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 30
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HARVEY R. VENIA, proprietor of a general store at Temperance, Michigan, has been identified with the business activities of this pros- perous little town for half a dozen years and is ranked with its leading citizens.
Mr. Venia hails from the Buckeye State. He was born in Wood county, Ohio, November 17, 1877, son of Frank H. and Harriette E. (Johnston) Venia, and is one of a family of five children, four of whom are living at this writing (1912). His elder sister, Carrie, is the wife of William Alexander, and his younger sister, Edith, is Mrs. James McCready, both of Wood county, Ohio. His brother, Frank E., also is a resident of that county, as is their mother. Their father is deceased.
Harvey R. Venia spent his boyhood days on his father's farm, work- ing in the fields in summer and in winter attending district school. He pursued a commercial course at Steadman's Business College in Toledo,
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Ohio, and he had some practical business experience in Ohio before coming to Michigan and establishing himself in a general store at Tem- perance, Monroe county, which he did in March, 1906. Here he bought the stock and good will of A. H. King, and for six years has conducted a successful business. In addition to his interests here, Mr. Venia owns forty acres of choice land in his native county.
Mr. Venia has a wife and three children, Francis H., Cecil M. and Iva M., aged, respectively, five, three and two years. Mrs. Venia, formerly Miss Lyda M. Montri, was born and reared in Whiteford township, Monroe county, Michigan, and it was here, June 28, 1905, that they were married.
Mr. and Mrs. Venia are members of the St. Joseph Catholic church at Erie, Michigan. In his political views he harmonizes with the Demo- cratic party, but he has never taken any active part in politics. He car- ries insurance in the K. O. T. M. As a conservative business man of honest worth, with the best interests of Temperance always in view, he enjoys the confidence of the people of the town and surrounding country.
ARGUS J. KINNEY, proprietor of "Oak Grove Farm" in Bedford township, Monroe county, Michigan, and a professional auctioneer, is well known throughout the county and beyond its limits. A brief out- line of his life history is pertinent in this connection, and is as follows :
Argus J. Kinney was born at Temperance, Monroe county, Michigan, March 15, 1865, son of Israel and Merceana (Osgood) Kinney, the former now deceased. The Kinney family is composed of four sons, Arthur O., Arlton I., Argus J. and S. K., all of Bedford township, except the last named, who is a resident of Hillsdale, Michigan.
On his father's farm just west of the village of Temperance, Argus J. passed his boyhood days, assisting in the work of the farm and until he was twenty-one attending district school. On reaching his majority, he left the old home and launched out in agricultural pursuits on his own responsibility. Oak Grove Farm, his present home, one of the attractive places of Bedford township, comprises eighty acres of choice land, and the care and cultivation it receives stamp its owner as an up-to-date, hustling man. Since 1906 he has supplemented his farm work with that of auctioneering, for which he is naturally and partic- ularly adapted, being a fluent, entertaining talker, and having a keen insight into human nature. During the sale season he has numerous engagements in this line of work in various parts of the country.
November 2, 1890, Mr. Kinney married Miss Janet A. Whyte, a native of Toledo, Ohio, who was born January 20, 1865, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Whyte, the former a native of Greenoch, Scotland ; the latter of London, England. From the time they came to the United States until April, 1865, Mr. and Mrs. Whyte made their home in Toledo. Then they moved to Bedford township, Monroe county, Michi- gan, where, some years later, he died, and where she still lives, making her home with her daughter. Mrs. Kinney died June, 1912. Mrs. Kinney was the second born in a family of four children, the others being Robert, Arthur L. and Jessie G., all married and settled in life.
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Mrs. Kinney was educated in the schools of Monroe county and the Normal School of Valparaiso, Indiana, and previous to her marriage was a teacher in this county. Both she and Mr. Kinney are active church workers, belonging to the Baptist church, in which he is a deacon, and in the Sunday school of which he has served five years as superintendent. Mrs. Kinney is vice-president of the Ladies' Aid Society of the church, and in the Sunday school she has been a teacher for twenty-nine years. Politically, Mr. Kinney is a prohibitionist. In 1909, Mr. and Mrs. Kin- ney took a trip abroad, visiting Scotland and England, being absent from home three months.
