History of Monroe County, Michigan, Part 83

Author: Wing, Talcott Enoch, 1819-1890, ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: New York, Munsell & company
Number of Pages: 882

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Harpersfield, now residing on a part of the old homestead farm ; has been repeatedly honored with offices, indicating the esteem in which he is held ; has served the town as school inspector; was nineteen years supervisor ; member of the House of Representative in 1861 and 1862, and a member of the State Senate in 1867 and 1868. He married Miss Mary J. Holmes ; has one son, Richard G., who resides on the home farm, and one daughter, who was married to Mr. Ray, and resides in Buffalo, New York.

John resides on a portion of the old home- stead farm ; married Ellen Burnham; has two daughters receiving their education in Oberlin College, Ohio. He is esteemad as a very sub- stantial and enterprising farmer, and has always resided on the farm, with the exception of a few years that he spent in California.

EZRA L. LOCKWOOD

Was born in Watertown, Connectient, June 16, 1831, his father, Jacob Lockwood, and his mother, Maria Scovill Lockwood, being pure types of the " Yankee." At the age of thirteen his mother died, and from this time on he has had to rely on his own resources.

Mr. Lockwood came to Michigan in the fall of 1850 and went to work in the township of Dundee. From this time until the present be has always resided in this State, except two years, from 1853 to 1855, which were spent in the State of Illinois.

In 1855 he, in partnership with Morgan Parker, purchased the water power and mills in Petersburgh, and they ran these mills until 1861 when the partnership was ended. After closing up his business he found himself with no capital except his own push and labor.

He married Jennie Hall on the 29th of December, 1859, and these two with nothing but a superabundant amount of pluck and willingness to work, in 1862 moved upon an eighty acres of land in section twenty-seven of the township of Summerfield, upon which they had made a first payment of forty dollars. At this time it was a wilderness, and Mr. Lockwood with his own hands cut the timber from a small spot upon which he built. At this time they had no neighbor within two miles. The land in the

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vicinity was a very strong soil, but was so wet and far from a natural outlet that by many it was considered worthless. He at once devised a plan for draining, making roads, and re- claiming the thousands of acres of this land, and in spite of strong opposition, he succeeded in getting laid and constructed, one after an- other, the great drains which were needed in order to put these lands in any shape for use. One of these drains, which bears its projectors name, traverses the county of Monroe from its western limit to its outlet in Lake Erie, and is in places thirteen feet deep and forty feet wide. While carrying on these improvements he also purchased more land from time to time, until in 1875 he was the owner of three thousand and twenty acres. As a result of the drainage the country, which, a few years ago was considered worthless, being covered with water nearly all the year round, is now one of the most pro- ductive sections of the county, and is fast being made into the finest farms. Mr. Lock- wood has for several years been the largest breeder of cattle in the county, and keeps about two hundred head upon his farm, with a butter dairy of eighty cows. He also keeps and breeds horses and hogs quite extensively. He is still an active man, full to overflowing with push and energy, and keeps himself busy carrying on a farm of eleven hundred acres in one body, which he has bonght largely by his own labor from a wilderness to a high state of productiveness.

Mr. Lockwood has been a very busy man, and has always taken an active interest in social, educational and political matters, but has never had any hankering for office. Of late years, he and his wife have been very active in all the farmers' clubs, institutes and conventions of the county and State, and their favorable and taking talks have become a com- mon feature of all the gatherings of the farmers of the county.

Mr. and Mrs. Lockwood have raised a family of three boys and two girls, Harry A. being an attorney at law in Monroe. Mary F. is a teacher in the State Normal school at Ypsilanti. Gertrude J. is a teacher in the high school of Jackson, Michigan. Willard Ezra is the farmer of the family, and is sharing the burden of carrying on the work begun by the father, while Lamont H. is a student in the Michigan State Normal school.

ALFRED WILKERSON

Was born February 15, 1820, in the town of Ledyard, Cayuga, county, New York. Re- moved to Dundee, Monroe county, Michigan, with his parents in the fall of 1836, settled on a farm in section nine, and about the first work that Mr. Wilkerson, then a lad of seventeen, did, was to assist in building a log school house, with an old-fashioned fire-place, in the vicinity of his home. It was also used as a church, and was located near the place now occupied by the brick church at Clarksville. Mr. Wilker- son's family had been in their new home scarcely three years when both his father and mother were taken ill with fever and died within four days of each other, leaving a family of six children, one son, older than the subject of this sketch, and four daughters, all of whom have since died, leaving Alfred the only living mem- ber of the family.

