USA > Michigan > Oakland County > History of Oakland County Michigan a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, its principal interests Volume II > Part 2
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On November 1I, 1874, Mr. Malcolm married Miss Sarah Long, of West Bloomfield township. She was born in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Joseph and Harriet ( Atwood) Long. Mr. Long was for years engaged in the boot and shoe business in Detroit, but later bought a farm and devoted himself to agriculture in West Bloomfield.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm ;- Harriet, the eldest, is the wife of Roy Gamble, a farmer of Milford, where they live. George G. is superintendent of schools at Norway, Michigan, one of the prominent mining towns of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and is married to Miss Grace White; they have two sons, Gordon G. and Robert W. The youngest child of Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm is Bert W., who makes his home on the farm. He married Miss Edith Crook.
Mr. Malcolm is a member of the Masonic order, holding membership in Commerce Lodge, No. 121, Milford Chapter and Pontiac Command- ery. He is also a member of the Eastern Star, No. 301, of Commerce, as is also his wife, and both are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of their home town.
JAMES CUTHBERT, supervisor and farmer of section 4, White Lake township, Oakland county, Michigan, is a well-to-do and popular citizen of that community. He has always been prominent in all affairs, whether social or political, and has been one of the first to be approached when some local change or improvement was being considered.
Mr. Cuthbert's parents, Joseph and Jane ( Bell) Cuthbert, were both born in Lincolnshire, England, of farmer stock, and after their marriage in 1852 came directly to America. They did not remain in the east, but pushed on to Michigan and settled in White Lake township. After work- ing out for a short time Mr. Cuthbert bought eighty-five acres of land and built a house thereon. He later bought two additional pieces of ground, one of nineteen acres in the same section and another of two hundred acres in section 33, Springfield township. They lived on this farm until the death of Mrs. Cuthbert, April 21, 1891, when Mr. Cuth- bert moved to Pontiac and died there August 8, 1906. They were the parents of three children: James, the subject of the sketch; Annie, the wife of Will T. Matthews, of Pontiac; and William, who died when about four years old.
James Cuthbert lived on his father's farm until his marriage Feb- ruary 18, 1879, to Rebecca Ogden. For the next ten years he lived in Springfield township, but on the death of his mother in 1891 he moved back to the old homestead and has been there ever since. Miss Ogden was the daughter of Lewis and Phoebe (Harding) Ogden, of Dutch descent on the father's side and of English on the mother's. They came from New Jersey into White Lake township in 1852, when Rebecca Ogden was only two years old. They had three other children besides Rebecca, all living: Sarah E. the wife of Joseph B. Roe, of Independ- ence township, Emily, the wife of James Teeples, of White Lake town- ship; and Mary A., the wife of Gilman C. Nelson, of California.
Mr. and Mrs. Cuthbert have had three children, Friend Joseph, who died in infancy, Inez May, a graduate of the Holly High school and of the county normal, and now a senior student at the Michigan Con- servatory of Music, Detroit; and Ida Jane, a graduate of the Oakland County Normal, and living at home while teaching school in White Lake.
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Mr. Cuthbert is a member of A. F. and A. M., Davisburg Austin Lodge, No. 48, and the family belong to the O. E. S. No. 296, Austin Chapter at Davisburg. A Democrat in politics, he has been supervisor of his town- ship for thirteen years. He owns ninety-eight acres in White Lake and forty acres of land in Springfield township, and at one time made a specialty of Shropshire sheep and shorthorned registered stock.
RUFUS TENNY AND JESSE TENNY. Among the pioneers of Oakland county were Rufus Tenny and Jesse Tenny, who settled in the south- western part of Highland township, in the Tenny neighborhood, in 1833, although it was not known by that name until after they settled here. They came directly from Monroe county, New York, to this state, mak- ing the long journey with teams, and bringing all of their household goods and their families with them. Bravely they dared all the hardships and privations incidental to life in an undeveloped country in order to pave the way for those who followed, and to establish homes where their chil- dren and their descendants might enjoy the comforts and even the lux- uries of life without the labor and toil which they endured.
