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 43
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Mr. McMillan is prominent in printing trade association work, being the president of P-I-C-A, secretary of Michigan Printers' Cost Commission and Michigan Director of Ben Franklin Club of America. He is independent in politics.
WILLIAM G. GUTMANN. Monroe county has a full quota of sub- stantial and ably conducted financial institutions that are adequately upholding its commercial and industrial prestige, and among these none takes precedence of the First National Bank of Monroe, of which Mr. Gutmann is the efficient and popular cashier,-an incumbency that of itself gives him secure place and distinctive influence as one of the representative business men of his native county.
Mr. Gutmann was born in the city of Monroe, on the 21st of August,
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1862, and is a son of John C. and Catherine (Zeh) Gutmann, both of whom were born and reared in Germany. John C. Gutmann learned in his native land the trade of shoemaker, and in 1842 he immigrated to America. He came to Monroe county soon after his arrival in the United States and for many years he was identified with the work of his trade in the city of Monroe, where he eventually established himself in the general boot and shoe business. He was one of the sterling business men and highly honored citizens of the county and here both he and his devoted wife continued to reside until they were summoned from the scene of life's mortal endeavors, secure in the high regard of all who knew them. Both were devout communicants of the Trinity Lutheran church and in politics the father espoused and ever remained loyal to the cause of the Republican party. Of the children, two sons and three daughters are now living.
The parochial and public schools of Monroe afforded William G. Gutmann his early educational advantages. For a time thereafter he was a clerk in the local mercantile establishment of General George Spalding, and in 1878, when sixteen years of age, he secured the posi- tion of messenger in the First National Bank. Faithful and effective service finally won him promotion in turn to the positions of book- keeper and teller in this institution, and thereafter he served as assistant cashier until January, 1911, when he was advanced to his present responsible office, that of cashier. He has thus been connected with the First National Bank for thirty-four consecutive years, and his character and services have gained to him the confidence and esteem not only of the stockholders and executive officers of the bank but also of the entire local community. His career shows that it is not neces- sary for a young man to indulge the wanderlust or to seek far fields of endeavor, for in his home county he has found ample opportunity for advancement and the gaining of secure success and prestige along a line of enterprise in which he has applied himself earnestly and which has enabled him to become a staunch factor in the business community.
Further evidence of the confidence reposed in Mr. Gutmann in his home city was shown by his election to the office of city treasurer, of which he continued the incumbent for two terms. He is a stockholder of the Monroe Canning & Packing Company and also of the Record Publishing Company, and in 1910 he platted an addition to the city of Monroe, subdividing the same into city lots and erecting on the same many attractive residences. This is known as the Grassley-Gutmann addition and is now one of the attractive and well improved residence sections of the city. Mr. Gutmann served twelve years as a member of the Michigan National Guard and is at the present time manager of the Monroe Armory Association. In politics he gives his allegiance to the Republican party, and both he and his wife hold membership in Trinity Lutheran church. He takes a deep interest in all that per- tains to the welfare of his home city and county and gives his influence and support in the furtherance of enterprises and measures projected for the general good of the community.
On the 24th of May, 1889, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gut-
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mann to Miss Julia M. Graessley, and they have one daughter, Renetta M.
CLAYTON C. GOLDEN. One of the successful younger members of the Monroe county bar, Clayton C. Golden is a son of Judge Charles A. and Frances L. (Soleau) Golden. The career of his father, the present circuit judge, is sketched in detail on other pages of this work.
Clayton C. Golden was born in the city of Monroe, November 25, 1882. His early education was in the public schools, and after gradua- tion from the high school in 1902 he entered the University of Notre Dame at South Bend, where he was graduated in the law department with the class of 1906. In the following year, after his admission to the Monroe county bar, he opened his office and has since gained a large and distinctive clientage in the legal business of this county.
Mr. Golden was married in 1911 to Miss Lillian Sorter, the daughter of Justus Sorter and his wife, Hannah (Simmons) Sorter, a prominent family of Monroe. Mr. Golden is a member of the Knights of Columbus.
