USA > Michigan > Men of progress : embracing biographical sketches of representative Michigan men with an outline history of the state > Part 14
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This provision, while it remained in the constitution, wrought only mischief and em- barrassment. Just what the motive for its adoption was on the part of the convention which framed the constitution, it is difficult to determine from the debates, but in general it seems to have been the purpose to do away with or prohibit any further legislation on the subject of the liquor traffic. The temperance people (many of them, at least ), supposed that without license, liquor could not be sold at all, while those favorable to the traffic (if there were any ) concluded that if license was
prohibited the traffic would be entirely free. Both labored under a delusion. Of course, with no law on the subject, the traffic would be free, but the temperance people, finding that no license meant free traffic, at once de- manded prohibition.
The temperance agitation had in the early fifties taken the form of a demand for the so- called "Maine law," or prohibitory law. Such a law was enacted in 1853 and submitted to a vote of the people at a special election held in June of that year, to determine when the Act should take effect. It was approved by a majority of over 17,000 in a total vote of 63,503. It at first promised to be effective in stopping the traffic, but soon came to be disregarded. The constitutionality of the law was also attacked on the ground of its submission to popular vote. Another law was passed in 1855, which stood the test of the courts, and remained on the statute books for twenty years, when, in 1875, the prohibition of license clause was stricken from the con- stitution. This law was repealed with the enactment of the taxation law in 1875.
In the sunnner of 1874 a movement was made for the repeal of the prohibition law and the enactment of some law recognizing and regulating the traffic. Under the prohibition law, no property right existed in liquors. Should the manufacturer or wholesaler sell to the retailer, he could not colleet the bill by law. So long as the retailer remained undis- turbed he paid his bills readily enough, but when proseentions were sprung, the retailer found his ability to pay taken from him, and the wholesaler had necessarily to pocket the loss. To correet this evil was largely the im- pelling motive in the movement inaugurated in 1874. A State convention was held in August, and an organization formed under the style of the "Michigan License Associa- tion." This organization demanded the re- peal of the prohibition law and the enactment in its stead of a license or tax law.
The liquor taxation law of 1875 was the result of a well settled conviction on the part of the people that something should be de-
79
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
vised to take the place of the prohibitory plan. The movement under the head of the Michi- gan License Association had little to do in shaping public opinion. It did, however, present the subject as a formal issue before the people and the Legislature, and to that extent was influential in securing legislation. The principal legislation of 1875 was em- bodies in three acts: The taxation law, the police or regulation law, and an Act fixing penalties for the adulteration of liquors. The taxation policy has since been adhered to, but with many changes in the law which it would be impracticable to trace in this connection.
The amount of liquor tax collected in the State in 1889 was $1,568,732, and in 1896 $1,839,960, the increase being partly or wholly due to the raising of the beer tax to $500 by the Act of 1895.
By the earlier legislation there was a grad-
uated tax on the manufacture of beer, $65 being the highest. The later legislation pro- vides a horizontal tax of $65, regardless of the amount manufactured. By the present law, liquor and beer by retail are placed on the same footing. The wholesale liquor dealer is required to pay $300 additional, making $800 in all, if selling at retail. The payment of the liquor tax, both wholesale and retail, carries with it the right to sell beer also.
The amount of the tax imposed from time to time appears from the annexed table:
Retail
Liquor.
Wholesale
Liquor.
Retail
Wholesale
Beer.
Liquors.
Mfg. Beer.
Act 228, Pub. Acts, 1875
$150
$300
$ 40
$100 100
$300
300
Act 268, Pub. Acts, 1879,
200
400
65
130
400
Act 156, Pub. Acts, 1881.
300
500
200
200
500
Act 313, Pub. Acts, 1887 ..
500
800
300
300
800
$65
Act 93, Pub. Acts, 1895. .
500
500
500
500
800
65
TABULAR EXHIBITS.
