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 48
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acres of land, including the old home place. On this land, this progressive farmer engages in general farming, making a specialty of stock raising, his product in this line being of the best to be found in the community. Mr. Strait has only recently added a small herd of thoroughbred Shorthorn Durham cattle to his stock.
In 1899 William E. Strait was married to Alma Dolloff, who was born in the south part of Ferris township, Montcalm county, a daughter of La For- rest and Arvilla ( Covall) Dolloff, pioneers of Montcalm county, a sketch of whose lives will be found elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Strait was educated in the schools of Ferris township, graduated from the high school branches of study and completed her education at Grand Rapids and Chicago, after teaching two years in this community. To the marriage of William E. and Alma Strait have been born five children: Mary Belle, Thelma, Katherine, Mildred and Marshall.
Mr. Strait, in addition to his agricultural duties has found time to serve in public office, for the past six years having served as a director of the school district. Mr. Strait is one of the foremost farmers and citizens of Montcalm county, and has the respect and esteem of all.
HEZEKIAH PLATT.
Hezekiah Platt was well known for his sterling character and congenial and unassuming manner. He was born on October 8, 1864, in Jackson county, Michigan, the son of Jeremiah and Caroline (Geiger) Platt. Jere- miah Platt was born in Ohio, where he was reared and educated, and located in Jackson county, Michigan, subsequent to his marriage in Ohio. His voca- tion in life was farming which he followed until death. Caroline (Geiger) Platt was also a native of Ohio, and came to Michigan with her husband and children. They were the parents of eleven children, four of whom are living at the present time: Matilda, wife of John Wagner, of Springport, Jackson county, Michigan: William, who operates the old home place, in Jackson county : Martha, wife of Henry Nessner, of Jackson county, Michigan, and Frank, who lives in Richland township, of this county. The parents of these children were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and active in its support. The death of the father occurred in 1903, and that of the mother in 1911.
Hezekiah Platt was reared as a farmer on the home place, and received
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HEZEKIAH PLATT.
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his education in the schools of that locality, but later entered the business life of the community by engaging in the general merchandise business, which he followed for five years in Springport. On March 28, 1897, he located on the farm of three hundred and twenty acres which he devoted to general agriculture and stock raising. This place is known as "Maple Grove Farm," and here Hezekiah Platt spent the rest of his life, dying suddenly of apoplexy, on December 16, 1915. His remains were interred in the Vestaburg ceme- tery, the funeral being in charge of the Masons.
In the civic life of the community, Hezekiah Platt took an active part and served in the office of highway commissioner of Richland township, Montcalm county, as well as treasurer of the school district for nine years. He was elected as township treasurer also, but declined the honor. Frater- nally, he was affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons, in the blue lodge in Edmore, Michigan.
On April 1, 1890, Hezekiah Platt was united in marriage to Myrta Chappell, daughter of John Chappell, and three children were born of the union, namely : Edith, Helen and Jesse. Edith is a graduate of the Brain- ard Hospital, of Alma, Michigan, and is now a student in the normal college of that town. Helen and Jessie, age fourteen and nine, respectively, attend the district school.
PETER A. KLEES.
Among the prominent farmers and well-known citizens of Ferris town- ship, Montcalm county, Michigan, is Peter A. Klees, who was born on the farm where he now lives in Ferris township, this county, on October 3, 1879, a son of Peter and Mary A. (Kneer) Klees, a review of whose lives will be found elsewhere in this volume, under the name of John Klees.
Peter A. Klees has lived since his birth on the place where he now resides, with the exception of six months when he lived with a brother. Mr. Klees received his education in the public schools of Ferris township, after which he took up the duties of farm life, working with his father until the death of the latter in 1911. Mr. Klees then purchased the home farm, to which he has added land until now he is the owner of sixty acres of well- improved and thoroughly cultivated land in Ferris township. As a farmer Peter Klees has proved to be a thorough success, his product being of the best and his methods of agriculture being after the most approved methods. Mrs.
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Klees gives special attention to the raising of thoroughbred Single-Comb White Leghorn chickens and also Light Brahma chickens, the stock being of the choicest to be found in the community.
