USA > Michigan > Oakland County > History of Oakland County Michigan a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, its principal interests Volume II > Part 18
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On January 10, 1910, he was appointed chief of the Pontiac fire department, a position which he still holds, and which has brought him many hazardous and thrilling experiences. But he has never wavered in the face of danger, and has always performed his duties with clear- ness of vision, quickness and accuracy of judgment, and great prompt- ness and vigor of action. The department has never had a better chief, and has never given the community better service than since he has been at the head of it.
Mr. Austin was married on April 5, 1881, to Miss Hannah Clark, a daughter of Thomas and Matilda (Wooley) Clark, natives of England. Five children have been born of the union, all of whom are living: Ella V. and Eva M., who are still at home with their parents; Harry B., who is in the employ of the Michigan Refining Company in Pontiac ; Stewart A .. who has charge of the truck business belonging to his father ; and John C., who is a student in the Pontiac high school.
Politically Mr. Austin is a Democrat and an earnest worker for his
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party. Fraternally he is connected with the Order of Foresters, the Order of Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America. His religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1886 and 1887 he was treasurer of the Democratic organization in the Second ward of the city, where he lived at the time.
ALBERT W. CAMPBELL. A man of pronounced business capacity and judgment, Albert W. Campbell holds a place of prominence and influence among the enterprising and progressive citizens of Birming- ham, where for many years he has represented many of the leading in- surance companies of the United States, and has served as justice of the peace. A native of Oakland county, Michigan, he was born in Oakwood, at Campbell's Corners, April 6, 1855, a son of Welcome Campbell, and a lineal descendant in the sixth generation from Robert Campbell, the immigrant ancestor of the branch of the Campbell family from which he is descended, the line being traced through Robert Campbell, Sr., Robert, Jr., William, Roswell and Welcome, father of Albert W., the subject.
Born and reared in Argyleshire, Scotland, Robert Campbell, Sr., emigrated when a young man to the north of Ireland, and the following year, in 1719, crossed the Atlantic in search of a home in the new world, locating in Voluntown, Connecticut, where he spent the remainder of his life. Robert Campbell, Jr., the next in line of descent, was a life-long resident of Connecticut. His son, William Campbell, through whom the line was continued, was born in Voluntown, Connecticut, in 1743, and died in Utica, New York, in 1820. He was an active participant in the Revolutionary war, having been one of the band of men who, disguised as Indians, destroyed the tea in the Boston Harbor in December, 1773, and subsequently serving as a minute man in Boston for six days. He afterwards enlisted in Company 3, Regiment 3, of the Colony of Con- necticut, being made sergeant of his company. His son Roswell, born in Connecticut in 1773, was Mr. Campbell's grandfather. He moved to Oneida county, New York, about 1800, later coming to Michigan, and spending his last days in Oakland county, where his death occurred in 1843.
Welcome Campbell was born in New York state, and as a young man made his way to Oakland county, Michigan, locating at Campbell's Corners when all of that part of the country was in its primitive wild- ness, the wild beasts of the forest habiting, with the dusky savage, the forests roundabout. Purchasing eighty acres of government land, he erected a rude log cabin, cleared five acres of land, on which he raised enough vegetables to last the family, which included his father. his step-mother and an older sister, through the following winter, all of those people being dependent upon him for support. Industrious and enterprising, he improved a good farm and made some money. In 1850 he started in business at Oakwood, opening a general store, and also became proprietor of a store in Pontiac, occupying a building that is now standing in close proximity to Hotel Hodges. He built up a fine trade, keeping a well assorted stock of goods, which he bought in the east, making two trips each year to Boston and New York to buy stock for his stores. In 1859 he exchanged all of his property, including his stores, and his Oakwood homestead, for one hundred and sixty acres of land in Royal Oak township, that farm now being platted property. He pros-
Albert w.Campbell
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pered in his agricultural labors, becoming owner ere his death, which occurred November II, 1888, of eight hundred acres of valuable land. He married Mary Jane Cheney, who passed away February 10, 19II, at the venerable age of eighty-seven years. Of their ten children, five are now living, as follows: Mary J., widow of John Felker, of Royal Oak township; David L., a prominent farmer of Royal Oak township; Lurinda, wife of Joseph B. Grow, of the same township; Albert W., the special subject of this brief biographical review ; and John L., M. D.
