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 9
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The father died in 1870 at the age of seventy-one, having been born in 1799, and the mother, who was born in 1813, in 1889, at the age of seventy-six. They were devout and very serviceable members of the Wesleyan Methodist church, and the father helped to build the first church edifice in the township of Ash, and during the whole of his resi- dence in this locality took an active interest in the welfare, the work and everything that pertained to the advancement and usefulness of the congregation that worshipped in it with steadily increasing influ- ence for good in the community.
Barnard Parish was married on November 25, 1866, to Miss Sabina Kittle, a young lady of extensive general intelligence and fine social culture, who was born and reared at Mount Morris, Livingston county, New York. Her father was Julius Kittle, who married Miss Elizabeth Perall. He died at the age of seventy-five years and his wife at the age of seventy-one. They had two sons in the Union army during the Civil war; John, who was in the Fifth Michigan Cavalry, and Jesse, who was in the Fourth Michigan Infantry and was killed at the battle of Malvern Hill.
Mr. and Mrs. Parish have had seven children, three sons and four daughters. Edward H. is a resident of this township. William G., who was a highly esteemed school teacher, died in Chicago, leaving a widow and two sons as the surviving members of his family. Elizabeth, wife of Arthur Winslow, of Lapeer, Michigan. Ella M. died at the age of thirty-four years and she was a successful teacher. Benjamin is a prominent farmer of Ash township. Bertha is a practical nurse in Detroit; and Lottie died at the age of sixteen months. All the children received good educations and proved highly creditable to their family and the community in which they were reared and exemplified their worth.
In his political faith and allegiance, Mr. Parish is a firm and loyal member of the Republican party. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Wallace Post, and he was a member of the Order of Odd Fellows and Flatrock Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, being secretary of the last named organization. He is a man of progressive views and the strictest integrity, and has done his full share of the work and sacrifice involved in the continued advancement and improvement of the county and the betterment of conditions for its residents of every class and condition. He is well educated and broadly intelligent, and a strong advocate of every form of wholesome progress. His farm, which is four miles east of Carleton, is well farmed and well improved with a modern eight-room dwelling house and all necessary outbuild- ings of ample size and thoroughly up-to-date in their equipment.
Mr. Parish's record in the Civil war is greatly to his credit and de- serving of special mention. He enlisted on August 6, 1862, in response to
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President Lincoln's urgent appeal for volunteers, becoming a member of Captain E. B. White's company, Twenty-fourth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and was soon afterward assigned with his regiment to the First Brigade, First Division of the Army of the Potomac, under the command of Colonel H. H. Morrow, a gallant soldier himself and the commander of a gallant regiment of fierce fighting men.
This regiment was the second Michigan one to move to the front and did not have to wait long for its baptism of fire and blood. It took an active part in the battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Culpepper and the siege of Petersburg, Virginia, and many other engagements of great importance and many of a minor character. Mr. Parish was with it in all its battles, including the preparation and explosion of the mine before Petersburg and all the terrible conflicts of the Wilderness cam- paign.
Mr. Parish was wounded in the battle of Gettysburg, and also in the battle of the Wilderness which was fought on May 5, 1864, but neither wound disabled him for service for any noteworthy length of time. At the battle of Cold Harbor a Confederate bullet was shot through his haversack and struck the coffee cup it contained, which saved his life. He still has the bullet and the coffee cup, which he cherishes as sug- gestive souvenirs of the war. He enlisted as a private but was soon raised to the rank of sergeant, and his faithful service to the end of the gigantic sectional confliet won for him honorable mention in the official reports of the volunteer army and its glorious achievements, which brought so much renown to our citizen soldiery. His record as a farmer and citizen of enterprise and progressiveness is equally creditable, and has brought him the lasting esteem and good will of the people of his township and county, and of all other localities in which he is known.
