USA > Michigan > Montcalm County > History of Montcalm County, Michigan its people, industries and institutions...with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families Volume II > Part 14
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lamette Valley for some time he bought twelve hundred acres on the river of that name, near the town of Independence, settled his three eldest sons on that place and he and the remainder of the family made their home in the town of Independence, where Mr. and Mrs. Parker spent the remainder of their days, Mrs. Parker dying on April 14, 1887, and Mr. Parker surviv- ing until January 10. 1889.
To Charles and Isabella D. ( Bowes) Parker were born nine children, five sons and four daughters, one daughter and two sons having been born to them after they settled in Maple Valley, this county. Of these nine children but four are now surviving, Jabez Bunting Parker, vice-president of the Farmers State Bank of Independence, Oregon, who has made his home on the great Parker farm near that town since the year 1880; Charles A .. a minister of the Gospel at Oconto, Wisconsin : Frederick W .. a prosper- ous farmer and stockman at Cunningham. Washington, and Clifford T., dredge superintendent at Natoma, California.
JAMES ALBERT DAILEY.
James Albert Dailey is one of the representative agriculturists of Fair- plain township, Montcalm county, Michigan, and is employed as a rural mail carrier on route 1. His farm consists of one hundred acres located southwest of the town of Fenwick. He was born on June 30. 1876, in Washtenaw county. Michigan, and is the son of James HI. and Jennic ( Borden ) Dailey. James H. Dailey was born on February 20, 1845, in Washtenaw county, Michigan, and was the son of Allen W. and Sarah (Lounsberry ) Dailey. Allen W. Dailey was born on September 15, 1811, in Poultney township. Steuben county, New York, and was the son of James and Margaret (Henderson ) Dailey. James Dailey was born in Treland, on June 8. 1767. and immigrated to Steuben county. New York, in 1787, where he built and operated the first saw-mill. west of Lake Keokuk. of that state. Sarah (Lounsberry ) Dailey, wife of Allen W. Dailey, was born in Penn Yan. New York. and was the daughter of Jonathan Louns- berry, who was a member of the Dutch Quaker families of New York.
Jennie ( Borden) Dailey, wife of James H. Dailey, was born in Wash- tenaw county. Michigan. on August 6, 1848, and was the daughter of par- ents who died when she was a small child. She was married to James H. Dailey in 1871. remaining in Washtenaw county, Michigan, until 1886, at
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which time he sold the farm and removed to Montcalm county. He then bought the present place on which he lived until 1911. His wife died on March 26, 1907. They were the parents of two children: Cora, wife of Chauncey Rinker, and James Albert.
James Albert Dailey received his education in the district schools of Montcalm county, Michigan, and remained at home until his marriage to Lula Sutton, on April 26, 1905. She is the daughter of Lewis Cullou and Minnie (Otto) Sutton. Lewis Cullou Sutton was born in Hagerstown, New Jersey, removing to the western country for his health when a young man. He located immediately in Washtenaw county, Michigan, very near to Ann Arbor. He was of English descent. Minnie (Otto) Sutton was born in Berlin, Germany, and immigrated to America with her parents when she was but five years of age. They also located near Ann Arbor, Michi- gan. She and her husband were the parents of two children: Lula and Esther. The husband died in 1893 and his widow still survives.
To the union of James Albert Dailey and wife has been born one child, Helen Jane. James Albert Dailey is a Republican in his political faith. He and his wife are members of the Congregational church of Fenwick, Michi- gan, also of the Ancient Order of Gleaners. He is a member of Fenwick Lodge No. 466, Knights of the Maccabees, and his wife is a member of the sister lodge.
H. W. TAYLOR.
H. W. Taylor, ex-county clerk and a prominent merchant of Sheridan, was born on July 20. 1880, in Fairplain township, Montcalm county and is the som of Hiram and Frances ( Galoup) Taylor.
Hiram Taylor lived with his parents, near Toronto, Canada, until he was sixteen years of age, at which time he with his brothers and sisters came to Montcalm county. They worked for different persons in the lum- ber and shingle mills and on the farms, until some time later when Hiram bought a farm in Fairplain township, and here they lived until 1883, when they moved to Bushnell township where he still lives. His wife died on February 13. 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were the parents of two chil- dren: H. W. and Otto, the latter of whom lives on the home farm.
