USA > Michigan > Men of progress : embracing biographical sketches of representative Michigan men with an outline history of the state > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
Mr. Sundstrom made investigations and reports from the Upper Peninsula for the col- lection of the income tax in 1895 and also made the census and report for the registra- tion of the Chinese. He married, August 15, 1888, Miss Maggie Goodro, of Michigamme. Mr. Sundstrom is a stockholder in the Penin- sula Bank at Ishpeming and operates a gen- eral store at Michigamme. He belongs to the M. W. A. and B. P. O. E., and in politics is an uncompromising Democrat. He has been a member of the Board of Education for years and about the only interest he takes in local affairs is for the advancement of the schools.
170
MEN OF PROGRESS.
JUDGE JOHN WESLEY STONE.
STONE, JUDGE JOHN WESLEY. John Wesley Stone was born in Wadsworth, Ohio, July 18, 1838, and educated first in the district schools near his home and later in the Select School at Spencer, Ohio. When he was but 16 years of age he commenced teaching school, earning only $17 a month, boarding at the nearby farm houses. He fol- lowed the profession of school teacher in win- ters until he became 21 years old. In the spring of 1856 he left his home and went to Grand Rapids, Michigan, arriving in that city with 50 cents in his pocket, but he was fortunate in securing work at once on a farm, and in the fall a school at Big Spring, Ottawa county, at $25 a month.
He longed to bring his people to Michigan, and worked hard saving his money until in five months he had enough on hand to enable him to accomplish this purpose. The family arrived and located on a piece of land in the forest near Dorr, Mich. A great deal of hard work was necessary to put the new land into a condition for farming, and young Stone turned in with his parents to clear up the farm. When ready cash was needed he re-
turned to school teaching during the winter months. He commenced the study of law in 1859, reading in the office of Silas Stafford, at Martin, Mich., and he was admitted to the bar before Judge Littlejohn, at Allegan, in 1862. Two years prior to his admission to the bar he had been elected the county clerk of Allegan county, and in 1862 he was re-elected to that office. Through this position he was enabled to earn enough to pay the remainder of cash due on the farm, and establish his parents in a comfortable home. In 1864 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Allegan county, and he remained such until 1870. In 1873 he was elected circuit judge of the tweu- tieth judicial circuit. He resigned in the fall of 1874 and removed to Grand Rapids, where he entered the firm of Norris & Blair, attor- neys-at-law. The following year Mr. Norris retired from the firm, which then became Blair, Stone & Kingsley.
In 1876 Judge Stone received the uomina- tion for Congress, and was elected. In 1878 he was re-elected. After serving his last term in Congress. Judge Stone returned to Grand Rapids and formed a partnership with two attorneys of that city, under the firm name of Taggart, Stone & Earle.
During the Arthur administration, Judge Stone was appointed United States attorney for western Michigan, and was engaged much of the time in the Upper Peninsula. In 1887 he moved to Houghton, Michigan, where he practiced law until he was elected circuit judge of the Twenty-fifth circuit, in 1890. In 1891 he moved to Marquette.
In 1861 Judge Stone married Delia M. Grover, daughter of A. P. Grover, at Alle- gan, Michigan. He has four children, Car- rie M., wife of Fred. M. Champlin, of Grand Rapids; two daughters, at home, and a son, John G. Stone, attorney, associated with Judge John W. Champlin, in Grand Rapids.
Judge Stone is the son of Rev. Chauncey Stone. His grandfather, Benj. Stone, was a Vermonter. His mother was a descendant of the Bird family, which came from England and settled in Vermont.
171
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
NORTH, GEORGE SMITHI. George Smith North is one of the progressive busi- ness men of the city of Hancock, Michigan, and has always been a staunch member of the Republican party.
The North family came to this state from Connecticut. Mr. North's grandmother, on his father's side, was Sarah Dowd, of the old Connecticut family of that name. His father, Seth D. North, went into the copper country in 1854 and located at Rockland, Ontonagon County, where he was warehouse clerk for the firm of Willard & Day of that place, one of the pioneer firms of the copper country. The elder North remained with this firm for a number of years, and then after working for a time as supply clerk for a Minnesota mine. in 1867 he determined to commence on his own account. Hle then opened a mercantile establishment at the Quincy mine, near the town of Hancock, Michigan. The business prospered and later enlarged its scope by be- coming associated with stores at Lake Linden and Calumet.