State Institutions-Population-Equalized Valua- tion-State Taxes-Comparative Farm Statistics -Farm Products at Different Periods.
STATE INSTITUTIONS.
The character of the several State institu- tions will be sufficiently indicated by their titles. The figures given in the table as to the amount of appropriations and value of property are taken from the report of the Auditor General for 1898, pages viii and ix. In the list of appropriations for asylums for the insane there is an item of $179,906 debited to "other asylums" than those enu- merated. Omitting this item (which refers to maintenance of State patients in private institutions ) gives a total of appropriations to all State institutions since the organization of the State government of $27,134,938. The total value of plant for all institutions is given on authority of the inventories at $9,- 573,300, omitting in all cases fractional parts of the dollar -- the sum total representing both buildings and grounds and equipment.
The following table shows the several State institutions by classes, where located, the time
of their organization, aggregate appropria- tions, and value of property :
INSTITUTIONS.
Where Located.
When
estab.
Total of State appropria- tion.
Value of Property.
EDUCATIONAL.
University.
Ann Arbor.
1837
$3,604,50±*
$1,928,430
Normal College ...
Ypsilanti
1849
1,296,042*
329,633
Cen. Mich. Nor. Sch. Mt. Pleasant.
1895
38,400
43,102
Nor. State Nor. Sch.
Marquette.
1899
35,000
Agricultural Col ....
Lansing ..
1855
1,019,448*
416,947
College of Mines ....
Houghton
1886
579,100
252,655
EDUCATIONAL AND BENEFICENT.
School for the Deaf .. Flint+
1854
2,265,772
522,281
School for the Blind. Lansing.
1881
610,224
155.106
State Public School. Coldwater.
1871
1,101,476
245,825
Home for Feeble Minded
Lapeer
1895
291,265
132,299
EDUCATIONAL AND REFORMATORY.
Indus. School, boys.
Lansing .
1855
1,974,246
285,953
Indus. Home, girls ..
Adrian
1879
823,067
191,971
ASYLUMS FOR INSANE.
Michigan Asylum
Kalamazoo.
1849
4,041,177
1,063,804
Eastern Asylum.
Pontiac ...
1877
2,803,981
881,682
Northern Asylum .. ..
Traverse City .. |18851
2,284,542
787,498
Upper Penin. Asy . . State Asylum
Ionia
1885
645,886
205,937
PRISONS AND REFORMATORIES.
State Prison.
Jackson
1889
1,482,408
838,574
House Cor. and Ref.
lonia
1877
1,486,170
438,992
Branch State Prison,
Marquette.
1885
590,577
256,992
SOLDIERS' HOME.
Mich. Soldiers' Home Grand Rapids.
1885
1,200,397
225,205
* Exclusive of receipts from interest funds. See "Trust Funds."
t Included also care of the blind up to 1881.
246.178
Newberry ..
1894
391,352
Mfg.
Act 197, Pub. Acts, 1877.
150
300
50
Beer.
80
MEN OF PROGRESS.
POPULATION.
The population of Michigan up to 1840 is given on an earlier page. The population at cach census period since 1840, as shown by both the United States and State eensus, was as following:
U. S. census, 1850. 397,654
State census, 1854
507,521
U. S. census, 1860.
749,113
State census, 1864.
803,661
U. S. census, 1870. 1,184,282
State census, 1874.
1,334,031
U. S. census, 1880.
1,636,937
State census, 1884
1,853,658
U. S. census, 1890
2,093,889
State census, 1894
2,241,641
EQUALIZED VALUATION.