Rufus Tenny married, in Monroe county, New York, Eunice Mudge, who proved a true helpmate to him in the making of a home in the wild- erness, doing her full share of pioneer labor, and in common with her neighbors living in a primitive manner, cooking by the open fireplace and carding, spinning and weaving the homespun in which she fashioned the garments worn by the family. Of their children, eight grew to years of maturity, although none are now living, their names being as follows: Edwin, who settled in Milford as a cabinet maker; Trumbull, who was for many years a jeweler in Milford, Oakland county; Monroe, whose daughter, Mrs. Beckwith, owns the old home farm; Henry, who was a mechanic; Mary, who married John C. Wood and died in middle life ; Ann Eliza who, married Henry Nelson, and removed to the South, where she died a few years later ; Clinton, who died at the age of sixty years; and Rufus, who lived but twenty-one years.
Monroe Tenny, the third son in succession of birth of Rufus Tenny, and his brother Clinton remained on the home farm where both were reared, Monroe having been a boy of ten years when he came from Monroe county, New York, his native place, with his parents, and as Clinton Tenny had had the misfortune to lose a leg when young, the farm work devolved largely upon Monroe. Monroe Tenny subsequently spent a year in Cleveland, Ohio. He was married several years before he went to Cleveland, but his wife was a Cleveland girl, and on his return to Highland township the farm was divided, he taking one half and Clinton the remainder. Monroe Tenny immediately began adding to the value of his farm by inaugurating substantial improvements, in 1866 erecting the house that now stands upon the place, it being the home of his daughter, Mrs. Beckwith. On August 28, 1872, while standing near a threshing machine on the farm of his uncle, Jesse Tenny, the engine of the machine exploded, killing Mr. Monroe Tenny, his cousin, Edson Tenny, and two other men, one of whom was Mr. Odell, a neighbor, a tragedy not yet forgotten.
Monroe Tenny married in 1848, Eliza Morgan, a Cleveland girl, but their marriage took place several years before Mr. Tenny went to that city. She survived him many years, passing away in 1905, at the ven- erable age of eighty years. She was the mother of eight children, namely : Morgan, who died at the age of twenty-one years, in 1870: Julia, wife
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of George Hedden, of Highland township; Rufus H., a bookkeeper at Fenton, Michigan ; Frank M., who spent his entire life on the home farm and died in 1900, aged forty years; Mary, who married Mart Tunis, of Brighton, Michigan, died in 1886; Cora, who died in infancy; Nellie, wife of W. H. Ike, of New York, died in 1897; and Mabel, who owns the old homestead property, and is now the wife of Fred Beckwith. Mrs. Monroe Tenny assumed the management of the Tenny homestead after the death of her husband, being forced while rearing her family to look well after her financial affairs. Her two older sons, sixteen and eighteen years old when their father died, assisted her in tilling the land, while her eldest daughter, who soon began teaching school, turned her wages over to her mother. She completed the house which Mr. Tenny began to build, and subsequently added to it, at the same time further improv- ing the property as her means allowed. She was a woman of much force of character, and a valued member of the Highland Baptist church, which was organized in the old log house belonging to Jesse Tenny, and of which the Tennys were prominent supporters.
Mr. Fred Beckwith was born in Plymouth, Wayne county, Michigan, in 1869, and since his marriage with Mabel Tenny has devoted his time and energies to the care of the old Tenny homestead, as a general farmer being quite successful. Mr. and Mrs. Beckwith have five children, namely : Bernice, Clare, Herbert T., Flora A. and Walter. Mrs. Beck- with is also a member of the Baptist church.
Jesse Tenny, the pioneer, married Thankful Blackmer, and to them eight children were born, as follows: Alonzo, who married and died in early life; Adeline, who inherited the old Jesse Tenny homestead, mar- ried John C. Morse, and their son, Seymour Morse, lives at No. 1025 Vaughn street, Ann Arbor ; Seymour, who engaged in mining in Australia as a young man, married there, wrote home to his family after he had been there sixty years: but he never returned to this country, dying in Australia in 1910; Sarah died in childhood; Edward, for many years had charge of the Baptist church at Holly, and his daughter married Dr. Mc- Donald of Holly; Edson was killed by the explosion of an engine, as previously related : William left home when a young man, and was not heard from for many a long year and never returned home; and Way- land, who was killed while serving in the Civil war.
WILLIAM WILLITS. Having been born and reared in Oakland county and passed the whole of his life within its borders and in free mingling with its residents, except for two years, during which he was in the Union army fighting to save the Union from disruption, the late William Willits, of Pontiac, was well known to the people of the county, and the high estimate they placed on his worth as a man and his useful- ness as a citizen was therefore based on genuine merit demonstrated to them in long association with him and through his transactions in several lines of activity.
