History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan, Part 89

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, D.W. Ensign & co.
Number of Pages: 716

USA > Michigan > Clinton County > History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan > Part 89
USA > Michigan > Shiawassee County > History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan > Part 89

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

In 1874 further additions were made to the factory buildings, so that now the works, including a mill for the sawing of hard woods, cover about six acres. Since the organization R. M. Steel has been the president and W. W. Brainard the superintendent of the company, J. L. Paldi was secretary until June, 1870, when he was sue- eceded by D. S. French, the present secretary. The com- pany's capital remains at the original sum of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Its stockholders are but three in number,-R. M. Steel, William Steel, and W. W. Brainard.

One hundred and twenty men are employed in the manu- facture of all kinds of furniture, of which the especial features for the past three years have been extension-tables and extension slides, upon which latter a valuable patent is held. These latter are marketed in all parts of the country. The furniture product is generally sold within the State. During the year 1879 there were used in the manufactory two million feet of pine and five hundred thousand feet of hard wood.

HUCKS' FOUNDRY.

Archelaus Silsbee opened a foundry in 1857 for the mak- ing of plow-points and general castings, and soon took in as a partner Wm. II. Moote, of the firm of Corbit & Moote, hardware merchants. The business passed through fre- quent changes in ownership, and lastly to John Hicks, who has been interested in it since 1873. The establishment is known as the St. Johns Foundry and Agricultural Works, and is engaged in the manufacture of general ma- chine castings, but more especially in the manufacture of the " Victor Mower," in which a good deal of business is done.

THE ST. JOHNS CO OPERATIVE COMPANY.

In 1875, Messrs. A. S. Fildew, Ira D. Nichols, E. L. Nichols, and Frank Fildew founded the St. Johns Co-

376

HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

operative Company for the extensive manufacture of doors, sash, and blinds. In the summer of 1879, I. D. Nichols was accidentally killed in the factory, and consequent upon that event the establishment passed by purchase into the hands of the Fildew Brothers, present proprietors, who have added a spoke-factory to the original works.

WIGGINS & FAIRCHILD'S MILL.

The firm of Wiggins & Fairchild has been engaged since 1878 in the operation, on Higham Street, of an elm-bark mill, to which was added in the fall of 1879 the business of a bed-spring manufactory that is rapidly developing into a business of considerable importance.

ST. JOHNS FIRE DEPARTMENT.

At a meeting of the village trustees held June 12, 1858, a petition was presented by W. H. Moote, signed by J. W. Ilungerford, H. C. Hodge, George F. Mead, William Il. Moote, and thirty-five others, praying that they might be enrolled as firemen in Hook-and-Ladder Company No. 1. It was thereupon " Resolved, That the following-named persons be organized into a fire company, to be denominated Hook-and-Ladder Company No. 1, of the village of St. Johns, in accordance with the provisions of aet No. 168, section 39, session laws of 1857 : James W. Hungerford, Hiram C. flodge, Henry Walbridge, R. Plumstead, George F. Mead, W. W. Brainard, T. II. Foland, O. W. Munger, J. H. Corbit, George W. Stephenson, S. W. Ingraham, William A. McOmber, William Wieks, William H. Vol- leau, John Turner, John D. Cain, George W. Estes, George W. Carly, Z. C. Cheney, C. W. Palmer, William HI. Moote, George L. Patel, Il. A. Smith, Charles F. Smith, John Ransom, Wilson Curtiss, W. W. Flagler, T. R. Burns, D. P. Bissell, George W. Emmons, Abijah Schaff, S. T. Hlay- ward, L. MeCabe, C. O. Stiles, William J. MeKay, N. Grummons, John Travis, G. B. Stevens, and George II. Stephenson."

This hook-and-ladder company, so called, was simply the addition of a ladder attachment to the old-time bucket brigade. There was no " truck," but what ladders were provided were kept in various convenient places to serve iu time of need.

On the 14th of March, 1860, the trustees received from citizens and tax-payers a petition asking for the purchase of hose and a fire-engine, and the construction of capacious water-tanks on Clinton Avenue. At the meeting of April 3, 1860, the trustees resolved to purchase for five hundred dollars the engine belonging to Eagle Engine Company, No. 2, of Detroit, to secure a hose-cart and three hundred feet of hose, and to construct two reservoirs on Clinton Avenue.