REV. MICHAEL JOHN FARRELL. After very useful training in zealous study and practical experience of a valuable kind as preparation for his work, Rev. Michael John Farrell was called to take charge of the church and school at St. Patrick's Parish in 1910, three miles southwest of Carle- ton, Michigan. He has since been their controlling force and spirit of inspiration, and they have prospered rapidly and substantially under his guidance and management. He has shown himself to be a gentle- man of great enterprise and resourcefulness, indefatigable industry, and worldly wise in affairs of business, besides being a ripe scholar of great learning and a practical man of wide sweep of vision and clearness of insight.
Rev. Father Farrell is a native of Rochester, New York, where he was born of a good family on April 1, in our Centennial year, 1876. He is a son of Michael and Ellen (O'Neil) Farrell, and the first born of their six children, two sons and four daughters. When he was nine years of age the parents moved to Detroit, and there, in the university of that city, he completed his academic education, although he after- ward pursued a course of advanced study in the University of St. Louis, in St. Louis, where he was a student and teacher from 1900 to 1907, filling the chair of Professor of Languages in the faculty of that insti- tution.
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After completing the work he laid out for himself in that seat of learning, he accepted a position as professor of languages at the College of the Assumption in the city of Sandwich, Ontario, Canada, which he filled with great acceptability for one year. At the end of that period he went back to St. Louis, and during the next three years prosecuted his study of theology in the Missouri metropolis, performing his duties with great credit to himself and advantage to the institution in which he worked.
But the picturesque and beautiful city of the Detroit river, which poesy has designated as "the Dardenelles of America," in which he had lived from boyhood, still had a winning smile for him, and he returned to it again. For a year he served its people well and capably as assist- ant pastor to Rev. John J. Connolly, and then took charge of his present post, coming to it in 1911, as has been stated above.
Wherever he has been, this fine gentleman and scholar has made his mark and left the impress of his scholarship and high personal char- acter. He has shown himself to be a man of very broad and comprehen- sive information in all branches of learning, high culture and academic- ally, theologically and socially, thoroughly practical in business matters and wise to all their requirements, and possessed of a most pleasing pres- ence and address. These qualities have won him great popularity among all classes of the people wherever he has lived and labored, and made him extensively useful without noise or ostentation, self-assertion or manifestations of self-importance. For he has always shown the mod- esty of true manhood and genuine merit, seeking no dominion to rule, but only opportunities to be of service to his fellow men and do all the good he could in the world.
In the welfare of his church and everything connected with it Rev. Father Farrell is at all times earnestly, zealously and practically in- terested, and he always employs all the means at his command to promote that welfare and give additional impetus to the church's car of prog- ress. He is also a very patriotic and high-minded American citizen, and aids in every way he can to advance the general interests of his coun- try, and particularly those of his own locality. Such men as he are highly useful from every point of view, but their usefulness is not always appreciated as it should be. In his case it is, however, and he is held in the highest esteem by all who know him well enough to form a proper estimate of his worth.
JACOB M. VAN RIPER. The real history of the War of the Rebellion is written most deeply on the hearts of those who participated in that mighty conflict. The sacrifices of the volunteers did not cease when hos- tilities closed, for none of them came out of the war as they had entered it. If a few were fortunate enough to escape bullets, shell and imprison- ment, there still lingered seeds of disease, shattered nerves and other ailments, which will cling to many as long as life lasts. For this and numerous other reasons, the rapidly diminishing ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic are regarded with veneration, and the veterans have a place in the respect of their fellow-citizens the country over. A brave and faithful soldier, who has proved just as good a citizen in times
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of peace, is Jacob M. Van Riper, of Berlin township, who bears honor- able scars testifying to his loyalty to his flag, and to what he suffered that the nation might live. Mr. Van Riper is a native of Berlin Town- ship, Monroe county, Michigan, and was born May 25, 1840, a son of John and Nancy (Wycoff) Van Riper, native of New Jersey, and a grandson of Adrian Van Riper, of that state, who came of old Holland Dutch stock. Mr. Van Riper's father died in 1846, at the age of forty- four years, while Mrs. Van Riper survived many years, passing away at the age of eighty-four.
