USA > Michigan > Men of progress : embracing biographical sketches of representative Michigan men with an outline history of the state > Part 37
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In politics Mr. Holmes is a Republican. He was mayor of Menominee in 1897, '98 and '99, and supervisor in 1896. He is a director in the Lumbermen's National Bank of Me- nominee, and one of the original stockholders and organizers of the Menominee Electric Railroad & Power Company. He belongs to Menominee Commandery, K. T., and Ahmed Temple, Marquette. Mr. Holmes married Miss Augusta .I., daughter of Alden Chand- ler, July 19, 1869, at Escanaba, and has five children.
265
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
STANTON, FRANK McMILLAN. Agent Frank McMillan Stanton, of the At- lantie, Baltic, Central and Phoenix copper mines, in the Upper Peninsula, is a New Yorker by birth and education. He ac- quired his knowledge of the profession of mining engineer, in the School of Mines of Columbia College, in New York city, and has supplemented his knowledge with a practical experience in the copper mines of Michigan.
His father, John Stanton, is one of the best known men in the copper country.
Jolin Stanton's experience as a mining engineer commeneed on the other side of the water. He was engaged in this profession in Bristol, England. He came to this country in 1835 to take charge of the iron mines at Dover, New Jersey. Later tlie elder Stanton took charge of a number of copper properties in Maryland, Virginia and Tennessee from 1852 until 1862, when the Confederate goverment confiscated the properties.
In 1864 Jolm Stanton came into Michi- gan and made his way into the copper coun- try. His first interests were in the Central mine, and in 1870 hie purchased a controlling interest in the Atlantic mining properties, which were made to prosper under his man- agement. He is also interested in the Bal- tic, Mohawk, Michigan, Winona, Central and Wolverine mines. Ile was one of the founders of the New York Mining Stock & Petroleum Exchange, and the first president of the exchange.
Frank McMillan Stanton was born in New York city May 23, 1865, and he attended the Twentieth Street public school, and graduated from the Columbia Grammar School in 1881. He then entered the School of Mines of Col- umbia College, where he took a six years' course, and from which he graduated in 1887. In June of that year young Stanton came to Michigan, as mining engineer for the Central Copper mines in Keweenaw county, and also as agent pro tem. Six months later he returned to New York city and studied under Professor Hallock, of the New York Gas
FRANK MCMILLAN STANTON.
Company, and that winter returned to Michi- gan to become a mining engineer on the At- lantic mine property. In 1889 he was made agent for the Atlantic mine.
Frank MeM. Stanton is a director in the Na. tional Bank of Houghton, vice-president of the Mining Gazette Company, of Houghton, and a director of the New Douglass Hotel Company, of the same place. He was super- visor of Keweenaw county for several terms and was also chairman of the building com- mittee during the building of the $100,000 steel bridge over Portage Lake. He is a mem- ber of the American Society of Civil En- gineers, and also of the Mechanical En- gineers' Society, the Western Society of En- gineers, and one of the board of manage- ment of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. His great-grandfather, Benjamin Wertervelt, served during the Revolution in the American army, so Mr. Stanton is a mem- ber of the Sons of the Revolution, served full term in the 7th regiment, National Guard, State of New York, and now a member of the 7th Regiment Veteran Association. He also belongs to the Psi Upsilon Society of Columbia College, and the Sons of St. An- drew's Society. Mr. Stanton makes his home at Atlantie Mine, Michigan.
266
MEN OF PROGRESS.
THEOPHILUS JOHN LANGLOIS. M. D.
LANGLOIS, THEOPHILUS JOHN, M.D. From Rouen, France, in the Province of Nor- mandy, the ancestors of Dr. Theophilus John Langlois eame to this country in 1720 and twenty years later settled in Acadia. His great grandfather was one of the ninety who, during the early troubles of that colony, es- caped through New Brunswick, crossing the Gulf of St. Lawrence in flat boats of their own construction, and locating finally about thirty-six miles north of Montreal.