On June 18, 1910, Peter Klees was married to Innis Lang, who was born in Sumner township, Gratiot county, Michigan, and after the completion of her education at the Mt. Pleasant Normal school, she became a school teacher, following this profession for three years prior to her marriage. To the marriage of Peter and Innis Klees has been born one son, Donald, born on December 18, 1911.
Mrs. Klees is a daughter of William and Isadora (Giles) Lang, the former of whom was born in England, about 1855, and when fourteen years of age came to America, with his parents, John and Jane Lang. Soon after reaching America, the elder Lang came to Sumner township, Gratiot county, where he purchased a farm and lived there as a general farmer, at the same time engaging in threshing and other machine work. The elder Lang was assisted in his farm and machine work by his son, William, who married Isadora Giles, of Sumner township, a daughter of John and Ellen Giles, early settlers of Sumner township, Gratiot county, Michigan.
Peter A. Klees is prominent in the affairs of the Grange in Gratiot county and in the state of Michigan, Mr. Klees having been a member of the Gratiot County Grange for more than sixteen years, and now is master of the Gratiot County Grange, as well as being the gate-keeper for the Michigan State Grange.
ALBERT O. STONE.
Among the well-known farmers and highly respected citizens of Crystal township, Montcalm county, Michigan, is Albert O. Stone, who was born in Watson township, Allegan county, Michigan, on October 8, 1854, a son of Alfred and Abigail (Howe) Stone, natives of New England, the former born in Vermont.
During the year 1855, Alfred Stone, with his family, came to Mont- calm county, Michigan, and as a pioneer settler established a home among the woods and uncleared land of Ferris township, after many years of priva- tion and hardship becoming one of the successful farmers of the community, as well as a successful dealer in lumber. The elder Stone was active in the official life of Montcalm county in the early days, having served in several
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minor township offices, and was county superintendent of the poor for about twelve years. Alfred Stone died in 1898 after a highly useful life, mourned by a host of friends. Abigail, the widow of Alfred Stone, now lives on the old homestead and although she is eighty-four years of age, she is yet active and alert in all of her faculties and in the management of her affairs.
Albert O. Stone received a common school education and remained at home until he was twenty years of age, when he worked out for some time, on the neighboring farms. Following his marriage, when he was twenty- three years of age, Mr. Stone became a farmer on the E. K. Woods farm, near McBride, living there for three years. He then moved to Antrim county, where he farmed for two years, afterward returning to Fairplain township, Montcalm county. After this Mr. Stone moved to the O. J. Houghton farm, located four miles north of Stanton, farming eighty acres of land there for ten years, and then moved to the Chauncy Case farm, near Crystal, where he was engaged in general farming for two years. Albert O. Stone then located on the William Bailey farm north of Crystal, for seven years, later, in March, 1909, he moved to his present farm of one hundred and fifteen acres situated near the east end of Lake Crystal, in Crystal township. Mr. Stone has greatly improved his farm and by the intelligent application of his knowledge of agriculture has become one of the successful farmers of the township and county.
On October 24, 1877, Albert O. Stone was married to Ella L. Starks, who was born in Fairplain township, this county, a daughter of Andrew and Maria (Berry) Starks, who came from Cattaraugus county, New York, in 1856, and settled on a farm which they purchased in Fairplain township, Montcalm county, the elder Starks following his trade as a carpenter, together with farming, for the remainder of his days, dying in 1909; his wife having died in 1908. To the marriage of Albert O. and Ella L. Stone have been born six children : Abbie M., wife of Roy M. Coulter, a farmer of Crystal township; Ethel, who was the wife of Edward J. Evans, and died in 1905, survived by her husband and one daughter, Ethel; Wilma, who lives at Grand Rapids, Michigan; Jesse, who died at twenty-one months of age; George E., a farmer on his father's farm, married Catherine Sherlock, of Ludington, Michigan, and Clare, a barber of Crystal, who married Daisy Drake.
Albert O. Stone and his wife are active members of the Congregational church at Crystal, they being well-known workers of this congregation. Fra- ternally, Mr. Stone is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, including the encampment, at Stanton.
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CHARLES H. ADAMS, D. V. S.