FRANKLIN G. JACKMAN. A prominent figure among Bedford town- ship's well-to-do and up-to-date agriculturists is Franklin G. Jackman. His energy and executive ability as well as his open-mindedness toward all progressive ideas that are rational, have been conducive to both his material success and his personal popularity. He was born on April 15, 1850, in Syracuse, New York, of English parentage; both his father James and grandfather Thos. Jackman, and his mother, who was Ann Stoil Jackman, having been born in Devonshire, England. His par- ents came after their marriage to America, settling in June, 1849, at West Toledo, which was their home during the remainder of their lives. Four of their six children, of whom Franklin Jackman of Bedford town- ship is one, still survive them.
The subject of this biography spent most of his childhood and early youth in West Toledo, Ohio, and lived most of his school days, as does the typical country lad, in the district school. That which he attended, the Hopewell school, being distinguished as one of the best of its class at that period. At the age of twenty he became interested in the farm- ing possibilities of Bedford and determined to make his home in that township, a decision which he has never had serious reason to regret. He further evinced his loyalty to this community by winning as his help-meet Miss Caroline G. Powlesland, a young lady of Bedford town- ship and the daghter of William and Jane (Mortimer) Powlesland. Her natal day was June 18, 1851; her birthplace in Monroe county ; and her educational facilities those of Bedford township. To Mr. and Mrs. Jackman six children have been born, of whom three have grown to maturity and are living at the time of this history's publication. Bessie A. is the wife of Edward Brock; Alice G. is now Mrs. Henry White, and William P., who is still single, resides at home with his parents.
Mr. Jackman is especially popular in the socially fraternal circles. He is a member of the Lambertville Lodge, No. 467, I. O. O. F. and has passed all the chair numbers of the Encampment. Both he and Mrs. Jackman are members of the Rebecca Lodge, in which she has also passed all chairs. Politically Franklin Jackman is a Republican, of safe and sound principles. He has given his district efficient service as a capable and active road-master.
The 160 acres of the Jackman property are in flourishing condition; it consists of forty acres in section 5 and eighty acres in section 32 of this Vol. II-15
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township. An excellent overland automobile has proved both a profitable investment in a business way, because of its time saving quality, and is besides a source of much enjoyment to this family. Mr. and Mrs. Jack- man believe that life on the farm need not lack either material, intellec- tual or social advantages and refinements. They are both people of at- tractive individuality and enjoy the esteem of a host of friends.
FRANK G. BRUNT, vice-president of the Farmers Mutual Fire In- surance of Monroe and Wayne counties, is one of the representative citizens of his locality. He lives in a pleasant home in the village of Samaria, and divides his time between the insurance business and his farming interests, being the owner of one hundred acres of land in sec- tion 9, Bedford township.
While Mr. Brunt is a native of England, his identity with this coun- try dates back into his childhood. It was in Somersetshire, England, November 14, 1856, that he was born, son of William and Honor (Miller) Brunt, who were born, reared and married there. In 1865 the Brunt family set sail for America, and selected a place near Samaria in Bedford township, Monroe county, Michigan, for their future home. Here the parents spent the rest of their lives. The father died in April, 1886; the mother preceded him in 1873. In their family were ten children, of whom eight are now living, seven being residents of Monroe county, Michigan.
Frank G. had attended school a few years in England before their removal to this country, and after their location here he spent several winters attending public school; otherwise his boyhood was passed in assisting his father with the farm work.
Mr. Brunt was married when he was twenty years of age, February 14, 1876, to Miss Emma Baldwin, a native of New York state who came, when ten years old, with her parents to Bedford township, Monroe county, Michigan, where she was reared. She bore him five children, of whom three are now living: Bertha, wife of George Verdon, and Charles and Gertrude at home. This wife and mother having died Octo- ber 18, 1910, Mr. Brunt married Catharine Ansted, his present com- panion.
Politically, Mr. Brunt is a Republican. While quiet and unassuming in manner, he has always taken an active and commendable interest in local affairs, exerting an influence that has been felt for good in the community. He was the choice of the Republicans of his township for justice of the peace, and is now serving in that capacity. His election to the office of vice-president of the Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance of Monroe and Wayne counties was without solicitation on his part. For years he has served as one of the directors of the company, and as vice- president he is chairman of the board of auditors of Monroe county, and as a director he looks after the insurance of Bedford township.
