knapp, and the busi- ness was continued under the firm style of " Munson & Knapp." Their business now covers upward of 60 acres of ground, and they offer for sale a first-class assortment of apple, standard and dwarf pear, cherry, plum and peach trees. Of the latter they make a specialty. Their trade includes strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries, grapes, currants, evergreens, deciduous and weeping trees, roses, climbers, etc. They have 7,000 peach- trees and 2,000 grape-vines, and are planting more every year.

Wm. K. Munson and wife were both born near Syracuse, N. Y., and came to Grand Rapids in the spring of 1873. Chas. E. Knapp and wife were born in Butler, Wayne Co., N. Y., and moved to Grand Rapids in the fall of 1873.

R. Parish & Sons, manufacturers of cider and vinegar. Their works are located on Lake avenue, near Reed's lake, and have a capacity of about 500 barrels of vinegar, which are shipped to the trade in different parts of the State. Besides, they make cider for customers. Mill capacity, 60 barrels a day. The business was established in 1877 and is constantly on the increase; no similar establishment exists in Grand Rapids.

Mr. Parish, sr., was born in King's Sutton, Northamptonshire, England, Dec. 6, 1823. In 1830 his parents came to America and settled at Rochester, N. Y., where he remained until 1844, when he located in Ypsilanti, Washtenaw Co., where he remained four

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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY.

years. He was married Jan. 6, 1848, to Martha, daughter of Roderick and Lucinda Rowley, both natives of New England. She was born Dec. 12, 1827, in Middlesex, Ontario Co., N. Y. Soon after that event he bought a farm in Ada, Kent Co., where they lived until 1870, and moved to the city of Grand Rapids. In May, 1876, they moved to their present location. Mr. and Mrs. Parish had three children, born in Ada-Roderick T., De Witt R. and Charles D. Mr. Parish died in Grand Rapids, March 11, 1880, aged 57; himself and wife were members of the Congrega- tional Church. He was a Republican, as are his three sons. Roderick T. was married May 5, 1874, to Anna E. Spencer, of Independence, Buchanan Co., Iowa; they have one child-Grace S., born Aug. 27, 1880.

George D. Potts was born in New Jersey, Aug. 26, 1842. His parents came to Michigan in 1847, and settled in Washington, Macomb Co., where he lived with them three years, and went to Bruce, and two years after returned to Macomb county, and 11 years later he bought 160 acres of land in Muskegon, on which he lived nine years and sold it, going to Alpine, where he resided six years. His next removal was to Grand Rapids tp., where he now resides. He was married Sept. 22, 1878, to Nancy Bird, of this tp., daughter of Daniel and Nancy Bird, born in 1840. They have no children. Mrs. Potts has four sisters, and Mr. Potts two brothers. Politically he is a Democrat. His wife is connected with the Methodist Church. P. O., Grand Rapids; box 334.

Albert C. Stonebreaker was born in Hartwich, Otsego Co., N. Y .; is son of Peter M. and Juliette (Reed ) Stonebreaker, the former of German parentage, born in Huntington, Pa., the latter in Hartwich, N. Y., of mixed Scotch, English and German lineage. His maternal grandfather was one of General Washington's staff officers, and received a pension. His parents moved to Wisconsin about 20 years ago, where his father died about 1871 ; his mother still survives. They had seven children, five of whom are living. Mr. Stonebreaker is the oldest. He received only a common- school education and had his own way to make in the world. In 1848 he came to Michigan and bought 80 acres of land in Grand Rapids, on sec. 36. It was perfectly wild, and he built a shanty for a home and practiced self-denial, economy and perseverance until his possessions reach an aggregate of 320 acres. He has cleared in all, himself, about 150 acres. He was married to Esther Pinock, of Mansfield, Cattaraugus Co., N. Y. They have two children. Seth is married and lives on an adjoining farm ; has four sons. Constant, . the only daughter, is the wife of Franklin Cole, of Shiawassee Co. Mr. Stonebreaker is a Democrat in poli- tics. His portrait appears on another page of this volume.

Hollis R. Taylor was born in Danville, Vt., June 12, 1814; is son of Joseph and Philena Taylor. Charles Taylor, his grand- father, came from England in 1731, and settled at Harvard, Mass.

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GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP.