In November, 1842, Mr. Wilkerson married Harriet M. Treman and settled on the farm on which he still resides, and he often tells his young friends of the first time he took his bride to visit her father's family after they were married with a pair of oxen and sled. To them were born four children - Justus S., Horace A., Theodore C. and May A. M., all of whom are living and married. Mrs. Wilkerson died in 1861. Mr. Wilkerson afterwards married Maggie A. Stewart, of good old Scotch an- cestry. She is the mother of Nora Dell.

Mr. Wilkerson has always been identified with all the interests and business of his town and county ; is a staunch Republican; was member of the legislature in the years of 1858 and 1859; was school director twenty-five years. An accomplished drill officer of militia, gave thirty boys a lesson in chopping wood at the Michigan Agricultural College at Lansing, and there acquired the title of " Professional Chopper."

Friday, February 15, 1889, was the sixty- ninth birthday of Brother Alfred Wilkerson, and Sunday, February 17th, was the fiftieth anniversary of his reception into the Methodist Episcopal church of Dundee on probation. His friends to the number of nearly two hundred assembled on his birthday to celebrate both events. Refreshments were served. Mr. J. J. Dixon, of the Dundee bank, referring to Mr. Wilkerson's record as farmer, representative in the legislature, and citizen, presented him,

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on behalf of contributing friends, with a gold- headed cane. Pastor Morgan reviewed briefly Brother Wilkerson's early history, coming as a lad of sixteen with his parents, two brothers and four sisters, in 1836, from Aurora, New York, to Dundee. Two years later his parents both died in one week, and his sisters and brothers have departed one by one, leaving him now the only surviving member of the family. When he was nineteen, with two other young men, he gave his name to the Methodist Episcopal church, and he has now a well- preserved certificate to that effect dated Feb- ruary 15, 1839, and signed by Rev. Ira Mc- Intire, who was acting pastor. Since then he has been actively identified with the church in the various capacities of class-leader, steward, and trustee, and has never been found lacking when financial burdens were to be borne. The pastor, in behalf of another group of friends, presented him with a beautiful gold mounted silk umbrella, reminding him that though he had braved many storms without shelter or protection, his friends now wished to shield him from unnecessary exposure; also in behalf of the young people a copy of " Dore's Bible Gallery," assuring him that the young people counted him as one of their number, young in spirit if not in years. Mr. Still Stowell then came forward, and in behalf of still another list of friends, presented him with a solid walnut pillar extension table and a box of rare speci- mens. Rev. D. A. Curtis, of Petersburg, who was intimatly associated with Brother Wilker- son in carly life, proceeded to catechise him, making him confess that he once lived in a log house, traveled through the woods guided by marked trees, took his family to church with an ox team, etc. Brother Wilkerson responded with emotion, as he alluded to his early strug- gles, and thanked God for the providence which had prospered him and raised up this host of friends.

WALTER HACKETT,

One of the early pioneers of the county of Monroe was born in the county of Tipperary, Ireland. Emigrated to America in 1830. Was married to Catharine Phillips, of Roscommon county, Ireland, in 1831, in the village of Erie, Monroe county. Settled in Ida on a farm.

Three years after sold out his improvements and bought 100 acres of Henry B. Marvin, in the town of Raisinville, Monroe county, on which he resided until he died October 24, 1861, aged fifty-six years, leaving a wife and six children, three boys and three girls : Thomas, Patrick and Walter, Mary Catharine, and Julia ; all still living but the mother, who died July 24, 1887, on the old homestead in Raisinville, now owned by the son Walter. The son Walter represented the county of Monroe in the State legislature in the years 1881 and 1882, and in the fall of 1888, was elected treasurer of the county of Monroe for the term of two years.

SENECA ALLEN,

Son of Ebenezer Allen, was born February 18, 1788, in the State of Vermont. His wife, Fan- nie Lucinda, the daughter of Moses Brigham, was born in New Hampshire, February 24, 1794. Mr. Allen moved to Monroe in Septem- ber, 1827; taught school fall and winter; was surveyor from 1827 until the time of his death. He platted and laid out the city of Toledo, about 1831, also the villages of Trenton and Flat Rock. He was for several years clerk of the council of the Territory of Michigan. In the fall of 1829, as the clerk of Dan B. Miller, he opened a dry goods store on the site where Manhattan now stands, the stock designed prin- cipally for trade with the Indians. The United States Government at that time paid annuities to the Indians, and about 3,000 were there assembled. He returned with his family to Monroe and resided on the corner of First street and Macomb, the site now occupied by the residence of the late Dan B. Miller.