Mr. Willits' life began in Birmingham, this county, on September 19, 1836. He was a son of Elijah and Rachel (Harmon) Willits. William was the last born of their seven children, the others being John, George. Elijah, Jane, Matilda and Sarah, the latter the widow of the late H. S. Lee, of Caro, Michigan. The father was twice married. By his first marriage he became the parent of three children, Wellington, Washing- ton and Eliza, all of whom have died.
After completing his common school education, all that he had oppor-
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tunity to acquire, William Willits began life for himself as a farmer. But on August 12, 1862, he enlisted in Company D, Twenty-second Michigan Volunteer Infantry, with the rank of first sergeant. He was promoted to that of second lieutenant on August 3, 1863, and on Septem- ber 20th of that year, he was taken prisoner at the battle of Chickamauga. During the next eighteen months he languished in Libby and Anderson- ville prisons, finally making his escape from the latter on February 14, 1865.
After his escape from prison, Mr. Willits returned to his regiment and remained with it until he was mustered out of the service on June 26, 1865, at Nashville, Tennessee. He then returned to Bennington and opened a general store, which he conducted for about one year. At the end of that time he moved to Pontiac, and here kept a hotel for twenty years. In addition, he was ardently interested in high-bred horses and spent a great deal of his time breeding and handling them. He was a great lover of fine horses, and was successful in breeding and dealing in good ones. He died on July 17, 1891.
On August 9, 1859, Mr. Willits was joined in marriage with Miss Mary Grinley, a daughter of James and Freelove (Olin) Grinley, the former a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and the latter of the state of New York. The father came to Michigan with his parents when he was but four years old. The family located in Birmingham, and when the son grew to manhood he became a painter and decorator. They had six children : Mrs. Willits and her sister, Anna Augusta, the wife of James W. McGregor, of Detroit, are living; and Martha E., James Henry, Frances A. and Sarah M., are all deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Willits had four children: Carrie, the wife of Henry S. Ten Eyck, and Frank L., who are living in Pontiac; and Wilhelmina and George, who have died. The father was a Republican in political faith and allegiance and a Freemason in fraternal life. At the time of his death he owned property of value in Pontiac and a large farm in Troy township, this county, which has since been sold. He was a good busi- ness man, a useful citizen, and the residents of the county in all localities respected him highly.
WILLIAM DRAHNER, proprietor and owner of the one livery and sales stable of any note in the northeast part of Oakland county, is a na- tive product of the state and county, born here in 1862, on the 12th day of June. He is the son of Frank and Maria (Brownell) Drahner, and is one of the six children born to those worthy people. Five of the num- ber are yet living.
In early life Mr. Drahner engaged in the milling business, which held him for six years, after which he ventured into the livery business. As previously mentioned, his establishment is one of the best of its kind in this part of Oakland county, and he has a fine lot of horses and the best in equipages.
Mr. Drahner married Miss Clare J. Moule, who was born in Orange county, New York, on July 4, 1864. She is the daughter of James Moule, born in Orange county, New York, and reared in Sullivan county of the same state. In 1867 he removed to Michigan, locating first some three miles east of Orion and three years later moving into the town of Ox- ford. He was engaged in farming until 1889, then moved into Oxford proper, where he died on January 29, 1912. He was a Republican and ever a good and true citizen. He was the son of Abraham Moule, born
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February 26, 1798, in Ulster county, New York, where he was reared and passed many years of his life. He was a weaver by trade, a Repub- lican in politics and a zealous Methodist in his religious faith. He died in Forestburgh, Sullivan county, New York, on March 27, 1876. He married Jane Cole, born December 24, 1802, in Ulster county, and their marriage was solemnized on November 22, 1819. They had ten children, named as follows: Henry, Catherine, Elcey, Mary J., Cornelius, Johannes, James, Nelson, John and David. The mother of Mrs. Drahner was Elizabeth M. Houck, who was born on January 16, 1841, in Greene county, New York, and her young life was passed in Sullivan county. She removed to the state of Michigan in 1867, after her marriage to James Moule. She was the daughter of Henry Houck, born June 16, 1813, in Rochester, New York, and he was for many years engaged in farming and lumbering. He was a Whig of the old school as to his political faith, and he died on October 27, 1855. His wife was Clarissa Mr. Brewer, born August 18, 1823, in Greene county, New York, and they were married in 1840. They were the parents of ten children, all of whom died in infancy but four. James and Elizabeth M. (Houck) Moule were united in marriage on September 24, 1857, in Sullivan county, New York. Four children were born to them, all of whom are living, those besides Mrs. Drahner being: William N., born December 2, 1858, now living at Metamora, Michigan ; Albert A., born June 19, 1861, and living at Ouray, Colorado; and Frank D., born January 4, 1869, now a resident of Lowell, Washington. Clara Moule was married to William Allen, of Oxford, in 1894. Mr. Allen died in 1896. One child was born of that union, Frank M. Allen, who is living. Mrs. Clara Allen was married to William Drahner in 1899, and one daughter has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Drahner, Bernice E., born June 21, 1902.
