USA > Michigan > Wexford County > History of Wexford County, Michigan, embracing a concise review of its early settlement, industrial development and present conditions > Part 59
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June 8, 1879. Mr. Callis was united in marriage to Miss Della A. Matteson, a na- tive of Avon, Lorain county, Ohio, born April 21, 1862. Her parents were Abner L. and Susan ( Card) Matteson, natives of the state of New York. The family came from Ohio to Wexford county, Michigan, some two years previously. He secured a farm in Colfax township, upon which he built a home and there they continued to reside until death claimed the worthy and devoted couple. Her death occurred April 14, 1882, he surviving her a little more than four years, expiring July 13. 1886. Each was about sixty years old at the time of death. Mrs. Callis is the youngest of a family of eight children. She and her husband are the parents of four chil-
dren, viz: Edith M., Alwin B., Effie N. and Morris C. Edith is the wife of Lewis B.
About the time of his marriage Mr. Cal- lis became the owner of sixty acres of land in Cedar Creek township and soon afterward the young couple established their abode thereon. The tract is well improved and supplied with all necessary buildings, which are far superior to the average farm struc- tures. There are thirty-two acres under cul- tivation and the place is well stocked and supplied with all necessary implements and machinery for its proper operation. Its owner is an intelligent, progressive and thor- ough farmer, one who believes in the policy of a little farm well tilled.
In politics T. Henry Callis is independ- ent, and the manner in which he has been honored by his fellow citizens precludes the possibility of his being a bitter partisan. During the years from 1893 to 1895, inclu- sive, he represented his township on the county board of supervisors. He served also as township clerk and for four years has been a member of the board of school examiners of Wexford county. He has been for several years president of the Wexford County Farmers Institute and in 1894 was the entim- erator for the township in which he lives. He and his worthy wife, who has contributed much to the success and popularity of her husband, are members of Rose Hill Grange No. 949, Patrons of Husbandry. Mr. and Mrs. Callis are classed among the most in- telligent and refined residents of Cedar Creek township and consequently enjoy the respect and esteem of their neighbors to an unusual degree. No words of commendation that can here be added could enhance the regard [ in which they are hekl.
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WEXFORD COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
MARVIN D. COLVIN.
Marvin D. Colvin is the owner of a val- uable and highly improved farm of two hun- dred acres situated on section 11, Wexford township. This property is the visible evi- dence of his life of industry, his well directed labors and his sound judgment in business affairs. He is today classed among the rep- resentative and highly respected agricultur- ists of his community and it is with pleas- ure that the record of his life is here pre- sented. \ native of the Empire state. he was born in Cattaraugus county on the 13th of February, 1874. His father, Barton Colvin, was also born in New York and wedded Miss Alma Holmes, who died in Cattaraugus county. In the year 1883 the father came to Michigan, establishing his home in Wex- ford county. He is now an esteemed resi- dent of Traverse City and is in politics a Democrat.
Marvin D. Colvin accompanied his father on his removal to the west and since 1883 has resided continuously in Wexford town- ship. He was a youth of nine years at the time of his arrival and therefore the period of his entire manhood has been spent in this county where he is now so widely and favorably known. He obtained his educa- tion in the public schools and was reared to farm life. After reaching years of maturity he was married, in Bay Shore, Michigan, on the 27th of January, 1897, to Miss Edith L. Worth, a native of Wexford county. born January 17, 1874, and they now have two interesting children, Margery W. and Floris H. Mrs. Colvin was educated in the Sher- man public school and at Benzonia College. and was a successful teacher in Wexford and Benzie counties. Theirs is a pleasant
home, celebrated for its cordial hospitality, and their many friends delight to gather there. Mr. Colvin devotes his energies to agricultural pursuits and his farm, compris- ing two hundred acres of rich land, indi- cates his careful supervision in its neat and thrifty appearance. He has good farm buildings upon his place, including his nice residence, a commodious barn and other buildings for the shelter of grain and stock. Everything is kept in good repair and this is one of the model farms of the twentieth century.
In public affairs Mr. Colvin has also been somewhat prominent and for three years he has served as justice of the peace. proving a competent officer. His life has been one of industry and he has never taken advantage of the necessities of his fellow men in any trade transaction, but has won his prosperity through honorable business methods that will bear the closest investiga- tion and scrutiny.
