USA > Michigan > Men of progress : embracing biographical sketches of representative Michigan men with an outline history of the state > Part 16
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95
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
VAN ORDEN, MATHEW C. Van Or- den is the name of an old New York family, brought from the Netherlands to this country in 1600, when the Dutch were settling Man- hattan Island, and building the town of New Amsterdam, now grown into the Greater New York.
Mathew C. Van Orden is the son of Will- iam Van Orden, who was a carriage manufac- turer in West Farms, Westchester county, New York. Mathew Van Orden was born in New York city, October 28, 1844, and at- tended school in that city until he was 13 years of age, when he went to work packing spices in a basement for a Brooklyn house. He was put back to school by his father, but shortly after obtained the consent of his par- ents and went to work for two years for a re- tail grocery in Brooklyn, and thence into a wholesale spicc house, where he was given charge of the packing department. Shortly after this he came to Michigan, where his brother William was the company of Joseph Paul & Company, and clerked in the general store for this firm. In 1865 he was given charge of his brother's store at Eagle River, where he remained two years, and was then appointed receiver for the firm of Joseph Paul & Company, which had failed shortly after his brother withdrew from it. Mr. Van Or- den was then appointed assistant postmaster at Calumet, under Artimus Doolittle, and looked after the hardware business besides. In the spring of 1871 he visited Carthage, Illi- nois, where his affianced wife was very ill and not expected to live. He remained there until she recovered and they were married in 1872, and Mr. Van Orden brought his young wife back to Calumet, taking his old position, and upon the death of Mr. Doolittle closing up his estate, and becoming the supply clerk of the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company. After six months he was persuaded to remove to Houghton, Michigan, by Judge Hubbell, and take up the insurance business then conducted by Judge Hubbell. The firm was organized as Van Orden & Company, and when Judge Hubbell was sent to Washington he sold out
MATHEW C. VAN ORDEN.
his interest in 1873, and sinee that time the firm has been Van Orden Brothers. In 1875 Mr. Van Orden branched out into the manu- faeturing of lime. For one year he was secre- tary and manager of the Peninsular Electric Light & Power Company of Houghton. In 1898 he was made receiver of the old Winona mining properties, which operated about forty years ago. He secured options on the adjoin- ing properties to the extent of 1,500 aercs and then organized the Winona Copper Mining Company, which was placed on the market by Paine, Webber & Co., of Boston, Mass. In 1898 he also organized and placed on the market the Wyandotte Copper Mining Com- pany, and Mr. Van Orden is the managing Michigan director of the company.
Mrs. Van Orden died in 1890, leaving five children, two boys and three girls.
Mr. Van Orden's interests are eentered in the manufacturing of lime, and wholesale dealer in coal, cement, plaster, brick and sewer pipe. He is also conducting the insur- ance business in the firm of Van Orden Brothers, at Houghton.
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96
MEN OF PROGRESS.
RICHARD STURTRIDGE FORSYTH, M. D.
FORSYTH, M. D., RICHARD STURT- RIDGE. To attain sueeess through the in- dividual efforts of one's self is to enhance the valne of sneeess. Richard Sturtridge For- syth, M. D., of Gladstone, Michigan, knows the proper valuation of that word, for he has worked hard and earnestly for the position he now occupies in life. He was born February 27, 1867, in the village of Lexington, Michi- gan. His education was eommeneed in the neighboring distriet school, but when he reached his seventh year his father, who had been in the business of manufacturing pumps and fanning mills, failed and lost all he had on a patent, and then went to farm- ing. Young Forsyth was then compelled to work for his living expenses, if he wished to further his edueation, so he attended the public schools of Lexington, and found work for his board with John Mason, of that city, who bought wheat and operated an elevator, and dealt in live stoek. The following two years the young man worked on a farm and attended district school until he was able to take a teacher's certifieate of the third grade, when he became a teacher, and at one time he
had charge of the village school at Elmer, Michigan. While teaching this latter school he boarded at Dr. J. W. Wallace's house, and commenced the study of medicine. The next year he found employment with James Fisher, a druggist at Marlette, and while in this em- ployment he received instructions in that bus- iness, and learned pharmaey, so that in Janu- ary, 1887, he was sufficiently advanced in that profession to pass the rigid examination be- fore the State Board of Pharmacists.