High professional attainments and distinctive business ability have given Dr. Charles H. Adams a place of honor in the state which has so long been his home. Strong in intellectual and physical powers he has built up a large and substantial practice as a veterinary surgeon and owing to his personal. attributes of character has gained a wide popularity among the citizens of the community in which he lives. At Woodville, Ontario, Canada, on July 14, 1865, the subject of this sketch was born. He is the son of James and Elizabeth (Chapman) Adams, the former of whom was born in 1840, at Ythan Lodge, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. James Adams came to this country in 1854, with his father, who was also known as James Adams, and settled in Ontario, Canada, where he followed the occupation of a farmer until 1900. His wife, Elizabeth Chapman, was born at Uxbridge, Ontario, on June 16, 1842, and following the belief of her parents accepted the customs of the Quakers of Pennsylvania. Her marriage to James Adams was solemnized on June 5, 1862, and to this union six sons and two daughters were born, all of whom are living with the exception of one son. Fifteen years ago Mr. and Mrs. Adams came to Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, where Mrs. Adams passed away on January 8, 1908.
Charles H. Adams received his elementary education in the public schools of Ontario, and upon completing the course in both of the common schools and the high school, he entered the Veterinary College at Toronto, where with his brother, William Adams, he was a member of the graduating class of 1893. Five days after his graduation he entered on the active practice of his profession in Carson City, Michigan, where he and his brother have built up a large business and gained a reputation for broad and practical knowledge of veterinary medicine and surgery. Aside from the interests of his chosen pro- fession Dr. Adams is often called upon to participate in the industrial affairs of the county in which he lives and has contributed no small share to the prosperity of the community. When the Farmers and Merchants State Bank was organized at Carson City, Doctor Adams was chosen as a member of the board of directors. . For five years he has been a member of the city council and has executed the duties of these offices in a manner pleasing to all with whom he has come in contact. He owns, aside from nine hundred acres of land in Alberta, Canada, other securities in Saskatchewan, Canada.
On August 16, 1893, the marriage of Charles H. Adams and Annie E. Leonard took place. Mrs. Adams, who was born in Schomberg, Ontario, is
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the daughter of Stephen and Mary Leonard, both of whom reside in Schom- berg. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Adams four children have been born, three of whom died in early childhood. Helen is attending school in Carson City. Dr. Adams takes an active part in the social affairs of Carson City where he is a member of the Odd Fellows and the Mason's lodge. He and his wife are also affiliated with the Order of the Eastern Star and the Re- bekahs.
CHARLES H. BRAMAN.
By individual effort and strength of character in times of failure, Charles H. Braman has reached the position of prosperity he now enjoys. A native son of Montcalm county and a student of the agricultural possibilities of this section of the state since boyhood, he is rightfully looked upon as an authority on questions pertaining to rural economy. The subject of this sketch was born in the southwestern part of Crystal township, on October 28, 1871, and is the son of George and Mary ( Bancroft) Braman, a sketch of whose inter- esting life in Montcalm county is given on another page of this volume.
After attending the district schools of Montcalm county, Charles H. Braman assisted his father in the work on the farm where he remained until after his twenty-first birthday. He then worked as a lumberman for Brad Hayes and stayed a year in this employment, studying the kinds of timber and the adaptability of each, an experience which proved to be a valuable aid to him later. In April, 1893, he came to his present home which is located on the north shore of Crystal lake. The farm originally consisted of eighty acres which Mr. Braman bought before coming here for residence. At that time thirty-five acres of the tract was unimproved and the buildings on the place were small and crude. He spent a great deal of his time in clearing the land and in 1902 erected a new house. Three years before he had built a large stock barn and smaller buildings. Mr. Braman has continued to add to his possessions from year to year and now owns two hundred and thirty acres. Mr. Braman keeps a high grade of stock and devotes his attention to general farming.
On the 12th of April, 1893, Charles H. Braman was united in marriage to Fannie Swarthout, who was born in Muir, and who is the daughter of Charles Swarthout, an account of whose life is given on another page of this volume. The parents of Mrs. Braman moved to Crystal township when she was a child and she was reared near the home where she now resides. Mrs.
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Braman is a woman of great culture and strength of character. She received her education in the high school at Carson City, and qualified for the pro- fession of teaching, an occupation she followed several years before her mar- riage. Mr. and Mrs. Braman are the parents of the following children : Nila M., Charles, Julia, Treva and Lyle.