Jacob M. Van Riper was reared on the old home farm, being taught to work hard and be honest, and received his education in the district schools of his native vicinity. In 1860 he was married to Miss Catherine Young, who was born in New Jersey, but reared and educated in Mich- igan, daughter of Josiah and Julia (Swallow) Young, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Van Riper had six children: Mary Catharine, Julia Ann, Nancy Ellen, John Francis, who is foreman of the John Strong Stock Farm; Leora, who resides in Detroit, and Julia, who died aged forty-five. At the time of Lincoln's call for six hundred thousand more troops, for three years of service, Mr. Van Riper en- listed, July 31, 1862, at Flat Rock, Wayne county, Michigan, in the company of Captain W. W. White, of Livonia, Michigan, Colonel Henry A. Morrow. The company went into camp at Detroit, Michigan, and a short time later was sent to Washington, D. C., from whence they went to the front, their first destination being Fredericksburg, Virginia. Dur- ing the two years that followed, the regiment saw some of the hardest struggles of the war, participating in numerous bloody engagements, and earning and retaining the reputation of being one of the hard-fight- ing organizations of the Union cause. Their battles included the Wilderness and Gettysburg, and in the latter struggle, of three hundred and ninety-six stalwart young specimens of American manhood who en- tered the fray, but ninety-two came out of the awful battle ready or able to report for duty. There Mr. Van Riper was wounded in the stomach by a spent ball, which laid him up in the hospital for a period of two months, and at this time he still keeps the bullet as a memento of one of of the great fights of the Civil war. On May 10, 1864, at the Wilderness, a piece of bursting shell penetrated his left side, and he was taken to the hospital, where he remained for some time, being later sent to Spring- field, and subsequently honorably discharged at Detroit. A faithful and cheerful soldier, at all times ready to do his full duty, Mr. Van Riper was also known as a brave and fearless fighter, and through gal- lant services secured promotions to the rank of sergeant, although he had entered the army as a private.
On his return from his brave career as a soldier, Mr. Van Riper engaged in farming, and so successful was he in his operations, that he has lived retired from business cares and activities, and now resides in his comfortable home which is situated three-quarters of a mile south of Flat Rock. He belongs to Wallace Post, No. 75, G. A. R., Flat Rock, and is prominent in Grand Army circles, having served in almost every official capacity in his post, and at one time being commander. In politics he is a Democrat, and for a long period has been a notary
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public. He is well informed on general topics, recalls many reminis- cences of the early days, and is a pleasing conversationalist, being frank and genial in his manner. This sturdy, successful, patriotic soldier- citizen is one of the leading men of the county, and fully deserves every good thing that has come to him.
FRANK S. PETERS. During the past quarter of a century, F. S. Peters has been engaged in breeding fine cattle, and is today recognized as one of the best judges and most successful breeders of his section, and the owner of the finest herd of registered thoroughbred Holstein cattle in Monroe county. His handsome stock farm, the Huron Valley Stock Farm, located in the beautiful Huron River Valley, one mile south of Flat Rock, in Berlin township, and two and one-half miles from Rock- wood, where he is the owner of two hundred and forty acres of finely culti- vated land. Mr. Peters was born on his present farm some forty-five years ago, a son of Jacob and Jeannette (Hitchens) Peters, New Yorkers. He is descended from a family that has been public-spirited in times of peace and patriotic in war, and members of which have held places of importance in the fields of business, finance and the professions.
Jacob Peters was born in New York, of German ancestry, and be- came an early settler of Monroe county, Michigan, where he followed farming and stock raising all of his life, accumulating a farm of one hun- dred and sixty acres and passing away at the age of forty-seven years, in 1879. He and his wife were members of the Baptist church, and he was fraternally connected with the Masons, at one time serving as representa- tive thereof at the Grand Lodge. Mrs. Peters died when F. S. was seven years of age, having been the mother of two sons: Sydney, of Burr Oak; and F. S. Jacob Peters was married (second) to Celestine Hotchkiss, who died in 1910, without issue.