In this new profession the young man found no difficulty in obtaining employment. He was engaged as a pharmacist by Drs. Met- calf and Butts of Crystall Falls, Michigan, and assisted in the hospital operated by those gentlemen, reading medieine in the meantime and preparing himself for further advance- ment.
In February, 1888, he went to Norway, Michigan, where he worked until fall in a drug store, then having saved sufficient money to enable him to stand the siege, he went to Detroit, and entered the Detroit College of Medieine, one of the oldest institutions of its kind in Michigan. Three years were spent at the college and in 1892 he graduated as an M. D. During vaeations, while a stu- dent at the college, he worked in a drng store as a pharmacist for Dr. Frank B, Mc- Cormick at Black River, Michigan, so that when he received his diploma the young doe- tor was only $200 in debt. The first year he praeticed his profession at Black River, and in 1893 moved to Gladstone, where he is one of the foremost physicians of that eity. In Gladstone he met and married Miss Ida Mertz, daughter of Riehard Mertz, ex-post- master of that city and now city treasurer. The marriage took place August 29, 1894. Two children have been the result of this union, Richard A. and Takla Louise.
Dr. Forsyth is the city physician and health officer for the eity of Gladstone, physician and surgeon to the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Com- pany, and also surgeon to the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad, Soo line branch Canadian Pacific.
97
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
BENNETT, ALBERT DWIGHT. To New York state Michigan is indebted for many young men who have grown up with Michigan and taken an active part in the ad- vaneement of its commercial and educational interests. Albert Dwight Bennett was born in Warsaw, a little town in the Empire State, Mareh 11, 1858, being the son of Dr. Daniel M. Bennett, who is now one of the oldest medical practitioners in Port Huron.
Mr. Bennett was edueated in Saginaw and Port Huron public schools.
Fresh from school, at the age of 16 he was given a trusted position as corresponding clerk in the Port Huron Savings Bank. Here the same energy and attention that he had previously shown in all his other work brought him rapid promotion, and after serv- ing in the capacity of clerk for a short time he was advanced to the position of book- keeper.
He remained with the bank for a period of sixteen years, retiring in 1890 at the age of 32 years to associate himself with Henry Howard as secretary and manager of the Howard Towing Association, a concern own- ing and operating a large fleet of fine lake tugs.
Mr. Howard died in 1894, and as Mr. Ben- nett had by this time become thoroughly con- versant with the affairs of the concern, and also acquired a complete knowledge of the other personal and business affairs of his late employer, he was made trustee and manager of the Henry Howard estate.
This brought under his personal super- vision the large sawmill and Inmber yards in Port Huron, which Mr. Howard had oper- ated prior to his death, together with many valuable business blocks in that city and a large quantity of real estate. The estate has flourished under Mr. Bennett's management,
ALBERT DWIGHT BENNETT.
and at the present writing he is still acting in the capacity of trustee and manager.
Mr. Bennett was one of the organizers of the American Egg Case Co., of Port Huron, established in 1895 for the purpose of manu- facturing cases for the careful transportation of eggs. This company was recently bonght out by firms ontside of Port Huron, who have now removed the business from that city.
Besides being a director in this company, Mr. Bennett is also a director in the Com- mercial Bank of Port Huron, the vice-presi- dent of the Port Huron Gas Co., president of the St. Clair County Abstraet Co., a trus- tee in the United Home Protectors' Associa- tion of Port Huron, president of the Port ITmron Elevator Co., and a trustee in the Baptist church of that city, of which he has always been an active and influential mem- ber.