AUGUSTINE C. MCCORMICK. That the scriptural aphorism that a prophet is not without honor save in his own country finds no applica- tion in the case of Mr. McCormick needs no further voucher than the statement that he has represented his native county of Monroe in the Michigan state senate and that he is recognized as one of the progres- sive business men and loyal citizens of the county which has been his home from the time of his nativity to the present. He is engaged in the real-estate and insurance business in the city of Monroe and his agency is one of the most substantial and important of the kind in the county.
Mr. McCormick was born on the old family homestead farm in Ash township, this county, on the 3rd of March, 1862, and is a son of Edward and Mary (Corrigan) McCormick, both of whom were born in Ireland, where the former was reared to adult age and whence the latter came with her parents to America when she was a child of eight years. Edward McCormick, who was born and reared in County Mona- ghan, Ireland, came to the United States as a youth of twenty years, and within the course of a few years he came to Monroe county, Michi- gan and purchased a farm of eighty acres in Ash township. Ener- getic, ambitious and imbued with marked business sagacity, he was prospered in his endeavors as a representative of the great basic indus- tries of agriculture and stock-growing, and he eventually accumulated a valuable landed estate of four hundred acres, which he brought to a high state of productiveness and upon which he made the best of per- manent improvements. He lived a life of integrity and honor and ever commanded the unequivocal confidence and esteem of his fellow men. He was broad-minded and liberal as a citizen, was a staunch adherent of the Democratic party and was called to serve in various public offices of local trust, including those of deputy sheriff, collector of taxes, justice of the peace and township supervisor, of which last mentioned he was the incumbent for three terms. Both he and his wife were zealous and devout communicants of the Catholic church, in the faith of which
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they carefully reared their children. Edward McCormick died on his home farm in 1885, at the venerable age of eighty years, and his devoted wife survived until 1900, when she was summoned to the life eternal, at the age of eighty-five years. The names of both are held in affectionate regard in the community that so long represented their home and in which they lived "godly, righteous and sober lives."
Augustine C. McCormick was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and is indebted to the public schools of his native county for his early educational discipline. As a youth he began teaching in the district schools, and he followed the pedagogic profession during the winter months, the while he continued to be identified with the work of the home farm during the summer seasons. In 1880 he entered the State Normal School at Ypsilanti, where he continued his studies for one year. He devoted seven winters to teaching and the intervening summers to farm work, and he continued to be actively identified with agricultural pursuits until the year 1909, when he removed from his farm, in Ash township, to the city of Monroe, where he has since been successfully engaged in the real-estate and insurance business. He has been intermediary in the handling of valuable farm and city properties and in this line has established high reputation and been specially successful. In the insurance department of his business he represents leading fire and life-insurance companies and has under- written many policies in both lines, his hold upon popular confidence and esteem in his native county being of the most stable order.
With well defined opinions concerning matters of public polity, Mr. McCormick accords unfaltering allegiance to the Democratic party and he has given effective service in behalf of its cause. In 1890 he was elected to represent the Fourth senatorial district of the state in the upper house of the Michigan legislature, said district comprising the counties of Monroe and Washtenaw. He was assigned to a num- ber of the important senate committees, including the railroad com- mittee and those having to do with the state industrial school for girls, the Pontiac state asylum for the insane, the state mining school, and other public institutions. He was an active and valued worker both on the floor and in the committee rooms of the senate during the sessions of 1890 and 1891, and was ever alert in fostering the best interests of the district which he represented. After his retirement from the senate he continued to be engaged in farming and stock- growing in his native township until his removal to Monroe, as already noted. He is the owner of valuable farm property, including a por- tion of the old homestead farm on which he was born, and also owns real estate in the city of Monroe. He and his family are zealous com- municants of the Catholic church and hold membership in the parish of St. John's church, in Monroe. He is also affiliated with the local . organization of the Knights of Columbus.
In October, 1885, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. McCormick to Miss Bridget Coughlin, who was born and reared in Wayne county, this state, and who is a daughter of the late John Coughlin, an old resident and highly esteemed citizen of that county. Mr. and Mrs. McCormick have two sons and one daughter: Augustine E. is station
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agent for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad at Monroe, and in February, 1912, he wedded Miss Leona Mae Pousha, youngest daughter of Joseph Pousha, an old and honored citizen of Monroe; John E. is employed by the Detroit United Railway, as conductor on the interurban electric line between Detroit and Toledo; and Mae G., who remains at the parental home, is a popular factor in the social activities of the younger generation in Monroe.