George Smith North, the subject of the present sketch, was born September 5, 1852, at Cromwell, Connecticut. When the fan- ily moved to this state the boy was sent to the public schools of Rockland until he reached his 14th year, and then he attended the Homer Academy at Homer, New York State. After finishing in this academy he took a year's course at the Milwaukee Business Col- lege at Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
At the conclusion of this course he returned to Michigan and took an humble position in his father's store at the Quincy mine. lle started to learn the business by commencing at the bottom, with a salary of $20 a month, and as he succeeded in acquiring a comprehen- sive knowledge of one department he was transferred to the next, and then to the office, until he had become thoroughly familiar with every branch of the business. It was fortun- ate that he acquired this education in the com- mercial line, for in 1893 the elder North died,
GEORGE SMITH NORTH,
leaving the entire establishment to the man- agement of his young son.
For a great many years G. S. North was in- terested in the Pemberthy Injector Company of Detroit, Michigan, but he sold out his one- quarter interest in 1897. Besides being owner and manager of the S. D. North Mercantile Company at the Quiney mine, Mr. North has interests in several other large and important industries. Ile is one of the directors in the Sturgeon River Lumber Company at Chassel. Michigan; has a part interest in the Avery House and Ilotel Egnew at Mount Clemens, Michigan, and is a director in the First Na- tional Bank at Hancock, Michigan.
In 1872 Mr. North married Miss Emma (. Briggs at Norwalk, Ohio, and three chil- dren have been the result of that union, two girls and one boy. Fannie is living at home with her parents in Hancock, Helen B. is a student at the Chicago Musical College and George Kent North is attending school.
Mr. North is a Mason and a Knight Tem- plar.
172
MEN OF PROGRESS.
EDGAR KIDWELL,
KIDWELL, EDGAR. The Kidwell fam- ily is a very old one in this country. The origi- nal founder of it in America came to Mary- land with Lord Baltimore, and settled in that stato.
Edgar Kidwell, the subject of this sketch, was born in Kensington, Maryland, July 15, 1865. Ilis father, John II. Kidwell, was a well-known contractor and builder in the city of Washington, D. C.
When a boy, Edgar Kidwell evinced a strong disposition to take up mechanical work. He received the benefit of the splendid public schools of Washington, and after school hours and during vacations devoted himself to build- ing machinery and mechanical appliances of all kinds.
He completed the course at the grammar school in Washington, and then took the clas- sical course at the Georgetown University of Georgetown, West Washington, D. C., gradu- ating from there in 1886.
The following year he went into the con- tracting and building business at Washington, and met with considerable success.
In the fall of 1887 he entered the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania to take a course in mechanical and electrical engineering, and in 1889 he graduated as an M. E. The follow- ing year he devoted to instructing those branches at the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1891 was tendered and accepted the position of instructor in the Michigan College of Mines at Houghton, Michigan.
Here he remained for eight years, and in the fall of 1897 he tendered his resignation to take effect May 31, 1898, and accepted the position of superintendent of the Arcadian Copper Company.
The place where this company's interests were centered and where Mr. Kidwell first took charge was in a dense woods with a few old log shanties in the clearing, and one old and rickety shaft house. He entered his new duties June 1, 1898, and immediately started to develop and improve the property. In one year under his direction six shafts were sunk, and three modern steel shaft houses erected and equipped with the best machinery. A large stamp mill was erected, and many other improvements made. The little clearing in the woods has grown rapidly and has assumed the proportions of a small town, and at the end of the first year after Mr. Kidwell took charge, a force of nearly 1,500 men were em- ployed on the property.
Edgar Kidwell, in 1893, married Miss Mary O'Neill, of Washington, D. C. He has three children, the eldest of whom, Har- old, is five years of age. The other two are Paul, aged three years, and Ruth, aged one and one-half years.
173
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
VIVIAN, SR., JOHNSON. Those men who early in the history of the mining indus- try in this State, went to work in the iron and copper mines of the Upper Peninsula; com- mencing with pick and shovel, or pushing the tram-car that conveyed the ore out of the mine, have, with few exceptions, by sticking to this business, taken their places among the capitalists of Michigan. In working their own passage to the front, they have materially assisted in building up the State; forming the neuchs for little villages that have since grown into large and prosperous cities.