At a trustees' meeting, June 2, 1860, the matter of or- ganizing Pioneer Fire Company, No. 1, being under con- sideration, William H. Moote and Charles Plumstead were appointed a committee to take such measures as were necessary for such organization. June 4th the committee re- ported, and upon their report the following ordinance was adopted :

" Be it ordained by the president and trustees of the village of St. Johns that we hereby establish and organize

a fire company, to be known and designated as Eagle Com- pany, No. 1, consisting of the following-named persons, to wit : William H. Moote, B. M. Shields, J. H. Corbit, C. B. Holiday, Charles F. Smith, James H. Alward, Charles Plumstead, Marvin E. Palmer, W. E. Servis, Charles Kipp, William W. Flagler, James Vanrice, S. T. Hayward, James Travis, Asher Teachout, John W. Paine, George W. Estes, Richard Moore, James B. Wait, Jerome Bacheler, W. H. Ediek, G. M. Farnham, John Dunn, Henry Hunn, Lorenzo Hall, John Turner, Robert G. Shaw, Alfred B. Olin, An- thony Cook, John Hicks, Jacob Brown, H. Walbridge, O. W. Munger, Jerry Dobin, Charles McColiff, and James W. Ilungerford.

The civil officers were William H. Moote, President ; Charles Kipp, Vice-President ; Richard Moore, Secretary ; Marvin E. Palmer, Treasurer. The fire officers, Charles Plumstead, Foreman ; John W. Paine, First Assistant ; S. T. Hayward, Second Assistant ; William W. Flagler, Pipe- man ; George W. Estes, Steward.

The cause of change in the name of the company from " Pioneer" to " Eagle" was a fancy of the majority to adopt the latter because it had been borne by the company from whom the engine was purchased,-" Eagle," of De- troit, being somewhat noted as a company of élite young men.

The hand-engine purchased in 1860 continued to do duty for the Eagle Company of St. Johns until May, 1880, when it was superseded by a fine third-class steamer of the Silsbee make, costing three thousand dollars.

Firemen's Hall, now the headquarters of the department, is a fine two-story brick structure, embellished with a mas- sive bell-tower. The hall was erected in 1874, upon the ground occupied by the old frame engine-house destroyed by fire in 1873.

William Hoffman is chief engineer of the fire depart- ment, and John Tramper first assistant. The department consists of Eagle Steam Fire Company, C. B. Stout, fore- man, with forty men ; Rescue Hook-and-Ladder Company, No. 1, William W. Leland, foreman, with twenty-four men ; and Alert Hose Company, C. E. Palfrey, foreman, with sixteen men. George W. Estes is president, F. Fairchild secretary, and Miner Boyd treasurer.

MEMORABLE FIRES IN ST. JOIINS.

The first village couflagration of any consequenee oe- curred in 1858, in the burning of Swegles' grist-mill. April 14, 1860, a fire originated in the second story of the building oceupied by John Hicks as a store, and swept away every building save one on the west side of Clinton Avenue between Walker and Higham Streets. In 1863 the Amer- ican House was destroyed ; in 1867 the Clinton House and three or four stores were burned ; in 1875 four stores on Clinton Avenue south of Walker Street and the engine- honse on Walker Street; and in 1878 several stores on the west side of Clinton Avenue south of Walker Street.

These fires destroyed in each case frame structures, and inasmuch as they called into existence briek blocks to fill the vacant places, the disasters proved to be in the end benefits to the village.

RESIDENCE OF R. M. STEEL ST. JOHNS MICH.

RESIDENCE OF J. H. FEDEWA . ST. JOHNS. MICH.

377

VILLAGE OF ST. JOHNS.

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BUILDINGS IN ST. JOHNS.

St. Johns has much of which to be proud in the way of residences as well as business blocks, while it may be truly said in respect to the court-house that few buildings of the kind in the State ean approach it in point of massive and imposing proportions and architectural beauty. It was built at an expenditure of forty-five thousand dollars, of which the village of St. Johns contributed five thousand dollars, Oet. 3, 1868, by a popular vote of 167 to 11.

The first brick structures in the town were Johu W. Paiue's store and residence. Both were built in 1860. The best block of its day, and now a conspicuous feature of the town, was the Hicks & Steel Block, built by John Hieks in 1867. There are besides the Hieks Block, numerous fine briek blocks deserving of more than passing mention, among them being the Opera-House building. There are, moreover, other briek blocks in course of construction, and these when completed will add materially to the present attractive appearance of the chief business thoroughfare of the village.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

OLIVER LYMAN SPAULDING.