Mr. Brunt and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Samaria, of which he is a trustee, and in the Sunday school of which he has long been an active worker, having taught a class for twenty-eight years.
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CLARENCE E. JANNEY successfully combines the vocation of a farmer with that of an undertaker. His excellent farm of sixty acres lies in section 30 of Bedford township and his ability as a licensed embalmer of Lambertville is well known. He and his wife are the fortunate parents of a promising family of goodly number and they exert a not- ably beneficial influence in the vicinity. Mr. Janney's birthplace was in Bedford township, where he first saw the light of day on August 31, 1869. His parents were Elwood and Almeda ( Allen) Janney, natives respectively of Pennsylvania and New York states. Elwood Janney enlisted from Monroe county in Company K of the Eighteenth Michigan Volunteers and remained in the service until the close of the war. Of his ten children, the subject of this sketch is the second. Mr. Clarence Janney's brothers and sisters are: Cora F., widow of Hugh C. Hotchkiss of Toledo, Ohio; Leslie, a traveling salesman, married Miss Bessie Bristol, of Grand Rapids, Michigan; Laura, the wife of Chas. Sutherland, of Delta, Ohio; Almeda, a graduate of the Michigan State Normal and now a teacher in a college in Minnesota; Ray S., a farmer of Monroe county, Michigan, who married Gertrude Kitzmiller; Edward A., a bachelor, who lives in Lambertville, engaged in lumber business; Charles A., also single, who is connected with a general store in Lambertville; William Penn, another bachelor of the family, who is in business at Prairie Depot, Wood county, Ohio, and Ralph D., of New York City, who also is unmarried and is a commer- cial traveler.
Clarence Janney was reared upon his father's farm in the vicinity of Lambertville and his educational development was that provided by the district school, which he attended until he reached the age of seventeen. On the occasion of his father's death, which occurred at this time, the young man, as the eldest son of the family, took upon himself the burdens devolving upon the head of the household. His success- ful discharge of these and his care of the younger members of the family have won him much credit. His energy and initiative are also evidenced by his preparation for the profession of undertaking and his being granted a certificate as embalmer from the institution at Grand Rapids.
Mr. Janney is worthily mated with the daughter of Jasper N. Smith, a sketch of whose life also appears in this volume. She was educated in the district and high schools of this vicinity. Of their splendid family of eight children all are living. They are as follows: Cora M., a grad- uate of the common schools and now a student in the Toledo high schools ; Luella, who also has completed the courses of the common schools; Francis, Jasper, Clarence, and Elsie May, who are still in school; and little Hattie and Maynard, who are yet in their babyhood. Mr. and Mrs. Janney's sons and daughters bid fair to be the greatest satisfac- tion of their coming years.
The subject of this biography is a staunch Republican, with a com- mendable sense of the responsibility of every citizen. He has served his township acceptably both as treasurer and as clerk, being present incumbent of the latter office. He is counted one of the most depend- able as well as one of the most progressive men in Bedford township.
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JASPER N. SMITH. One of the "old families" of the county and of Bedford township that is most favorably known throughout the region is the worthy household of Jasper N. Smith. In 1841, Mr. Smith was born on the farm which he now owns. His parents were originally of Ontario, New York, the father being Lyman and the mother Zady M. (Harwood) Smith. They were married in Monroe county and were the parents of two children of whom Jasper N. is the only one who lived to grow to manhood. In the wholesome atmosphere of his country home he grew to maturity, receiving his educational guidance from the district schools. When he was a young man of twenty-one he responded with ready courage to his country's call for the service of her loyal sons. Enlisting in Company K of the Eighteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, he remained in the service until the close of the struggle that made all men of the nation free and preserved the unity of the United States. Having seen this important work accomplished, and content with having been one of the many whose courage had made it possible, Mr. Smith gladly returned to the peaceful pursuits of the farm and the congenial community of Bedford township, which ever since has been his home.
In 1867, he was united for a life-domestic companionship with Miss Hattie Kirkland, a teacher of the township. Miami, Ohio, was Mrs. Smith's birthplace, her parents having been natives of New York state. She was a child of two years of age at the time of their removal to Bedford township and her education began in the district schools, from which she passed to the Monroe graded schools. Her teaching experience covered six terms.