Educated in the common and high schools of Royal Oak, Albert W. Campbell remained beneath the parental roof-tree until attaining his majority. Being then given a portion of the home farm, he bought a tract of adjoining land, and was there engaged in tilling the soil until 1890. Moving then with his family to Birmingham, Mr. Campbell, from the Rowland E. Trowbridge heirs, bought seventeen acres of land lying near the present site of the village of Birmingham, platted it as Camp- bell's subdivision, and has since disposed of all the lots, or nearly all, in the transaction making some money. Embarking then in the insurance business, he is now agent for the Royal Exchange, the Aetna, the Amer- ican Central, the Michigan Fire and Marine, the Detroit National Fire and the American Surety, of New York, all of them being substantial and reliable insurance companies. He is a stockholder in the Michigan Fire and Marine Insurance Company and the Detroit National Fire Company, of Detroit, and also of the First State Savings Bank of Bir- mingham.
Mr. Campbell is a sound Republican in politics, and has filled various public offices most acceptably to all concerned. For eight years he was clerk of Bloomfield township, at the same time serving four years as vil- lage clerk ; he was treasurer of the local school board four years, and for the past seven years has been justice of the peace. Fraternally he is a member of Birmingham Lodge, No. 44, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons; and of Birmingham Lodge, No. 149, Knights of Pythias .
On June 7, 1877, Mr. Campbell was united in marriage with Martha Lee, daughter of Daniel and Zilpha (Randolph) Lee, of Odessa, On- tario, where she was born. Two children have blessed their union, namely : Zilpha J. and Daniel W. Zilpha J. Campbell was graduated from the Birmingham high school and from the literary department of the University of Michigan, and subsequently taught the languages in the Birmingham schools for two years ; at Rochester, Michigan, for four years ; and in Adrian, Michigan, for two years, being preceptress in each school. She married Charles J. Boyer, who represents a Chicago pub- lishing house in Detroit, and they have one child. Charles H. Boyer. Daniel W. Campbell, of Alpena, Michigan, is a graduate of the Detroit Dental College. He married lennie Castle, and they have two children, Daniel W. Campbell, Jr., and Helen Gladys Campbell.
ABRAHAM L. CRAFT. It is scarcely to be gainsaid that there is no office carrying with it so much of responsibility as that of the instructor who moulds and fashions the plastic mind of youth; who instills into the formative brain those principles which, when matured, will be the chief heritage of the active man who in due time will sway multitudes, lead armies, govern nations or frame the laws by which civilized na- tions are governed. To say that all learned men are capable of being
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successful instructors and educators is by no means the truth. In- deed, one is inclined to believe that the true educator is born and not made, for he must have a vast knowledge of human nature in addition to his other attainments.
Prominent among Michigan educators is Abraham L. Craft, school commissioner of Oakland county, a man of high ideals who believes that education should be that which makes the boys and girls "of quick perceptions, broad sympathies, and wide affinities; responsive, but in- dependent ; self-reliant, but deferential ; loving truth and candor, but also moderation and proportion; courageous, but gentle; not finished, but perfecting."
Mr. Craft is a native of Oakland county, his birth having occurred on a farm in Springfield township and his parents being Charles B. and Lydia (Lyman) Craft. They with the subject's grandfather and grandmother, Abraham and Huldah (Newberry) Craft, made an early settlement in what was then the territory of Michigan, having removed from Wayne county, New York. They made the trip by way of the Erie Canal to Buffalo and thence across Lake Erie to Detroit. From Detroit these pioneers made their way through the thinly settled coun- try by means of ox-teams to Pontiac, the year of their arrival being 1835. In that same year the family settled in Springfield township, on land taken up from the government and located in sections 31 and 32, this farm being still owned and occupied by members of the fam- ily. The father of the subject was the son of Abraham and Huldah (Newberry) Craft and was born in Rose, New York, in 1818, his death occurring at Springfield, Michigan, in 1904. The other members of this family were Thorne, James, Patti, Joel and Clarissa (Covell.) The subject's grandfather, Abraham Craft, was the son of Thomas Craft, of Wayne Center, Wayne county, New York, who with his brother, Pine Craft, served in the Revolutionary war.