During the Canadian Rebellion of 1837-38, Dr. Langlois's father was an active member of the Revolutionary party, and at that time was forced to seek refuge in the United States. Ile came to Michigan and settled in Grosse Ile, where, September 7, 1840, Theophilus John Langlois was born. After the rebellion was over he went back to the old homestead near Montreal. The following year his wife died and the boy was taken care of by his grandparents, while the father, touched with the gold- fever of 1849, went to California to seek his fortune. He remained away seven- teen years. In the meantime the boy grew up, attending the district school about two miles
from the farm, and when he reached the age of fourteen he started out in the world for him- self, securing the humble position of janitor and instructor in the College of Joliette in the Province of Quebec. Leaving college after graduation in 1862, he removed to Amherst- burg, Ontario, where in 1863 he was made principal of the R. C. Separate School and remained such until 1870. In June, 1865, he had commeneed the study of medicine with Dr. Walter Lambert, where he speedily acquired a good knowledge of the Hippo cratie art, so resigning his position in the schools in 1870 he devoted his entire time to the study of medicine attending the Detroit Medical College. While still in his first year he took the final examination and stood first in the class. The faculty gave him a tes- timonial letter and would have given him his diploma had the rules of the college per- mitted. He acted during the following year as an assistant to Dr. Edward W. Jenks, then the president of the faculty, and graduated in 1871. Upon receiving his degree, Dr. Lang- lois opened his office in Wyandotte, where to- day he is the oldest practitioner and enjoys an extensive practice.
Dr. Langlois married twice. Miss Maria Bertrand, of Amherstburg, was he first wife. Of their two children Eugenie is now Mrs. D. W. Roberts of Cleveland, and Napoleon T. is a practicing physician in Wyandotte. His second wife was Miss Elizabeth Schuhmacher of Wyandotte. Their only child, Elfrida, lives at home.
Dr. Langlois is a Mason of high standing, a member of Damaseus Commandery, No. 42, K. T., Michigan Sovereign Consistory and Moslem Temple, all of Detroit. He is also connected with the I. O. O. F., Royal 'Ar- eanum, Knights of Honor, A. O. U. W., K. O. T. M., and the National Union. He was eleeted mayor of Wyandotte in 1874 and re- elected to that office in 1888. He was eity physician from 1875 to 1881, president of the Water Board, 1889-90-91-92, and president of the Board of Public Works in 1896-97-98- 99.
267
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
SHANK, RUSH JESSE, M. D. Dr. Rush Jesse Shank was born in Lansing, Michi- gan, December 15, 1848, and has lived in that city all his life. Ilis father, Dr. Herbert B. Shank, located in Lansing in 1848, coming from New York state, where his father, Isaac Shank, was a farmer living in Cayuga county.
Up to the age of 14 years, the boy at- tended the village school, after which he was sent to a Quaker Academy at Union Springs, Cayuga county, New York, where he remained until he reached the age of 15. In this year he became a soldier. The boys of Oakwood Academy, in the spring of 1864, went down in a body to hear the Hon. Will- iam H. Seward address a patriotic meeting. In the enthusiasm attending that meeting the boys from the academy took an active part. and young Shank was so impressed with the thought that his services were needed in the battle for union, that after the specchmaking was over he hurried around to the re- cruiting office, where he offered himself as a recruit. He was accepted and mustered into Company C of the 148th New York infantry, and a few days later was sent to the front with his regiment.
The One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York was assigned to the department of the Army of the Potomac, where the young sol- dier at once came into active service in front of Petersburg, Virginia. With his company he participated in the Weldon Raid through the enemy's country and for three months lay in the trenches before Petersburg. In the meantime his father had been detached from the Eighth Michigan as surgeon and detailed as recruiting surgeon for central Michigan. He wrote to his son saying that if he wanted to leave the service he could obtain his dis- charge on account of his age, but the young man did not answer the letter. He remained in the service until he was mustered out at Richmond, Virginia, June 22, 1865.
He returned to Lansing and entered the , public schools, declining to go to West Point, after he had been appointed. He commenced
RUSH JESSE SHANK, M. D.
the study of medicine in his father's office, entering the Medical Department of the Uni- versity of Michigan, from which he gradu- ated as an M. D. in 1871. He then went into partnership with his father, which rela- tionship continued for 18 years.
In 1875 Dr. Shank married Miss Ella Williams, daughter of Wm. K. Williams, at Lansing, Michigan. They have one daugh- ter, Ruth (Mrs. M. W. Montgomery), living in Lansing.
Dr. Shank has taken all the degrees in Ma- sonry, including that of Knights Templar.
He was Department Commander of Michi- gan G. A. R., 1874-75, was Commander of Charles T. Foster Post, G. A. R., was a member of the board of managers of Michigan Soldiers' Home, 1887-93; United States pension examiner, central Michigan, for 10 years, and for several years alderman in the city of Lansing. While Department Commander of the G. A. R. he was instru- mental in drafting and passing a bill through the Legislature organizing the Soldiers' Home in this state.