Frances Galoup was the daughter of Austin P. and Betsy (Blennett) Galoup, and was a native of Montcalm county, where she grew to woman- hood and received her education in the schools of her home township.
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Here she met and married Hiram Taylor and here she reared her family and lived her life.
H. W. Taylor was reared on the farm and remained at home, complet- ing the common-school course in his township and the four-year high school course at Sheridan. Mr. Taylor is one who believes that a good education is an asset to the successful farmer or the keen business man.
On September 6, 1900. Mr. Taylor was married to Nellie M. Greenloe, the daughter of Charles C. and Alice ( McDonald ) Greenloc, whose people were natives of Ohio, and who in an early day came to Michigan where they were active and successful in the affairs of life.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Taylor lived on a farm in Ever- green township. for two years, and then returned to a farm in Bushnell township, where they lived but a short time when they came to Sheridan, where Mr. Taylor engaged in business with R. E. Lower in the spring of 1912. During the same year he was elected county clerk and after serving his term of two years, having refused a second term. he returned to Sheridan where he has since been in business. At the present time he is a valuable member of the village council.
Fraternally, Mr. Taylor is a member of Lodge No. 324, Free and Accepted Masons, having taken the chapter degrees. He is also an active member of Camp No. 7312. Modern Woodmen of America.
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have no family. the only child born to them hay- ing died in infancy.
WILLIAM E. RASMUSSEN.
Sheriff William E. Rasmussen, of Montcahn county, one of the most popular officials in the court house at Stanton, is a native son of this county. having been born on a farm in the Gowan neighborhood on Angust 5. 1881. youngest of the six children of August and Marie (Sand ) Rasmussen, pio- neers of that section, and among the very earliest Danish settlers in Mont- calm county, the former of whom is still living on the farm he cleared back in the middle fifties, and the latter of whom died in July. 1013, at the age of sixty-seven years.
August Rasmussen was born at Soeby. Denmark, son of Rasmus and Bolly Jorgensen, both natives of Denmark, the former of whom spent all his life in his native country, a farmer, but the latter came to this country in 1856, the year after her son. August, settled in this county and spent her
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last days at the home of the latter in Montcalm township, where she lived to be past eighty years of age. She was the mother of seven children, of whom August was the eldest. August Rasmussen grew up in his native village and learned the trade of wagon-making. He married Anna Peter- sen, by whom he had two children, William and Laura; both died in this county. Mrs. Anna Rasmussen died in 1879. and Mr. Rasmussen married. secondly, Marie Sand, who was born at Laurvig. Norway, eldest daughter of Hans Sand and wife, natives of that same comtry.
In 1855, immediately following his first marriage, Mr. Rasmussen came to the United States. They landed at the port of New York and proceeded straightway to Michigan, settling in the timber district in Montcalm town- ship. this county, where August Rasmussen began working in the limber camps. Presently he bought a forty-acre tract of timber land, which he proceeded to clear and on that place he and his wife established their perma- nent home, quickly becoming influential in the pioneer life of the com- munity: As he cleared his land and began general farming. August Ras- mussen prospered and presently was able to buy more land until he was the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and ninety acres, which he still owns. though for the past fifteen years or more he has been practically retired from the active labors of the farm, his sons. Frank and William E .. man- aging the same. Though nearly ninety years of age, Mr. Rasmussen is still physically vigorous and alert, as spry as many a man twenty years younger. Hle and his wife were among the very earliest of the Danish settlers in this part of the state and the good word they sent back to the old home was the means of inducing many of their former neighbors in Denmark to come to Montcalm, they therefore ever having been regarded as the leaders of the considerable Danish colony in this county.
August and Marie (Sand ) Rasmussen were the parents of six children, those besides the subject of this sketch being Frank, who lives on the old home place in Montcalm township: Emil, deceased: Emil. of Cato township. this county: Oscar, of Gowan, and Edwin 1 ... also of Gowan. Mr. Ras- müssen is a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist church, as was his wife. and took a warm interest in the affairs of that church. Mr. Rasmussen is a Republican and for years served his home township in the capacity of trustee, rendering valuable service to the community in that connection. He also was a member of the school board for years and did much to advance the cause of the common schools thereabout.