EUGENE WARNER. The life of Eugene Warner thus far has been devoted to farming pursuits, and he has proved himself one of the most capable and successful men in his line of industry to be found in Monroe township. He is a native of the county, born on the old farm of his father on February 19, 1853, and is the fourth child in the family of six sons and daughters born to Samuel and Lydia (Nichols) Warner. But two of that number are living today,-the subject and a sister, Mary J., widow of Thomas Caldwell, and a resi- dent of Sullivan county, New York.
Samuel Warner was born in Onondaga county, New York, on October 21, 1814, and he died on June 10, 1890. He was of English ancestry. The common schools of his native community in New York afforded him such education as he was permitted to secure in his youth, and, like his father, he gave his attention to farming when he reached man's estate. It was in the year 1836 or 1837 when he first came to Michigan, locating in Monroe county, and settling at Monroe, then the county seat as now, and a small and undeveloped village, while no rail- road had as yet penetrated the county. In this district Samuel Warner secured land, a tract of sixty acres being secured in Milan township. It was unimproved, and in a wild and forbidding state, but nothing daunted, he gave himself diligently to the work of reclaiming the land and making a home for himself and his family in the township. He soon saw what he regarded as an opportunity to better his condition, and accordingly sold his place, purchasing another piece of land, this time in Branch county, which in turn, he disposed of to advantage and in 1850 came to Dundee township. There he purchased some ninety acres of land about two and a half miles north of Dundee in section 1. There was a small log house on the place when he made the purchase, but this he soon replaced with a comfortable frame house, suited to the needs of his family, and here he made his home until death claimed him. He was a man of no little prominence in Dundee township, and was active in many ways that redounded to the advancement of the community. He was a charter member of the Dundee Masonic lodge, and was a Jeffersonian Democrat. He was buried under the auspices of the Masonic fraternity. The mother was a native of Onondaga county, New York, like her husband, born there on February 1, 1817, and she died on the 29th day of January, 1863. She and her husband were long-time members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in
. further mention of Samuel Warner it may be said here that he was ever an active worker in that church, and was a leader in the movement which resulted in the building of the church in Monroe, and for years
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was a minister of the gospel. Both these worthy people rest in Azalia cemetery in Monroe and fitting monuments mark their last home.
Eugene Warner was well versed in the knowledge of the farm and the many duties that farm life entails, and in the intervals which might be filched from the home duties, he attended the district schools, there securing the rudiments of an education. He remained at home with his parents until he was twenty-three years old, when he began life for himself, this departure being marked by his marriage to Miss Mary M. Libbey. In 1896 he moved to Chicago, where he was employed by the Pullman Car Company. In 1900, however, he returned to Dun- dee and this place has been his continued home since that time. He has a fine place of 173 acres, with fine buildings of every required order, and here he devotes himself to farming and stock-raising, in which he is enjoying a pleasing degree of success.
Mr. Warner married Miss Nellie E. Reeves, the marriage taking place on November 30, 1892. A son and daughter have been born to them,-Seward Alger and Bertha Marie. The son finished with the common schools and then entered the Dundee high school, which he is now attending as a member of the class of 1913, and the daughter is now attending St. Joseph's Academy at Adrian, Michigan, where she is attending as a member of the class of 1914. Both are bright and studious young people, and give promise of reflecting much credit upon their parents, who have spared nothing to advance them educa- tionally. The mother of these children is a native of Monroe county, born on February 12, 1867, and is the youngest member in a family of eight children born to Emmett and Abigail B. (Hoag) Reeves. Five of that number are living today, as follows: Sarah, the wife of James A. Coon, a farmer, lives in Eaton Rapids, Michigan. Sigel and Seward, twins, are residents of Yampa, Colorado, and St. Genevieve, Missouri, respectively. Hattie E. is the wife of Allen W. Bentley, a farming man of Azalia, Michigan; and Mrs. Warner. The latter was educated in the common schools and the Raisin Valley Seminary, also attending the Ypsilanti Normal, after which she taught in Ypsilanti. She is a woman of character and pleasing personality, and is highly esteemed by all who know her. Her father, Emmett Reeves, was a native of Orange county, New York, born there in 1825 and died in 1881. He was a farming man, and came to Monroe county in 1829, this com- munity representing his home for the remainder of his life. He was a Civil war veteran, having served in the First Michigan Sharpshooters, in Company C. He was a Republican and with his wife, was a member of the Free Methodist church. He owned a forty-acre farm in Milan township, Monroe county, when he died. His wife, who was born in the Green Mountain state in 1829, died here in 1901.