The second generation of the Jasper Smith family consists of four and the third generation of twelve descendants. Harry L. Smith, the oldest son, and his wife, Mary (Waffle) Smith, have three children. The twins, Frank and Elsie, are also both married. The first wife of the former, who as a girl was Miss Carrie Reed, passed early from this mundane existence, leaving him with one child. His second marriage was to Miss Susie Kay. Elsie Smith is now Mrs. Clarence Janney and the mother of eight children. The fourth son, Everard, is unmarried and lives at the old home with his parents.
As an old soldier whose heart still ever beats in patriotic measure, Jasper Smith is proud of his affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic, his formal connection being with H. W. Lawton Post of Samaria, Michigan. His political views are those of the Republican party in national issues though in local politics he is independent of narrowing party limitations.
Mr. Smith owns eighty-three acres of fine land in section 4 of this township. He and Mrs. Smith are conspicuous for their high standing among their acquaintance, their lifetime of residence in Bedford show- ing an enviable record in the various phases of both public and private life.
GEORGE CARR, a retired farmer and highly respected citizen of Temperance, Michigan, was born on his father's farm, on section 14,
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Bedford township, Monroe county, this state, January 10, 1837, a son of pioneers, Upton and Clarissa (Ford) Carr.
Upton Carr, a native of Lyonville, New York state, born October 6, 1807, came to Michigan in March, 1834, and entered eighty acres of land on sections 14 and 15 of Bedford township, Monroe county. It was not, however, until two years later that he married and brought his wife here, their homecoming to the little log cabin, which he built, being in May, 1836. Here they lived and labored and enjoyed the pleasures as well as the hardships of frontier life. As the result of his well directed efforts the farm was improved and the cabin home in time gave place to a better building. Two children were born to them, George and David, the latter now being deceased. Upton Carr died in July, 1892. He was a quiet, unassuming man, broad and liberal in his views. While not a member of any church, he attended church regularly and was counted as one of its substantial supporters. Politi- cally, he was first a Whig and later a Republican. His good wife, born October 1, 1817, died March 8, 1878.
George Carr has passed his life on the farm on which he was born, and besides owning it also has several pieces of property in Temperance.
In September, 1866, Mr. Carr married Miss Elizabeth Ansted, a native of Sandusky county, Ohio, born October 16, 1844, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Welker) Ansted. Her father having died, she came with her mother to Michigan in April, 1864, and it was here in Monroe county that two years later she became the wife of Mr. Carr. Four children were born to them, of whom two, a son and daughter, are living at this writing (1912). The daughter, Catharine E., is the wife of David Dull, one of the young business men of Temperance. They have one daughter, Florence A.
The son, Chester Carr, is also engaged in the mercantile field at Tem- perance. He wedded Miss Belle Vaughn and they have three children, one son and two daughters, Mabel, Milton and Helen.
Mr. and Mrs. Carr have two of the old parchment deeds, executed October 1, 1835, under the hand and seal of Pres. Andrew Jackson, which are valuable heirlooms in the family.
Mrs. Carr is a member of the Lutheran church, which Mr. Carr attends with her and of which he is a generous supporter. His political affiliation has always been with the Republican party and he has filled several minor offices in the township.
Mr. Carr is a true and typical pioneer of Monroe county and is one of the few men living today, who has witnessed the marvelous growth and development of the county of Monroe, since he has almost passed the seventy-ninth milestone in life's pathway. He was born in section 14 in Bedford township. He well remembers the primeval log school house of "Ye early dayes" and has attended the old fashioned singing school, where the benches were slab seats with four wooden legs to stand on. He used the old goose quill pen and can make them as good today in the twentieth century as he could a half a century ago. He remembers, well, when two young Indians came to his mother's home and she let them remain all night, and cooked their suppers and breakfasts for them. Mr. Carr has seen as many as six deer in one herd
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in Bedford township and his father and a comrade chased a bear through part of the township across the Dunbar Estate, lying southwest of Temperance. He well remembers when the site of Temperance was covered with brush and thick woods. Lewis Ansted was the first mer- chant and postmaster of Temperance, and he and his wife were the main factors in the establishment of the first Free Methodist church in Temperance. His wife, Mrs. Lewis Ansted named the town Tem- perance, and not since the organization of the township, or the village has there been a station with a saloon.