F. S. Peters received his education in the public schools, which he at- tended until he was twelve years of age. At that time he lost his father, and he was reared to manhood by his step-mother, being taught habits of industry and integrity. He inherited fifty-seven acres of land from his father's estate, to which he has added from time to time until he now has two hundred and forty acres of some of the finest land to be found in the state. Throughout the southeastern part of Michigan, Mr. Peters is known for his activities and success in breeding thoroughbred cattle, and no man has a wider reputation as a raiser of Holstein stock. He has improved his land with modern buildings, including a stock barn 40x100 feet, a number of buildings for the shelter of machinery and grain, and two large silos, with a capacity of two hundred tons. He con- ducts a large dairy and sends his milk to Detroit, where he receives the highest market prices. His stock are ensilage fed, and he keeps his pastures and meadows in the finest condition. The whole appearance of the farm testifies to the thrift and ability of its owner, and to add the finishing touch to its attractiveness, Mr. Peters erected a handsome ten- room house, which is surrounded by a wide, well-kept lawn and numerous shade trees. This residence is equipped with the most modern con- veniences and appurtenances, and is tastefully and comfortably fur- nished.
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At the age of twenty years, Mr. Peters was united in marriage with Miss Arda Haley, of Berlin township, daughter of Captain James and Salome Haley, the former a well known lake captain. Mrs. Peters re- ceived excellent educational advantages, and prior to her marriage was a school teacher. One daughter has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Peters: Mildred, who married Orville Olmstead, and lives on the home farm. Mr. Peters is a member of the Masons at Flat Rock, and of the Grange. He is intensely interested in all that pertains to the advancement of religion, education, morality and temperance, and served as Sunday school superintendent and trustee of the Congregational church for some time. He is representative of the best Monroe county citizenship, and has numerous friends throughout this and other sections of the state.
FRANK T. ROACH, M. D. Probably there is no profession which demands so much of its members as that of medicine. The physician occupies one of the most responsible, as well as confidential, relations in our social existence. To him are entrusted our innermost secrets, as well as the lives and welfare of our dearest friends. To worthily and acceptably fill such a position is one of the most difficult tasks ever im- posed on man, and such a task we find is assumed by Dr. Frank T. Roach, who, although yet a young man, is not without considerable experience in his profession. Every profession has its prominent men, some made such by long membership, others by their proficiency in their calling. Dr. Roach is made conspicuous among the physicians of Monroe county not so much by the length of time he has devoted to the vocation as by the eminent success he has already made of it. He was born August 2, 1878, at Rochester, New York, the fifth in order of birth of the six chil- dren of John and Eliza (Welch) Roach, the former of whom died at the age of fifty years, in 1909, and the latter December 11, 1909, when sixty-three years of age. They had three sons and three daughters.
Dr. Roach attended the public schools of Paw Paw, Michigan, and after some preparatory work entered the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1903. A close and industrious student, he stood well up among the members of his class and graduated with honors. On receiving his degree, Dr. Roach immediately entered upon the practice of his profession at Paw Paw, but after a short time there came to Newport, where he now has an excellent professional busi- ness. Possessed of a kind, sympathetic nature, a keen sense of discrimi- nation, a natural taste for the various branches of his profession and the necessary skill and training, he has gathered about him a large prac- tice, and already has gained an enviable reputation among his profes- sional confreres. He has never ceased to be a careful student, subscrib- ing to the leading medical periodicals of the day, and attending regularly the meetings of the Monroe County and Michigan State Medical Socie- ties, of both of which he is a valued member. The Doctor's suite of offices are located in his fine home, which is situated in the eastern part of town, a modern residence surrounded by shade trees and a wide and well- kept lawn. It includes ten rooms, of which two are used for professional purposes. Dr. Roach has interested himself in Masonry, belonging to the Blue Lodge at Paw Paw and the Chapter at Monroe.
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On November 21, 1908, Dr. Roach was united in marriage with Miss Ollie Lamb, who was born, reared and educated in Monroe county, daughter of Preston and Lucille (Navarre) Lamb, and granddaughter of Colonel Navarre, who was born January 22, 1813, in Germany, and who built one of the first log houses in Monroe county, where the family is widely and favorably known. To Dr. and Mrs. Roach there have been born two children, namely : Marian Jane and Ada.
