USA > Michigan > Monroe County > History of Monroe County, Michigan : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests Volume II > Part 2
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EMORY H. MCLAUGHLIN. Living on a good farm of seventy acres, which he owns and which he has improved with the buildings, fences and other evidences of progress and prosperity which it contains, and brought to its present high state of development and productiveness, Emory H. Mclaughlin, one of the leading farmers and influential citizens of Ash township, Monroe county, is comfortably fixed in a worldly way, firmly established in the regard and good will of his
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fellow men and able to be a factor of great usefulness in the general life of his township and county.
Mr. Mclaughlin was born on September 15, 1867, on the old home- stead farm which his father had entered and was living on at the time. He is a son of Samuel and Sarah (Fahrestock) Mclaughlin, who were born, reared and married in Pennsylvania, and came to this county in 1838, taking up their residence in the township in which their son Emory now lives, and in which he has passed the whole of his life to this time (1912). They were among the early settlers here, locating in a dense woodland whose century-crowned monarchs had never yet bowed their high heads before the conquering ax of the pioneer, or echoed to its resounding strokes.
But their day of destiny came with the father of this family, and others like him who invaded this wilderness about the same time. He built a log cabin as a shelter and home for his family, and immediately began to clear his land and get some of it under cultivation. He stuck to his work in these respects so faithfully and conducted it with such enterprise and system that in the course of a few years he had a good farm well on the way to its highest development and most advanced productiveness.
Samuel Mclaughlin died in 1908, at the age of eighty-two, the mother died in 1899, aged fifty-nine. She was noted for her great kindness and goodness of heart, and he for his manly vigor, strong independence, wisely applied enterprise and general sterling worth. At the time of his death he owned 213 acres of land of superior quality, the greater part of which was under cultivation, and which he had improved with good buildings and fences. They were the parents of fourteen children : Charles, Sophronia, Theodore and Viola, all of whom are dead; and Irene, George W., Emory H., Clara, Henry and Clarence, who are living. Theodore died at the age of nineteen; Charles at the age of twenty; Sophronia at the age of forty-four, and Viola at the age of twenty-six. Three sons and one daughter died in infancy. The remains of all are buried near those of their parents in the cemetery at Grafton near Carleton. The father helped to build the first school- house and church in his neighborhood, and in many other ways and all the time showed his deep interest in the welfare of his locality and its residents.
Emory H. Mclaughlin was reared to manhood on the home farm, and from his boyhood took an active part in its useful labor. He attended the primitive frontier school in the neighborhood when he could be spared from the farm work, and got the full benefit of its instructions, although they were simple in method, scanty in facilities and limited in range. It was the period during which the teacher eked out a slender compensation by boarding around among the parents of the pupils, and everything connected with the school was in keeping with this then highly approved and generally used but now archaic and somewhat amusing arrangement.
After leaving school, Mr. Mclaughlin continued to work on his father's farm for a number of years, then began farming on his own account. He now owns and cultivates a fine farm of seventy acres, on
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which he has recently erected a large new barn and some other structures, the old barn on the place, which was also a good one, having been destroyed by fire, together with some horses and a lot of farm machinery in 1911, entailing on him a loss of some $2,000. He also has a com- fortable and homelike dwelling house, and all other necessary improve- ments to make his farm an attractive, valuable and desirable rural home.
While giving all the attention and labor required to his farming operations, Mr. Mclaughlin does not allow them to engage all his time and energy. He has operated a threshing outfit for the last sixteen years, and has won wide popularity by his skill, rapidity and complete mastery as a thresher of large quantities of grain, and his services in this capacity are always in demand at the proper season and well rewarded, for they are always such as to give entire satisfaction.
On May 2, 1895, Mr. Mclaughlin was united in marriage with Miss Lucy Dubry, an intelligent and cultivated young lady of good family, born at Oxford, Oakland county, in 1876, the daughter of William and Catherine (Mckinstry) Dubry. Her father was reared at Newport, this county, and died here in Monroe county. The mother, who was of Scotch ancestry, was born and grew to womanhood in St. Clair county, and died in Lapeer county, at the age of sixty-six. Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin have four children, their sons Lawrence S. and Donald E., and their daughters Gladys M. and Levine Pearl. The father is a Democrat in his political relations, and he and his wife belong to the Knights and Ladies of the Maccabees. Both are highly esteemed wherever they are known.