Mr. Drahner is an active Republican in his political affiliation, and was at one time deputy sheriff of Oakland county.
DR. B. C. H. SPENCER. There is no more famous painting in the world, if fame may be taken to mean the acquaintance of the greatest number of people with the subject, than the one which is simply and pointedly entitled "The Doctor." It hangs in almost every physician's office in the country, and in many private homes. It is so natural in its meaning, so inspired in its execution that the most unskilled tyro in art may readily catch the full significance. Day is almost breaking and the low burning lamp on the table in the humble cottage shows that it has been an all-night vigil for those in the room. Beside the table, with her head on her arms, shaken with grief and anxiety, is the young wife, while standing behind her with comforting arm upon her shoulder is the one who has promised to shield and sustain her through life's journey. There are but two other figures in the apartment, pathetic in the natural- ness of its humble furnishings. A little child lies in the cradle and be- side it, chin in hand, intent upon every flutter of the breath, sits the doctor, modest descendant of the Great Physician, who walked beside the Sea of Galilee centuries ago, and, like Him, intent upon saving those about him. The picture shows that it has been a hard fight, and whether it is lost or won, the artist, with true artistic instinct, left to the individ- ual conception of the beholder. But amid it all the eye centers upon the grave figure of the Disciple of Aesculapius and the mind instantly reverts to similar scenes in each individual experience, and the beholder instinc-
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tively accords a meed of respect, a silent tribute of praise to the repre- sentative of one of the noblest of callings since time began.
Such a type may be found in Doctor B. C. H. Spencer, the president of the village of Rochester, who for thirty-one years has practiced med- icine, and now, in the meridian of life, is still spared for further useful- ness. He has been to his community like the doctor of "before the war" days, at once physician, friend and counselor to those about him. In his public and private capacities he has never shirked the call of duty, never been found lacking in the time of need. It was with heartiest accord that his fellow townsmen gave to him the position, which entitles him to rec- ognition officially as the chief citizen.
Dr. Spencer was born in Oakland, November 10, 1859, a son of John H. and Laura G. (Riggs) Spencer. His parents were natives of New York and located in Michigan in 1830, Avon township being their home. He was a farmer and afterward a merchant in Rochester, where he died in 1875. The grandfather of Dr. Spencer was Chauncey G. Spencer, who came from New York in the early '30s and farmed in Avon town- ship. In 1849 he crossed the desert and mined on the Pacific slope, dying in San Francisco in 1883. His son, John H., to whom reference has been made, was born in Genesee county, New York, and, like his father after locating in Michigan was attracted by the west. He crossed the plains to California in 1857, and for three years was engaged in mining, meet- ing with a considerable degree of success. He went to Idaho eight years later and remained for two years, returning home at the expiration of this time to take up farming once more. He held various township of- fices and was one of the best known residents of the vicinity. His wife, whose maiden name was Laura C. Riggs, was born in Dutchess county, New York. She is still living, at the age of eighty-two, making her home with Dr. Spencer. There were four children in the family of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Spencer. Alice M., the eldest, is the widow of A. C. J. Bateman, of Seattle, Washington. Adelle, married Erastus D. Hellman, and they are both now deceased. Their sons are located at Seattle and have eighty-five acres of ground near that city. Belle married Frank B. Kline, of Seattle, and Dr. B. C. H., the subject of this sketch, is the youngest of the family.
Dr. Spencer attended the Rochester high school in youth, then went to the Detroit College of Medicine for his professional training, grad- uating therefrom in 1881. He practiced at Orion for eighteen years, then went to the Santa Clara valley of California for two years. He located in Rochester in 1896, and has been practicing here ever since.
