USA > Michigan > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Michigan; Volume II > Part 20
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It was but natural that a man of so broad mental ken and so marked business acumen should show a loyal and helpful in- terest in public affairs, especially those of a local order, and he was ever to be relied upon for the supporting of all measures projected for the general good of the community, the while the interests of his home city ever lay close to his heart. He identified himself with the Republican party at the time of its organization, having cast his first vote for this party's first candidate for the presidency, General John C. Fremont, and ever afterward having given a stanch allegiance to its cause, though he had naught of ambition for public office in a personal sense. Loyalty was an intrinsic element of his character, and this showed forth in his home life, in his business associations and in his intercourse with his fellow men. His kindly and generous nature had naught of ostentation and he respected every man that was worthy of respect, no matter what his station in life. An appreciative estimate of his character and services was written by one of his tried and valued friends at the time of his death and was published in a local paper. The article is worthy of perpetuation and is there- fore reproduced in this memoir, with but slight change in phrase- ology.
"It is certainly well for the younger people to realize their indebtedness to those who have gone before, those who have through many years, furthered the interests of our beautiful city, solved its problems and struggled for its prosperity. Such serv- ices, such men are too soon forgotten. One has recently passed away, and it is with the hope of perpetuating a little longer the memory and deeds of Charles L. Blood that these lines are written.
"Born and reared in the old Green Mountain state, Mr. Blood's character partook of the granite quality of those hills, and, like them, it was not stern and bare, but clothed upon with a foliage of attractive and genial traits. He came to Michigan in 1858, and located in Schoolcraft, where, as a merchant, he estab- lished a reputation for ability and integrity, which made him known in the region around. When the old First National Bank of Three Rivers was organized, by men whose stanchness and honor were from the first a. guaranty of its success, these men looked for one of like qualities and possessing the business abili- ties to be the power behind the throne. They found him in Mr. Blood, and installed him as cashier and real manager of the in- stitution, which grew and prospered until its name became a synonym for absolute integrity and financial stability. In 1884
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Mr. Blood was made president of the bank, and he ably and honorably filled this position until 1896, when failing health warned him that he must have relief from the arduous duties of the office.
"Mr. Blood loved the town in which he had made his home, rejoiced in its beauty, growth and prosperity, to all of which his interest, counsel and money were given without stint. He was ever the friend of those who needed help or advice, and many a lowly one would gladly have laid a flower of grateful remembrance on his bier when he died. The memory of his pleasing social qualities is yet fresh in the minds of those of us who remain and who have found loyalty to friends a marked characteristic of the man. His genial humor and ready wit made him always a de- lightful companion, whether in his own attractive home or in the homes of neighbors and friends. While shrinking from publicity of speech, who can forget his rare gift as a narrator of stories, which were always as clean and pure as the streams of his native state. The precincts of the home, where he was the model husband and father, are too sacred to be invaded here. And Mr. Blood loved the church of his adoption in Three Rivers. He was a con- stant attendant, a reverent worshiper and a liberal contributor to the old First Presbyterian church. Though not a member, such was the strength of his support and such his appreciation of the work that one of the pastors said of him, with deep feeling and real affection : 'Very near the kingdom.' During the long weeks of enforced silence preceding his demise, as he approached the bound of life, his courage, his patience and his gentleness showed that he found the kingdom of God within him. The beautiful verses suggested by the passage, 'He giveth his beloved sleep,' were sigfinicantly read by Dr. Skinner at the brief funeral service. On these Mr. Blood had pondered long, until he came to feel them as the expression of his faith in a loving Father's thought toward himself."