William F. Rasmussen was reared on the home farm in Montcalm
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township, receiving his elementary education in the district school in the neighborhood of his home, supplementing the same by a course in Ferris Institute at Big Rapids, after which he went to Grand Rapids, where for a time he was employed in a furniture factory. He then returned home and for some time was employed in the woods and lumber camps of that neigh- borhood, making his home with his parents. During his residence in Grand Rapids, Mr. Rasmussen served for one year as a member of the police force of that city and after his return home was made deputy sheriff of Mont- calm county, serving in that official capacity for four years, at the end of which time, in 1912. he was elected sheriff of the county on the Republican ticket and so faithfully did he perform the exacting and important duties of that office that he was re-elected in 1914 and is now serving his second termi, making his home at Stanton.
On June 13. 1014. William E. Rasmussen was united in marriage to Ella L. Palmer, who was born at Stanton, this county, daughter of L. C. and Jessie ( Luce) Palmer, the former a native of New York and the latter of this county. I. C. Palmer for years has been a well-known lawyer at Stanton and he and his wife are the parents of five children, of whom Mrs. Rasmussen is the fourth in order of birth, the others being Earl. Carl. Harry and Grace. To Mr. and Mrs. Rasnissen one child has been born, a daugh- ter. Mary Elizabeth. Mr. and Mrs. Rasmussen are members of the Meth- odist church at Stanton and are prominently connected with the social and religious life of that city, being held in high esteem by their many friends. Mr. Rasmussen is a Mason and is also a member of the Grange and of the Gleaners, in the affairs of all of which organizations he takes a warm interest.
GEORGE C. PREVETTE.
George C. Prevette, undertaker and dealer in general house furnish- ings at Stanton, this county, is a native of England, who came to America in 1888, at once locating in Stanton, where he still resides and where he has established himself so firmly in the commercial life of that thriving little city that he is generally recognized as one of the most substantial and progressive figures in the commercial life of Montcalm county. He was born in Eastbourne. Sussex county, England, on October 9, 1861, son of Charles and Catherine ( Cheale ) Prevette, both natives of that same county, who were the parents of the following children: Katie, who is the wife of
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Fred Cheale, of Lewes, Sussex, England; George C., the immediate subject of this sketch; Edward, of Eastbourne, England; Alfred and William (twins ), also of Eastbourne; Edith, wife of Edward Butler, of London, England, and four who died in youth.
Charles Prevette was the son of James Prevette and wife, of Crawley Downs, England, who were the parents of four sons, Charles, Moses, James and George. Charles Prevette was reared as a farmer and later became a painter, decorator and contractor at Eastbourne, where he died in 1895, at the age of seventy-three years. He was a prominent Odd Fellow and at one time was the oldest member of the Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows. He and his wife were members of the Church of England and their children were reared in accordance with the tenets of that faith. Mrs. Prevette died in 1911, at the age of seventy-three. Her parents were natives of Lewes.
George (. Prevette was reared at Eastbourne, receiving his education in the schools of that place, and in his youth learned the carpenter and cab- inet-maker's trade, which he followed there, becoming a very skilled work- man. On June 2. 1882. Mr. Prevette was united in marriage to Elizabeth Duke, who was born in Sussex, daughter of Edwin and Eliza Duke, and in 1888 they came to the United States, proceeding directly to this state, locat- ing at Stanton. where they have resided ever since. For five years after his arrival at Stanton, Mr. Prevette was manager of the establishment of A. Barber, furniture and undertaking, and after that was associated in busi- ness with 11. Il. Howe for five years, at the end of which time, in 1897, he became sole proprietor of the business and as such has conducted the same ever since, having made a great success of the business.
Mr. and Mrs. Prevette have two children, Gertrude, who was grad- nated from the Mt. Pleasant. Normal School and is now teaching the McBride school, and Howard, who is a student of the Ferris Institute. Mr. and Mrs. Prevette are members of the Congregational church, of which he is a deacon, and both are held in very high esteem in church and social cir- dles in Stanton.