He is now special aide on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, G. A. R., in charge of military instruction in public schools of Michi- gan.
268
MEN OF PROGRESS.
DR. CHARLES STORM HAZELTINE.
HAZELTINE, DR. CHARLES STORM. If there be anything in hereditary, a long line of professional aneestors, ineluding doetors, lawyers and teachers have transmitted to Dr. Hazeltine elements of character, peculiarly fitting him for professional life. His father, Gilbert H. Hazeltine, was a noted physician and surgeon of Jamestown, N. Y., where he practiced for half a century and was widely known also as a writer and local historian. His grandfather, Laban Hazeltine, was of the same profession, and others of his aneestry were prominent in other professions. The family were early inhabitants of Vermont. Dr. Hazeltine was born at Jamestown, N. Y., Oct. 1, 1844, his mother having been Eliza C. Boss. It was the wish of his family that he should be a physician and his education had that destiny in view for him. With an acad- emie education acquired at Jamestown, and considerable progress in scientific study through elementary reading at home, he first attended a course of medical lectures at the University of Michigan, and subsequently en- tered the medical department of the Univer- sity of Albany, graduating therefrom in 1866. He then for a short time attended the hospitals and colleges in New York. Following this, for six months he had charge of the lying-in hospital at Buffalo. He then entered upon an active practice at Jamestown, but a physician's
life proving distasteful to him, he retired from it after some eighteen months' trial and en- gaged in the drug business. Coming west in 1872 and stopping at Grand Rapids, he de- cided to locate there. He first interested him- self in manufacturing, but soon formed a con- nection with Charles Shephard in the wholesale drug business, under the firm name of Shephard & Hazeltine, and from this be- ginming was evolved the stoek corporation, the Hazeltine & Perkins Drug Co., Mr. Shephard having sold his interest to Capt. C. G. Perkins, of Henderson, Ky., an intimate friend of the doctor's. In 1888 Mr. Perkins' interest was purchased by Dr. Hazeltine and the business continued under the incorporated name. Un- der the management of Dr. Hazeltine, and as a natural consequence of honorable business methods, the business has acquired a practical monopoly of the jobbing drug trade of west- ern Michigan and compares favorably in ex- tent and influence with its older competitors in Detroit and Chicago.
Dr. Hazeltine is a director in the Grand Rapids National Bank, and has other collateral business interests. Politically he was first a Republican, but President Cleveland's poliey in his first term won him over to the Demoe- racy and he became an enthusiastic Jefferson- ian. He was appointed United States Consul at Milan, Italy, September 16th, 1893, under the second Cleveland administration, a posi- tion which he filled with credit both to his government and to himself. After a service of two years, however, he resigned to resume his place in the drug house of which he is the head.
He is a member of the vestry of St. Mark's Church of Grand Rapids, having been its junior warden; of the National Wholesale Druggists' Association; of the Grand Rapids Board of Trade, and of a number of social clubs. He is a Knights Templar and member of the Mystic Shrine. For many years he was an active member of the Board of Trustees of Butterworth Hospital and much was due to his efforts as its secretary and treasurer in its early foundation and the construction of its build- ing.
Dr. Hazeltine has been twice married, his first wife having been Miss Ella C. Burnell, daughter of Madison Burnell, a noted criminal lawyer of western New York, to whom he was married at Jamestown, N. Y., in 1868. After her death, Miss Anna O. Fox, daughter of George H. Fox, of Boston, Mass., became Mrs. Hazeltine in 1875. He has three daughters and a son.
269
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
AINSWORTH, CORYDON EVERETT. Since the days when Isaac Walton lured the trout and grayling from the streams of Eng- land with his light tackle and gentle skill, the fishing industry has been growing larger every year, and the old father of fishermen were he alive today, would throw up his hands in hor- ror at modern methods, necessary to accommo- date the great populations of cities, and sup- ply the various markets with quantities of fish.
The firm of Ainsworth & Ganley, of Sault Ste. Marie, controls one of the largest fishing industries on the Great Lakes today. From an humble beginning it has grown in size and output year by year.