Mr. Craft's mother, Lydia Ann Lyman, was born in Wayne county, New York, in 1820, and died in 1859. She was the daughter of Jesse Lyman, who in the early days was the light-house keeper on Lake Ontario at Sodus, New York. An uncle, Philander Lyman, was in charge of this light house until 1909. The children of Jesse Lyman's family consisted of Milo S., Angeline (Copp), Belding, Henry, Lydia (Craft), and Philander. The children of Charles B. and Lydia (Ly- man) Craft are as follows: Huldah E. (Pepper), deceased; Sarah A. (Smith) ; Helen J. (Miller) ; Charles H. : Jacob H., Abraham L .; and Elsie (Wooster. )
Abraham L. Craft lived on the farm until eighteen years of age, and in the meantime attended the district school. He then devoted two years to pursuing the studies belonging to the curriculum of the Holly high school after which he taught a year and earned the money with which to pay his expenses at the Fenton high school. There he still further advanced his knowledge, studying industriously for a period of three years and being graduated in 1880. Mr. Craft next taught at Highland for two years and then took a commercial course at the De- troit Business University. Returning to Highland, he again took up his work there and continued it for three years, when he was elected prin- cipal of the Clarkston high school, which position he held for thirteen years. He was then elected superintendent of the Rochester high school, where he remained in charge nine years. In 1897-98 Mr. Craft
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took a course at the Ferris Institute and Normal College, where he pre- pared for a state life certificate, which he received in 1898. In 1911 he was elected county school commissioner without opposition and re- ceived nearly six thousand votes. He has already given enlightened proof of the wisdom of the popular choice.
In the political issues of the day Mr. Craft takes no inconsiderable interest and his judgment concurs with the principles laid down in the Republican platform, which he therefore earnestly supports. Before his election to the office of school commissioner he was county school examiner for ten years.
Mr. Craft was married in 1889, his chosen lady being Miss Carrie Belle Jennings, daughter of Horatio N. and Lida A. (Peck) Jennings, of Fenton. Mr. Jennings was for thirty-five years the editor of the Fen- ton Independent, of which paper he was the founder in 1868. The fam- ily of Mr. and Mrs. Jennings consisted of four children, as follows : Elizabeth M., teacher of music in the Fenton schools; John H., super- visor of Fenton township; Clara N. (Thompson), of Detroit; and Car- rie B. (Craft.) Mrs. Craft is one of Pontiac's cultured and interesting women and has been secretary of the Pontiac Woman's Club for two years and is treasurer of the Oakland County Federation of Women's Clubs, in whose affairs she takes an active and helpful interest.
But few men are better known in Oakland county than Mr. Craft, and none more favorably, and nearly his whole life has been devoted to school work. He is a Mason of high degree and his name is found on the roster of Cedar Lodge, No. 60, F. & A. M., of Clarkston ; Rochester Lodge, No. 5, Pontiac Lodge, No. 21, F. & A. M .: Oakland Chapter, No. 5, R. A. M. : Pontiac Council, No. 3. R. & S. M .; Pontiac Commandery, No. 2, K. T. and Moslem Temple, A. O. N. M. S., De- troit. He was worshipful master of Cedar Lodge and Rochester Lodge for fourteen years and exemplifies in his own living the high moral principles for which the great order stands. He is also identified with the Maccabees Lodge, No. 85, of Clarkston, and Pontiac Lodge, No. 19, Knights of Pythias. Mr. and Mrs. Craft are both members of Rochester Chapter, No. 165, O. E. 'S. In 1907 Mr. and Mrs. Craft removed to Pontiac to make their permanent home, having purchased a residence in this city, which is one of the favorite gathering-places in its pleasant boundaries.
The following tribute has been paid to Mr. Craft in a publication. "No one can be more deserving of representation in a volume of a biographical nature than those who are giving their attention to the guidance of the young and endeavoring to cultivate their minds and morals. Among the most admirable of these is Mr. Craft, the present school commissioner of Oakland county. In gaining his own educa- tion he showed the quality of his character as well as his mind, and the determination he manifested in his early years and his eager desire for thorough schooling gives him an added fitness for the work which he has undertaken, as he knows how to encourage and guide as he might not otherwise have done."