ROY M. SPERRY. As secretary of the Greening Nursery Company and a stockholder in the River Raisin Paper Company, Roy M. Sperry is closely identified with two of the important commercial enterprises of the city of Monroe. He is an energetic young business man, and has made a very successful record in Monroe.
Mr. Sperry was born in Indiana, a son of S. A. and Mary (Irish) Sperry, who a few years later moved to Clinton county, Michigan, where the father was engaged in carpenter work. From Clinton county the parents moved to Detroit, where they still reside.
Roy M. Sperry was educated in the Clinton county public schools and. the St. John's Academy, and completed a commercial course at Ypsilanti as preparation for his practical business career. His first undertaking in his career was as clerk and stenographer for the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, for whom he worked eighteen months. In 1895 he became identified with the Greening Nursery Company. Since 1903 he has been secretary of the Greening Nursery Company. This is one of the largest nurseries in Michigan, and its stock has acquired a reputation with thousands of customers who would not be satisfied with fruit trees from any other source.
Mr. Sperry was married in 1897 to Miss Mary Herbst, daughter of William Herbst, a prominent farmer of this state. Mr. and Mrs. Sperry live in an attractive home at 402 First street in Monroe.
JAMES R. CARROLL. When thirteen years old, James R. Carroll left school and became a messenger boy for the Western Union Telegraph office in Monroe rising to the position of local manager. He resigned from the Western Union and is now sales manager of the Greening Nursery Company. By his industry, inclination for the work and reli- able ability, he made himself master of every successive situation, and is one of the young citizens of Monroe who have gained a creditable success in their chosen vocations.
James R. Carroll is a native son of Monroe, and his family is one of the oldest and most respected in the county. He was born October 19, 1880, and was the third son of John and Margaret (Rafter) Carroll. Both the Carroll and Rafter families have been known in this county since pioneer times. The father, the late John Carroll, who died Decem- ber 13, 1907, was born at Monroe in 1840, and was highly esteemed both as a citizen and man of industry. He was for many years a miller, managed the City Mills for some time, and later operated the Waldorf mills. The latter was known locally as the Old Mill, and its principal machinery once consisted of two run of stone or burrs, but this was afterwards changed to the roller system. Mr. Carroll conducted this mill
Semin H Lockwood
Harry A Lockwood
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up to the time of his death. The mother, who still survives, is now living in Monroe. Her father, William Rafter, was a pioneer of Monroe county, having taken up a tract of land on Stony creek which to this date bears the name of Rafter farm.
James R. Carroll received his primary education in the public schools and was attending high school when he left to become a messenger. After three years he was transferred to Jackson, Michigan, where he became assistant operator, was next advanced to manager of the Western Union office at Chelsea, and from there returned to Monroe to become local manager in this city.
Mr. Carroll affiliates with the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association. In politics he is a Republican, but has had little time for practical work in the party. He and his wife are members of the St. John's Catholic church. Their residence is at 255 North Macomb street, and they enjoy a very happy home life. Their marriage occurred in 1900. Mrs. Carroll was Miss Lolla Maurer, daughter of Charles A. and Sarah (Davis) Maurer, her father being one of the prominent contractors of this city.
HARRY A. LOCKWOOD. As a lawyer and. jurist Judge Lockwood has conferred dignity and honor upon his profession and upon his native county and state, and he is now one of the representative members of the bar of the city of Detroit, where he has been engaged in the practice of his profession since 1909, as a member of the firm of Clark, Lockwood, Bryant & Klein, with offices in suite 1301-8 Ford building, one of the finest modern structures of the Michigan metropolis. Judge Lockwood has attained to distinctive precedence in his profession and prior to his removal from Monroe to Detroit, he had served eight years on the bench of the Circuit court of the thirty-eighth judicial circuit of the state. He is a son of the late Ezra L. Lockwood and Jennie Hall Lock- wood, two of the honored pioneers and prominent and influential citi- zens of Monroe county, and as a special memoir is dedicated to his father on other pages of this work, further reference to the family history is not demanded in this review.
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