Oliver Lyman Spaulding was born at Jaffrey, N. H., Aug. 2, 1833, and is the son of Lyman and Susan (Mar- shall) Spaulding. He prepared for college at Melville Academy, in Jaffrey, working on the farm during the time. In 1851 he entered Oberlin College, from which he graduated in 1855. He then speut three years in teaching, devoting his leisure to the study of law. Ile taught successively in the union schools at Medina, Ohio, and Hillsdale, Mich., and in the academy at Me- dina, Mich. In 1858 he was admitted to the bar, and settled at St. Johns, where he has since continued to prae- tice his profession, with the exception of the time spent in the civil war. In 1862 he began military service as cap- tain in the Twenty-third Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and was appointed, snecessively, major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel, having been senior officer in command of the regiment from the time of receiving his commission as major in 1863. At the close of the war he was in com- mand of the Second Division, Twenty-third Army Corps, and was brevetted brigadier-general of United States vol- unteers, June 25, 1865, " for faithInl and meritorious ser- vices during the war." In 1858 he was elected a regent of the State University, and held the office until 1864. In 1866 he was elected Secretary of State, and was re-elected in 1868. In 1875 he was appointed by President Grant Special Agent of the Treasury Department, which office he still holds.

Gen. Spaulding has for a number of years been actively connected with the Masonic fraternity. In 1869 he was Grand Master of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters ; in 1872, Grand Commander of the Grand Com- mandery of Knights Templar ; in 1877, Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter; and for several years has been chairman of the standing committee on appeals in the

Grand Lodge. Hle is at present Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the State of Michigan.

Gen. Spaulding was reared a Congregationalist, but in 1866 beeame connected with the Episcopal Church, and since that time has been senior warden.

Politieally he has been an active member of the Repub- lican party since its organization, and an ardent member of the State Central Committee since 1870. In the Repub- lican Convention held at Owosso, he was nominated by acclamation, Ang. 5, 1880, for member of Congress from the Sixth District.

His family consists of a wife and three children. Mrs. Spaulding was the daughter of the Hon. John Swegles, who was the founder of the village of St. Johns.

JOIIN II. FEDEWA.

Among the honorable names in the county of Clinton that reeall the qualities of energy and force of character as the chief elements in a successful career, no finer example is discovered than that presented in the life of John H. Fe- dewa. With . two hundred and fifty dollars given him in early life,-a mere adjunet to the eapital which his own in- dustry and ambition supplied,-he has at the age of thirty- one years not only acquired a thorough legal education but been the recipient of' many offices of trust, and is now filling for the second term the office of prosecuting attor- ney for the county.

His father, Morris Fedewa, was born in Germany, in 1812, the birth of his mother, also a native of Germany, having occurred the year following. They emigrated to the hospitable shores of America during the year 1842, and at once 'embarked in agricultural pursuits in the township of Dallas, Clinton Co. Here their son was born May 8, 1849, having been the eighth in a family of twelve children.

Mr. and Mrs. Fedewa experienced all the hardships of the early settler, the former having borne his grist many miles to Lyons, to avail himself of the nearest mill. Until the age of eighteen years John Il. led the accustomed life of the farmer's son, having labored in summer and studied in winter. Ile later enjoyed for two years the advantages of the St. Johns lligh School, after which he taught for a brief period. In 1870 he entered the law-school at the University of Michigan, from which he graduated May 27, 1872. He then began the practice of his profession in .Westphalia, and in 1873 was elected supervisor of the township. He was re-elected the following year, and soon after honored with the office of prosecuting attorney of the county, which occasioned his removal to St. Johns, where he remained until 1877. He returned again to his former residence, and was soon recalled to the office of su- pervisor of the township, which he filled for two successive terms. The ability with which he discharged the onerous duties of proseenting attorney during a previous term in- sured his re-election in 1878, and his removal again to St. Johns as a result. Mr. Fedewa was on the 27th of No- vember, 1876, married to Miss Lizzie Petsch, of Fowler, Clinton Co., Mich. Their home is graced by the presence of' one little daughter, named Pauline May.

378

IIISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

ROBERT M. STEEL.