Johnson Vivian, Sr., has been identified with mining all his life, and is today one of the wealthy citizens of Houghton, Michigan. His first work was in a copper mine, and he is still interested in several paying properties in Michigan. By birth Mr. Vivian is an Eng- lishman. Ile was born in Camborne, Eng- land, May 29, 1829, and is a direct descen- dant of Sir Vyell Vivian, 1295 A. D. Mr. Vivian's father and his grandfather were mine superintendents in Cornwall, England.
Young Vivian attended the common school about seven years, and when he reached his fourteenth year he was put to work trundling a wheelbarrow at a stamp mill, making about $2.50 a month. Two years of this work gave him the necessary brawn and muscle required by a miner, and at 16 he went underground to work and later became a miner in the copper mines.
IIe remained in England, following this employment, until he was 24 years of age, and then came to the United States and Mich- igan. He went to work first at Eagle Harbor, June 19, 1853, as a miner in the Copper Falls mine, and in July, 1854, he was made cap- tain. He remained with this company until 1856, and left to become captain in the ('lark mine, where he worked until February 1, 1857. From February, 1857, to October, 1859, he operated a part of the Copper Falls mine on a tribute lease. He was made chief captain of the Phoenix mine, and in October, 1863, superintendent, a position he held until 1867.
JOHNSON VIVIAN. SR.
He left the Phoenix mine in that year and was appointed superintendent agent of the Hancock mine, but he remained only one year and then resigned to accept a like position with the Schoolcraft mine. This was a new property, and Mr. Vivian installed the plant for the company, and opened up the mine. It did not pay, and work on the property was abandoned in July, 1874.
Mr. Vivian was then made agent of the Franklin and Perrabie mines and in 1880 the Huron, Concord and Mesnards mines were placed under his management. From 1888 until 1896 he was the superintendent of the C'entennial copper mines, and he retired from active work in the latter year. He still retains considerable interest in mining properties and is a large holder of valuable mining stock. Hle is also identified with the J. Vivian Mer- cantile Company, of Lanrium, Michigan, and a director in the Superior Savings Bank, at Houghton, and the State Savings Bank, at Laurium.
Mr. Vivian married, in 1853, Miss Eliza- beth Simmons, at Camborne, England. They have five boys and two girls.
174
MEN OF PROGRESS.
IION. JOHN MULVEY.
MULVEY, HON. JOHN. John Mulvey was born on a farm in Carriekonshannon, Ire- land, February 20, 1835, and received a com- mon school education in the schools near his native home. He left Ireland in 1852 and came to the United States to seek his fortunes in the new world, with 25 cents capital to start with. He went to Westchester county in New York state shortly after his arrival in America, where he found work on a farm at $11 a month and board. The Harlem River Railroad was being constructed about that time, and young Mulvey secured a job driving a team during the building of the road at 75 cents per day. The following summer he worked in a brick yard, and in the fall went to Dayton, Ohio, where he worked as a farm laborer. May 25, 1855, he came to Michi- gan and settled himself in the Upper Penin- sula, working at first on the new docks then being constructed at Marquette, and after- wards as a coaler in the Marquette furnaces. He visited Detroit in the fall of 1856 and de- posited his savings, amounting to $545, in the Lyle Bank, and during the ensuing winter worked in a sawmill near Ionia, Michigan. He
continued to add to his bank account and was making preparations to go to California, but just as he was ready to start the Lyle Bank suspended payment and his savings went up with the bank.
He managed to serape enough money to- gether, however, to pay his way to Marquette, to which eity he returned in 1857. He found work in the Pioneer Furnaces at Negaunee, and afterwards for a number of years worked as a miner in the iron and copper mines of the distriet. Mr. Mulvey then became a contrac- tor and built a small meat market, and in- vested his savings in real estate in Negaunee, which was then a town of about eleven log houses. His success enabled him to retire from active business life fully twenty years ago, but he is still the owner of large quantities of valu- able real estate and business property in Ne- gannee.
Mr. Mulvey has held various offices of pub- lic trust from 1864 to the present time, in- eluding township elerk, president of the vil- lage of Negaunee three times in succession, member of the common council, city assessor, school trustee, supervisor, and in 1886 he was elected mayor of the city of Negaunee with- out opposition. In polities he was a Demo- crat prior to 1884, and as such was elected to the house of the Michigan Legislature of 1881-82. Since 1884, however, he has in- dorsed the Republican principles, casting his first Republican vote for James G. Blaine. Ile was returned by the Republicans as a member of the Legislature of 1887-88, and again elected in 1895 to the same office by a vote of 1,842 to 737 for Henry W. Hoch, Democrat; 480 for Robert Blemhuber, Peo- ple's Party, and 177 for Trowbridge Johns, Prohibition.