Mr. Prevette is a Republican and was chairman of the board of public works in 1801. He is a Mason and has attained to the commandery in that order. For two years he was master of Stanton Star Lodge No. 250. Free and Accepted Masons, and is a member of the chapter of that order. flis membership in the Knights Templar is with the commandery at Tonia. Mr. Provette is an excellent business man and a public-spirited citizen and enjoys the full confidence of commercial circles generally hereabout.
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JACOB M. NEFF.
Jacob M. Neff. well-known banker at McBrides, this county, where he is associated in business with his cousin. Sherman E. Neff, son of the late Frederick Neff, is a native-born son of Michigan, having been born in the village of Muir, in the neighboring county of lonia, July 8, 1878, son of Louis and Laney ( Martin) Neff, who later became prominent and influential residents of Montcalm county. the former of whom, long recognized as one of the strongest factors in the development of the material resources of this section, died in 1915. and the latter of whom is still living at her pleasant home at MeBrides, enjoying many evidences of the esteem in which she is held by the entire community.
Louis Neff was an . Alsatian, having been born in Alsace, then a province of France, on May 8, 1840. son of George and Marianne ( Barronsville ) Neff. the former of whom was born in the city of Paris. When Louis Neff was about nine months okl his parents came to the United States, settling in Boston, where they remained for four or five years. George Neff was a skilled musician and played in a circus band. also being a composer of con- siderable note. On leaving Boston he and his family moved to Ohio, locat- ing at Grafton, in Lorain county, where George Neff bought a small farm and where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. Though an excellent musician. George Neff was not a good farmer and his family of ten sons and two daughters were reared amid rather straitened circum- stances. Six of these sous came to Michigan, settling in this part of the state in the early sixties and all became prominent and influential in their respective communities. George Neff. still living at Sheridan, this county; Louis, a prominent resident of MeBrides until his death in 1915 : Frederick. also a prominent resident of MeBrides until his death in December. 1914: John, of Mt. Pleasant : Jacob. also of Mt. Pleasant, and Wendell, who lives at Rosebush, in Isabelle county.
It was about 1866 that Louis Neff settled at Muir, in the neighboring county of lonia, where he started a small boot and shoe business. He was a skilled craftsman in that line and it was not long before he had worked up a good trade. the demand for custom-made boots in those days making his a profitable industry. In 1868 he married Laney Martin, who was born in Clinton county, this state, daughter of Anthony and Sophia (Wirt) Martin, pioneers of that county. Anthony Martin was a native of Ger- many, who had come to the United States when twelve years of age with
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his parents, Nicholas Martin and wife, who settled in Clinton county in 1837, that section of Michigan at that time being a wilderness, and there Anthony Martin has lived ever since, a life-long farmer, being now past ninety years of age. He was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil War and was severely wounded during the battle of Gettysburg. His first wife died when her daughter, Sophia, was six years old, and he married, secondly. Mary Martin, a native of Clinton county, who was ever a devoted mother to her stepdaughter.
When he was married. Louis Neff was the possessor of about sixty dollars worth of shoemaker's tools, leather and supplies and had his small shop at Muir. His wife was about equally well supplied with the goods of this world, but both possessed far greater riches in their stout hearts and willing hands and they presently began to prosper. as they deserved to prosper. They lived economically and Mrs. Neff kept boarders as a means of "helping out" until they got a start and ever was a devoted. competent and valuable helpmate to her husband. They planned carefully, used fore- sight and native prudence, saved their meager profits during their "day of small things." avoided going into debt, even declining credit or loans when offered, and in due time acquired a competence, long being regarded as among the most substantial families in this county. Some years after settling at Muir. Louis Neff moved to Dallas, now known as Fowler, and there opened a general store. in connection with which he also conducted a shoe shop.
After being in business there for about two years Louis Neff moved, about the year 1879. to McBrides, where he and his brothers, John and Jacob, entered into a partnership for the manufacture of shingles and were thus engaged, gradually enlarging into a general lumber business, until in the early nineties, when, the timber thereabout having by that time become exhausted, they discontinued the industry. Louis Neff then. in association with his brother. Frederick, who also had long been engaged in the lumber business hereabout. and his son-in-law, N. J. Dolph, established a shingle- mill in the upper peninsula, his son, George N., and N. J. Dolph operating the mill, Louis Neff continuing his residence at his established home at McBrides. About the year 1900 the shingle industry in the upper peninsula was abandoned and in 1904 the brothers Neff. Louis and Frederick, in asso- ciation with their respective sons, Jacob M. and Sherman E., started a private bank at MeBrides, which concern ever since has been successfully maintained, long having been regarded as one of the most substantial and
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well-established financial concerus in this part of the state. In addition to his extensive lumber and banking connections, Louis Neff also was a large landowner, having been the owner, at the time of his death, on October 25, 1915, of about one thousand acres of land in this county, a half section of excellent land in Ferris township and the balance in Day township, besides a half section of land in the neighborhood of Seattle, Washington.