In 1838 the total valuation of the taxable property of the State, as assessed by the as- sessors and equalized by the boards of super- visors of the several counties, was $42,953,- 495. There was a steady diminution in amount, the total in 1847 being $27,617,240, but inereased to $29,384,270 in 1850. The constitution of 1850 required that the Legis- lature should provide for an equalization by a State board in the year 1851 and every fifth year. Pursuant to this requirement, the Lieutenant Governor, Auditor General, See- retary of State, State Treasurer, and Com- missioner of the Land Office were made to constitute such board. They meet at Lansing on the third Monday of August of every fifth year, counting from 1851. Their duties are to equalize the assessed valuation of the counties for the purpose of apportioning State taxes. If they think that the valuation of any county is too low, they add to it, and vice versa. Their equalization for each quin- quennial period has been as follows, inehd- ing both real and personal property:
1851
$30,976,270 1876
$630 000,000
1856
137,663,009
1881
810,000,000
1861
172,055,808
1886
945,450,000
1866
307,965,842
1891
1,130,000,000
1871
630,000,000
1896
1,105,100,000
STATE TAXES.
The amount of the State tax levied each year since the organization of the State gov- ernment is given on pages 438-41 of the re- port of the Auditor General for the year 1898. The amount in 1838 was $85,906,
running down to $69,043 in 1847. In 1853 it was but $10,000, due to a divided surplus made to the States by the general govern- ment. The highest tax levy in the history of the State was in 1897-$3,379,907. The lowest rate of taxation (mills on the dollar ), was in 1853, being .083. The highest rate was in 1848-5.039. The lowest per capita noted was 2e in 1860, and the highest $1.34 in 1895.
COMPARATIVE FARM STATISTICS
The following figures are compiled from the U. S. census reports up to 1890 and from the State census reports of 1894:
Year.
No. of Farms.
No. acres in farms.
No. acres improved.
Value of farm products.
1850
34,059
4.383,890
1.929,110
1860
62,422
7.030,831
3,476,296
1870
98,786
10.019,142
5,096,939
$81,508,623
1880
154,008
13,807,240
8.296.862
91,159,858
1890
172.344
14 785,636
9,865,350
83,651,390
1894
178,051
15,296,078
10 379.515
81,279,006
FARM PRODUCTS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS.
The annexed table of farm products for five eensus periods is compiled from the State eensus reports. The live stock will be under- stood to be the number reported for the cen- sus year, while graiu, wool, ete., are for the year preceding:
Sheep sheared ...
Sheep, number of.
Swine, number of.
Milch Cows, number of
Work Oxen, number of
Horses, number of
Butter- pounds made
Wool-pounds sheared.
Hay-tons cut.
Potatoes-bushels.
Corn-average per acre
Corn-acres harvested, bu ...
Wheat-average per acre, bu.
Wheat-bushels raised ..
Wheat-acres harvested
...
964 331
239,901
141,316
139,299
67 157
91,713
1,642,250
7,926,552
2.680,747
496,351
2.942,526
7,635,473
327,642
15 05
7,128,104
473,451
Census of
1,676,176
1.651,899
401.719
307,554
321.732
38.901
3,906
4,319,793
7,729,01!
5,618,863
20,192,911
641,329
13 62
15,456,202
1,134,484
Census of
2 724,789
2,889,278
998 394
485.181
417,154
26,339
446,206
1.945,863
15.337,249
2,288,147
10,680,309
19,421 938
866,144
15.12
1,709,535
1884
Census of
2,323,189
2.262.951
1,045,151
312,352
506,390
11.267
55,332
91,516
83,234
14,693,315
668,593
17.184,664
40,556.871
953,763
16 18
27,055,169
1,672,433
1894.
Census of
.. .
2.053,356
335,288
210.785
275,184
60,643
1,115
179,101
4,048,099
13.835,452
7.260,934
843,346
4,058 27]
11,007,293
427,529
11.48
843,881
1864
1875.
281,394
27,972.117
1,134,077
32.4 .
23 30
25.74
9,688,627
1854
106
Mules, number of.
Maple Sugar-pounds.
43.494,211
4,820
22.47
47 33
25,597 967
Census of
Corn-bushels raised ..
Other Cattle ...