DENNIS MCLAUGHLIN. Acknowledging all the claims of citizenship with ardent devotion to his country, and impelled to his utmost efforts in performing them by a stern and unyielding sense of duty, Dennis Mclaughlin, one of the successful and prosperous farmers of Ash town- ship, Monroe county, Michigan, has been an honor to American manhood during all of his mature years, and an inspiring example to the people living around and associated with him. In times of peace he has always been an industrious farmer, and, although never himself a soldier, in times of war he has always stood loyally by the government and con- tributed all he could for its support.
Mr. Mclaughlin was born in Monroe county, Michigan, on July 10. 1867, and is the ninth child in the order of birth of Benjamin and Levina ( Armstrong) Mclaughlin, the father, a native of Oxford county, Maine, and among the earliest pioneers in this county, having come here in 1838, a boy thirteen years of age. He was a son of Benjamin Mclaughlin, Sr., and his wife, whose maiden name was Samantha Lawrence, also natives of Oxford county, Maine, who brought their son Benjamin to this county in the year last mentioned.
The grandparents passed the remainder of their days in this county and at the inevitable summons that must come to everybody, laid down their lives here. Their son, Benjamin, Jr., was but thirteen years old, as has been stated, when his parents located in the wilderness of this county, and at an early age he became inured to the dangers, privations and arduous toil of frontier life. He helped to clear and improve the
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old family homestead, obtained a limited education in the primitive schools of pioneer days, and when he grew to manhood, was married to Miss Levina Armstrong, who was born in Genesee county, New York, on April 22, 1831. She had four brothers, John, William, Stephen J. and Eugene, who were Union soldiers in the Civil war, and one of them, William, lost his right arm in the service. She and her husband were the parents of fourteen children, eleven sons and three daughters : Thomas R., Nettie M., Philo, Francis F., Howard, Harrison, William Arthur, Minerva, Dennis, George B., Daniel, Harry, Fred and Lydia. Five of the number have died. Philo's life ended in 1875; Howard's on October 4, 1860; Harrison's in 1859; Minerva's on October 5, 1880; and Lydia's in February, 1874. The mother died in 1904 at the age of eighty-one, and the father on February 13, 1912, aged eighty-eight.
The old home of this family was noted far and wide for its generous hospitality; which took in total strangers as readily as intimate acquaint- ances, and welcomed saint and sinner alike to its shelter and table, although the mother was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church and very religious. The father and his sons took up the work of improving the farm and extending its cultivation where the grand- father left it, and in the course of time made it one of the best and most highly improved in the township. At the time of his death, the father was one of the oldest citizens of the county, if not the very oldest. He came into the region when it was in its state of almost primeval wildness, and he lived to see it divided into valuable and productive farms, enriched with towns growing and expanding where, in his boyhood, the wigwams of the Indians stood, and its whole expanse the home of a progressive, enterprising and prosperous people, blessed with all the perfumes and rich in all the fruits of advanced and still advancing civilization.
Dennis MeLaughlin was reared on the old family homestead to habits of industry, honesty, frugality and usefulness. He secured what scholastic instruction and training the schools of his boyhood could give him, and remained at home, assisting his father on the farm until he reached the age of twenty-four. At that age he married Miss Lucy E. Renner and began farming for himself. He now owns and cultivates a fine and highly improved farm of forty acres, on which he has built a good dwelling house, a barn 28 by 46 feet in size, ample sheds, fences and other necessary structures, and which he has divided into fields of con- venient acreage.
In addition to his farming work he has operated a threshing outfit at a good profit for the last eleven seasons. He is one of the best known threshers in southeastern Michigan, and in the season of 1911 did a business with his outfit amounting to $1,800. In polities he is a pro- nounced Democrat, firm in his convictions and loyal to his party, but with no aspirations to official life. A man of intelligence and frank and genial nature, keenly alive to the needs of his township and county and energetic in promoting their welfare and that of their residents, and strictly upright and straightforward in all his dealings, he is esteemed on all sides as one of the most sterling and representative citizens of his locality, and fully deserves the high rank accorded to him in public estimation.