He was married in 1885 to Miss Emily Louise Howard, of Port Huron. They have two children, Henry Howard Bennett, aged ten years, and Helen Howard, aged seven years.
98
MEN OF PROGRESS.
NICH
CHARLES LINCOLN BOYNTON.
BOYNTON, COL. CHARLES LIN- COLN. Charles Lincoln Boynton, of Port Huron, Michigan, is the senior member of the firm of Boynton & Thompson, vessel owners, who operate a great number of towing tugs on the Great Lakes and control one of the largest wrecking fleets on those waters, consisting of twelve tugs equipped with every modern wrecking appliance.
Charles Lincoln Boynton is the son of Major Nathan S. Boynton, who won his title of major in the Union Army during the Civil War. Nathan Boynton is the father and founder of the Order of the Knights of the Maccabees, and now holds the position in that order of Supreme Record Keeper, K. O. T. M. of the World. Upon the organization of the Maccabees, Charles Lincoln Boynton entered his father's office as an assistant, and he has continued with the organization up to date, being now chief clerk in the Supreme Tent Office.
Charles Lincoln Boynton was born March 31, 1860, in Cincinnati, where his parents resided until 1862. He was educated in the public schools of Port Huron, and later at-
tended the Commercial College of Detroit, where he received the benefit of a commercial education, which has been most useful to him ever since.
Ilis first employment was that of a drug clerk, in which business he remained for tive years, leaving it at the age of 20, and shortly afterward taking his present position.
He became interested in the tug business through buying a one-quarter interest in the tug George G. Brockway. The investment was a good one, however, and as the business increased new vessels were gradually added to the fleet, until today the flag of the firm of The Thompson Towing & Wrecking Associa- tion flies from twenty-one vessels, towing and wrecking tugs, steam and tow barges plying on the Great Lakes and carrying Inmber, coal and other freight to and from all the lake ports. The Thompson Towing & Wrecking Association does all the towing through the American and Canadian locks at Sault Ste. Marie. In conjunction with the tug business, Mr. Boynton is also engaged in the coal and builders' supply trades, doing an extensive and thriving business in both these lines.
Mr. Boynton is a descendant of Sir Mat- thew Boynton. His great-grandmother was Frances Rendt, of Montreal, Canada. Her father, Louis Rendt, was born near Bremen, Germany, and when young enlisting in the German army, afterwards enlisting in the British army and participating in the battle of Waterloo; he also fonght against the Ameri- cans, in the war of 1812.
Besides being an enthusiastic Maccabee, Mr. Boynton is also a Mason, belongs to the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, the Knights of Pythias, and the B. P. O. E. He served as colonel of the Thirty-third Michigan Infan- try during the Spanish-American war, and proved an efficient and popular officer.
('ol. Boynton has been offered the nom- ination for nearly every office in the Seventh District, but he has always been firm in de- elining such honors, preferring to be recog- mized only as a substantial business man rather than a politician.
99
HISTORICAL SKETCHIES.
ROBINSON, ORRIN WILLIAMS. Mich- igan's Lieutenant-Governor, Orrin Williams Robinson, was born in Claremont, New Hampshire, August 12, 1834. Hle was the third oldest child in a family of nine children, and at the age of ten years he was started to work for his board and clothes on a farm adjoining his home. When he was fifteen years of age a little difficulty arose between the boy's father and his employer which resulted in young Robinson packing his be- longings in a handkerchief and starting to do battle with the world on his own account.
He found employment at farming until he was seventeen and then went to work in a gun factory and foundry, getting three months' schooling each winter. When he reached the age of nineteen he decided to come to Michi- gan. Ilis uncle was managing a copper mine in Ontonagon County, so borrowing fifty dol- lars he started out to find him.