The son of Mr Allen - George Allen, is a machinist by trade; now resides at Azalia, formerly called East Milan. When a boy with his father at Manhattan, then twelve years of age, in an Indian camp, his pocket-book was stolen from his vest pocket while washing. He accused the son of the chief, who denied it. He threw the chief's son down, and at this juncture the chief came in and saw him take the pocket-book from his son's blanket. The chief caught him up in his arms, took him to his father and related the circumstances. He thought himself quite a hero for whipping an

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Indian larger than he was and two years his senior. A few days after this occurrence the tribe of Indians left the place and camped at the present site of Alexis, to hold a feast and dance. The Indian chief, with the permission of his father, took George with him to attend the dance and feast. The chief asked him how he liked his dinner, he replied he enjoyed it, as he was very hungry, but to his astonish- ment found he had been feasting on the meat of a dog. He was incredulous until the skin of the white dog was shown him.

Mr. Allen, as a machinist, was employed on the Michigan Southern Railroad during the ad- ministration of M. Morris and Thomas G. Cole as superintendents, subsequently was employed by Isaac Lewis in his machine shops. In 1849 he purchased eighty acres of land on section twenty-five, which is still his home. January 21, 1842, he married Miss Harriet Palmer, of Monroe, Michigan.

JAMES VAN KLEECK,

Representative from the district composed of Midland, Gladwin and Roscommon counties, was born September 26, 1846, at Exeter, Mon- roe county, Michigan. He enlisted as a pri- vate in the Seventeenth Michigan Infantry in June, 1862; was severely wounded at the bat- tle of Antietam, from which wound he still suffers. He graduated from the law depart- ment Michigan University in the class of 1870, and began the practice of law at Midland City, where he continued in the profession a number of years, when he removed to Bay City. He has held various offices under the city govern- ment of Midland City, also that of the office of prosecuting attorney of Midland county for six years ; was elected to the House of Representatives of the State legislature in 1882.

PHILLIP J. LORANGER.

Mr. Loranger was born in Monroe, September 27, 1821, and was therefore fifty years of age at the time of his death. His father, Joseph Loranger, was one of the first settlers on the River Raisin, and owned immense tracts of land, which at this time would be of great value. They extended from the river back

three miles. The family mansion stood on the present site of the blocks of E. G. Morton and William H. Boyd.

Mr. Loranger was private secretary to Gov- ernor McClelland, held a clerkship in the Treasury Department at Washington during the administrations of Pierce and Buchanan, and after his return to Monroe he erected the fine block on the corner of Front and Monroe streets, entered the banking business with Mr. Lafountain, built a fine residence, was elected county treasurer, and enjoyed to a large extent the confidence and respect of his fellow citizens.

ANTOINE FRANCIS ROBERT.

The eighty-first anniversary of one of our oldest French citizens occurred on June 1, 1889, at the residence of Antoine Francis Robert in the town of Frenchtown. Hon. J. M. Sterling, Judge T. E. Wing and other old time friends of Mr. Robert were favored with press- ing invitations to the festivities brought about by the occasion. The entertainment was upon an elaborate scale, presided over by the wife and three daughters of the aged parent. The tables were tastefully adorned and loaded with the substantials of life as well as with the deli- cies of the season. Mr. Robert was born on the farm now known as the Sterling farm, the north part of which is occupied by the docks and mills on the river in the third ward, on the first day of June, 1808. He has a distinct recollection of the first cannon ball fired by the British during the War of 1812, which shat- tered the corner of the homestead, which alarming the inmates, they sought the cellar for protection. When Mr. Robert attained his majority his father presented him with the farm at Plaisance, now owned by Samuel Albain, which he occupied until recalled to the old home to assist his father, who was building the steamer Helen Strong and boarding a large force of men -some thirty-two in all. He exchanged the Albain farm for the one on which he now resides, then consisting of four hundred and sixty acres, but now of one hun- dred and twenty-six, he having given his sons, as they attained their majority, forty acres each, with a liberal outfit to each of his daugh- ters as they were married. Mr. Robert married

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as his first wife the daughter of the Hon. Hubert LaCroix, who was a colonel in the War of 1812, and subsequently for a number of years a member of the territorial legislature. By this marriage eighteen children were born, eight of whom are now living. He married for his second wife Margaret Burro, of Vienna. The fruit of this marriage was nine children - five daughters and four sons, all of whom are living. He was thus the father of twenty- seven children. He has now eighty grand- children and five great-grand children. He is an exemplary member of the Catholic church, and he and his family are constant attendants upon St. Mary's, of this city.