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THOMAS H. SMITH. Probably the most admirable feature of life in the United States is the possibility offered to all of its native born citizens, without regard to inherited wealth or rank, to attain to any position, no matter how lofty. The most influential of our statesmen, the most successful of our manufacturers, merchants and bankers, in fact, our brilliant, conservative and intelligent men in the various walks of life, are largely self-made, and are justly pround of the fact that they owe all they possess to their own efforts. Thomas H. Smith, cashier of the Bank of Maybee, is one of these men who has accomplished much through his native ability, untiring effort and sound principles. Mr. Smith was born in Exeter township, Monroe county, Michigan, September 5, 1875, on the old homestead of his parents, John and Bridget (Dunnigan) Smith.
John Smith was born in county Meath, Ireland, on St. Patrick's day, March 17, 1825, belonging to a sturdy old family whose members were noted for their strict honesty and integrity. As a young man he came to the United States, settling in Exeter township, Monroe county, Michigan, at an early day, and there continuing to carry on agricultural pursuits throughout the remainder of his life. His widow, now a woman of eighty years, but in full possession of all of her faculties, bright and witty and in good health, lives on the old homestead farm with her sons, John and Matthew. The old homestead farm consists of 110 acres, all in a high state of cultivation. John and Bridget (Dunnigan) Smith had the following children: Michael, who resides at Lansing, Michigan ; James, who lives in Detroit; Matthew ; John, Jr .; Thomas H .; and Mrs. Mary Carlson, who resides in Scofield.
Thomas H. Smith received his education in the schools of Carleton, Michigan, and prepared himself to become an educator, following which he taught school for six years in Exeter township and five years in Scofield, and became well-known throughout this locality, being popular with pupils and parents alike. In 1901 he gave up the profession of educator to identify himself with financial affairs, that year seeing the organization of the Bank of Maybee, which has become one of the leading banking institutions of this part of Monroe county. The officers are D. Hasley, C. A. Kiley, L. Reiser, and Mr. Smith, the latter being cashier. The bank has a capital of $5,000, with a good surplus, and has the entire confidence of the people of Maybee and the surrounding country, much of its business coming from the farming element. As cashier of this institution, Mr. Smith has shown himself to be a business man of more than ordinary ability, and his high reputation has done much to inspire confidence in the bank, while his courtesy and genial manner have made him a general favorite with the depositors, among whom he has numerous friends.
On June 7, 1904, Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Miss Mamie Jelsch, who was born in the village of Maybee, and reared and educated here, daughter of Charles and Louise (Gramlich) Jelsch, of Maybee, the latter of whom is deceased. Mrs. Smith died in 1906, when only twenty-one years of age. Mr. Smith has always taken a deep interest in fraternal matters and belongs to the Knights of Columbus, the Arbeiter Verein, and the Grange. As a man who takes a prominent part in all
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that promises to benefit his town, he is considered one of Maybee's lead- ing citizens, and as such has the full esteem of all who know him. Mr. Smith was married again, September 18, 1912, to Miss Dorothy Harpsh, daughter of Daniel and Sophia Harpsh.
RICHARD VIVIAN. The lumber interests of Southeastern Michigan have furnished a field of ripe opportunity to young men of energy and enterprise, and many of the most successful citizens of Monroe county have secured their fortunes through devoting their activities to this industry. In this class may be placed Richard Vivian, proprietor of a lumber yard at Maybee, who is also known in public life as the efficient and courteous treasurer of Exeter township. Mr. Vivian is a native of Monroe county, having been born July 20, 1865, just at the close of the Civil war, a son of Capt. Robert G. Vivian. Mr. Vivian's father was born at Dorsetshire, England, and at the age of twenty years emigrated to the United States, some time later coming to Monroe county, Michi- gan. For many years he was a captain on lake vessels, becoming widely and favorably known, and his death occurred at the age of sixty-seven years. He married Miss Mary Kellie, a native of Scotland, who assisted him materially in achieving success in life, and they had a family of four sons and six daughters, as follows: Martha, Joseph, John, Richard, Elizabeth, Belle, Ruth, Jessie, William P., and Margaret, and two who died in infancy. Mr. Vivian was a Republican in politics, but never cared for public office. In his religious views he belonged to the Church of England, while his widow is an Episcopalian. She now lives with her son Joseph, at the old homestead in Frenchtown, being seventy-six years of age and still sound in mind and body. She recalls many reminiscences of the old days in Monroe county, and is widely known and highly esteemed throughout this section.