Politically Mr. Colvin belongs to Lodge No. 372, Free and AAcceptéd Masons, to Castle No. 212, Knights of Pythias, and to Wexford Camp No. 8647, Modern Wood- men of America, in which he has held the office of venerable consul. Mrs. Colvin belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star and is also a member of the Christian church.
SYLVESTER R. SEAMAN.
Success in this life comes to the deserv- ing. It is an axiom demonstrated by all hu- man experience that a man gets out of life what he puts into it, plus a reasonable inter- est on the investment. The individual who
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inherits a large estate and adds nothing to his fortune cannot be called a successful man. He that falls heir to a large fortune and in- creases its value is successful in proportion to the amount he adds to his possessions. But the man who starts in the world unaided and by sheer force of will, controlled by cor- rect principles, forges ahead and at length reaches a position of prominence among his fellow citizens, achieves real success. . To a great extent the subject of this sketch is a creditable representative of the class last named. It is a class which has furnished much of the bone and sinew of the country and added to the stability of the government and its institutions.
Sylvester R. Seaman, the subject of this review, who resides in Liberty township, on an eighty-acre farm, was born in Leonard township. Mecosta county, Michigan, Octo- ber 10, 1860. His parents are Warren and Mary E. (Moore) Seaman. A review of the career of the father of the subject can be found in another part of this volume, under the head of Warren Seaman. Sylvester R. Seaman was the third child of a family of five, and was reared to the age of nine years in the county of his birth. In 1869 the fam- ily moved to Wexford county, and that coun- ty has since been his home. The family es- tablished their home in Cedar Creek town- ship and there the subject of this review grew to manhood. His school days were not many and the educational facilities of the time and the locality by no means what they are today, but having a thirst for knowledge and a natural aptitude to acquire it. at the time of quitting school the subject was possessed of a very fair education. He remained under the parental roof until he was twenty-six
years of age, devoting a good part of his time to the work on his father's farm.
December 23. 1886, Sylvester R. Seaman was united in marriage to Miss Frances 31. Wilson. a native of Michigan, born June 1. 1865. the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Wilson, of Liberty township. Immediately after marriage the young couple took up their residence in Cedar Creek township. on a farm which is part of section 5. where they continued to live until 1900. when they moved to section 32, Liberty township. His farm consists of eighty acres, part of it being located in Liberty township and the remain- der in Cedar Creek township. The place is well improved, fifty of its acres being under cultivation and well improved. Mr. and Mrs. Seaman have an adopted child. an in- telligent, attractive little girl, named Flossie M. The subject has never sought public office or any political preferment, but a num- ber of local positions in the township where he resides have been thrust upon him, among them that of school assessor and member of the board of review. He and his wife are both active members of the Free Methodist church in Manton.
ESEDORE GILBERT.
For almost a third of a century Esedore Gilbert has been an active factor in mercan- tile interests in Sherman, controlling a busi- ness of considerable magnitude. . At the time of his arrival here the town was in the early stages of its development and through- out the intervening period he has been prominent in the advancement of commer- cial activity, whereon the growth and pros-
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perity of every town and city depends. Widely known. his life history cannot fail to prove of interest to his many friends and it is therefore with pleasure that this record is presented.
Mr. Gilbert was born upon a farm in I- diana, September 22. 1847. His father. Truman Gilbert, was also a farmer by oc- cupation, following that pursuit throughout his entire business career. The mother of the subject bore the maiden name of Calista Clark and her death occurred while she was visiting in Whitewater, Wisconsin, when sixty-six years of age. Mr. Gilbert had passed away in Indiana, at the age of forty years. In their family were four children, of whom Esedore was the youngest. Dur- ing his early childhood, when only about a year and a half old. Esedore Gilbert was taken by his parents to Hillsdale, Michigan, where they resided for six years, and then settled upon a farm in Hillsdale county. He worked in the field and meadows during his youth, becoming familiar with farm work in its various departments, and when he was eighteen years of age he started out in life on his own account and has since depended upon his labor for all that he has enjoyed and achieved. Not desiring to make farming his life work, he left home and went to St. Charles, Saginaw county, Michigan, where he secured employment in a saw-mill. After two months, however, he removed to Big Rapids, for the purpose of locating pine lands. Ile spent about two years in inspecting pine lands, at the end of which time he began driving a stage be- tween Big Rapids and Traverse City, which business he followed for six months.