GEORGE BUCK

Was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, in 1799; married the daughter of the Hon. Martin Shell, one of the most prominent men of his day in Pennsylvania.

Mr. Buck moved to Richland county, Ohio, in 1833, purchased a farm, remained there until the year 1848, at which time he removed to Erie, in Monroe county ; was a prosperous farmer; died in 1859, leaving ten children sur- viving him - four sons now residing in Mon- tana, two in California, two sons in the State of Ohio; one daughter who married Horatio M. Hurd, a prosperous and highly esteemed farmer of the town of Frenchtown, Monroe county, now deceased ; and Levi Buck, who was one of the enterprising and fortunate men who sought the gold mines of California in the year 1850 ; came to Monroe in the fall of 1851; purchased one of the most desirable farms of one hundred and forty-nine acres on the south bank of the River Raisin, two and one-half miles west of the city of Monroe, in January, 1852. He has erected thereon a very fine two-story brick mansion, has a fine orchard of fruit, timbered land and highly cultivated fields, with every comfort that money and good husbandry can secure. "Buck's cider " will be pleasantly re- membered by the present generation.

Mr. Levi Buck in 1863 married Miss Frances Amanda Snell, of Ida, Monroe county. They have two sons, one of whom is a graduate of the Monroe Union school ; the other is com- pleting his education therein.

LEOPOLD HOFFMAN,

Who, for over thirty years, was one of the business men of Monroe, was born in Oestrin- gen, Baden, Germany, November 28, 1816. His parents, Anthony and Francesca (Rizer) Hoffman, died when he was but nine years of age, leaving him in the care of a brother- in-law, with whom he lived until he was about twenty-three years old, and from whom he learned the trade of a baker. He sailed from Rotterdam for the United States in December, 1839, and on his arrival in America worked his way to Monroe, being nearly a year on the Ohio canal. On his reaching Mon- roe, he engaged in the business of a baker until in 1844, he went back to Germany to set- tle. the estate of his father and receive his por- tion of the paternal patrimony, which, during all these years, had remained intact in the hands of guardians, trustees and administra- tors. After an absence of a year he returned to Monroe, and was married November 18, 1845, in St. Mary's church, by the Rev. P. M. Francis, of the Order of the Redemptorists, and assistant to Rev. Father Lonis Gillett, to Stephania, daughter of Sebastian and Frances (Resteren) Lammlin, whose death occurred May 28, 1872. Their children were: An- thony, born October 29, 1846 ; Saraphena, April 11, 1848; Mathilda, February 18, 1850; John Leopold, March 5, 1852; Bernard, October 22, 1854; Joseph Sebastian, November 28, 1856 ; Francis Joseph, January 4, 1859; William Aloyse, February 22, 1861 ; Helena Francesca, July 22, 1862 ; Clara Augusta, October 8, 1864 ; Henry Daniel, May 20, 1867 ; Edward, Decem- ber 19, 1869; and Anna Theresa, May 20, 1872. Of these, three have died, Anthony, Helena and Anna Theresa. Those living in Monroe are: Saraphena, who married May 19, 1868, to Sebastian Lauer, proprietor of a popular restaurant and grocery on Front street ; Mathilda, married April 17, 1872, to Benjamin Sturn, whose restaurant is located in the third ward, opposite the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern passenger depot ; John Leopold, pro- prietor of a restaurant on Washington street, and who married Miss Elizabeth Weier, No- vember 16, 1880 ; Joseph Sebastian, dealer in clothing and gent's furnishing goods on Front street ; Clara Augusta, married May 31, 1887, to Frank Yaeger, a partner in Yaeger & Son,

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Leopold Hoffman.