Richard Vivian received good educational advantages, attending the district schools, and the Monroe high school. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, Mr. Vivian displayed his patriotic spirit by enlisting, April 26, 1898, in the Thirty-first Regiment, Michigan Vol- unteer Infantry, Capt. John M. Guttman. A short time thereafter the regiment was ordered to the south and went into camp at Chattanooga, Tennessee, under Col. Gardner, of the U. S. army. They stayed in camp at Chattanooga Park for several weeks, and then went to Knox- ville, Tennessee, from whence they went to Cuba, and remained on the island three months. Returning to Savannah, Georgia, the regiment remained there until the close of the war. Mr. Vivian was promoted from private to corporal, and later became sergeant, while in Cuba. On his return to private life, Mr. Vivian became engaged in the lumber business with his brother, and they now have a large trade in lumber and building material, lime, cement, etc. Mr. Vivian is recognized as a shrewd, capable business man, possessed of sound judgment and the ability to recognize an opportunity and to carry it through to a suc- cessful conclusion. He has impressed himself upon the community as a valuable citizen, and has accordingly been elected to positions of honor and trust within the gift of his fellow-townsmen. A stanch and unfal- tering Republican, he is known as one of the wheelhorses of the party
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in Monroe county, and at the present time is acting in the capacity of township treasurer of Exeter township and formerly justice of the peace. Firm in his convictions as to what is right or wrong, and of courageous spirit, he has at all times tempered his decisions with justice, and his record as a public official is without the slightest stain or blemish. In addition he has been a delegate to numerous conventions and his influ- ence is recognized by the party leaders. Fraternally, Mr. Vivian is connected with Masonic Blue Lodge No. 27, and the Chapter at Monroe.
On May 18, 1907, Mr. Vivian was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Knaggs, who was born, reared and educated in Monroe county, daughter of Daniel Knaggs, a veteran of the great Civil War.
JOHN C. HASLEY. A business enterprise that has carried on opera- tions in Maybee, since 1875, adding materially to the industrial impor- tance of this part of Monroe county, is that of the Hasley Mills, of which, John C. Hasley, is highly regarded throughout the community as a man of unusually quick perception, business ability and sound judgment. Succeeding his father in the management of the business, he has strength- ened and developed it, and has so conducted its affairs that it has much more than a local standing.
Jacob Hasley, the grandfather of John C. Hasley, was born at Gol- shousen, Bretten, Baden, Germany, and late in life came to Monroe county, Michigan, where his death occurred in his sixty-sixth year. His son, Daniel Hasley, was born at the same place, and there received his education, being reared to habits of sobriety and industry. He was mar- ried in Monroe, Michigan, to Margaret Mann, who was also born in Ger- many, and after their marriage they settled on a farm in Monroe county. Here, in 1875, Daniel Hasley and Company erected the original Hasley Flouring Mill, a three-story brick structure which was the nucleus for the present large business, and with which Mr. Hasley was connected dur- ing the remainder of his life. He was possessed of much business ability, and each year improved his plant and added to his trade, and among the older citizens of this town he is remembered as one of those who did much to make Maybee a center of commercial and industrial activity. He and his wife had the following children: Daniel, who resides at Monroe; Mary, living in Maybee; Philip, of Flat Rock; John C .; Chris- tina, the wife of Harry C. Herkimer, of Maybee; Matilda, the wife of Charles Herkimer, of Maybee; William, who resides on the old home farm near Maybee, in Exeter township; Julia, the wife of Dr. A. B. Lennington, a well-known physician of Maybee; Margaret, who died at the age of nineteen years; and two sons who died in childhood.