Robert M. Steel was born in the town of Craftsbury, Vt., Oct. 21, 1833. His father, William Steel, a native of Scot- land, emigrated to America in 1830, and settled in Vermont. Ile was a contractor and builder. Robert M. Steel took an academie course in that State. After having received a thorough training in the carpenter and joiner business from his father, at the age of twenty-que he went to Toronto, and was employed as time-keeper on the Grand Trunk Railroad. After two months he was appointed foreman on the road that was building between Sarnia and Toronto, and held the position for fifteen months. His employers, Hayden & Ross, taking a contract to lay the superstructure on the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad, he entered into a partnership with them. In 1856 he removed to St. Johns as the most convenient point, and was engaged in com- pleting this contract until the fall of 1858. In 1859 he took a contract to lay the superstructure on the Grand Trunk Railroad from Detroit to Port Huron, and at the · same time was interested, with W. A. Stearnes & Co., in building a road from Three Rivers, on the St. Lawrence River, to Athabaska, a distance of thirty-eight miles. He finished these contracts in December, 1859. On the 9th of September, 1862, he entered into partnership with one of his first employers, Mr. Ross, under the firm-name of Ross, Steel & Co., to build the Kansas Pacific Railroad from Kansas City to the one hundredth meridian, a distance of three hundred and sixty miles. They had one hundred miles located and about twenty-five graded when the com- pany disposed of their franchise to Samuel Hallett and J. C. Fremont. Mr. Steel then entered into partnership with Ellethorpe & Adams, under the firm-name of Ellethorpe, Adams & Steel, and was engaged in building stone bridges, etc., for the city of Leavenworth. He was subsequently engaged in rebuilding the Hannibal and St. Joseph Rail- road, and continued in this work until December, 1869. In 1867 he made an individual contract with James F. Joy to build the accretions at Burlington, Iowa, for the union depot of Burlington and Missouri, and Chicago, Bur- lington and Quincy Railroads. This contract was com- pleted in the fall of 1868 by working night and day. In 1870 he made a contract to build ninety miles of the St. Louis and Southeastern Railroad, which was completed November, 1871. In January, 1872, he took a contract on the Cairo and Vincennes Railroad, having the entire road to build through two counties, a distance of one hun- dred and sixty-eight miles, and the building of culverts, bridges, etc. This was completed in December, 1872. In 1873 he took the contract to build the superstructure of forty miles on the Paducah aud Memphis Railroad, and completed that in thirty-five days. In May, 1875, Mr. George Mason, of Toronto, made a contract to build seventy miles of railway between the Great Western Railway of Canada on the south, and the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway on the north, to be opened for traffic on the 1st day of January, 1876. Mr. Steel received the contract to grade thirty miles of the same; also, the fencing of the whole line, one hundred and forty miles of posts and board fence. The following is an extract from a letter from Mr. Mason :

" The whole work is completed to my entire satisfaction, and I have no hesitation in saying that to your skill, ex- perience, and energy as contractor, I consider I am indebted in a great measure for the successful completion of the undertaking.

" Believe me faithfully yours, " GEORGE MASON, " Chief Engineer, L. II. and B. R. R., and D. und M. R. R."

Besides his extensive railroad contracts Mr. Steel was connected with the government work at Chicago, Calumet, Ludington, Manistee, and Frankfort. In the year 1857 he became a Freemason, and is now a member of the St. Johns Commandery. In 1848 he visited England, Ireland, and Scotland, and was absent one year. He is a Republi- ean, and east his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. In all matters that pertain to the advancement of St. Johns or Clinton County, Mr. Steel is ever ready to assist by his counsel or capital. He largely engaged in agriculture, and is the president of the Clinton County Agricultural Society. He was instrumental in organizing the St. Johns Manu- facturing Company, having a paid-up capital of one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars. He owns ninety per cent. of the capital, and holds the office of president. In social relations genial and companionable, in business matters he is prompt and reliable, as a citizen respected and in- fluential, at home cordial and hospitable; to the poor he has been a quiet, unostentatious friend. He married, March 13, 1860, Miss Carrie A. Hyatt, daughter of James M. Hyatt, of New York State. They have three children,- George A., Robert G., and Carrie L.

JOHN IIICKS.

Mr. Hicks may with justice be regarded as one of the foremost men of Clinton County in business enterprises, and one who in certain specialties of trade has no com- petitor. He is a Canadian by birth, having been born in Kingston, Canada West, in 1824, his father, Samuel Ilicks, and mother, Eunice Bailey, having both been natives of Connecticut. The former was a patriot of the war of 1812, and was an active participant in the battle of Sackett's Harbor. Mr. Hicks is of English extraction, and the first twenty-six years of his life were spent mostly in Canada, after which he came to the States, and repaired at onee to Michigan, having located in De Witt, Clinton Co., and en- gaged as elerk and book-keeper with Hon. David Sturgis, who was in the milling and mercantile business. A year later he became a partner, and remained until 1856, when, St. Johns presenting a wider sphere for his remarkable business abilities, he became a resident of the county-seat, meanwhile having disposed of his interest at De Witt to James Sturgis. Since then he has been actively engaged in mercantile enterprises, first as a dealer in dry goods and later as an extensive dealer in wheat. In the latter branch of trade Mr. Hicks is one of the largest, if not the largest, shippers of wheat iu his portion of the State, and had the satisfaction of forwarding the first car-load of that grain by rail from St. Johus.