HENRY PAULI. The same cool, discerning judgment which led Henry Pauli, of Pontiac, from the Fatherland to the New World many years ago has governed his busy, useful life and won for him the rank that he now occupies of one of Pontiac's leading citizens. Mr. Pauli Vol. 11-9
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was born in Germany on July 14, 1851, a son of Henry and Machtalena (Born) Pauli. Both of the parents spent their entire lives in Germany, but their descendants all located in America. There were six of the children, the eldest being the subject of this sketch. The others were : Mary, widow of F. Margraff, of Detroit; Phillipina, wife of Henry Scheibel, of Wyandotte, Michigan; Julia, wife of Louis Grim, of Men- don, Michigan; and the two youngest children, who died in infancy.
Henry Pauli came to America in 1867, locating first in Detroit, where he mastered the art of shoemaking. In December, 1870, he came to Pontiac, and opening a shop followed his trade until 1892, when he opened a small shoe store, buying out Elliott & Durand. He increased the stock and equipment of the establishment until he is now propri- etor of the largest shoe house in Pontiac. He has other investments as well, owning seven residences, including the one which constitutes his home.
On September 2, 1872, Mr. Pauli and Miss Catharine Smidt were married, and they became the fond parents of six sturdy children, all of whom are living, and all residents of Pontiac. Frederick is in the jewelry business and Francis is a mail carrier. Henry W. is associated with his father. Minnie married H. E. Meldrum, a salesman. Annie and John, the youngest children, are at home, the young man assisting in his father's business house.
Mr. Pauli is one of the staunch members of the Roman Catholic faith. He has held many posts of public or semi-public prominence. For two years he was treasurer of his ward-1887 to 1889, inclusive. He was alderman from the Second ward for four years. In fraternal orders he has been greatly honored by his associates. He has oc- cupied all of the chairs in the Foresters of America, both in the local and state organizations, and belongs also to the Elks, Woodmen of America and Lady Foresters.
FRANK J. MALCOLM has been identified with agricultural interests of Commerce township all his life. He was born here, on the farm he now owns and operates, and is one of the prominent and popular men of the township. He was born November 8, 1876, the son of John and Lucy (Danderson) Malcolm, both born and reared in the townships of West Bloomfield and Pontiac, respectively. The paternal grandparents of the subject were George and Janet (Andre) Mal- colm, natives of Scotland, who settled in West Bloomfield, in section 7, in 1832.
Frank J. Malcolm attended the public school and in 1895 entered the state Normal College at Ypsilanti. The death of his father in 1896 compelled his return home, and he did not return to his studies for six months. He was graduated in 1899. In addition to his farming in- terests, Mr. Malcolm has been a leader in the political and civic life of his community, and has been a town official in one capacity or an- other for a number of years. He was school inspector for four years, town treasurer for two years and township supervisor for the years 19II and 1912, being still in service. His own farm contains 185 acres in section 12, and it is one of the fine places in the township. In 1908 he came to Commerce village to take charge of his father-in-law's farm, which he has since rented.
The marriage of Mr. Malcolm took place on September 6, 1905,
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when Miss Floy Sudgen became his wife. She was a native of Com- merce, the only daughter of John and Augusta (Jakeway) Sudgen. One child has been born to them,-Lucile Malcolm, born September 16, 1906.
Mr. Malcolm is a Republican, and fraternally is a Mason, affiliat- ing with Commerce lodge, No. 121, and the Eastern Star.
ALBERT B. SMITH. One of the old and honored families of Oak- land county, Michigan, and one which has been closely identified with the agricultural interests of this section for more than eighty years, is that of Smith, a worthy representative of which is found in the per- son of Albert B. Smith, of Novi township, who is still farming a part of the original family homestead where he was born. Mr. Smith's birth occurred April 29, 1849, in Novi township, his parents being Ben- jamin P. and Jane (Rodgers) Smith, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of Vermont.
Benjamin P. Smith accompanied his parents to Michigan in 1829, settling on land taken up by the grandfather of Albert B., a tract of 320 acres, part of which still belongs to Mr. Smith and is operated by him. There Benjamin P. Smith was reared to manhood and spent his entire life, gaining a position of confidence among his fellow townsmen and becoming known as one of his community's foremost citizens. From 1862 to 1865 he served as a recruiting officer for this district for the Fed- eral army, a disabled arm preventing his enlistment as an active partici- pant at the front. For twenty-three years he served faithfully as super- visor and township clerk of Novi township and no public official was held in higher esteem.