Corydon Everett Ainsworth is the senior member of this firm. He was born at Cape Vincent, New York, September 30, 1861, where he attended school until he was 17 years of age, and then went to the Collegiate Institute at Adams, New York, where he re- mained until his twenty-first year, and gradu- ated. It was his intention to become a phar- macist, and to that end he sought employment and worked for 18 months in a drug store. In 1883, however, he gave this up, and came to Sault Ste. Marie, where his father had an interest in a fish company, and the same year, borrowing $2,000 from his father, he joined with Joseph Ganley and went into the fish business on his own account. His first outfit consisted of a few small sailing boats and he employed only 12 men. The new firm con- tracted with a Chicago house and sent all their fish there, but the Chicago people failed to meet their obligations and a lawsuit was neces- sary to bring them to time. For some time the firm of Ainsworth & Ganley were forced to do business on their credit, but their trade increased and their yearly output today is about 1,500 tons of fish. The firm employs nearly 200 men, eight tugs and a small fleet of sailing vessels. In 1891 Mr. Ainsworth be- came a stockholder in the J. W. Alexander Lumber Company, and in 1895 was compelled
CORYDON EVERETT AINSWORTH.
to buy out the other stockholders to save the money he had invested in the enterprise. He still operates the mill under the name of the C. E. Ainsworth Lumber Company and does sawing for other parties, averaging about 12,000,000 feet of lumber a season, and doing prosperous and remunerative business. When the Edison Electric Light Company was organized in Sault Ste. Marie, Mr. Ains- worth was made a director in the company and later became its president. At present he is a stockholder and director of the Sault Sav- ings Bank at Sault Ste. Marie.
Mr. Ainsworth has always had a keen eye for good investments. During the boom of 1888 he purchased and platted a 40-acre sub- division to the city, and the investment has proven most profitable. He still holds a large block of down-town real estate. He is a direc- tor of the A. Booth & Co. Packing Company, dealers in fish, doing business with a head- quarters in Chicago, and their manager in this territory. In 1891 Mr. Ainsworth married Miss Florence, daughter of E. H. Mead, cashier of the First National Bank of Sault Ste. Marie. He has two children, Margarette and Frances, aged five and seven years.
270
MEN OF PROGRESS.
HON. ARCHIBALD BROWN LANG, M. D.
LANG, M. D., HON. ARCHIBALD) BROWN. Hon. Archibald Brown Lang, M. D., prominent as a citizen of Sault Ste. Marie and a skilled physician and surgeon of that city, was born October 28, 1848, at Owen Sound, Ontario. Ilis father, Dr. Will- iam Lang, was a surgeon in the English navy and remained in that service from 1823 to 1838, spending 10 years of his life in India.
Dr. A. B. Lang attended school until he was 17, when he was granted a first-class teachers' certificate, and shortly afterwards started teaching in a district school. The fol- lowing year he was made principal of the schools at Medford, Ontario. He remained in this capacity for four years, and left it to start a drug business at Owen Sound, Ontario. Here he commenced the study of medicine, a profession in which his three brothers and his father were all engaged. He be- gan his studies in the office of his elder brother, and in 1880 sold out his thriving drug business in order to be able to give his entire time to his studies. 'HIe entered the Medical Department of Trinity College, in Toronto, in 1880, and went from there to the University of New York, from which he graduated in 1884. After graduating he
established himself in practice in New York city, where he remained until 1878.
That was the year when Sault Ste. Marie started to boom. Dr. Lang determined to get in on the ground floor, so he gave up his New York practice and coming west located in the young city. Here he soon became known and popular, and with his popularity his practice increased until at the present time he stands at the head of his profession in that city, where he is an honored and re- spected citizen.
Dr. Lang has always been a Republican, and identified as a leading member of that party. He has held many political offices, at his home in Owen Sound. In 1892 he was elected mayor of the city of Sault Ste. Marie.
During his term as mayor, many improve- ments were made in the city of Sault Ste. Marie.
Dr. Lang is a member of the State Medi- cal Association of Michigan, and the Amer- iean Medical Association, and he is a Royal Arch Mason. He is unmarried, and has a cozy home at Sault Ste. Marie, enjoying a large practice and the confidence and esteem of his fellow-townsmen, who look upon him as a progressive man, willing to aid any cause that will tend to benefit the city or its people.
271
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
FISHER, WALTER J. A small boy struggling with a large push-eart in a vain effort to keep it from running away from him on the down-grades was a sight that amused the citizens of Pontiae some thirty years ago. The small boy has pushed himself far away from the eart now, but he still remembers his struggles with that vehicle and how his arms and back would ache at the termination of his day's work.