The qualities of honesty and integrity have been recognized in Mr. Braman by the members of the community who have elected him to fill offices of public confidence. He has been a school officer for fourteen years and at the present time is serving as assessor and treasurer of the school district. He has attained this degree of prominence through his own force of person- ality. His success as a farmer is due mostly to perseverance and foresight. When he came to the farm he now occupies the tract was mostly swamp, a condition which would have discouraged a less experienced farmer. He used many of the methods he had learned from his father, George Braman, who is a pioneer in farm work, and applied them to his own farm. He drained the land and tiled it, using in the process 11,000 pieces of tile, until his farm now represents one of the best cultivated in the community. His work as it stands today is a model of what may be accomplished with small beginnings and meager resources if one has the courage to face disappointment and hardships.
CHARLES R. NICKERSON.
Charles R. Nickerson was born on June 18, 1881, in Fulton township, Gratiot county, Michigan, and is the son of George F. and Cornelia M. (Norton) Nickerson who located in Montcalm county, Michigan, in 1893. George F. Nickerson was born on April 11, 1859, in Southfield township, Oakland county, Michigan, and is the son of Hiram A. and Mary A. (Buck- ley) Nickerson. Hiram Nickerson was born on April 22, 1836, in St. Law- rence county, New York, his parents locating in Wayne county, Michigan, in 1835. He was bound out to a farmer, by the name of Andrew Porter, until he was eighteen years of age. He married Mary A. Buckley in Pontiac, Michigan, and soon afterward rented a farm in Oakland county, for nearly three years. He then moved to Clinton county by ox-team and remained there for fifteen years, finally locating in Gratiot county, Michigan, where he operated a farm in Fulton township, for five years. He then moved to Crystal township and thence to Vestaburg, Michigan, where he engaged in the livery business with his son, John L. He died in August, 1897 or 1898.
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He was a Democrat until he located in this county and then changed his political faith to the Republican party. Religiously, he was a member of the Disciple church, which he joined during a revival in 1870, in Clinton county, Michigan. Mary A. (Buckley) Nickerson was born in 1837, in Lancashire, England, and was the daughter of John Buckley who died in his native land. Her mother then re-married and emigrated to Canada when Mary A. was only thirteen years of age, taking passage in a sailing vessel which was three months and three weeks making the voyage. They located in Toronto, Canada, for some time, thence removing to the states, where they located in Pontiac, Oakland county, Michigan, where Mary A. grew to womanhood and married. Hiram A. and Mary A. (Buckley) Nick- erson were the parents of nine children, three of whom died in infancy : George F., John, of Stanton, Michigan; Aurelia, wife of John DeLaney, of Chase county, Nebraska; Emma, married and living at Merionette, Wis- consin; Anna, wife of Henry Mangus; she died in 1912; Louisa, wife of E. T. Westfall, of Scottsville, Michigan. The mother of these children died about 1896, in Fremont, Michigan.
George F. Nickerson was reared and educated in Fowler, Clinton county, Michigan, until he was eighteen years of age, at which time he moved with his parents to Fulton township, Gratiot county, Michigan. On September 8, 1880, he married Cornelia M. Norton, daughter of Andrew J. and Florette (Panny) Norton, and two children were born of the union, namely, Charles, postmaster of Vestaburg, Michigan, and Howard L., who married Edna DeLaney and is now a partner of his father in the meat business. Cornelia M. (Norton) Nickerson was born on November 6, 1860, in Gratiot county, Michigan, and is the daughter of Andrew Norton, who was a native of Cattaragus county, New York. Her mother was born near Utica, New York. George F. Nickerson cultivated the home place until 1881, at which time he located in Crystal township, this county, for three years, thence moving to Maple Rapids, Michigan. He worked for the Variety Iron Works, in Cleve- land, Ohio, for five years, thence moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he was employed in a furniture factory. He then engaged in farming in or near Vestaburg, Michigan, until in December, 1912, retiring to the town in July of that year. He is now engaged in the meat business with his son. He owns one hundred and eighty acres of land, located one-half mile from town, which is devoted to general farming and stock raising. He is a mem- ber of the Vestaburg Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Free and Accepted Masons, at Edmore, Michigan. He is also a mem- ber of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, being one of its first members.
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He was deputy sheriff for ten years under James Train and Elliott Bellows, and for two years under John Gaffield. He also served as constable of Rich- land township for a number of years, and as highway commissioner of the township for three terms, serving on the board of review for four years. George F. Nickerson and wife are active members of the Disciple church.