MEN OF PROGRESS
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
83
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
ROGERS, COLONEL JOSEPH SUM- NER. Joseph Summer Rogers was born at Orrington, Maine, on the 5th of July, 1844. On his father's side he is descended from Thomas Rogers, one of the Mayflower pil- grims; ou his mother's side he is the great- grandson of Peter Harriman, a veteran of the Revolution.
At the age of 16 young Rogers entered upon a military career which had for differ- ent chapters in its history service on the bloody fields of the Civil War, duty in Louisi- ana during reconstruction days, and finally the organization of a famous academy and military school. In April of '61, on Lin- coln's first call for troops, he left school to enlist in the Second Maine Infantry-the first infantry to leave the State for the front. After a year's service he was severely wounded at second Bull Run, but as soon as he recovered from his wound he joined his regiment and served until honorably dis- charged at the expiration of his term of en- listment. In September of '64 he re-enlisted, becoming second lieutenant of the Thirty- first Maine, and in October of the same year he became a captain of the Thirty-first. Cap- tain Rogers served during the final campaign of Petersburg and in the pursuit of Lee up to his surrender at Appomattox. At the end of the war he was mustered out, and subse- quently was breveted a major for gallantry in action.
After the war, Major Rogers served in the War Department for one year. In October of 1867 he became a second lieutenant in the First Infantry, United States army, and was ordered to Louisiana, where he served for several years through the exciting era of re- construction.
In 1874, while stationed at Fort Wayne, Detroit, he was detailed by the President as professor of military seience and tactics at the Detroit high school. Here his corps of young men, known as the Detroit Cadets, be- eame famous as a military organization. It was while in charge of this battalion that Major Rogers formed the plan of organizing
COL. JOSEPH SUMNER ROGERS.
a school, patterned in academic features after the best academies, and in military discipline and administration after West Point. In September, 1877, the idea was realized, and the Michigan Military Academy began its long term of service and usefulness.
Today the academy is known throughout the nation. From a small beginning, the school has developed until it possesses a plant and equipment not equaled by that of many colleges. It draws students from every state in the Union. All this work has been aecom- plished without endowment.
In September, 1866, Colonel Rogers mar- ried Miss Susan J. Wheeler, and three chil- dren have been born to them. Harry L. Rogers is paymaster in the regular army with the rank of major. Florence, the only daugh- ter, died several years ago. Frederick P. Rogers is a student in the academy.
Colonel Rogers is a member of the F. A. M. and Detroit Commandery, K. T .; the Loyal Legion; the Detroit Post, G. A. R., at Detroit; the Sons of the American Revolu- tion; the Mayflower Society, and the Order of the Descendants of Colonial Governors.
.
84
MEN OF PROGRESS.
WILLARD K. BUSH.
BUSH, WILLARD K. Willard K. Bush was born in Jonia, Michigan, May 20, 1867. Late in the fall of the saine year, his father, H. F. Bush, removed to Gaines, Michigan, engaging in a general merchandise business, and the manufacture of staves, heading, bar- rels and hardwood lumber. The boyhood days of Willard K. were spent in the public schools of Gaines and Detroit, Michigan. Young Bush was not infatuated with school and his absence was noted by the teacher fre- quently during the term. His father at last determined to give the lad a taste of work, to see if it would not give him a better appetite for school. It did, and at the age of 17 he entered the Fenton Normal College, at Fenton, Michigan, graduating in the com- mercial course, afterward taking up stenog- raphy and becoming so proficient in the art that he became a teacher of it.
In the spring of 1887, he entered the em- ployment of The G. H. Hammond Co., De- troit, as stenographer. After remaining with
this company two years, he accepted a sim- ilar position with Armour & Co., of Chicago. and remained with that firm for one year, resigning when he found a more remunera- tive position as stenographer to the auditor of the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company, Chicago, and one year later accepted a similar position with the Michigan Central Railroad, at Detroit, resigning two years later to accept the appointment of stenographer to Hon. Hazen S. Pingree, then Mayor of Detroit. After five years of service as private sec- retary to Hon. Hazen S. Pingrec (while mayor and during his first term as Gov- ernor of Michigan), he resigned to accept his present position, deputy secretary of state, under Hon. Justus S. Stearns, sec- retary of state. During the State election of 1898, Mr. Bush had personal charge of the campaign of Mr. Stearns, in which task he won deserved laurels. This latter appoint- ment was given to him as a matter of recog- nition and reward for his efforts in behalf of the nomination and election of his chief, for whom he was the earliest and one of the most zealous champions.
