USA > Michigan > Oakland County > History of Oakland County Michigan a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, its principal interests Volume II > Part 53
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For his second wife the senior Corwin took Charlotte Ketchum, sis- ter of his first wife, and she is also now deceased, having passed away on March 28, 1908. The three children by the second marriage are also dead. They were Jennie, Elizabeth and Josephine. The latter became the wife of E. L. Richmond of Pontiac.
George B. Corwin, at the age of twenty-one, went back to New Jersey and for a year and a half was engaged in the printing business. Return- ing home he worked the old farm for five years, then married and moved to Waterford township, where he farmed his father-in-law's place until 1886, and this year he bought the farm of one hundred and eighty acres and remained there for twenty years, going then to Pontiac where for two years he rented one hundred and sixty acres, returning to the old home he has remained there ever since, with the exception of a year spent in Detroit.
On December 31, 1879, Mr. Corwin was married to Sarah Leland, daughter of David and Letty (Stottle) Leland, the former a native of England and the latter of New Jersey. They came to Milford in 1845 where Mr. Leland followed farming. Mrs. Leland died in Waterford township May 15, 1881, and her husband followed on April 6, 1886. They had two children, William, deceased, and Sarah, wife of Mr. Corwin.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Corwin has been blessed with three chil- dren :- Maud, born March 3, 1881, who became the wife of William P. Fisk, of Pontiac township; Lulu, born August 19, 1882, who married Morris J. Fisk, now working the old home place, and Leland D., born April 5, 1891, and died January 6, 1894. Mr. Corwin is a Democrat and has served his constituents as school inspector, township treasurer and highway commissioner. He belongs to the Maccabees and attends
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the Congregational church. Of his descendants in the third generation there are three. Dorothy Morgan, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Morris Fisk, born August 26, 1907; Leland Eugene and George William, chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. William P. Fisk. The first named born Septem- ber 1, 1900, and the second September 12, 1906.
WASHINGTON E. IRISH. An industrious, thrifty, upright citizen, who has won by his manly and faithful discharge of every duty and his intel- ligent and serviceable assistance in every worthy enterprise, the high re- gard and unquestioning confidence of all classes in the community is Washington E. Irish, supervisor of Independence township, the owner of a finely-improved farm and one of Clarkston's leading citizens. Mr. Irish has also the distinction of being one of Oakland county's sons, hav- ing been born in the township of his residence, May 12, 1856, a son of John and Flower (Evans) Irish, natives of Devonshire, England, who came from that country to the United States with three sons and one daughter. After spending one year in New York, the family made its way to the woods of Oakland county, Michigan, and there proceeded to hew a home from the wilderness. The father was a mason by trade, and nearly all the old houses standing in the vicinity of his former home were plastered by him, his elder sons in the meanwhile devoting their energies to the farm, on which he spent his declining years. A tract of seventy acres was cleared, a comfortable home erected, and there the parents spent the evening of their lives in peace and comfort. Their children were as follows : Fanny, born in England, married W. Miller, a cooper of Clarkston, and died at the age of twenty-one years ; William, born in Eng- land and now residing on the old homestead, has gained a wide reputation as a florist, and has a beautiful display on the home grounds which were laid out by his father after the old country style; Forest, born in Eng- land, and now engaged in farming near the old homestead; Thomas, born in New York, and a retired farmer of Clarkston; John, born in Michigan ; and Washington E.
John Irish began his business career twenty-four years ago with his brother W. E., as a butcher, later engaging in sheep feeding and farming, and when W. E. bought the property settled at Thomas Station, where he has since become the leading stockman in the State. So firmly is he established in the confidence of the buying and selling public, that orders are made by telephone and prices set in his yards, and for more than thirty years he has shipped to one firm, Dunning & Stevens, at Buffalo, New York. In addition to being the largest stock buyer in Oakland county, he is president of the Metamora ( Michigan) State Savings Bank. and a stockholder in various other financial institutions.