On the 9th of May, 1858, at Cavendish, Vermont, was solemn- ized the marriage of Mr. Blood to Miss Mary E. Ely, who survives him, as do also their two children, and who still resides in the beautiful old homestead, in Three Rivers, a home endeared to her by the gracious memories and associations of the past. Mrs. Blood was born in Rockingham, Windham county, Vermont, on the 27th of May, 1834, and was the fifth in order of birth of the six children-four sons and two daughters-of Rev. Richard M. and Lora (Skinner) Ely. Of the children she is now the only
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survivor. Her eldest brother, Dr. James W. Ely, was graduated from Brown University and was for sixty years engaged in the practice of his profession, having long been one of the leading physicians and surgeons of the city of Providence, Rhode Island, where his death occurred. Rev. Richard M. Ely was born in Windsor, Vermont, on the 10th of February, 1795, and his death occurred on the 10th of June, 1861. He traced his lineage back to stanch English stock, and the family was founded in New Eng- land in the colonial days. He was a clergyman of the Baptist church and his entire ministerial service was in his native state. He erected two churches and also served as pastor of a church at Rockingham, Vermont, whose edifice, still an historic landmark, was erected in 1760. Mr. Ely was a man of fine intellectual powers and his life was one of signal consecration to the work of the divine Master and to the aiding and uplifting of his fellow men. In politics he was originally an old-line Whig, but he gave his support to the cause of the Republican party from the time of its organization until his death, which occurred only a short time after the inception of the Civil war. He was a stanch abolitionist and temperance advocate, and his abiding Christian faith was shown in his daily life. He was an appreciative member of the Masonic fraternity and a close student of its noble teachings. Both he and his wife were laid to rest in the cemetery at Caven- dish, Vermont, where a beautiful monument marks their resting place.
Mrs. Lora (Skinner) Ely, mother of Mrs. Blood, was born at Pomfret, Vermont, on the 16th of June, 1796, and she was sum- moned to the life eternal on the 20th of October, 1881. She was a woman of excellent education and of distinctively gracious personality, thus proving a true companion and helpmeet to her husband and a valuable assistant in connection with his ministerial labors. Her father, Benjamin Skinner, was an ardent and loyal soldier of the Continental line in the war of the Revolution, hav- ing served as piper for his command at the battle of Bunker Hill, and having also been present at the surrender of General Bur- goyne. He was born in Connecticut, in 1754, and died in 1813.
Mrs. Blood was reared and educated in the old Green Moun- tain state, where she was afforded the advantages of Black River Academy, at Ludlow. Her marriage to Mr. Blood was solemnized at Cavendish, Vermont, and the two children of this union, whose associations were ever of ideal order, are Charles Herbert and Lora Isabel. Charles H. Blood was graduated in the Three Rivers
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high school, served six years as cashier of the First National Bank and also bookkeeper for seven years, and is now one of the repre- sentative business men of this city, where he has the management of the estate left by his honored father. He is a Republican in politics and, like his sister, is a member of the Presbyterian church. He was born in Schoolcraft, Kalamazoo county, on the 9th of August, 1862. Miss Lora Isabel Blood remains with her widowed mother and is a popular factor in connection with the leading social activities of Three Rivers. After graduation in the local high school she entered Mount Holyoke Seminary, in the city of Kalamazoo, in which institution she was duly graduated. She is justly proud of her ancestral history, particularly in that it so closely touches the war of the Revolution, and she has secured her fourth bar in her Revolutionary lineage, as four of her an- cestors were soldiers in the great struggle for independence. She has been a teacher in the Sunday school of the First Presbyterian church for fully a decade, has served as president and secretary of the Three Rivers Women's Club, of which both she and her mother are charter members, and is at the present time (1910) secretary of the Abiel Fellows Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, in her home city. In their beautiful home Mrs. Blood and her daughter have a number of interesting heirlooms, includ- ing a powder-horn carried by Moses Blood, great-grandfather of the subject of this memoir, in the war of the Revolution. This horn bears the following inscription: "Moses Blood-his horn- 1742." Other prized relics in the home are an old-time mirror, which was the property of Mrs. Blood's mother and which is fully seventy-five years old; and a double woven coverlet, which was woven by Mr. Blood's maternal grandmother, Mrs. Annie Reed, fully three-fourths of a century ago. The Blood residence has long been recognized as a center of gracious hospitality and is a favored rendezvous for a wide circle of friends.