Reaching Ontonagon, at that time the larg- est town on the Upper Peninsula, he secured a job clearing up timber land, and remained there until 1856. He had managed to save a little money, which he proceeded to invest in a yoke of oxen. Thus equipped, he obtained a contract for "toting" supplies, which venture resulted disastrously, so much so that, losing his money he was compelled to kill and sell his oxen. At length he managed to secure a position as assistant engineer at the Norwich mine, which he retained until February, 1856.
Becoming disgusted with that section, he now determined to shift the base of his opera- tions to Green Bay, Wiseonsin. The trip to that place was made with a dog team by way of Marquette.
The cold was intense, the mercury creep- ing down to twenty-two degrees below zero. To add to their sufferings, one of their num- ber, Captain MeDonald, an elderly man, be- came exhausted with the journey and rather than abandon him they camped in the woods, digging a hole in the snow for their fire, and sitting around the blaze all night while the great trees snapped and burst open around them with the frost. Then the guides desert-
ORRIN WILLIAMS ROBINSON.
ed, and after much suffering the party at last found its own way into Green Bay. There was no work there so the young man started south to Chicago, and thence to Kossuth county, Iowa, where he remained six years.
In 1862 he returned to the copper country and for eleven years was engaged as shipping elerk for the Quincy mine. In 1873 he or- ganized the Sturgeon River Lumber Company and built mills at Hancock, which were removed to C'hassel in 1887 and greatly enlarged.
This concern employs over two hundred men and is one of the largest plants in this state. Mr. Robinson is the president of the company.
In 1865 he married Miss Cornelia L., daughter of Naham Lombard, of Weathers- field, Vermont. They have two children, M. Ethel, who graduated from Mary Institute, St. Louis, Missouri, and Dean L., who gradu- ated from Harvard University. Mr. Robin- son was elected to the House of Representa- tives from the Second District of Houghton in 1895; Senator from the Thirty-second Dis- trict in 1897, and Lieutenant-Governor of Michigan in 1898. His term expires in 1901.
100
MEN OF PROGRESS.
ROBERT DAY SCOTT.
SCOTT, ROBERT DAY. As sturdy as the thistle of his native land, Robert Day Scott has made his way through the troubles and vicissitudes of this life, winning the bat- tle in the end through sheer pluck and endur- ance. The R. D. Scott carriage factory in Pontiac stands today like a monument erected by Mr. Scott's own hands, and when one considers from what a beginning Mr. Scott has built this colossal business it seems more than marvelous.
His father, Robert Scott, was the manager of a large estate near Roxboroughshire. Scot- land, and it was there, on June 25, 1826, that Robert Day Scott was born. The fam- ily moved to America when Mr. Scott was but cight years of age, and settled on a farm near Guelph, Wellington county, Canada, in 1834. When he reached the age of 18 years it was decided that he should learn a trade, and he was apprenticed to a wagonmaker.
In 1849, being 23 years old, he decided that working for others was not as remuner- ative as working for himself might be, so he started in business on his own account. He prospered and business increased steadily,
until the hard times and business reverses of the Canadian financial panic of 1857 wound up his concern. In 1865 Mr. Scott moved with his family to the United States and took up his residence in Pontiac, Michigan.
These are the dark pages in his life history, although he now reviews them with a feeling of pride. He found himself in a strange city with an invalid wife, seven children and not a dollar in his pocket. At this period his trade stood him in good stead. He found work at it and managed by hard work to keep things moving for a year, when, having accu - mulated a little money, he opened a shop of his own. This meant extra work. All day he would work in the shop, and when night came, instead of resting from his labors, he was compelled to scour the country in search of dry timber suitable for the manufacture of wagons.
Gradually his business commenced to grow, yet for a time he confined himself to supplying the local trade only. After a while he began branching out for sales in the sur- rounding country, and his business increased year by year. In 1888 he built a small fac- tory and started to manufacture road carts and wagons for export. Today R. D. Scott & Co. own and operate one of the largest plants of its kind in Michigan, building annu- ally 10,000 vehicles, which are sold through- out the world. This immense plant is run on the profit-sharing plan for the employees.