Mr. Taylor came to this State in 1832, stayed a short time at Jones- ville and bought a farm at Coldwater. In 1857 he made a purchase of 80 acres in sec. 36, and repeated additions since have increased his possessions until he owns 280 acres. He was married May 30, 1842, to Hannah Howell, of Quincy, Branch Co., Mich., daugh- ter of Joseph and Dorcas Howell, born at Hartland, Niagara Co., N. Y., May 13, 1825. Her parents settled in Michigan in 1836. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have had six children, born as follows : George E., March 22, 1844 ; Augustus S., July 8, 1845, died July 18, 1851; Lucius H., March 4, 1847 ; Charles G., Feb. 9, 1852 ; Frank A., Jan. 20, 1854 ; Walter R., Nov. 5, 1858 ; Emma A., April 8, 1863. George E. Taylor resides in Newaygo and is Reg- ister of Deeds for Newaygo Co., with his brother Walter as deputy. Lucius resides in Yazoo Co., Miss., and is engaged in teaching and farming. The two eldest sons were soldiers in the late war. Mr. Taylor is a Republican and has been School Director 15 years. David Wright was born in Hebron, Washington Co., N. Y. His parents, David and Sarah Wright, both natives of Northfield, Mass. His ancestors were of English descent. He settled in Plainfield in 1859, buying 20 acres of land on sec. 21, and six years after sold it and bought 15 acres of land on sec. 6, where he now resides. He was married March 20, 1833, to Lydia A., daughter of William and Lydia Northrup, born Aug. 24, 1810, in Cambridge, Mass. Mrs. Wright's father was born Jan. 21, 1776, in Rhode Island, and died in July, 1861 ; her mother was born in Massachusetts, July 31, 1777, and died June 3, 1842. Mr. and Mrs. Wright have had three children-Helen Mar, born Aug. 29, 1837 ; Hercules, born March 9, 1843, died Oct. 22, 1852 ; Milton Eugene, born Dec. 4, 1854. Helen Wright was married Feb. 9, 1861, to John H. Wood, of Grand Rapids. He was a soldier in the war for the Union and belonged to the 6th Mich. Cavalry; he died in the hospital in Fairfax, Va., about nine months after en- listment. Mrs. Wood is engaged in teaching.

GRAND RAPIDS CITY.

From that day in August, 1833, when Joel Guild arrived on the spot, now known as Campau Place, progress has been made, un- equaled in some respects, and exceeded only in a very few in- stances. The locality possessed every advantage ; nature made it beautiful, the American pioneers made it useful ; the former . gave it a rich soil, stone quarries, and a great water-power, the lat- ter utilized each, turning the soil into well-ordered gardens, soon concealed it beneath piles of masonry, and turned the very waters of the rapids into controlling channels. The change which has marked this age of progress is one in which the people must take an especial pride. Ten of the early citizens survive time to real- ize it ; the greater number of the old people who survive do not regret it ; but there are yet among them men and women who look back to the never-forgotten past, and mourn the by-gone times when contentment waited on the workers of the cradle, plow and spade, when pastoral industry was rewarded by peace and plenty, and primitive happiness ruled within the rude but comfortable homes of a people who lived with and for one another. Old-time manners and customs have been revolutionized, a new order es- tablished, and the labor of the modernizers made to manifest itself in everything.

The citizens have, from the earliest period, paid much attention to educational matters. From the pioneer era to the very present the school has formed a subject for gossip and inquiry. A love of educational advancement formed the leading characteristic of the people. The school has always been fostered by them. It has been raised up from a very humble beginning to the greatest height, until now the system, the number of educational houses, the liter- ary and scientific associations have won for the city as well as the county a high reputation for practical knowledge.

The varied forms of Christianity have steadily advanced; churches have multiplied until their spires or minarets may be seen from every quarter of the city. The era of the Catholic mis- sionary passed away, and for a time there was nothing left to the Indians and French traders but the memory of their visits and their zeal. Christianity revived under the patronage of the set- tlers, and where the French priest preached in Otchipwe then, the Church is to-day represented by French, Irish, English, Polish and German ministers, and every form of Christain worship fully tol- erated. Grand Rapids is the See of an Episcopal bishopric, the center of a great Baptist congregation, and one of the strongholds of Methodism. The synagogue, too, is here, with all its ancient usages. Lutherans, Swedenborgians, Mormons, Adventists, Per-

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GRAND RAPIDS CITY.

fectionists and the hundreds of various forms of Christain worship exist here in profusion.