Washington E. Irish was reared on the home farm and secured his education in the public schools. When he was twenty-one years of age he joined his brother. John, in the butchering business, with a shop in Clarkston, and in addition bought and shipped stock. Subsequently they disposed of their shop and bought a farm in Independence town- ship, the old Morris Green tract, located three miles north and one-half mile east of Clarkston, and on this property of two hundred and seven- teen acres the brothers were partners for ten years, general farming claiming the greater part of their attention. In 1893 Washington E. Irish purchased a large barn for feeding purposes, and in this venture as in all others he has met with a satisfactory degree of success. His
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home in Clarkston is a landmark, being the old residence of Nelson Clark, who founded the village. As a young man Mr. Irish was elected village assessor for two years, and during the following seven years acted in the capacity of supervisor. He also was secretary of the Monitor In- surance Company for two years, and represented the Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company of Oakland county. After an interim of sixteen years, in 1910 he was again elected to the office of supervisor of Inde- pendence township, in which he is still acceptably serving. During his first period the main stone bridges in the township were erected, and their pleasing style of architecture and permanence of construction are a credit to the board of supervisors and to the community. In 1911 the present town hall was erected. Mr. Irish is recognized as an energetic Democrat, and stands high in the councils of his party. He is an in- tensely practical, enterprising and industrious man, progressive and up- to-date in everything. He is moreover, a man of high character and sterling integrity, respected and trusted by everyone who knows him.
Mr. Irish was married to Miss Lottie A. Urich, who was born in Independence township, daughter of William and Hannah (Walters) Urich, and to them have been born five children, as follows: Alphonse, a farmer and dairyman, carrying on operations at Birmingham; Eliza- beth, a graduate of the State Normal School and now a teacher in the Clarkston schools; Fanny, who holds a position as stenographer with a large Chicago firm; Ruby, a graduate of the Clarkston High School and now a teacher in Orion township, Oakland county ; and Thelma, a stu- dent in the high school. ยท
HARRY H. DINGMAN. Harry H. Dingman of Milford, Michigan, was born in Ash township, Monroe county, on the farm of his parents, on July 11, 1848, the son of Hiram and Harriet ( Hickok) Dingman. They were from New York state, farmers all their lives there, and after com- ing to Michigan the elder Dingman learned the blacksmith's trade. Mrs. Dingman was born in Virginia and her parents were slaveholders in that state, owning a grist mill at Glasco.
Henry, or Harry Dingman, received his first schooling in the dis- trict schools of his native town, and later, when the family removed to Vassar, Michigan, he attended the high school of that place. The family moved from Vassar to Illinois where it remained for one year, but at the end of that time returned to Vassar. In 1865 Henry enlisted in Company D of the Eleventh Michigan Infantry at Detroit, Michigan, and was sent south to Chattanooga, Tennessee, thence to Cleveland, that state, doing picket duty and guarding the railroads. The company was sent to Knoxville, then ordered to Nashville, and later to Jackson, Mich- igan, where Mr. Dingman was discharged from the service at the close of hostilities.
Mr. Dingman then returned to Vassar, Michigan, a victim of south- ern fever, and was ill for more than a year. When he was able to re- sume the activities of life once more, he went to work in the lumber camps in his region as a cook. He followed that work for about six or seven years with success; then went to Saginaw and engaged as a raftsman, which was his avocation for about fifteen years, cooking dur- ing the winter seasons.
In 1877 Mr. Dingman married Miss Sarah Brown of Saginaw. She was born at Brunswick, Maine, the daughter of Charles Brown, a lum-
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berman. Ten years after his marriage, Mr. Dingman gave up the river work and came to Milford, where he engaged in farming. Later he es- tablished a barber shop and was thus occupied for a matter of sixteen years, but ill health compelled him to discontinue the work.
By his marriage with Sarah Brown, Mr. Dingman became the father of three children. Vernon, the eldest, is married and lives in Saginaw, where he is engaged as the superintendent of a stave and heading works. Julia died at the age of two years, and Pearl is the wife of John Brown of Saginaw, who is in the employ of the city. They have three children. Mrs. Dingman died in 1897, and in 1901 Mr. Dingman married Mrs. Delia Barber, a widow, who was the mother of two children. Four children have been born of this latter union.
Mr. Dingman has held the position of marshal of the village for the past two years and was constable of Milford for four years. He is a member of the G. A. R. Post No. 181, and is a Republican in politics. He is a member of the M. E. church.