Mr. Scott was married to Elizabeth Ann Day, daughter of Daniel Day, at Guelph, Canada, on June 14th, 1849. Mrs. Scott died in 1892, leaving five children. Maria lives at home with her father and takes her mother's place in his household. Mary is the wife of Henry C. Ward, of Pontiac; William is associated with the firm of R. D. Scott & Company, at Pontiac; Phoebe Palmer is the wife of Howard Stevens, the builder and contractor, in that city, and Ellen Jane is the wife of John E. King, of Jackson county, Michigan. Mr. Scott is a staunch Prohibitionist.
101
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
QUIRK, DANIEL LACE. The Isle of Man has been made famous in recent years by the stories of Hall Caine, and its topog- raphy and people are better known to the readers of today than they were to those of a generation ago.
It was on this little island, under the pro- tecting shadow of the flag of Great Britain, that the subject of this sketch, Daniel Lace Quirk, in the year 1818, on the 15th day of June, first made his entry into the world. His father, Hugh Quirk, was a vessel owner, living in the little city of Peel, Isle of Man, and his mother's father was an Episcopal clergyman and her uncle was Deemster of the island.
Four years after the birth of Daniel, the family came to America and settled on a farm in New York State, where, until he was 17 years of age, the young man lived, and tilled the soil. Then he was apprentieed to learn the trade of carpenter and joiner, which trade he followed for many years. His education was received at a district school near Rochester, New York, and with the aid of that education he has gradually made his own way to the position he now oe- eupies in the business and commercial world.
Mr. Quirk came to Michigan in 1838, set- tling in Ann Arbor, where he worked at his trade for nine years. In 1847 he purchased the Belleville Mills, in Wayne County, which he owned and operated for a period of six years, after which he sold out and went to Chicago, Illinois, for the purpose of engaging in the commission business. There, under the firm name of Dow, Quirk & Company, in 1861, he began the pork-packing business which afterwards became known as the Chi- cago Packing Company. He returned to Michigan in 1863, this time to Ypsilanti, where he now lives, and in 1864 he assisted in organizing the First National Bank of that eity. Sinee its organization he has been the president and vice-president. At the present writing he holds the position of president.
He was one of the principal men who con- structed the Wabash Railroad from Detroit,
DANIEL LACE QUIRK.
Michigan, to Butler, Indiana, and was one of the projectors and builders of the now Lake Shore Railroad from Ypsilanti to Hillsdale, Michigan. He was also one of the promoters of the Eel River Railroad, built in 1871, from Anburn to Logansport, and of the electric road from Ypsilanti to Ann Arbor. He was instrumental in building the large woolen and paper mills erected in 1865 at Ypsilanti, and besides his present business as banker he is interested in the Peninsular Paper Company and a director in the Eel River Railroad.
Mr. Quirk has never lost his love for his first occupation, and he still owns and oper- ates several farms near Ypsilanti. From 1852 to 1855 he occupied the office of Aud- itor for Wayne County.
In 1843, Mr. Quirk married Miss Naney Scott, of Lodi, who died in 1850, leaving one danghter, Nancy, who is the wife of Charles P. Ferrier, of Ypsilanti. In 1852, he mar- ried Miss Priscilla Frain, daughter of Henry Frain, and they have three children. Eliza- beth is now Mrs. Ira P. Younglove, of Chi- cago; Mrs. Jennie Quirk Pack lives at home. Daniel L. Quirk, Jr., is cashier of the First National Bank of Ypsilanti.
102
MEN OF PROGRESS.
HON. EDGAR WEEKS.