The literary and scientific circles of the city compete in member- ship and intellectual excellence with those of the great literary cen- ters of the Union. Perfect in organization, they awaken in the minds of those who read the reports of their meetings, or who at- tend their reunions, a sense of what organization is capable of per- forming.

The city press is well conducted. Though at times, it deals with the more nnfortunate trans-Atlantic peoples in a manner al- together opposed to American ideas, it still may be considered the exponent of the American mind, and the faithful guardian of American interests in home affairs. With rare exceptions the journalists are of that class who have risen above flunkeyism, and have just sufficient pathos and depth of feeling to deal justly by the men and events of our day.

Charitable organizations are common here. Apart from the aid which the county appropriates for the relief of the poor, the citi- zens have their relief societies, also ready and willing at all times to aid the deserving poor or the unfortunate. Benevolent associ- ations are numerous, and the amount of good they accomplish al- most incalculable. In very many instances the societies, whether secret or benevolent, carry on a special insurance business, by which the widow of the deceased member is entitled to $2,000, and in some instances to a much larger amount.

The manufacturers are of that class who understand what is due to the honest laborer, and therefore claim nothing more from em- ployes than an honest day's work for a reasonable money consid- eration. The commercial houses are conducted on principles equally equitable, and thus a trade, metropolitan in character, moves steadily onward under the genial influence of good will be- tween employer and employed, and honor between manufacturer and dealer.

Disassociating the history of a city, like Grand Rapids, from that of the county, of which it is the capital, would be similar to an effort to write the history of the American Revolution without an America, or of a Chicago without the Northwest. While avoiding, so far as practicable, special references to this city in the pages of the county history, many general notices of it necessarily occur. It will be found, however, that nothing solely connected with Grand Rapids, or which pertains directly to the sketch of the city, has been alienated from its proper place in local history. There is a dual reason for following such a plan. The city is justly proud of its record of advancement and its present high social and commercial importance. In war and peace it proved one of the strongest pillars of the State, and is to-day the 5Sth city of the Union in point of population, ranking among the first in beauty of location, in the enterprise of its commercial men, and in the probity of its inhabitants.

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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY.

Beginning with Grand Rapids in 1827, when Louis Campau, who had for many years previous been a trader at Saginaw, came here with $5,000 worth of goods, raised a wigwam on the west side of the river, a little below Hovey's warehouse, and entered upon business. We will examine the district as it then appeared. There was at that place at that time an Indian village of 500 in- habitants, whose graves only now mark the spot.

The chiefs of this band or bands, were Non-o-quech-hee-zhich, or Noon-Day; Missessimni, or Young Chief; and Mock-cot-vo-ozka, or Black-Skin. Black-Skin's village, numbering 300 Indians, was located four miles south, on the Bemis farm. The old chief died in 1849. It was his boast, in after years, that he it was who first applied a torch to the village of Buffalo at the time it was burned by the English and their savage allies. It is, however, stated on authority that Noon-Day was engaged in this affair. There was another village of 500 Indians at Battle Point, under Chief Old- Rock, together with three other villages in the valley, including Long. Nose's band near Lowell. This chief was distinguished above all others for the prominence of that organ from which he derived his name,and alsó for being one who sold the lands on the left bank of Grand river to the United States, by the treaty of Chicago, in opposition to the will of the tribe. This resulted in his assassination in 1838, near Cold Rock. About the same period another Indian was murdered near a large oak-tree, then standing near where now is Butterworth's machine shop. Cob-moos-a was second chief of the band near Lowell.

In 1846 Cobmoosa appeared on "Payment Day," and was the most dignified of all the Indians present. He scorned to imitate the white man in dress, but was decked in a picturesque Indian costume. The son of Cobmoosa was a trader at Lowell, in later days. There were bands near the mouth of the Thornapple, and the Rouge rivers, the chiefs of which controlled the Indians of the valley. All were engaged in the war of 1812 on the side of Great Britain, and grew notoriously cruel. They also formed the ac- quaintance of the northern and eastern savages, and even after the coming of Louis Campau, they were accustomed to tender hospi- tality to many a Saginaw chief and his band. Among their visit- ors was the ruthless Kish-kau-ko, and other equally fierce warriors well known to the trader. Uncle Louis treated each alike; but always maintained his dignity, and never once permitted the sav - ages to oppose his rulings.