FRANK DAHLMANN. Inspired by an early acquaintance with plants and flowers as they appear in their natural state, it was but natural that Frank Dahlmann should turn to their culture for his life's work, and he is now engaged in developing them in a commercial sense accord- ing to the best discoveries of science. In youth he became associated with Wilford A. Brotherton, a naturalist, and went into partnership with him. They gathered wild seeds and plants of many kinds and shipped them all over the United States and to foreign ports. Thus did Frank Dahlmann early acquire an interest in the processes of nature as applied to growing things, a knowledge which he finds constantly useful now that he oper- ates extensive gardens and greenhouses for his livelihood.
From 1889 to 1893, during Harrison's administration, he was post- master deputy for Rochester, and since that time has devoted his time to his horticulture and floriculture. He works eleven acres of ground and makes a specialty of bedding plants and vegetables. He applies modern ideas to these lines of activity. His greenhouse is of cement and glass construction, twenty by sixty feet and ten feet high. There is in addition a cement block office ten by twenty feet and a stor- age house for coal twelve by twenty feet, also of cement. The build- ings are heated by an excellent hot water system, and the sloping roofs are covered with 2,000 feet of glass panes, each sixteen by sixteen. Mr. Dahlmann has the foundation laid for an addition of 120 feet to his hot- house.
He was born in Rochester, February 9, 1869, his parents being Fred- erick and Lena (Burgman) Dahlmann both natives of Germany. He was married to Myrtle Ruddock on April 18, 1900. She is a daughter of James Ruddock, a Civil war veteran who was one of those who ex- perienced the horrors of the famous Andersonville prison. Her mother was Elizabeth (Shilletto) Ruddock. Mrs. Dahlmann is by several lines of genealogy a descendant of English nobility. She and her brothers and sisters numbered six. The first two children died in infancy. William, the third in line is a government land inspector in Washing- ton; Walter lives in Rochester and Howard, at Flint, Michigan ; while Mrs. Dahlmann is the youngest of the family. Mr. and Mrs. Dahlmann have three children: Edward Ashley, born March 20, 1901 ; Frederick Angus, born March 23. 1903 ; and John Lewis, born January 12, 191I.
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Mr. Dahlmann, as well as his wife, may lay claim to an intimate touch with the blue blood of Europe. He had a great-uncle who was body guard to Emperor William, and our subject's father was a playmate of Emperor Frederick William of Germany during their boyhood days. Mr. Dahlmann is a Republican and has served as constable in his town- ship. He is a member of the Universalist denomination, while his wife is Episcopal in faith.
JOHN HENRY MEAD. Noteworthy for his good citizenship and many excellent traits. of character, John Henry Mead has for many years been intimately associated with the development and promotion of the agricultural resources of Oakland county, but at the present time is liv- ing retired in Holly, having rented his farm for a time. A son of Thomas and Sarah Mead, he was born in 1845, at Macedon Center, Wayne county, New York, where he was brought up and educated.
Thomas Mead was for many years employed in agricultural pur- suits in New York, where he owned a good farm. Disposing of his property in that state in 1866, he came to Michigan to spend his last days, and subsequently lived with his son, Thomas G. Mead, in Tecumseh. He reared three children, as follows: Richard T. Mead, M. D., who was graduated from the Albany, New York, Medical College, settled as a physician and surgeon in Manistee, Michigan, and there was ac- tively engaged in the practice of his profession for many years, both he and his wife dying in that city; Thomas, living four miles east of Tecumseh, on the one hundred and fifty acre farm which formerly be- longed to his father, married Elizabeth Sutton; and John Henry, the subject of this brief biographical record.
Acquiring his early education in the public schools of his native town, John Henry Mead began when young to perform his share of the manual labor incidental to life on a farm. Becoming familiar with the theory and practice of agriculture, he came to Michigan in search of a favorable location, settling, in 1865, in Rose township, Oakland county. He first purchased from Horace Leland sixty-five acres of land, and being very successful in its management he soon bought the old Calvin Busse farm of seventy-four acres, which adjoined his original purchase. Having placed the greater part of his land under cultivation, Mr. Mead subsequently invested in more land, buying a near-by tract of one hun- dred and fifty-eight acres and increasing the area of his estate, which now contains one hundred and sixty acres of as rich and fertile land as can be found in this section of the county, it being pleasantly situ- ated one mile south of Holly. At present he rents his farm and is now living in Holly.