Mr. Mulvey was the president of the State organization of the Ancient Order of Hiber- nians in 1880, and he organized several divi- sions of that body in the state, including the city of Detroit. In 1864 he married Miss Marguerite Donaldson, at Marquette, Michi- gan, and Mrs. Mulvey died February 9, 1893.
175
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
DEE, JAMES R. Enterprising and on the alert to take any of the opportunities for- tnne may offer, James R. Dec, of Houghton. Michigan, has been active in building up his resident city, and aiding in the great enterprises of the present day which modern thought and methods have perfected. He is at present the general manager of the Electric Light & Power Company of Hough- ton, a concern with a capital stock of $250,000 and also general manager of the Michigan Bell Telephone Company in the same place. He is manager of the Western Union Tele- graph Company in the copper district, and so in touch with all that electricity has done for the world since Edison first discovered the ways and means of best utilizing its forces.
Mr. Dee is of Trish parentage. Ilis father was a miner and came to this country about 1850, working for many years in the copper mines of Keweenaw county. James Rogers Dee was born near Eagle River, this state, November 11, 1855, where he attended the district schools until he was 12 years of age. He then went to Houghton and became a messenger boy in the service of the Western Union Telegraph Company at $10 a month, and when not on duty at the telegraph office he worked as bell boy in the Continental Hotel of that city for his board. His work- ing hours were not as set down by the labor unions to-day, eight hours a day, but just twice that number and sometimes more were put in by the young man. The telephone at that time had not been brought to perfection. and messages were all called for on foot. Dur- ing his spare moments the youngster took every opportunity he could to learn the work- ings of the Morse system, and the operators in the office assisted him in becoming acquainted with the telegraph instrument. In six months he had mastered telegraphy and was given a position at $40 a month as operator at Eagle Harbor. Six months later he was transferred to Houghton, Michigan, and a year later was given the management of the Western Union offices in the copper country. lle still con- tinues in that capacity. In 1872 he intro-
JAMES R. DEE.
duced and established the first telephone ex- change in the Upper Peninsula, and for six years he devoted his efforts in introducing the telephone system under the Michigan Bell Company. Tu 1885 Mr. Dee organized the Peninsular Electric Light & Power Com- pany, with a capital of $250,000. This was the first plant installed in the copper country. It is a large concern, and furnishes light and power to many municipalities and corpora- tions in Houghton county.
In 1899 Mr. Dee saw the necessity of good hotels to accommodate the many vis- itors who were coming into the country. Ile therefore organized the Donglass Hotel Company with a capital stock of $120,- 000, and a new hotel is now being built in Houghton, which will prove a very valu- able addition to the town. Mr. Dee owns many large business blocks in Houghton, and is one of the promoters of the Meadow Copper and other mining companies. Ile has been councilman in the village of lloughton, and is one of the organizers and is the present chairman of the Oneyaming Yacht Club of Houghton.
176
MEN OF PROGRESS.
CHARLES DAVID HANCHETTE.
HANCHETTE, CHARLES DAVID. Charles David Hanchette, of the law firm of Dunstan & Hanchette, Hancock, Michigan, is the son of Hiram Solon Hanehette, who for many years was a successful attorney at Wood- stock, Illinois. He organized the Sixteenth Illinois Cavalry at the breaking out of the Civil War, and served with his regiment as captain until nearly the close of the war. when the troop was captured by the Confederates. The private soldiers were paroled, but Captain Hanchette was shot.
Charles D. Hanchette was born December 13, 1859, at Woodstock, Illinois. Here he lived until he was six years of age, when in 1865 the news came of the death of his father. The family then moved to Chicago, Illinois, where the boy was sent to school, and when he was old enough worked in order to help his mother in the support of the family. He attended the old Central High School, and carried a route for the Chicago Tribune for four years, earning $3 a week, which he con- tributed toward the family purse. His first work, prior to becoming a newsboy was in a law office in Chicago, where he earned $2.50 per week.