There were few improvements then, save the garden beds of the Indians on the west bank of the river immediately below the G. R. & I. R. R. bridge. Where the business portion of a beautiful city stands to-day, one part was a marsh, and the other the deep eastern channel of the river, from the banks of which hills rose east from Campau Place. The Indians made an attempt to cultivate a garden on the river bank, near where Waterloo street now runs, but signally failed. Two small islands, formed by the river chan-

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GRAND RAPIDS CITY.

nel of the present time on the west and the deep channel on the east, occupied that portion of the present city from a point a little above Pearl St. bridge to the G. R. & I. R. R. bridge, and from the present river front, between these points, to the western side of Canal street, parallel with the front of Sweet's Hotel ; while .be- low were two islands, the lower one said to contain over nine acres. Prof. Everett, in speaking of the old physical characteristics of the land, now covered with stores and homes of a prosperous people, states that the west side, from the river to the bluffs, was mostly a level plain, covered with granite boulders, and diversified only by a marsh north of Bridge street, about half-way between the river and the bluffs, and extending far to the north ; and a shallow ravine below Bridge street. About half a mile below Pearl street bridge, near the river, were some Indian burial mounds.

On the east side, near the river, the land was lower ; along where are Canal and Kent streets, somewhat marshy; it was kept wet by the springs from the hills above. Below Pearl street, the ground was mostly dry, but low, and deeply covered by water in times of flood. It was cut by a small brook from the east, making a little ravine. Still further south was a ridge of land, rising steep from the river, and descending more gently toward the east. This ridge will probably always remain sufficiently to show its general character and direction, though its northern end is doomed to partly disappear.

An isolated hill began east of Canal street, about 150 feet north of Lyon street, and extended in a southeasterly direction nearly to the head of Monroe street, or about half way between Ottawa and Division streets, known as " Prospect Hill." Into the southern slope of this hill Monroe street was dug. The general height of this ridge was not far above the level of Division street. East of this ridge, commencing at the corner of Division and Monroe streets, and running northward beyond Lyon street, was a frog- pond, where the postoffice is now. The low land east of the river ridge, in the south part of the town, was a peat bog ; it has been filled several feet ; from that bog eastward the ascent was gradual, and the general contour of the ground has not been essentially changed.

Commencing at the Union school-house, and running north to near Cold Brook, the sand bluff was as steep as the sand would lie. To obtain the grade of Lyon street, it was cut to the depth of 30 feet. Above the bluff was nearly a plain, broken at the north by a wide ravine from Bridge street, descending by a nearly uniform slope to Cold Brook. Through this ravine La Fayette street has its course. The northern part of the sand bluff, near and beyond the reservoir, was broken by ravines. The same bluff presented a bold front toward Cold Brook. North of the reservoir, the cutting of the D. & M. railroad was 50 feet.

A string of four islands, scarcely separated, extended down the river from Pearl street bridge ; the deep part of the river channel

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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY.

runs east of them. This channel was used by the river craft until about 1852. Steamboats landed their freight a little below the junction of Monroe and Pearl streets, or where the building stands that breaks the line. The filling up of this channel is due to natural agency. The great flow of silt into the calm, still waters of this deep channel contributed to soon fill it up. The land north, where stands the hotel, and most of it north of Pearl street, is made land, where Wadsworth's mill and dam once stood. The jail is on "Island No. 2." Canal street, at its present grade, is filled from four to fifteen feet between Pearl and Bridge streets. Its greatest fill- ing is at its southern end, which was a little bay of the river. The inarsh on the west side was drained in the year 1875 and takes its place as dry land. The region along Waterloo street, and up the southern lowlands east of the ridge, has been filled in. The Cold Brook region is much filled also.

The ditch in front of the county jail and the steamboat channel are the only evidences of the existence of the island formations. The steep hills may be said to have also disappeared, and the whole physical appearance of the valley proper changed, with exception, perhaps, of the highland ranges, which in the dim past, confined the waters of the great river that connected Saginaw Bay with Lake Michigan. Louis Campau saw nature pure and 'simple rul- ing over the district, witnessed the advent of the American pioneers, beheld the valley changing under every act of theirs, and lived to see a magnificent community dwell where uncultivated nature once held sway.

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History of Kent County, Michigan, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 78

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Chapman, Charles C., & Co. (Chicago) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : C.C. Chapman & Co. Number of Pages: 1434

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Chapman, Charles C., & Co. (Chicago)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : C.C. Chapman & Co.
Number of Pages: 1434