Mr. Mead married, January 17, 1864, Miss Louise Downing, who was born in Walworth, Wayne county, New York. Her father, Henry Downing, was for many years engaged in farming in the Empire state. Coming from there to Oakland county, Michigan, with his family, he carried on an excellent business as a dealer in produce for several years, continuing his residence in Holly until his death, which occurred in September, 1911, he having been an invalid and confined to his bed the two previous years. He married Elizabeth Denise, who bore him two children, Emma, who died in New York, and Louise, now Mrs. Mead. Since the death of Mr. Downing, Mr. and Mrs. Mead have lived in Holly with Mrs. Downing. Mr. and Mrs. Mead are the parents of three Vol. II-25
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children, namely : Frank, business manager of the Fresco Lantern Fac- tory, at Rochester, Oakland county, married Belle Collier, of Clifton Springs, New York, and has two children; Emma, wife of Howard W. Wright, a native of Newton, Pennsylvania, and now manager of Ward's Elastic Webb Company, at Mansfield, Ohio, has two children; and Edith, wife of Floyd Barrett, a son of Charles Barrett, is now living in De- troit, her husband being auditor at the Tuller Hotel, and they have two children. Mrs. Mead is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
GEORGE F. GOODELL. At no period of his life since his youth has this prominent farmer of Novi, Oakland county, Michigan, shirked his duty or been slack or inattentive in the performance of it. He was at- tentive to the requirements of his schools in boyhood and early youth, and profited by his obedience to them. He learned a laborious trade under the instruction of his father after leaving school, and worked at it faithfully and industriously until he felt called to higher duties in the defense of the Union, which was then threatened with dismember- ment through the force of armed resistance to its mandates. In the army he served in various important capacities, saw active service in the field in several of the terrible engagements of the sanguinary and destructive struggle between the sections, and in one of them received a serious wound which disabled him for years. After receiving his wound he was taken prisoner and languished in southern prisons for nearly a year and a half. The voice of duty has ever been to him one of imperative command which was not to be resisted or neglected, and by his continuous and consistent course in this respect he has won the admiration and cordial regard of all who know him.
Mr. Goodell was born at Cherry Valley, New York, on October 16, 1843, and is a son of David and Caroline (Brown) Goodell. The father was a wagon maker and blacksmith, and worked hard at his trade from an early period in his life. In April, 1847, he brought his wife and three children to Novi, Michigan, and at West Novi built a shop to again work at his trade. When the son reached a suitable age he began to attend the school at Novi and after a due preparation in that passed one year at a higher institution in Coldwater. After leaving school he learned the trade of his father and worked at it with him until August 9, 1862, when he enlisted in Company I, Twenty-second Michigan In- fantry, under command of Captain Kimburk. Mr. Goodell left the state with his regiment and received his baptism of fire in the war at the battle of Stony Creek, Kentucky. After that he was detailed to pro- vost duty at Northville, Tennessee. The regiment was next sent to the front, and on August 19, 1863, began taking part in the famous and bloody battle of Chickamauga. In this battle Mr. Goodell was under steady fire until the afternoon of the second day, August 20, when he was shot through the left leg and afterward taken prisoner. He was confined in a tobacco warehouse in Richmond, Virginia, for one week, and then transferred to Andersonville prison, the horrors of which he was compelled to endure for fourteen months, all of the time suffering tort- ures from his wound, in December, 1864, he was paroled and sent to Annapolis, Maryland, where he received a furlough of thirty days. He at once took advantage of his liberty to make a visit to his old home at Novi. On the expiration of his furlough he reported to the provost
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marshal in Detroit, and as he was manifestly disabled for duty, he was taken to Harper Hospital for treatment.
He remained in the hospital until June 30, 1865, and then was hon- orably discharged from the army. Once more he returned to Novi, but during the next four years was unable to walk without crutches. In 1870 he began to work at his trade again, and continued in this em- ployment for a number of years. until he turned his attention to farm- ing, in which he has ever since been profitably engaged, although still disabled for the hardest work by reason of the wound received in the war. The people around him rewarded his patriotism with their last- ing confidence and esteem and showed their estimate of his worth by his selection for several official positions, in some of which he has had extended tenures. He has been highway commissioner for two years, and was also constable for one year and deputy sheriff for eleven years. He has also taken a prominent part in the fraternal life of his com- munity and the country through his connection with the Grand Army of the Republic ever since its organization, and in the service of which he has been most zealous and devoted. He holds his membership in this organization in Allen M. Harmon Post, No. 318, at Northville, and has filled with credit every office in its gift. In addition he has been sent as a delegate and as post commander to many state and grand en- campments, having attended numerous state encampments and the grand encampments in Detroit, Buffalo, Chicago, Boston and Saratoga. At present (1912) he holds the office of patriotic district instructor in the organization and is very popular in it wherever he is known. His political affiliation is with the Republican party, and in church mem- bership he is a Baptist, with cordial interest in the welfare of both his party and the church to which he has belonged for many years.