John W. Nickerson, son of Hiram and Mary A. (Buckley) Nickerson, was born on January 29, 1861, in Bloomer township, Oakland county, Mich- igan, near Orchard Lake, but was educated in Clinton county, Michigan, after which he taught school for eight years in the schools of Clinton, Montcalm, Gratiot and Oceana counties. For eighteen months he read law in St. John, Michigan. On July 29, 1885, John W. Nickerson was married to Nettie C. Miner, daughter of Winfield S. and Elizabeth (Wilsey) Miner, and four children were born of the union: Louis E., September 22, 1886; Lois C., April 3, 1888; Donald H., April 12, 1890, and Vera M., August 26, 1897. Lois C., is the wife of C. J. Brady, Plainfield, Illinois. Mr. Brady is assist- ant manager of Libby, McNeil & Libby, in Alma, Michigan. Donald H. is a graduate of the high school at Alma, Michigan, and assistant postmaster of Stanton, Michigan. John W. Nickerson located in Vestaburg, Michigan, in the spring of 1886 and engaged in the livery business which he continued until the fall of 1898. The firm was known as Nickerson & Son during the last three years. As township clerk, John W. Nickerson served for seven years. In 1886, he was elected justice of the peace and held the office for thirteen years, at which time he resigned, and in 1890 was elected town- ship treasurer for one year. He also was township supervisor for five years and in 1898 was elected as county clerk, moving to the town of Stanton, Michigan, on December 15, 1898. He was elected to this office twice. Beside his other interests he operates a realty and insurance business. He is an active Republican and was elected as justice of the peace at Stanton, in 1911, and re-elected in the spring of 1915. He is also city ward super- visor. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, in which order he has been a member since twenty-one years of age.
Charles R. Nickerson was educated in Maple Rapids and in Grand Rapids, Michigan, graduating from the high school in Vestaburg, Mich- igan. On December 16, 1900, he was married to Minnie Pearl Evans, daugh- ter of John E. and Malissa Ann (Struble) Evans, and they are the parents of one child, Doris M., born on April 17, 1903. Minnie Pearl (Evans) Nickerson was born on November 1, 1883, in Richland township, one and one-half miles north of Vestaburg, Michigan. Her husband was appointed
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as rural mail carrier for two years and four months, that being the only rural route at the time. He then held the position of foreman in one of the salting stations of Alart, McGune county, for four years, and on October 23, 1911, received his appointment as postmaster of Vestaburg, Michigan. He has held all chairs in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, as well as that of financial secretary. at Vestaburg, and is also a member of the sister lodge. Politically, he is a Republican and has held the office of township clerk for one year.
JOHN AND JOSEPH KLEES.
John and Joseph Klees, well-known farmers and citizens who have been active in the public affairs of Ferris township, Montcalm county, Michigan, were born in Ferris township, in 1866, and in Crystal township, on March 19, 1865, respectively, sons of Peter and Mary A. (Kneer) Klees, the former born in Prussia, in 1833, a son of Jacob and Mary ( Hess) Klees, the latter born in Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1841, a daughter of Anthony and Magda- lena Kneer.
Peter Klees came to America with his parents when he was nineteen years of age and located at Shelby, Ohio, where they lived for three years, after which they moved to Kiddville, now at Belding, Ionia county, Michigan, making their home there for about one year. The elder Klees and his fam- ily in 1856 came to Montcalm county, where he homesteaded eighty acres of land in Ferris township, becoming one of the early pioneers and living among their primitive surroundings until some time later, when Jacob Klees and his wife moved to a farm in section 36, Ferris township, where Mary Klees died in 1880, after which time Jacob Klees made his home with his sons, Peter and Nicholas, for the remainder of his days. Peter Klees was a shoemaker in Germany and also worked at that trade in Ohio and Michigan. About two years after his marriage Peter Klees, in December, 1864, was drafted for service in the Civil War, becoming a soldier of Company I, Sixteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, with which he served as a soldier in the army of General Grant, being present at the surrender of General Lee. Following the Civil War, Peter Klees returned to Montcalm county, Michigan, and secured forty acres of land in section 25, Ferris township, where he spent the remainder of his active life as a farmer, dying in 1911, at the age of seventy- six years.
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