Mr. Gilbert next came to Sherman and while the city has profited by his business
activity, he has also found here a good field of labor, wherein industry has gained its merited reward in a comfortable cempetence. It was in the fall of 1870 that he arrived in Wexford county and for a time he engaged in conducting a hotel known as the Grant House. After a year, however, he sold out and accepted a clerkship in the general store of Maqueston Brothers, from which time his connection with mercantile interests in Sherman dates. He remained in the employ of that firm for four and a half years, during which time he gained a good knowledge of the methods in mercantile life and his ex- perience has proven of much value to him in later years. His clerkship ended, he then embarked in business on his own account as a member of a firm, his partner being the late 1. H. Maqueston. This relationship was maintained for five years, when Mr. Gilbert disposed of his interest and through the two succeeding years carried on mer- chandising alone. At the end of that time he merged his store into another mercantile establishment and continued in the same line of business with H. B. Sturtevant and F. D. Hopkins, this partnership existing for five or six years, during which time the firm en- joyed a profitable and growing patronage. At the end of that time Mr. Hopkins with- drew and the firm of Gilbert & Sturtevant then carried on the business until fifteen years had passed when Mr. Gilbert pur- chased the interest of his partner, who then retired from mercantile life. The subject has since been alone in the conduct of a busi- ness, which has now assumed important and extensive proportions. He carries a large and well selected stock of goods and his annual sales amount to a considerable figure. He is reliable in his trade transactions, is
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courteous in his treatment of his customers and his earnest desire to please has brought him a large patronage.
In Hanover township. Wexford county, Mr. Gilbert was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Fox, a native of New York. and a (laughter of Jeremiah and ( Clark) Fox. Her father was one of the honored pioneer settlers of Wexford county, casting in his lot with the early residents when the era of improvement was just dawning here. He died in Sherman town- ship after reaching the Psalmist's span of three score years and ten-a worthy citizen whose loss was deeply regretted. Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert are the parents of two children, Myrtle and lone, the former now the wife of C. C. Slemons. The parents are active and devoted members of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and their aid and influence have been very helpful and beneficial in strengthening the church and promoting its success. Mr. Gilbert has also been a co- operant factor in many movements for the general good, his assistance being withheld from no measure which he believes will prove of benefit to his community. Hon- ored and respected in every class of society. he has for some time been a leader in thought and action in the public life of the town and county in which he makes his home. He has long been identified with mercantile in- terests in Sherman and faithfulness to duty and strict adherence to a fixed purpose in life will do more to advance a man's inter- ests than wealth or advantageous circum- stances. A man of distinct and forceful in- dividuality and most mature judgment. he has left and is leaving his impress upon the commercial, social and moral development of the community.
ELIJAH SMITH.
The war of the Rebellion left its impress deep and lasting upon the life of many a youth yet in his teens. The call to arms found tens of thousands only too ready to respond. For the first time in their lives they found themselves no longer restrained by parental control. Rigid military discipline held them in check to some extent, but it did not prevent many from contracting dissolute and profligate habits, of which some have not been able to divest themselves even unto this clay. Few indeed were as fortunate in this as the subject of this review. Elijah Smith, of Colfax township. Wexford county, who when less than nineteen years of age became a soldier of the Union, and although filling two terms of enlistment, returned home with unimpaired morals.
Elijah Smith is a native of New York. born in Tompkins county, June 12, 1842. He was reared and educated in his native county, the extent of his learning. however, being confined to the common school branches. He was still beneath the parental roof when Sumter was fired upon and the most sanguinary struggle in the history of the world was inaugurated. Of those who responded to the first call of President Lin- coln. in April, 1861, Elijah Smith was among the number. He enlisted as a private in Company K, Twenty-sixth Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry, and served until August, 1862. when, greatly to his re- gret, he was discharged for disability. Re- turning home to Tompkins county, New York, he, after sufficiently recovering his health, engaged in farming until August. 1861, when he enlisted in Company I. One Hundred and Seventy-ninth Regiment New
ELIJAH SMITH GROUP.