379

BINGHAM TOWNSIIIP.

Mr. Hlieks was chairman of the committee on the erec- tion of the court-house and jail at St. Johns, and has been the vice-president of the First National Bank of the city since its organization. He was married in 1855 to Miss Eliza Huston, of Vermont, and has three children, who with their parents share the comforts of the most attractive home in St. Johns. Mr. Hicks, in connection with other extensive business interests, is the proprietor of a foundry. His integrity of character and fairness have not only mate- rially contributed to his financial success, but established for him an enviable reputation in all mercantile circles.

CHAPTER LI.

BINGHAM TOWNSHIP .*

Pioneers and Settlements-Township Organization and Civit List- Township Highways-Educational-Religious.

BINGHAM is conspicuous among the townships of Clinton County because it contains within its territory the village of St. Johns, the county-seat. Its designation upon the government survey is town 7 north, in range 2 west. Its boundaries are Greenbush on the north, Olive on the south, Ovid on the east, and Bengal on the west.

Originally including in many places considerable tracts of waste land, Bingham still contains some swampy country, -notably east and southeast of St. Johns village,-but the rapidity with which this has been drained and improved during late years makes its complete reclamation only a question of time, and probably of the near future.

The Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway passes through the town from east to west upon almost an air-line, and has in Bingham the station of St. Johns, the market- and shipping-town for a wide streteh of surrounding conntry.

THE PIONEERS OF BINGHAM.

Bingham township received its first settlers upon section 10, in the fall of 1837. The land there located covered two eighty-acre lots, which Lucius Morton bought in 1837 for his father-in-law, Thomas Neal, who with Morton and two other sons-in-law, named Joseph Russell and Benjamin Finkle, was living in Lenawee County. In the autumn of 1837, Lucius Morton and his brother Herod came to the place and rolled up the body of the first house built in Bingham. Their intention was to stop until they could complete the house and make a small clearing; but their provisions gave out before their allotted task was done, and so they had to return to Lenawee County. When they got back there, Lucius hired Benjamin Finkle and Runah Mor- ton to go out to Bingham and finish what had been begun. They reached the ground December, 1837, and in the fol- lowing summer Thomas Neal came out. In September, 1838, Lucins Morton followed. Upon his arrival he found that Silas Parks had joined the settlement and was on sec- tion 3, where John Avery now lives, and that Joel Bebee was on section 10. In February, 1839, Joseph Russell lo-

eated likewise on section 10. At that time, therefore, the settlers in the northern part of the township included Thomas Neal, Benjamin Finkle, Runah Morton, Lucius Morton, Joel Bebee, Joseph Russell, and Silas Parks.

The first child born in the settlement was Lewis, son of Lucius Morton, whose birth occurred in 1838. In 1863 he was drowned in the Maple River while fishing from a boat. Ile was subject to fits, and being attacked by oue while in the boat fell overboard. The first deaths in the town occurred in 1840, when by scarlet fever, which raged in a violent form, Benjamin Finkle lost three children, all of' whom died in the same week. At the same time Silas Parks also lost two children by the same disease. Other children of the neighborhood were sick with the fever, but those mentioned were the only ones who died. .

Silas Parks, already named, gained some notoriety during the year 1839 by reason of' the mysterious disappearance of his four-year old boy under circumstances that were said to have pointed strongly to Parks as the author of his death, although nothing tangible was adduced against him. Parks gave out that his child was lost, saying that the little fellow had set out to visit a neighbor's house, and after that had not been seen. Intelligence of the disappearance of the child quickly spread, and people to the number of one hundred or more promptly gathered and organized a search- ing-party. They hunted for a week or ten days, and pur- sued their work with unceasing vigilance until all hope of discovery was given up, and then they came to the conclu- sion that Parks had in a fit of anger made away with the child and concealed the body. He stoutly maintained that the Indians " must have done it." Of course everybody knew that story to be an improbable one, and that Parks in a moment of impetuous rage had fatally injured another of his children ; but no legal investigation followed, and Parks went unscathed, at least by the law.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan, Part 89

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia, D.W. Ensign & co. Number of Pages: 716

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, D.W. Ensign & co.
Number of Pages: 716