WEEKS, HON. EDGAR. A familiar figure in Michigan polities and a hard worker for the Republican party, Hon. Edgar Weeks. of Mt. Clemens, Michigan, is one of the prominent men of this State. As a law- yer he possesses great ability and in the course of his long practice he has engaged in many of the most important cases ever tried in the courts of Macomb county.
He was born in Mt. Clemens in August, 1839. and he has lived there all his life. His father, Aaron Weeks, was one of the pioneers of Macomb county.
When about 15 years of age the young man commenced learning the trade of a printer, and for a time occupied the post of "devil" in one of the printing offices in his native town. Two years later he took charge of a newspaper office in New Baltimore, re- maining in that position for a brief time. Shortly after this he came to Detroit, where he was employed on the old Evening Tribune, and also on the Detroit Free Press. About the year 1858 he entered the office of the county elerk of Macomb county as an assist- ant, and at the same time commeneed the
study of law. Soon afterwards he was taken into the offices of Eldredge & Hubbard, at Mt. Clemens, where he remained up to the time of his admission to the bar in 1861.
Mr. Weeks took an active part in the poli- tical campaign of 1860, and in June, 1861, when the civil war broke out, he enlisted in Company B of the Fifth Michigan Volun- teer Infantry, which was raised in Mt. Clem- ens. Before the regiment was fully organ- ized he was made first sergeant of that com- pany, and as such went to the front about the 1st of September, 1861.
Ile had only been in the service ten months when he was commissioned by Gov. Blair as a first lieutenant and adjutant in the Twenty-second Michigan Infantry. While his regiment was in Kentucky during the winter of 1862-63 he was again promoted, this time to the rank of captain in Company F of the same regiment.
Upon his return from the war in 1864, he resumed his practice of law in Mt. Clemens, and the same year established the Mt. Clem- ens Monitor, which is still the leading Re- publican organ of Macomb county. In the fall of 1864 Mr. Weeks was elected to the office of circuit court commissioner, but was forced to resign that office by reason of the law permitting the soldiers to vote in the field being declared unconstitutional.
He has held many offices. In 1866 he was made prosecuting attorney for Macomb county. In 1875 he was appointed probate judge of Macomb county by Gov. Bagley. Ile was nominated for Congress in 1884 but defeated. A delegate to the National Con- vention at Chicago, which nominated Benja- min Harrison for president, Mr. Weeks took an active part in the effort made at that time to nominate Gen. Alger, was elected to Con- gress in the fall of 1897 and now represents the Seventh District of Michigan in the Fifty-sixth Congress of the United States.
His son, John A. Weeks, has served for years as prosecuting attorney for Macomb county.
103
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
WILSON, M. D., WILLIAM DEAN. William Dean Wilson was born in Ogdens- burg, N. Y., June 27, 1856. His cducation, acquired in many places, was commenced in his native city, where the Wilson family first settled. While he was but a boy his family came to Michigan, settling near Romeo. Young Wilson worked for his education. Ilis father died when he was too young to remember much about it and the boy. very early in life, found that he must learn the actual meaning of that good American word, "Hustle." Ile worked on a farm during the summer months and in the winter attended school, finally graduating from Parson's business college at Saginaw. At the age of 16 he found himself in the posi- tion of teacher, and not a very enviable posi- tion was it, for he was appointed to the Titta- bawassee district, better known as the "Titta- bawassee Boom," which was then considered one of the toughest districts in Saginaw county. Many other teachers had failed to manage that school, but the hard work of his early days gave him the necessary muscle and had trained him for it, and he succeeded in holding out for a year. Then, at the age of 17, Mr. Wilson commenced the study of medi- cine in the office of Dr. Greenshields, of Rome, and the following year, borrowing $700 from the doctor, he entered the Rush Medical College, of Chicago, graduating in 1878, at the head of the class. Dr. Wilson, see- ing a good opening for a practice in Mt. Clem- ens, located there, and was successful from the time he hung out his sign, so much so that in the second year of his practice he returned the loan that had enabled him to make his way through college.
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