On July 7, 1865, Mr. Goodell was married to Miss Mary A. Haney of Grand Rapids, this state, a daughter of Heber and Mary Haney. She was a native of Grand Rapids, and her family was ardently de- voted to the Union, seven of her brothers serving in the Army of the North during the Civil war. These were J. B., William, Henry, Horace, Hiram, Francis and Elijah, all of whom made excellent records in the service, faithfully performing every duty and showing exalted courage on the field of battle. Mr. and the first Mrs. Goodell became the par- ents of two children, their daughter Herma, who is now the wife of Frank Draper, a merchant in Little Rock, Arkansas, and has two chil- dren, her son Frederick A. and her daughter Flora. The other child, Clara Goodell, died at the age of six months, and mother of these chil- dren also passed away. On December 25, 1888, the father was again married, being united on this occasion with Miss Catherine Huggar, of Lyon township, Oakland county, where she was born. Two children have also been born of this union, Phebe A. and James. Phebe is the wife of George Biery, of Novi, a painter and decorator, and they also have two children, Ruth and Lillian. James died at the age of eleven months.
Mr. Goodell is prosperous and successful as a farmer, progressive in his methods, in touch with the latest and best that is known in the science of agriculture. He is universally esteemed as a citizen for his enterprise and public spirit and his unwavering interest in everything that involves the improvement of his locality and the enduring good of its residents, morally, mentally, socially, in reference to public affairs
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and in all the other relations of life. He is always at the front for progress and further development, and his work in this behalf is guided by intelligence and breadth of view, which make him wise in counsel as his zeal renders him energetic in action.
CHARLES W. KERR. On Rochester Rural Route No. One lies the farm belonging to Mr. Kerr, one of the solid and substantial farmers of Oakland county. This attractive place in section 30 of Avon town- ship, by no means represents his landed interests, for he has another farm of one hundred and six acres in Florida, where the more salu- brious climate permits of far different trend of crops than is possible in Michigan, while the latter in turn has staples which would not do at all well in the Florida peninsula. Thus equipped, however, Mr. Kerr is at liberty to follow as diversified a line of agricultural endeavor as the United States makes possible.
Originally Mr. Kerr is from Canada. He was born in Ontario on October 31, 1853, of Scotch parents, Robert and Elizabeth (Wilson) Kerr. He came to Oakland in 1900 and bought the place to which ref- erence has been made, and where in addition to general farming he con- ducts a profitable side line of stock raising.
His wife, to whom he was married on May 20, 1884, was Elizabeth Ann Reynolds, daughter of James and Elizabeth (Hogg) Reynolds. Death has never invaded the home of Mr. and Mrs. Kerr, and their seven children present a happy and unbroken circle when family re- unions are held. They are: Louise Jane, who is attending college at Ann Arbor; Laura Margaret, wife of J. S. Hosler, of Falmouth, Mich- igan ; William Reynolds, who is now engaged on the home place; Anna May, wife of Benjamin Stone, of Flint, Michigan; Mable Edith, Viola Lauretta and John Wilson, who are all at home. Mr. Kerr while he was a resident of Canada served his neighbors as school trustee.
JOHN R. TAYLOR. Bereft by death of a mother's care when he was but four years old; a soldier in the Union army at the age of seven- teen; after the Civil war was a farmer for five years; then a dairyman for more than twenty ; and now living practically retired from active pur- suits in the enjoyment of a well-earned rest and the competency, he has accumulated by his industry and thrift, John R. Taylor, of Pontiac, has had a varied experience in which light and shade have played, in almost equal measure so far as events are concerned. But the shade has never darkened his sunny disposition or abated his courage in meeting the difficulties of life, and the light has never, for a day, unduly elated him or stayed the industry of his vigorous and skillful hand. In spite of all changes in circumstances he has steadily wrought on under the con- viction that it was his duty to make the most of all his time and op- portunities for his own advantage and the benefit of the people around him.
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