In 1889, Mr. Bush married Miss Helena B. Salsbury, of Fenton, Michigan. They have one child, a daughter, Mildred, who is now eight years old.
On January 1, 1897, when he became sec- retary to the Governor, he was also made military secretary with rank of major.
On March 1, 1900, Mr. Bush engaged in business under the name of The Willard K. Bush Company, manufacturers of overalls, pants, shirts, duck coats and special garments to order. The business was launched under most favorable auspices and gives promise of continued growth and prosperity.
He is a member of Lansing Lodge No. 33, F. & A. M.
85
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
CAHILL, EDWARD. Edward Cahill was born at Kalamazoo, Michigan, August 3, 1843, being the second in a family of six children. His father, Abraham Cahill, was a tanner, and settled in Kalamazoo in 1831. His mother was Frances Maria Marsh, niece of Epaphroditus Ransom, an early judge of the Supreme Court and governor of Michigan from 1848 until 1850.
The father sold the tannery and moved to a farm on Grand Prairie, where young Cahill remained until 11 years of age, attending the district schools. In 1854 the family removed to Holland, Michigan, where the elder Cahill invested his means in wild lands and engaged in lumbering. He died that same year, leav- ing the family without income or available means of support. If he had lived, good use could have been made of his wild land, though it was useless to a widow with a family of young children. The mother returned to Kalamazoo and managed to keep her children in school, and in the fall of 1856 Edward en- tered the preparatory department of Kalama- zoo College, where he remained three years.
The next two years he was an apprentice in the printing office of the Kalamazoo Gazette. In August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company A, Eighty-ninth Illinois infantry, and was sent to the front immediately. After service in the Kentucky campaign in the fall, under Gen. Buell, he was discharged Decen- ber, 1862, on account of disability occasioned by illness. Returning to Kalamazoo, he began the study of law in the office of Miller & Burns, of that city, but his health improving, in 1863 he decided to go to the front again. He recruited and was made first lieutenant of a company of colored soldiers for the First Michigan Colored Infantry, afterwards known as the One Hundred and Second United States Infantry. He was subse- quently promoted to captain, and served as such until the close of the war. Captain Cahill mustered out in 1865, when, returning home, he resumed his law studies at St. Johns, Mich- igan, and was admitted to the bar in June, 1866. He began his practice at Hubbards-
EDWARD CAHILL.
ton, Michigan, where he remained four years and until he removed to Ionia in 1870. In 1871 he went to Chicago and established a good practice. In 1873, while on a visit to friends in Lansing, he was persuaded to locate there, and that has ever since been his home. He was elected prosecuting attorney of Ing- ham county, 1876-1880. In 1887 he was appointed a member of the board of pardons by Gov. Luce, a position he held until he was appointed justice of the Supreme Court, upon the death of Judge Campbell, in 1890.
Judge Cahill was president of the State Bar Association in 1891-92, and was first president of the Michigan Political Science Association, which was organized in 1892.
On June 11, 1867, Judge Cahill was mar- ried at Milford, Oakland county, Michigan, to Miss Lucy Crawford, the daughter of Hender- son Crawford, who, from 1850 to 1865, was a well-known teacher, having an academy where some of the best men in Michigan received their education, among others Hon. John Moore and W. L. Webber, of Saginaw, Jus- tice Moore, of the Supreme Court, and a large number of others less widely known.
Judge Cahill has two daughters, both of whom are married.
86
MEN OF PROGRESS.