Mr. and Mrs. Warner are among the most prominent and popular residents of Dundee township, where they have long been known, and enjoy the esteem and confidence of all who come within the sphere of their acquaintance. Mr. Warner is a member of the Masonic fraternity, affiliating with the blue lodge of Dundee and the Royal Arch Masons of the same place. Mrs. Warner is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star. He is a Democrat and cast his first presidential vote
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for Samuel J. Tilden, but he has never had any desire to gain publicity as an office holder, being well content to fulfill the demands of good citizenship in other ways, equally effectual.
WILLIAM G. HENRICH. Among the many intelligent and enterpris- ing agriculturists of Monroe county, Michigan, may be found the name of William G. Henrich, who is a native of this county but comes of German parentage and has exhibited in his career as a farmer that thrift and marked ability so characteristic of the German agriculturist.
Born August 29, 1873, his boyhood was spent on the home farm in Frenchtown township, Monroe county, and his education was obtained in the parochial schools of the German Lutheran church, in the faith of which denomination he was confirmed. At the age of thirteen he began to assist in the work of the home farm and continued to do so until he had attained his majority, except for one year. In 1894 he accepted a position in Detroit in an establishment that manufactured varnish and remained with this firm five years. In the meantime he had married in that city and in 1899 he brought his wife and family to Monroe county, where they took up life on a rented farm. Later he bought his present farmstead of 96 acres in Monroe township and this has since remained his home. He follows general farming and his efforts in this direction have been well directed and well rewarded.
John Henrich, the father of William G., was born in Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany, on November 11, 1836, and in Monroe county, Michi- gan, was married to Catharine Roessler, also a native of the Father- land, born in Wurttemberg in 1840. Both are still living and reside in Monroe, Michigan. They became the parents of seven children, all of whom are living and are as follows: Mary, now Mrs. William Waldorf; Catharine, the wife of Frederick Mathews; William G., the subject of this brief review; John A., who married Sophia Raible; August P., who married Sophia Hubbard; and Elizabeth and Louise, who are single and reside at the parental home at Monroe.
In Detroit, Michigan, on May 14, 1896, was solemnized the mar- riage of William G. Henrich and Miss Augusta C. Rast. Mrs. Henrich was born in Germany, June 21, 1871, and in 1881 came to the United States with her parents, who located in Rhode Island. Her education was begun in Germany and was concluded in Rhode Island. Five children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Henrich and are as follows: William V., born February 14, 1897; George J., born Janu- ary 16, 1899 ; Edwin F., born November 27, 1900; Harold, born January 2, 1902; and Carl, born January 25, 1910. -
Both Mr. and Mrs. Henrich are members of the German Lutheran ' church and of the Lutheran Bund of Michigan. Mr. Henrich has served as a school director of his district, and in political affairs gives his allegiance to the Republican party. Both he and his wife are known as upright and worthy people and well deserve their place on the roster of Monroe county's best citizens.
MRS. EMMA R. LOOSE. A woman of intelligence and refinement and one whose energies have been devoted to her home and children,
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that sphere in which woman has ever found her most unfading laurels, Mrs. Emma R. Loose, widow of the late David M. Loose, deserves mention among those who represent the best citizenship of Monroe county, Michigan. She has reared and educated her sons and daughters, has instilled into their minds the virtue of useful and worthy living, and thus has fulfilled the noblest mission of womanhood.
The nativity of Mrs. Loose occurred in Berks county, Pennsylvania, in May, 1847. Her father was Jacob J. Seibert and her grandfather was Jacob Seibert, both natives of Pennsylvania. In that state Jacob J. Seibert married Mary A. Walborn, later removing with his family to Fremont, Sandusky county, Ohio, where he and his wife resided until their deaths. They became the parents of six children, four of whom are living at this date (1912) and are as follows: Monroe W. Seibert, a resident of Fremont, Ohio; Mrs. Emma R. Loose; Henry Seibert, who resides in Pittsburg, Kansas; and William A. Seibert, who resides near Fremont, Ohio, and owns a part of the old homestead.