To Louis and Laney ( Martin ) Neff four children were born, three sons and one daughter, namely: Luella, who married N. J. Dolph, formerly a well-known resident of this county, now a prosperous real-estate broker at Seattle, Washington: George L., who also is engaged in the real-estate business at Seattle, married Lettie Booth and has two children. Louis and Grace: Fred S .. a progressive farmer living about three-fourths of a mile east of MeBrides, who married Eliza Hopkins and has three daughters, Nina, Mary and Lena, and Jacob M., cashier of Neff's Bank at McBrides.
Jacob M. Neff was little more than a year old when his parents settled at MeBrides and he grew up in that pleasant village and has made his home there ever since. He early acquired a thorough acquaintance with his father's extensive business affairs and gradually came to take his father's place in the management of the same. Louis Neff having relinquished, during his later years, much of the detail of management to his son. who early dis- played a large capacity for business. In addition to his exacting duties in the Neff Bank. Mr. Neff has other extensive interests in his care and is generally regarded as one of the most active and progressive business men in this section, enjoying the full confidence and respect of banking and com- mercial circles hereabout.
On December 11. 1907. Jacob M. Neff was united in marriage to Maud Allchin, who was born on a farin east of MeBrides, in this county, daughter of Burdette and Mary ( Morse ) Allchin, the former of whom was born at Fenwick, this county, March 8, 1856, son of Edward and Elizabeth ( Curtis) Allchin, who settled there about 1855, having come to this county from the state of New York, and early became recognized as among the leading pio- neers of that section. Edward Allchin entered a tract of government land in what is now the Fenwick neighborhood, lonia, twelve miles away, then being the nearest trading point, and there he and his wife established a sub- stantial home and spent the rest of their lives. On that pioneer farm Burdette Allchin grew to manhood. He married Mary Morse, who was born at Portland, this state, daughter of Thomas and Christine ( Salin) Morse, both natives of Germany, who had settled in the Portland neighbor-
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hood in pioneer days. In 1877. shortly after his marriage. Burdette Allchin engaged in the lumbering business just north of Stanton and was thus engaged, making his home there, until 1887, in which year he bought a farmi between Edmore and MeBrides and there he spent the rest of his life, becom- ing a prosperous farmer, his death occurring in 1903. His widow still lives on the home farm in section 2 of Day township. Burdette Allchin was a Mason and a member of the Knights of Maccabees, in the affairs of both of which orders he took a warm interest. His father, Edward Allchin, was an honored soldier in the Union army during the Civil War. Mrs. Neff was reared on the home farm in Day township, finishing her schooling in the Edmore high school, and became quite an accomplished musician.
To Jacob M. and Mand ( Allchin) Neff one child has been born, a son, Clayton Burdette, born on September 30, 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Neff are devoted members of the Catholic church and take a warm interest in all good works in and about MicBrides, being held in high regard by all there- about. Mr. Neff is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. in the affairs of which he takes a warm interest.
LEWIS E. BRACEY.
Lewis E. Bracey. for the past eleven years a prominent and active physician of Sheridan, was born in Greenville on March 25. 1872, and is the son of Isaac and Alice ( Hyde ) Bracey.
Isaac Bracey, a native of New York state, settled at Greenville when a young man of thirty. He devoted his time and attention to farming and the lumber business.
Alice ( Hyde ) Bracey was a native of the state of New York and came to Montcalm county with an older married sister. They settled near Green- ville, where she met and married Mr. Bracey. To this nion eight children were born, four of whom are now living: Ha. the wife of Willis Williams, of Greenville: Clarence, on the Bracey Brothers farm in Evergreen town- ship: Clifford, whose home is in Greenville, and Lewis E.
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