When he was 17 years old he graduated from the Chicago High School, and after a short period secured a position in the bank of Preston, Kean & Company, of Chicago, where he acted as a messenger boy at a sal- ary of $4 a week. He followed this business for about a year, and then became connected with the W. W. Kimball Piano Company of Chicago, and was made cashier in the retail department of the company. He remained in this position for two years, and was then made salesman for the firm, and traveled in the in- terest of the house on the road.
Hle was assigned to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan as his territory, and was successful as a salesman.
He had long felt a desire to study the pro- fession of law, and in 1884 he had saved enough money to enable him to take up the first rudiments of that calling. He entered the law office of ex-Lieutenant-Governor Thomas B. Dunstan as a student, and studied diligently for two years, at the end of which time, in 1886, he was admitted to the bar by Circuit Judge Williams.
Ile practiced his profession with varying success in Hancock, Michigan, for three years, and in 1889, Mr. Dunstan took the young attorney into partnership with him, and the names of Dunstan & Hanchette were coupled over the office of the firm.
From 1887 until 1891 Mr. Hanchette was the prosecuting attorney of Keweenaw County and established for himself a splen- did record while in that office.
In 1889 he organized the Northern Michi- gan Building & Loan Association of Hongh- ton County, which has since developed into the largest local association in the state. HIe has been secretary and general manager of the association since its organization. He was president of the Michigan League B. and L. Association, 1897-98. Mr. Hanchette mar- ried Miss Nellie J. Harris, daughter of S. B. Harris, superintendent of the Quincy mine, at Hancock, in 1886. They have three chil- dren: Mary Estelle, born in 1887; Eleanor A., in 1891, and Dorthea L., in 1896.
177
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
NEWNHAM, RICHARD LINNEY. With but few early advantages, Judge Newn- ham, at the age of 30, has filled positions of trust, which, in their number and variety, fall to the lot of but few men at his time of life. Born in London, England, September 20, 1850, the first seventeen years of his life were passed in Britain. He did not see the inside of a school house until he was eight years old, after which he attended one of the Presby- terian schools in Scotland for four years. His father came to America in 1863, the son fol- lowing four years later, the father being in the U. S. Naval service, where he served one year. Following this service, the family located at Sangatnek, Michigan, where the father opened a shoe shop, in a small way. Here the son attended the local schools three winters, working at whatever presented itself during the summers. In 1871 he secured a teacher's certificate, and taught school during the winter months, saving money enough to pay his expenses while attending the Normal School at Ypsilanti during the summer. In the summer of 1875 his father suggested that he take up law for his profession, making ar- rangements with Judge Padgham, of Alle- gan, for him to study law in his office. The judge gave him his board and also the use of his law books and such instruction as he might give in consideration of his doing office work, and after one year's study he was examined and admitted to practice before the bar in Al- legan. In January, 1877, he opened an office in Saugatuck and for three years had a good practice there. In 1880 he moved to Allegan and practiced his profession there until 1894, when he removed to Grand Rap- ids, which city has since been his home.
Judge Newnham's official record is a flat- tering one, and almost suggests the thought that the fates order the destinies of men and ordain them for certain lines of life. He was for one year township superintendent of schools at Saugatuck, held a position in the office of the doorkeeper of the House of Rep- resentatives at Washington two years, 1888-9, was eight years a justice of the peace in Alle-
RICHARD LINNEY NEWNHAM
gan, and two years prosecuting attorney of Allegan county (1891-2), was assistant United States district attorney for the Western Dis- trict of Michigan four years (1894-8), and in 1899 was elected judge of the Superior Court of Grand Rapids for the term of six years. A case of some interest arose in Indge Newn- ham's court in 1899, involving the responsi- bility of public officials. In the People vs. Warren, Judge Newnham held that public officials are guilty of a felony in the misappro- priation of funds placed in their charge, whether intentional or otherwise, if above the amount of $50. This ruling was affirmed by the Supreme Court.
Miss Annie M. Higinbotham, daughter of Peter Higinbotham, one of the first settlers in Allegan county, became Mrs. Newnham September 20, 1878. They have four child- ren, a son, Stephen L., being clerk in the United States District Attorney's office at Grand Rapids, and three daughters attending the public schools. Judge Newnham is a Democrat in politics and was a member of the State Central Committee, 1892-4, and while at Allegan acted as chairman and secretary of the county committec. He is a member of the Michigan Bar Association, and his society connections are the Odd Fellows, Maccabees, Elks, Court of Honor and Knights of Pythias.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.