ELLIS W. KELLY, M. D., has been engaged in the practice of his profession at Temperance, Michigan, for the past fifteen years. He belongs to one of the prominent early families of Monroe county, and both by reason of his family connection and on account of his own high standing as a physician and citizen, a biographical sketch of him is of interest in this connection.
Ellis W. Kelly was born in La Salle township, Monroe county, Michigan, September 12, 1868, son of William J. and Mary J. (Kim- ball) Kelly.
William J. Kelly was a native of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, born in 1837, son of William Kelly and wife, nee McNail, both of Irish birth, he being one of a family of six children-Robert, Thomas, John, Susan, Ann and William J .- all now deceased. When William J. was a boy of ten years he accompanied his parents and other members of the family to Michigan, where, on a frontier farm in La Salle township, Monroe county, their home was established, and here he was reared, passed his life, and died at the ripe age of seventy-four years. He and his wife were the parents of three children : Dr. H. E. Kelly, of Ida, Michigan; Jennie B., who died December 23, 1911; Dr. Ellis W. Kelly, whose name introduces this review. The mother of this family, Mary J. (Kimball) Kelly, is still living. She is a daughter of John P. and Bethiah Kimball, natives of New York state, both of whom lived to an advanced age, seventy-nine years covering the period of his life, and eighty-six, hers. In their family were five children, all daughters, of whom three are now living: Mary J., Emeline, wife of Wm. G. Salter, and Alice, wife of Jacob A. Rauch. Those deceased are Cornelia and Adelia.
During his active life William J. Kelly was prominent in the affairs of his locality. He served for sixteen years as director of the Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and one term, 1894-1895, he repre- sented his constituency in the state legislature of Michigan.
Ellis W. Kelly spent his boyhood days on his father's farm. After attending the district schools and the Monroe high school, of which latter he is a graduate, he took a commercial course in a Toledo busi- ness college. Then he had a practical business experience as book- keeper for the Toledo Wire & Iron Works, a position he filled one year. In the fall of 1894, he entered the Toledo Medical College, where he pursued the regular course, and from which in May, 1897, he received the degree of M. D. The following September he opened an office at Temperance, and since that date has been actively engaged in the
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practice of his profession here, meeting with that high degree of success which his qualifications and adaptability for the work in which he is engaged merit.
March 29, 1899, Dr. Kelly married Miss Bessie M. Choate, a daughter of Charles S. Choate, Sr., of Erie, Michigan; and they have two chil- dren : Lucile N., born November 19, 1900; Ellis W., May 16, 1904. Mrs. Kelly was educated at Adrian, Michigan, and previous to her mar- riage was a teacher.
Dr. Kelly has numerous fraternal relations. He is a member of Samaria Lodge No. 438, A. F. & A. M .; Lambertville Lodge, No. 468, I. O. O. F., and K. O. T. M., No. 832. Also he maintains member- ship and a keen interest in the county, state and national medical so- cieties. He is a medical examiner for numerous life insurance com- panies, among them being the New York Life, Mutual Benefit Life, Massachusetts Mutual, Toledo Life and Equitable Life. Politically, he is a Republican, not, however, being active in politics.
Dr. Kelly and his brother, Dr. H. E. Kelly of Ida, Michigan, own a farm of 150 acres in La Salle township, and are interested in farming operations.
ORLIE A. TUTTLE, assistant cashier of the Bank of Temperance, Temperance, Michigan, is one of the up-to-date young business men of the town.
Mr. Tuttle was born on a farm in Bedford township, Monroe county, Michigan, April 27, 1888, son of John M. and Etna (Vaughn) Tuttle. Up to the age of seventeen his time was passed in assisting with the farm work and attending public school. Then he attended the Monroe high schcool and also took a correspondence course in bookkeeping, in due time receiving a diploma for his work in the correspondence school. Having fitted himself for a responsible position, he was not long in finding it. June 1, 1907, at the age of nineteen, he was made assistant cashier of the Bank of Temperance, a position he has since filled with faithfulness and ability.
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