ROBERT ROMEIG .- Noteworthy among the well-known and highly respected citizens of St. Joseph county is Robert Romeig, who is now living retired from active pursuits in the village of Moore Park. He is a self-made man in every sense implied by the term, his success in life being due to his own efforts. Beginning his active career poor in pocket, but rich in energy and ambition, he labored with sturdy industry, toiling onward and upward, rising by slow degrees from a state of comparative poverty to a condition of affluence and influence. A native of Pennsylvania,
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he was born, October 18, 1844, in Snyder county, which was also the birthplace of his father, John Romeig, Jr. His grandfather, John Romeig, Sr., was born in Pennsylvania, and as a child re- moved with his parents to Snyder county when it was included within the limits of Union county, going there from the eastern part of the state, crossing the mountains with teams.
John Romeig, Sr., was a small lad when his parents moved to Union county, and as soon as strong enough to wield an axe he began to assist in the pioneer labor of redeeming a homestead from the wilderness. When ready to begin the battle of life for himself he embarked in agricultural pursuits, and in addition to farming, operated a grist mill and a saw mill. He accumulated considerable property for his times, at one time owning two farms, on each of which he built a stone house. He lived to a good old age, he and his wife, whose maiden name was Rebecca Try, spending their last days on the homestead, in Snyder county.
John Romeig, Jr., grew to manhood in Snyder county, Penn- sylvania, and, following in the footsteps of his ancestors, became a farmer, owning two hundred acres of land in his native county, and there being employed as a husbandman until 1866. Migrating then with his family to Michigan, he spent two years in Kalama- zoo county, and then came to St. Joseph county. He purchased two hundred and nineteen and one-half acres of land in Park township, and was here engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, at the age of sixty-four years. He married Elizabeth Wyand, who was born in Snyder county, Pennsylvania, where her father, George Wyand, was a pioneer settler. She died at the age of sixty-five years, having borne her husband twelve children, ten of whom grew to years of maturity.
Coming with the family to Michigan in 1866, Robert Romeig remained with his parents for two years, and then began life for himself, working as a farm laborer. Industrious and frugal, he saved his earnings, and when he had accumulated a sufficient sum to warrant him in so doing, bought eighty acres of land in Flower- field township, on which a log barn and a house had been pre- viously erected. With a resolute will, he began clearing the re- mainder of the land, and in course of time erected a substantial set of buildings. Selling out at an advantage, Mr. Romeig pur- chased one hundred acres in the same township, and was there actively engaged in general farming for seventeen years, meeting with undisputed success in his labors. He then rented that farm, moved to Moore Park, where he bought the village home which Vol. II-13
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he now occupies, and has since been numbered among the useful and valued citizens of this place. He likewise bought a farm of one hundred acres adjoining the village, and this estate, too, he rents.
Mr. Romeig married, in 1866, Rebecca Kline, who was born in Snyder county, Pennsylvania, where her paternal grandparents were pioneer settlers. Her father, John Kline, spent his entire life of seventy years in Snyder county. Her mother, whose maiden name was Lydia Feas, was also a life-long resident of that county, dying there at the age of fifty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Romeig are the parents of five children, namely: Jack, Ellen, Reuben, Rosa and Frank. Jack married Mamie Northrup, and they have three children, Oscar, Harvey and Neva. Ellen, wife of William Griner, has three children, Maude G., Ray G., and Guy G. Reuben married Sophia Trickle, and they have four children, Verne, Hazel, Bertha and Willard. Rosa, wife of John Welty, has three children, Bessie, Myrtle and Blanche. Frank married Sadie Williams, and they have one child, Mildred. Politically Mr. Romeig is a stanch Republican. Religiously Mrs. Romeig is a member of the Reformed church.
CHANDLER R. KINGSLEY, a representative farmer and Civil war veteran of Leonidas, has been justice of the peace for the past fourteen years and an honored resident of St. Joe county since 1866. In many other forms has civil preferment come to him as an unmistakable evidence of the esteem in which his abilities and virtues are held by his associates of the past and the present. As a supporter and vigorous promoter of the moral and religious activities of his community he has been second to none in his en- thusiasm and persistency. A faithful and useful citizen, an ad- vocate and a worker for the secret fraternities and the open chari- ties, and a stanch Christian who has been bravely standing by his guns before even the days of the Civil war, Squire Kingsley is the right kind of man to claim as a friend and a citizen whom all delight to honor.