From a grocer's boy and the motive power of the delivery cart, Walter J. Fisher has be- come one of the wealthy and influential citi- zens of Pontiac, and the proprietor of one of the largest and busiest wholesale and retail grocery stores in the county. IIe is only 40 years of age now, for he was born in Chicago, Ill., October 5, 1859, and yet in this short time he has firmly established himself among the business men of this state.
His parents moved from Chicago to De- troit in 1863, and from Detroit to Pontiae in 1864. Walter Fisher was sent to the public school in Pontiae until he was 12 years of age, and when not at school he was given odd jobs to keep him busy. At the age of 12 he was sent to work in a grocery store, presum- ably as elerk, but in reality he was everything else beside.
In 1874 he had the good fortune to enter the employ of Joseph Nusbaumer, and he remained with him until 1881. During this time his employer taught him bookkeeping. At the age of 16 the young man was head clerk in the establishment, beside buying all the goods and managing the business.
He returned to his old employer, Walters, who, in 1882, made an agreement with him that he would sell out in five years. At the expiration of that period Mr. Fisher found himself the proprietor of a good business and, by dint of hard work and strict attention, he has made that business one of the most suc- cessful in the country. In 1883 he started in the real estate business, purchasing some property on the main street of Pontiac. In 1893 he bought the old Walton farm, on Woodward avenue, just outside of the
WALTER J. FISHER.
city limits, and in 1895 he bought the Washburn farm, also on Woodward avenue. These properties, although not yet platted, are considered the most desirable real estate near Pontiac. Mr. Fisher owns many fine building lots in Pontiac, together with seven dwelling houses from which he derives con- siderable ineome in rentals. He is also owner of much desirable realty in Detroit.
In all his real estate transactions Mr. Fisher has been more than ordinarily sue- cessful. He knows good property when he sees it and can figure some distance ahead when making a deal. He does a large real estate business in connection with his grocery trade.
His wife, formerly Mary R. Crawford, daughter of Joseph B. Crawford, of Pontiac, has proven a valuable helpmate to him ever since their union in 1887. They have five children, namely, Walter Joseph, Mark R., Charles Henry, Alva Francis H. and James Kenneth Fisher, all of whom live at home.
Mr. Fisher is affiliated with the Masonie fraternity, being a member of Pontiae Lodge, No. 21, F. and A. M., and the Pontiae Com- mandery, K. T.
272
MEN OF PROGRESS.
JOHN WESLEY FITZGERALD.
FITZGERALD, HON. JOHN WES- LEY. Hon. John Wesley Fitzgerald, the present postmaster of Grand Ledge, Michigan. and a prominent business man of that place, was born in Montpelier, Vermont, October 22. 1850, being the child of Irish parents, his father coming to this country from Limerick, Ireland, in 1830. When Mr. Fitzgerald was quite young both of his parents died, and the boy was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. David Bar- ton, of Lyons, New York. He worked on a farm and attended the district school until he was 19 years of age, when he secured a teach- er's certificate and became a teacher at a sal- ary of $25 a month in a district school. The following summer he worked on a farm and taught the next two winters in district school. Anxious to further his education in every way possible, he entered the Sodus Academy, at Sodns, New York, having carned enongli money to economically pay his way through the course. In company with three other young students he reuted a room, and each one took his turn as cook, so in this way they man- aged to keep expenses down to about $1.50 a week. In June, 1873, Mr. Fitzgerald started
west to make his fortune, intending to locate in Iowa. He stopped at Jackson, Michigan, to visit an uncle who was a resident of that city, and in company with him drove down to Grand Ledge to visit another uncle at that place. It was during the harvesting season, and young Fitzgerald turned in and helped his uncle gather the crops. He was offered a good district school and a salary of $40 a month if he would consent to remain there that winter, so he accepted and remained there until the following fall, working as a farm- hand during the summer and the next summer going out on the road as a traveling salesman for S. R. Green, selling agricultural imple- ments to farmers throughout the country. He then took the position of clerk in the hardware store of S. B. Granger, at Grand Ledge, which had now become his home, and as such he worked steadily and industriously for seven years, and was then taken into the firm as an equal partner. At the end of ten years Mr. Fitzgerald severed his connection with this business and selling out in 1890 he organized the Grand Ledge Sewer Pipe Company, of which he is at present a director. For several years he sold this company's output on the road. He was also identified with the estab- lishment and locating of the chair factory at Grand Ledge, which is one of the most pros- perous institutions of that place, and gives em- ployment to a large number of people.
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