ELIJAH SMITH RESIDENCE.
Daniel mccoy
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WEXFORD COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
York Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war. He was taken prisoner by the Confederates at Petersburg, Virginia. in February, 1865, and held till the close of the war. Returning to his home in New York after the close of the war, he remained there farming for some time, then came to Michigan. For two seasons he followed farming and carpentering in Ingham and Livingston counties, and then, in 1867. he came to Wexford county and settled on a tract of land in Colfax township, a part of section 28, where he has since continued to reside.
In 1866 Elijah Smith was united in marriage to Miss Lovina Smith, a native of Ohio, who lived only long enough to bear for her husband a pledge of her love in the person of a little daughter, whom they named Blanche. Mrs. Smith died in July. 1875. The daughter grew to womanhood, be- came a refined, intellectual woman and is now the wife of Charles Rogers, a resident of Colfax township. December 25, 1878, Mr. Smith was again married, his bride on this occasion being Mrs. Jennie McClain, widow of George W. McClain and daughter of Enos C. and Cynthia ( Whitmore) Day- huff. Mrs. Smith is a native of St. Joseph county. Indiana, born July 22, 1850. She and her husband are the parents of five chil- dren, only one of whom, Clara B., the wife of John Roode, is now living. Another daughter, Grace E., lived to the age of twenty years and then died. The other three children died in childhood. Mrs. Cynthia ( Whitmore) Dayhuff, mother of Mrs. Smith, is still living, now in the eighty- second year of her age.
The farm upon which the subject and his family resides is fertile and well improved.
In any direction a visitor may look he sees evidences of prosperity. The place is adorned with good, substantial buildings of all kinds and the condition in which they are kept bespeaks the thorough farmer. In con- nection with his conduct of the farm Mr. Smith has been engaged in the mercantile business at Meanwataka ever since he be- came a resident of the county. His farm comprises one hundred and forty acres, one hundred and twenty of which are clear and under cultivation. In all matters pertaining to the interests of the community in which he has lived Mr. Smith takes a deep and act- ive interest. He has been elected a number of times to various local positions, such as highway commissioner, justice of the peace. etc., and has discharged the duties of the office to the entire satisfactionn of his con- stituents. He has been appointed a notary public and served for a number of years as postmaster of Meauwataka. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity at Cadillac, and of the Grand Army of the Republic. O. P. Morton Post of Manton. He is a prudent. sagacious man, possessed of excellent judg- ment and thoroughly alive to his individual interests, as he is also to those of the general public.
DANIEL McCOY.
The subject of this review, formerly a prominent business man and honored citizen of Cadillac, is now a resident of Grand Rap- ids, with the industrial interests of which city he has been identified for a number of years, and in addition thereto he has also been called to high official stations, serving at the present time his second term as state
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WEXFORD COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
treasurer. Daniel McCoy is a native of Pennsylvania, born in the city of Philadel- phia on July 17. 1845. His father. John McCoy, a native of Scotland, came to the United States in 1832 and setled in Oakland county. Michigan, with his father's family, whence he went to Philadelphia and spent the remainder of his life, dying in that city in the year 1861. Mary, wife of John McCoy and mother of the subject, was born and reared in County Antrim, Ireland, came to this country in 1839. married in Pennsylva- nia, and is still living in Philadelphia. l'a- ternally, the McCoys are Scotch. They were first represented in the north of Ireland in 1745, but returned to Scotland the next gen- eration, and in 1832. as noted above, certain members of the family became residents of the United States, since which time the de- scendants have settled in various parts of the Union.