Mr. Kingsley traces his American ancestry to John Kingsley, who came from England about 1635 and settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts. From 1648 until his death January 6, 1677, he resided in Rehoboth, that colony, where his first wife (name un- known) also passed away. He married his second wife (nee Mary Mowery) November 16, 1673, and of his six children Eldad was next in direct line of descent. The latter died in August, 1679,
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father also of six children. His son, John (II) was born May 6, 1665, married Sarah Sabins, of Rehoboth, July 1, 1686, and by her became the father of eight children. Of these, Jeremiah and Amos were twins, the former being the ancestor of Judge King- sley. The mother died at Windham, Connecticut, March 9, 1709, and that town remained the family home until it was transplanted to Canaan, New York, and thence to the Western Reserve. Josiah, who spent his life in the Connecticut town, had ten children, of whom Jeremiah was the great-grandfather of Chandler R. Jere- miah, who was born in Windham April 3, 1738, married Hannah Libble January 9, 1757, and died nearly one hundred years of age. His wife passed away September 23, 1830, ninety-one years of age, mother of seven children. Frederick Kingsley, the grand- father, was born May 18, 1782, married Abigail Kellogg June 21, 1808, and a few years thereafter they moved to Canaan, New York, where the former died December 13, 1862, eighty-one years of age, his wife having preceded him April 20, 1835, when fifty- five years old. Among their children were twins, Aaron K. and Mary, born at Canaan January 14, 1815, the former becoming the father of Justice Kingsley of this sketch. He was a life-long farmer, coming to Leonidas, Michigan, after the Civil war in com- pany with his son, of this sketch. He was killed by falling from a scaffold July 12, 1888, aged more than seventy-three years. The deceased was stanch both as a Republican and as a member of the Congregational church at Leonidas. He first married Miss Cor- nelia O. Tracy, on the 4th of November, 1840, and their only child was Chandler R., born at Canaan, New York, February 11, 1843. The mother died August 15, 1855, and in 1859 Mr. Kingsley mar- ried Miss Mary E. Lewis, his second wife dying childless, July 27, 1886.
Chandler R. Kingsley received his education in the common schools of his New York home, spent several years of his youth and earliest manhood in the conflicts of the Civil war and returned to Canaan immediately after his honorable discharge, in the fall of 1865. In the autumn of the following year he located at Leoni- das, and in 1867 purchased the farm which is still his homestead. In politics, he has known nothing but Republicanism, and in pub- lic life has held membership on the township board for ten years, besides serving his long term as justice of the peace. Ever since coming to Leonidas he has been one of the leading members of the Congregational church, of which he has been superintendent of the Sunday school and deacon for a number of years. He has also
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filled all the chairs in Blackman Lodge No. 117 of the I. O. O. F., and for some years has been an active member of the I. O. G. T. and the Leonidas Grange. On November 24, 1875, at Leonidas, the judge married Miss Lucy D. Clark, daughter of George G. . and Nancy (Alexander) Clark, who had been an efficient teacher in the Constantine High School. The child by this marriage is now Dr. Aaron Floyd Kingsley. Chandler R. Kingsley took as his second wife Miss Effie G. Moore, whom he married March 6, 1889, and who bore him Lewis Verne Kingsley. There is no issue by his third marriage to Miss Alice B. Furlong, July 3, 1895. His pres- ent wife is a native of Toronto, Canada.
NORMAN W. GARRISON .- To the larger and surer vision there is no such thing as luck. No man achieves anything worthy until he learns the power of conviction and, appreciative thereof, bends his energies to the accomplishing of a definite purpose. It has been within the province of the able and popular cashier of the First National Bank of Three Rivers to gain through his own ef- forts a place of security as one of the essentially representative business men of the county that has been his home from the time of his nativity, and that his course has been marked by invincible integrity of purpose needs no further voucher than that afforded by the unqualified confidence and esteem reposed in him in the community in which he is best known. The responsible office he holds in connection with one of the leading financial institutions of the county stands in significant evidence of his technical and administrative ability, and he is a recognized power in connection with the financial and business activities of his home city and county.