The boyhood of Albert B. Smith was spent on the home farm, and his education was secured in the Flint district school. In January, 1874, he was married to Miss Hannah Hammond, of Novi township, who was born in the state of New York, February 26, 1852, and came to Novi township in 1855 with her parents, Shubel and Margaret (Mathews) Hammond, who purchased a farm on section 2. The following chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith: Benjamin, foreman in a foundry at Northville; Shubel, assistant roadmaster on the Pere Mar- quette Railroad ; William B., yardmaster at Red Wing, Minnesota, for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad; Grover C., owner of a farm of 140 acres in Ogemaw county, Michigan ; Hattie S., wife of John Kuhn, a mechanic in a gun factory at Northville; Lula, wife of Henry Part- ridge, of Hoboken, New Jersey, a real estate dealer; Fred, owner of a farm of eighty acres located in Ogemaw county; Ernest, Ralza and Ralph, who are farming on shares in Novi township; Sarah, who lives in Plymouth; and four children who were born as quadruplets, but who only lived about four hours, this occurrence being noted generally at the time of their birth throughout the country.
Mr. Smith is a Democrat and supports the principles and candidates of that party, but has never allowed himself to be persuaded to enter the public arena as a seeker for political preferment, preferring to de- vote his time and energies to cultivating his property. He and his fam- ily are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. As a man who has spent a long and useful life in pursuits calculated to be of benefit to his community, Mr. Smith holds a position of prominence among his
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fellow townsmen, while his acquaintance is wide and his circle of friends correspondingly large.
GEORGE H. TAYLOR. To some men is given the power to judge properly and correctly of human nature, certain talents which enable them to pick out the honest from the dishonest, the capable from those of little ability or capacity, and when such men are placed in positions of public trust their faculties are brought into good play and serve the people admirably. George H. Taylor, justice of the peace of Novi, has lived in that section all his life, and the confidence in which he is held by his fellow citizens has been demonstrated by his election to public office, the duties of which he discharges while carrying on the vocation of a successful agriculturist. Mr. Taylor was born in Novi, Oakland county, Michigan, July 4, 1862, and is a son of James and Sarah ( Uridge) Taylor, natives of New York.
Mr. Taylor's parents came to Michigan in 1850, the family first set- tling in Detroit, from whence they removed to Northville, and from that point to Novi in 1860. For some time the members of the family worked land on shares in Novi, where George H. Taylor worked on the farm in summer and attended the district schools during the win- ter months. As a young man he was enterprising, progressive and in- dustrious, and was able to purchase forty acres of land in section 15 which tract he still owns, continuing on the farm until 1906 when he engaged in contracting for the care of orchards on a percentage of crop basis, thus accumulating thirty acres of good land. A stalwart Republican in his political views, he was elected justice of the peace of Novi, and has given to the affairs of that office the same careful con- sideration that has characterized his private ventures, his valuable ser- vices being appreciated in full by his fellow-townsmen. He takes a keen interest in the work of the Gleaners, of which organization he is a member, as he is also of the Royal Guards. Both he and Mrs. Taylor are members of the Baptist church, are interested in religious work, and espouse every good and charitable cause that comes within their notice.
In 1901 Mr. Taylor was united in marriage with Mrs. Ida (Moul- ton) Higgins, who was born in Novi, Michigan, daughter of Horace and Malinda (Chappell) Moulton, natives of New York, her father having been a blacksmith. By her former marriage Mrs. Taylor had three children, namely: Theodore, who is a well known lumberman of northern Michigan ; Cora, who is the wife of Ellsworth Collins, of Fair Hope, Alabama ; and Irvin, who also lives at Fair Hope. To Mr. and Mrs. Taylor there has been given one child: Francis, who was born November 2, 1902.
During his entire business career Mr. Taylor has been known as a man who has been actuated by the highest principles of honor, and as a result has gained and retained the esteem of his fellow men. Dur- ing the fifty years he has been a resident of Oakland county he has been closely identified with its progress and development and is justly recognized as one of its most influential men.
EDWARD BURNS. Industrious, enterprising and self-reliant, Edward Burns has attained a noteworthy position among the successful farmers of Oakland county, and is a fine representative of the self-made men of Rose township, where he is actively engaged in general farming.
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Beginning life for himself in the valley of humble circumstances, he has made excellent use of his opportunities and by a diligent applica- tion of his abilities to the work in hand has made steady progress along the pathway of prosperity. A native of New York, he was born in 1861 in Livingston county, not far from Honeoye Falls, and was there bred and educated, growing to manhood on a farm.
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