Daniel McCoy was educated in the schools of Philadelphia, and at the death of his father, in 1861. entered the wholesale hardware warehouse of Shields Brothers in that city, with the object in view of obtaining a practical knowledge of commercial life. Not making the progress he desired he ser- cred his connection with his employers five years later and went to the oil fields of West Virginia, near Parkersburg, and at Burning Springs, on the Little Kanawha, where he remained variously engaged until May, 1867. when lic started west in search of a more favorable opening, going as far as Wyan- dotte. Kansas. Failing to find in that state the opening desired. he returned eastward, and while en route stopped to visit some relatives in the town of Romeo, Michigan, where in due time he found the opportunity for which he had long sought. Soon after his arrival
in Romeo Mr. McCoy embarked in the sup- ply business, to furnish grain, provisions and other necessities to the men engaged in lum- bering in the Michigan pineries, and to this line of endeavor he devoted his attention. with handsome profits, until 1872. In that year he discontinued the supply enterprise. and, in partnership with James AA. Remick, of Detroit, and John G. Riggs, of Saginaw. engaged in the lumber business under the style of Riggs & McCoy. the scene of the firin's operations being confined principally to a large area of fine timber land on the south branch of the Manistee river. This partnership lasted for only a limited time. and about one year after its organization the subject came to Clam Lake and became asso- ciated with Charles M. Ayer, the firm thus constituted doing an extensive and very lucrative lumber business on Big Clam lake. and continuing the same for a period of ten years.
During his residence at Clam Lake Mr. McCoy took an active interest in the devel- opment of the place, served as president of the village, and subsequently, after its incor- poration as the city of Cadillac. he was elect- ed mayor. He did much to advance its industrial and commercial interests, was also zealous in promoting the educational, social and moral welfare of the young and thriving city, and few have been as influential as was he in shaping and directing the public policy of the municipality. In 1883 the firm of McCoy & Ayer was dissolved, and the same year the subject disposed of his business interests at Cadillac and removed to Grand Rapids, which city he has since made his home and in the civic and public affairs of which he has been a prominent and intluen- tial factor.
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DAYHUFF GROUP.
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WEXFORD COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Mr. McCoy has been honored with a number of high official positions, including that of president of the State Bank of Mich- igan, which he has held since the organiza- tion of the institution, in 1892, and. as stated in a preceding paragraph, he is now serving his second term as treasurer of the state. having been first elected to the office in No- vember, 1899. Among the industrial enter- prises with which he is identified are the Grand Rapids Edison Electric Light Com- pany, of which he has been president since 1886. the year of its organization ; the Im- perial Furniture Company of the same city, and the Alfred Baxter Company, to both of which he sustains the relation of execu- tive head. He is also connected with the Herkner Jewelry Company, of Grand Rapids, and various other important inter- ests, with the management of which he has contributed in no small degree.
For a number of years Mr. McCoy has taken an active part in the political affairs of Michigan, and he has long been recognized as one of the Republican leaders in this state. His induence in the councils of his party has had much to do with its success, and the honorable position he now holds is one of the many testimonials to the confidence with which he is regarded by his politica! associates and to the high esteem in which he is held by the public. Mr. McCoy sub- scribes to the Episcopal creed in matters re- ligious, and, with his wife, is a faithful member of the church in Grand Rapids and a liberal contributor to its support and to various benevolences. While loyal to his own faith, he possesses a catholic spirit. which sees good in all churches, and consequently his financial assistance is by no means con- fined to one organization, but all lines of
religious and charitable work have profited by his generous contributions.
Mr. McCoy was married on the igth of March, 1860, in Romeo, Michigan, to Miss Gail Lyon Ayer, a descendant of an old New England family, the union being blessed with four children, as follows: Mrs. Helen Fran- ces Grab, born June 28, 1871 : Lieutenant Ralph McCoy, of the Twenty-seventh United States Infantry, born January 27, 1873; Mrs. Katherine Braddock, born April 20. 1870, and Gerald, whose birth occurred on December 24, 1881.
NELS P. NORDSTROM.
The foreign-born citizens of the United States constitute a large and important element in our national life and as a rule they are enterprising and thrifty in whatever field of endeavor engaged. From all parts of Europe people have flocked to our shores to find homes and fortunes. under the fos- tering influence of a free government, many of them achieving distinctive precedence in agriculture, commercial and industrial pur- suits, others rising to distinguished promi- nence in the learned professions and in the domains of science and art. Scandinavia more perhaps than any other country has contributed to the material development and general prosperity of our northern and west- ern states, and wherever found this hardy nationality is noted for intelligence, enter- prise, thrift and a love of freedom, consis- tent with the highest order of American citizenship. Among the representatives of this nationality in Wexford county, Michi- gan, is Nels P. Nordstrom, a progressive
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