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on Front street, and one of the oldest boot and shoe houses in Monroe; Henry Daniel, proprie- tor of a millinery and notion store on Front street, in a block built by Mr. Hoffman, and married to Mary Knauf August 16, 1886; Francis Joseph, of the firm of Frank J. & Wm. A. Hoffman, hardware dealers at Fenton, Michigan, and who was married April 18, 1880. to Jane, daughter of Tomas Maxwell, one of the old settlers of Fenton; Edward, living with his brother Francis in Fenton ; Bernard, in business at LaSalle, and married May 16, 1876, to Elizabeth Kremer; William Aloyse, in partnership with his brother at Fenton, Michigan. Coming to Monroe when but a young man, Mr. Hoffman opened a grocery store, bakery and restaurant, and by his strict integrity and careful attention to business, built up a large and prosperous trade, and while of a generous disposition and kind and liberal to his family, was, without being at all miserly, very saving and economical in his habits, thus enabling him to accumulate a large competence for his declining years. While Mr. Hoffman took no active part in politics, he was well known as a strict Democrat. In re- ligion he was a member of the Roman Catholic faith, and for many years trustee of St. Michael's Church, to the erection of which he liberally contributed from his means, and his entire life, during his residence in Monroe, was such that in 1874, he returned to Europe for the purpose of enjoying the fruits of his ac- tive business life of over thirty years, and died in Oestringen, Baden, November 5, 1874. As an honest and upright citizen, a faithful friend, and a kind and loving father, his loss was mourned by a large and interesting family of children and grandchildren, as well as by a numerous circle of sympathizing friends, who were prevented from paying to his momory the last tribute of friendship and respect by rea- son of his remains being buried in his native town.

JOSEPH WEIER

Was born in March, A. D. 1822, at Grand Duke Hesser, on the Rhine ; married Lizzie Vogel ; came to Monroe in 1849. For a number of years kept a store, boarding house and saloon on West Front Street; was engaged fifteen years in cultivating a vineyard, and for many

years manufactured from two to five thousand gallons of wine that were sent to dealers in New York and Philadelphia. He is appreci- ated by the citizens of Monroe as a man of strict integrity; has been honored by their suffrages to the offices of treasurer of the city and alderman; was elected and served as a member of the State legislature in 1869 and 1870. He has two daughters living ; retired from business, and with a competency is living at ease on the interest of his invest- ment.

ANTON DAIBER

Was born in Baden, Germany; came to this country in 1851, remained about one year in New York, and then came to Monroe, where he was married in 1856, and resided here up to the time of his death, leaving a widow and seven children. Mr Daiber was a devoted Catholic, an honest and. conscientious business man, quiet and unostentations in his habits. Was the treasurer of our city, and always enjoyed the respect and good will of the entire commu- nity. He erected the large three-story brick store on West Front Street, in which he con- ducted a prosperous business. By his industry and close attention to business accumulated a handsome fortune, leaving his family in very comfortable circumstances to continue in business

CHRISTIAN F. BECK

Was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, August 20, 1820. Settled in Monroe in 1846, worked at his trade, blacksmithing, until 1852. While ratifying the nomination of Franklin Pierce for the presidency, the old cannon which stands on the public square in front of the court house was prematurely discharged, killing Joseph Steviner and maiming Mr. Beck. Mr. Beck was repeatedly honored with public offices of trust and responsibility. Was collector of the port of Monroe from 1853 to 1857; tax collector of the 1st ward; city marshal from 1860 to 1868, and alderman of the 1st ward in 1871 and 1872. In 1865 en- gaged in lumber business, and in 1876 formed a copartnership with his son, Charles W. Beck, and the firm became C. F. Beck & Son. The son, Charles, continues the business, one of

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the largest and most successful business estab- lishments in the county, having recently added to the yards an extensive planing mill with all the modern improvements.

Mr. C. F. Beck was a good and loyal citizen, a careful business man, and in his dealings as a private citizen or publie officer, his honesty was beyond question ; was very sociable, and one of the best known men in the county. He died June 3, 1887, leaving a widow, four daughters and six sons, with a very handsome competency.

LEWIS DARRAH

Was born in Fulton county, Pennsylvania, April 27, 1807; learned the trade of a tanner with his father; came to Monroe in October, 1833, and engaged in the same business on the present site of Caux & Stiles' mill, near the Mon- roe street bridge. Subsequently purchased what is now known as the Lefler farm, on the south side of Otto creek. In 1846 he was elected supervisor; in 1847 was elected to the State legislature ; was re-elected supervisor in 1849. He returned to the city and in 1854 bought the property on Monroe street, where he resided up to the time of his death. He was a Jack- sonian democrat in politics, and the approach of a campaign always aroused his interest to the highest degree. Filled the office of county treasurer, and was elected several times to the office of justice of the peace, which he held at his death. In his younger days was greatly interested in military affairs, as a captain of volunteers in the " Toledo war," and delighted in narrating the amusing and ludicrous inci- dents of that bloodless campaign. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity many years,

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History of Monroe County, Michigan, Part 83

Author: Wing, Talcott Enoch, 1819-1890, ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: New York, Munsell & company Number of Pages: 882

Author: Wing, Talcott Enoch, 1819-1890, ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: New York, Munsell & company
Number of Pages: 882