WILLIAM EVANS GROVE.
GROVE, WILLIAM EVANS. A name well known in Michigan is that of Judge William E. Grove, of Grand Rapids. He was born at Geneva, N. Y., November 22, 1833, being now in his sixty-seventh year, and received his early education at that place, but graduated from Hobart College, then a Free Episcopal institution, in 1858. On his fath- er's side he was of German descent and with an admixture of Irish, through his mother, Ruth Fulton. His great-grandfather was a German military officer who fed the country because of political troubles, settling in Penn- sylvania. His father, Martin Grove, removed to Geneva from York County, Pennsylvania. Judge Grove was attracted to Grand Rapids, soon after his graduation, by reason of having a brother practicing medicine there, with whom he studied medicine for about six months. But feeling more affinity for Black- stone than for Galen, he turned from medi- cine to the law and began reading with Holmes & Robinson, attorneys, of Grand Rapids, and was admitted to practice before Judge Lonis S. Lovell, March 14, 1859. He opened an office and pursued his first year's practice with an income of $75. In 1860 he
was elected justice of the peace, and two years later formed a law partnership with John T. Holmes. In 1866 be removed to Humbolt, Kansas, practicing there for a year, and then went to Neosba Falls, the county seat of Woodson county, same state, remaining until 1872 and building up an extensive and lucra- tive practice there. While there he served four years as prosecuting attorney of the county. There were no railroads at that time and the practice involved journeys of from 75 to 100 miles on horseback, to attend the court sessions, and becoming tired of this frontier life, he returned to Grand Rapids in 1872. Resuming practice there alone, until 1876, he was subsequently associated successively with George W. Thompson, Judge John M. Har- ris and John S. Lawrence. Judge R. M. Montgomery, then presiding judge of the Kent Circnit, haying been elected to the Su- preme bench, Mr. Grove was appointed and subsequently elected to succeed him, and in 1893 was renominated by the Republicans for the full term of six years, beginning January, 1894, and was endorsed by the other parties and re-elected without opposition. During his service on the Kent bench, he was assigned to and held court for several terms in the Wayne circuit, and is known throughout the State as an able and impartial jurist. Since retiring from the bench, in January, 1900, he has resumed practice in Grand Rapids, giving special attention to corporation and insurance law. He is in politics a Republican, as will be readily inferred.
Judge Grove's religious connection is Methodist-Episcopal, he being a member of Division Street M. E. Church in Grand Rap- ids. Literary and social connections are : Alpha Delta Phi (Collegiate), Masonic, Odd- fellows, Peninsular Club and Lincoln Repub- lican Club of Grand Rapids. He is a mem- , ber of the Michigan Bar Association and was one of the originators and organizers of the State Association of Circuit Judges, and was its president for one year. Mrs. Grove, to whom he was married in 1884, was formerly Miss Jennie Caswell, daughter of Zebina Cas- well, of Kingston, N. Y. They have a son and a daughter, William M. and Caroline Ruth.
87
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
CLARKE, WILLIAM RADCLIFFE. Attorney William Radcliffe Clarke, of Grand Ledge, Michigan, is the son of Thomas Clarke, who came from the Isle of Man in 1838 and was a farmer near Watford, On- tario. His mother's maiden name was Jane Radcliffe. Mr. Clarke was born in Spring- field, Ontario, October 24, 1860. He at- tended the public schools from the time he was six years of age until his seventeenth year, and worked as a farm hand during the vacation months. He then became a clerk in a grocery store at $7 a month, and after twenty months clerking saved $100, which enabled him to enter the St. Thomas Colle- giate Institute for one year. He invested his money in some young cattle and the proceeds took him through the course at the institute, He intended to become a physician, but was disheartened by the prospects afforded to a youthful physician in Canada, so he decided to take up law, and visiting relatives in Grand Ledge in 1881, he entered the Law depart- ment of the University of Michigan in the fall of that year and graduated from there in 1883.
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