John C. Hasley was born on the home farm in Exeter township, Monroe county, February 12, 1867, and attended the district schools of that locality, although the greater part of his education has been secured in the school of hard work, and in business experience. He remained on the home farm, assisting in its cultivation until 1887, at which time he began working in the mill and learning the business, with which he has been connected to the present time. The original mill building has been improved and added to until it is now modern in construction, and with fine equipment. In 1888, was erected the elevator, and in 1895, a
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large annex was built thereto, it now having a capacity of ten thousand bushels of grain. Only the finest grains are handled, and the mill turns out a high grade of product that finds a ready sale in the markets and secures top-notch prices. Mr. Hasley operates a large fifty horse-power gas producer and engine, and his appliances and appurtenances are the most highly improved that can be obtained. Progressive in all matters, he has never failed to take advantage of the latest inventions and discoveries bearing upon his business, and as a result is looked upon as one of his community's far-sighted and enterprising men.
Mr. Hasley was married in 1898 to Miss Harriet Elizabeth Galloway, daughter of James S. Galloway, of Palmyra, New York, a member of an old and distinguished family which gave New York City its first mayor. Her mother bore the maiden name of Catherine Hoeszle, and was born at Adrian, Michigan, where Mr. Galloway died, and where Mrs. Hasley was born, reared and educated. Mr. and Mrs. Hasley have had the fol- lowing children: Helen May, Margaret Catherine, Henry James, Andrew Daniel and Richard Conrad. A stalwart Republican in politics, Mr. Hasley has served as township clerk, to the entire satisfaction of his fellow citizens. He and his wife are well known members of the Congregational church. They reside in their ten-room residence at Maybee, where they extend to their guests the liberal hospitality for which they are famed.
WILLIAM HEISS. Born, reared and educated in Exeter township, Monroe county, Michigan, and from his boyhood connected in a prac- tical way with its farming industry ; a man of intelligence and reflective habits, studious of conditions and requirements in the country around him; genial, jovial and obliging in disposition, and strictly upright and fair-minded in all his dealings, William Heiss, supervisor of the township now serving his second term in the office, is particularly well qualified for the public service in which he is engaged, and is rendering it in a manner satisfactory to the people of the whole township and those of other parts of the county where his duties affect them or the general interest in any way.
Mr. Heiss was born August 22, 1871, on the farm which he now owns and cultivates, and is a son of Gottfreid and Anna Mary (Fingel) Heiss, the former born and reared in Germany and the latter in this township. The father came to this country when he was a young man and located in Exeter township, this county, among its early settlers. He redeemed a good farm of 245 acres from the wilderness, built a fine modern brick dwelling house of fourteen rooms, two large barns, a granary, hay house, tool and repair shop and other structures on his farm, which still stand impressive monuments to his thrift and enter- prise, and met all the claims and performed all the duties of citizenship in a highly commendable manner. He died about the year 1897, aged sixty years. His widow is still living, and is now sixty-three, but still strong, active and energetic.
Six of the seven children born in the household are living: J. Henry, William, Paul, Barbara, Mary and John. A daughter named Regina died many years ago. The father was a firm and faithful member of the
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Democratic party in his political relations and a devout adherent of the Lutheran church in religious affiliation. He held his membership in the congregation at Sandy Creek, and was one of its most liberal supporters.
William Heiss grew to manhood on the parental farm and has never had any other home. He began in boyhood to assist his father in the work of cultivating the farm, giving his whole attention to this in sum- mer and attending the country school in the neighborhood in winter. As he grew older and larger, his interest in the farm increased and his labor for its improvement became more considerable, until, as he ap- proached man's estate, he took almost the entire charge of it. His methods, like his father's, have always been progressive and intelligently applied, and he has made the old homestead, which was an unpruned wild when the parents took hold of it, one of the most productive, attractive and valuable of its size in the county.
Mr. Heiss showed his interest in the progress and general welfare of his township at an early age and in a commendable manner, and so im- pressed the people with his sweep of vision and clearness of insight, that in the spring of 1911, he was elected supervisor, and after one year of excellent service in the office, was reelected in the spring of 1912. In the performance of his official duties he is firm for the best interests of the township, and the economical use of its money, but he is never arbi- trary or overbearing. Everybody who has business in his office is treated with courtesy and has his rights and wishes properly respected. He is one of the best known men in the county, and is everywhere com- mended for his superior business capacity and excellent judgment. Not- withstanding his jovial nature, Mr. Heiss is still a bachelor, the shafts of Cupid never having made a permanent lodgment in his manly breast. But he is, nevertheless, one of the best citizens of his township, and cordially esteemed socially throughout the county.
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