Norman W. Garrison was born on the homestead farm of his father, in Fabius township, St. Joseph county, Michigan, and the date of his nativity was March 7, 1875. He is a son of Andrew Lewis Garrison and Louisa (Boles) Garrison, the former of whom was born in St. Joseph county, on the 27th of March, 1845, and the latter was also born in St. Joseph county, on the 27th of March, 1842, members of sterling pioneer families of this county. Andrew Lewis Garrison served three years during the Civil war as a member of Company H, Twenty-eighth Michigan Infantry, after the war living in Kalamazoo county until 1894, when he removed to the city of Three Rivers, where he is now liv- ing virtually retired. The mother of Norman W. Garrison died in 1876, the year following his birth, and thus he is the youngest of
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the three children. His only sister, Lucy, is now Mrs. M. Owtman, of Leonidas, Michigan, and the brother, Perry J., is engaged as machinist at Mt. Vernon, Illinois.
Under the invigorating discipline of the home farm Norman W. Garrison grew to years of maturity, and in its work he early began to lend assistance, the while he availed himself of the ad- vantages of the district school. After completing the curriculum of this rural institution he entered the high school in Three Riv- ers, in which he continued his studies for two years. Thereafter he completed an effective course in the Three Rivers Business College and fortified himself for the practical responsibilities of life. He began to depend largely upon his own resources when but fifteen years of age, and through his own efforts earned the money that enabled him to defray the expenses of his educational training after that period in his career. It is needless to say that a youth of such marked ambition, determination and self-reliance could not long remain in obscurity, and thus we find that in 1893, when eighteen years of age, Mr. Garrison secured a clerical posi- tion in the Three Rivers National Bank, with which institution he remained until December, 1895, when he secured a similar position in the offices of the First National Bank, with which he has since been identified and in which he has won promotion by faithful and effective service. In 1897 he was chosen assistant cashier and of this office he continued incumbent until August, 1900, when he was elected to the office of cashier, in which he has since given careful and able administration of the practical affairs of the institution. The First National Bank is recognized as one of the solid financial institutions of southern Michigan and its history has been one marked by conservative management, so that its reputation is on a parity with its unmistakable solidity. It has received the ex- ecutive and capitalistic support of the representative business men and capitalists of the county and its hold upon popular confidence is of the most secure order. This bank dates its inception back to the year 1864 and it is incorporated with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars. Its reserve fund and undivided profits have an aggregate of fully $12,000 at the time of this writing, 1910. Hon. Gardner Powell is president of the institution; Conrad Schaad is vice president ; and Charles G. Cox is assistant cashier. Mr. Gar- rison is a stockholder in the bank and a member of its directorate.
Thoroughly interested in everything that tends to conserve the social and civic progress of his native county, Mr. Garrison is public-spirited and liberal in his civic attitude. Though never a
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seeker of political office he is a stalwart in the local camp of the Republican party and in a fraternal way he is identified with the Knights of Pythias.
On the 7th of June, 1905, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Garrison to Miss Marie Babcock, who was born and reared in Three Rivers and who is a daughter of Darius A. and Olive (Avery) Babcock, of this city, where her father is retired. Mr. and Mrs. Garrison have two children-Keith and Chandler.
JOSEPH BROWN, of White Pigeon, is a native of England, born April 9, 1834, son of Charles and Elizabeth (Kempshell) Brown. Charles Brown died when his son was two years of age. The widow married again, and in 1845 the family emigrated to the United States, locating at White Pigeon, Michigan. When still a boy, Joseph Brown began working away from home, earning at first but a sixpence (twelve and one-half cents) per day; he was eleven years of age when the family located in White Pigeon, and soon after he began working on a farm at from six to ten dollars per month. By 1851 he had saved sufficient money to enable him to pay his passage to Panama, and from there worked his passage on a schooner to San Francisco, going from there into the moun- tains. He first worked at mining at a salary of one hundred dol- lars per month, and afterwards began mining on his own account, which he continued five years, thus being able to get enough money to start him in business.
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