In 1885, Dr. Spencer married Josephine B. Laird, and they had two children : Laird B., of Ann Arbor, who is the manager of the Michigan State Telephone Company, and Bernice L., who is now a student in the University at Ann Arbor. Dr. Spencer took for his second wife Frances L. Davis, daughter of Charles and Kate (Sullivan) Davis. By this union there is one child, Adele Beatrice, who was born July 22, 1906. Miss Bernice is an extremely gifted young lady, and was the class prophet for the graduating class of 1910 of the Oxford high school. She sur- prised and delighted teachers, pupils and friends by the cleverness with which, in verse, she foretold the future for each member of the class. This was in twenty-four stanzas, of eight verses each, and of so marked literary merit that it will stand for many years as a classic of the school. Its delightful cadence and smooth rythm should inspire the author to further efforts of the kind.
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A lifetime of devotion to his profession has brought to Dr. Spencer some substantial reward and he owns a home on Puget Sound, called Birmingham, where he goes every year. He also owns a handsome resi- dence in Rochester. He is a man of quiet tastes, thoroughly versed in the questions of the day, and affable and courteous in his personal con- tacts. He is a Democrat politically, and in addition to being village president is health officer for the town. He holds membership in the State Medical Association. His fraternal affiliations. are with the Masons, both Blue Lodge and Royal Arch, with the Maccabees, Elks, Knights of Pythias, Foresters of America and Ancient Foresters. Mrs. Spencer is a member of the Episcopal church.
MARSDEN C. BUSCH. Honors of many kinds have come to Marsden C. Busch, one of Rochester's most distinguished residents who, while a native of the Empire state, has devoted the years of his maturity to works of usefulness in Michigan. Possessed of a judicial mind and temper- ment and an excellent legal training, it was but natural that he should be called to high position in the public service. After being admitted to the bar he became probate judge at Hersey, Michigan, then moved to Grand Rapids, from which point he was sent to the legislature, and there- after in succession became district judge, United States attorney and as- sistant attorney-general, which last position he now holds. Mr. Busch is a Republican in politics. He belongs to the Masonic order and attends divine services at the Episcopal church.
He was born in Union Springs, New York, in 1858, a son of Malcom and a Miss (Crane) Busch, both natives of New York. They came to Michigan about 1879. locating in Rochester. Marsden C. Busch attended college at Hobart, New York, and then pursued his legal studies at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He was compelled to leave the latter institution by the death of his father. Admitted to the bar about 1880, he commenced the practice in Rochester and after his marriage went to Hersey, where his political career really began. He is now resid- ing in his summer home at Rochester, where he owns one hundred and sixty-six acres located in sections 22 and 23. His country place has splendid improvements and he makes a specialty of dairying, having forty head of blooded stock.
Mr. Busch was married to Miss Belle Hamlin, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Hamlin. The former was affectionately known to a wide circle of friends as "Jack." They took, to raise, Benjamin Gates, when he was a year and a half old and educated him at the Maryland Agricul- tural College at College Park, Maryland.
Marvin E. Busch was born at Mason, Illinois, September 15, 1884, a son of Floyd H. and Katharine (Knemborts) Busch. His father was a native of Michigan and his mother of Illinois, and both are now resid- ing in the Prairie state. Three children were born to their union, Marvin, being the eldest. The others are Lola, wife of Arthur Nave, of Mason, Illinois, and Viva, who is at home. Marvin at the age of twenty-four came to Michigan and now has charge of his uncle's farm near Rochester, which he is managing with splendid success.
His wife was Gertrude Brown, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Robertson) Brown, to whom he was married April 27, 1910. Her par- ents were natives of Illinois and had nine children, these being : Angus, of Alma, Illinois; Maggie, wife of Vent Wakeman; Estella, wife of Roy Layson, residing in Illinois; Jesse, of Thomasborough, Illinois ; Gertrude,
PONTIAC, MICH CAN
HARRY S. GARDNER
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wife of Marvin E. Busch ; Minnie, wife of A. D. Ross, of Mason, Illi- nois; Ruth, wife of H. E. Beyers, of Mason, Illinois; Stanford and Glenn, who are at home. Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Busch are the parents of one child, Floyd Harold, born February 14, 1911. Mr. Busch is a Re- publican, a member of the United Brethren church and belongs to the M. W. A. and the F. R. A.
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