Emma R. Seibert spent her girlhood on the old farm near Fremont, Ohio, and received her education in the district schools of that locality, attending until about eighteen years of age. On May 14, 1867, at the age of twenty, she was married to David M. Loose. Mr. Loose was born in Pennsylvania on the 3rd of February, 1843, and in 1844 accompanied his parents to Monroe county, Michigan, where at the proper age he entered the public schools and later attended the Monroe high school. He completed his education at Heidelberg College, Tiffin. Ohio, and for some time thereafter followed the profession of teaching in Monroe county, Michigan, and in Sandusky county, Ohio. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Loose located on a rented farm but in 1869 bought a farm in Sandusky county and resided on it until their removal to Monroe county, Michigan, in 1873. Here Mr. Loose bought the homestead of 135 acres in Monroe township on which his widow still resides. From the beginning he had prospered at farming and at his death on October 11, 1902, he left a comfortable estate. He was a member of the Evangelical church, as is also Mrs. Loose, and in politics was a Democrat. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Loose : Elroy M., born February 21, 1869, who received a high school educa- tion at Monroe, married Miss Minnie L. Albig and has two children; Irving J., who was born March 29, 1872, is a graduate of Olivet Col- lege, Olivet, Michigan, and also took a course of theological study at Oakland, California; Iona M., born February 4, 1875, who completed a commercial course at Monroe, Michigan, is now a teacher in Monroe township, this county ; Etta E. resides with her mother; Idella M., born May 1, 1879, who is now Mrs. F. E. Cooper, attended the Monroe high school and was engaged in the profession of teaching prior to her mar- riage; Hattie L., born February 21, 1881, is now the wife of Orville M. Albig, who is professor of Greek in Northwestern College, Naper- ville, Illinois; Clarence D., born February 15, 1884, who is a graduate of Northwestern College, Naperville, Illinois, is now principal of the high school at Washington, Iowa; and Alvin F., born October 13, 1886, manages the home farm for his mother. Both Mr. and Mrs. Loose were thorough believers in the efficacy of an education and provided their
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children with good advantages in this direction. Their influence and encouragement and faithfulness as parents have been well rewarded, for each of their children has assumed some useful and honorable position in society.
Mrs. Loose is of pleasing personality, is a kind and gracious neigh- bor, a gentle but firm and tactful mother, and well merits the high respect and esteem she commands in the county of which she has so long been a resident.
F. WILLIAM SCHAFER, the manager and secretary of the Ida Tele- phone Company, is a native resident of Monroe county, born in the township of Raisinville on November 11, 1856. He is a son of George and Catherine (Starck) Schafer, both native Germans. The father came to America in 1849, after having served in the army of his native country during the German revolution of 1848, and located at Milan, Ohio. In 1850 the gold excitement attracted his attention and he started with a party for the west via New York and Panama. Landing at Colon at the mouth of the Chagres river, the party had natives row them and their baggage up the river to a point opposite Panama and from there they traveled on foot and "packed" their baggage on buffalos to Panama, traversing the route of the present Panama canal, and thence by boat to San Francisco and Sacramento. After spending about four years in the mining district in Amador county, California, George Schafer returned to Milan, Ohio, in the spring of 1854 and here he was married to Catherine Starck September 27th, 1855. In November of that year he came to Ida, Michigan, and located on the farm one-half mile west of town in Raisinville township, where he remained to the time of his death, February 4, 1906. During the Civil war he entered the Union army in 1864, serving in Company I, Ninth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, from which he was honorably discharged in June, 1865. Ten children were born to George and Catherine Schafer of which number seven are living at this writing (1912). They are F. William, George W., who lives on the homestead; Emma E., the wife of John C. Schurer, Dearborn, Michigan; John, a miner, of Millett, Nevada; Kate N., Chi- cago; Henry and Carl W., of Chicago, both prominent in Independent Telephone circles.
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