USA > Michigan > Men of progress : embracing biographical sketches of representative Michigan men with an outline history of the state > Part 49
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SOLOMON S. CURRY.
his counsel is sought. ITis knowledge and aptness in this line is such that his favorable judgment is an assurance of success in any undertaking.
In politics, Mr. Curry is of the Democratic faith. In 1874 he was elected a representative in the State Legislature, serving during the session of 1875, and has held many local offices of responsibility and trust, in all of which he has acquitted himself with satisfaction to the public and honor to himself. In 1896 he was a candidate for Lieutenant Governor on the Democratic ticket, headed by George L. Yaple for Governor, and although he rau largely ahead of his ticket in the Upper Penin- sula, where he was so well and favorably known, the ticket was unable to stem the Re- publican current. In 1898 he was nominated for representative in Congress from the Twelfth Congressional district, which com- prises the Upper Peninsula, but his candidacy was of necessity hopeless, in a district having an adverse partisan majority of over 10,000.
On November 13th, 1867, Mr. Curry was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Stoupe of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and to them have been born two sons and two daughters, George A. and Anna Belle, who are living, and Libbie May and John Carlisle, who have died.
360
MEN OF PROGRESS.
WILLIAM PAUL PRESTON.
PRESTON, WILLIAM PAUL. John and Paul Preston settled in Maryland in 1670, and the Preston family in that beauti- ful State owes its existence there to these two early settlers. The family originally came from England.
William Paul Preston is a descendant of this family. Ile was born in the little town of Chesterton, Maryland, January 19, 1845, where, until his fifteenth year, he attended the village school and was then sent to school in Wilmington, Delaware. When the Civil War broke out, and with patriotic enthusiasm, all the youths of the country were answering President Lincoln's call for troops, a com- pany of Zonaves was organized in Wilming- ton. The martial nmsie and the attractive uniforms, together with the military fever that swept over the country, had its effect on young Preston, and in Angust, 1861, al- though only a school boy, he enlisted. The recruits of the new company were sent on to Staten Island, in New York bay, and the company was organized as Company D, Fifty-third New York, and mustered into the service October 12, 1861, so at the age of 17 Mr. Preston was a soldier. The company was
sent to the front at once, and under General Burnsides it participated in the expedition against Hatteras Inlet, in North Carolina, see- ing some sharp and severe service. March 25, 1862, after a year spent in the south, a year fraught with battles and excitement, the regiment was mustered out. Young Preston, however, had become attached to the life of a soldier, so he immediately re-enlisted, this time in the Fourth Delaware Regiment, and he served until the close of the war, participating in many important battles. After the close of the war he enlisted in the regular army at Indianapolis, Indiana, and was assigned to the Forty-third regiment. In 1867 he was made first sergeant of Co. B, and remained as such until the re-organization of the army in 1869. His company was stationed at Mackinac Island, where the regiment was finally mus- tered ont.
The year following his retirement from the service he married Miss Mary Overall, at Mackinac, and after the demise of his first wife he again married in 1885, Miss Emma Snell, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Today Mr. Preston is one of the largest property- owners on Mackinac Island, having several large business stores, and conducting an ex- tensive real estate business. He was presi- dent of the village for 13 years, a member of the Board of Supervisors, and for eight years, 1879 to 1887, chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Mackinac County. In 1891-92 he was the sergeant-at-arms of the House of Representatives, and a delegate to the Na- tional Democratic Convention of 1884. He was also a member of the Democratic State C'entral Committee from 1880 to 1884. He represented his county at the State Board of Equalization in 1891-96. He has been a can- didate for the Legislature on the Democratic ticket three times, but the district is largely Republican, which readily accounts for his non-election. He was a delegate to the Demo- eratie National Convention in 1890. Mr. Preston has five children: Henry W., aged 28, is with Hoyt & Company, wholesale gro- cers, at Chicago; Joseph R., aged 18, attends school in that city, and Cassius F., aged 15. Susie R., aged 13, and Margarette, aged 10, are living at home and attending school in Mackinac Island.
361
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
WESSELIUS, SYBRANT. Few names are more familiar to the people of Michigan today than that of the tall ex-senator from the Sixteenth district. Born poor, he has by his own energy and industry, gained prominence in politics, and a lasting reputation as one of the brainy and broad guaged citizens of West- ern Michigan.
Ilis parents eame from the Netherlands in 1847 and settled in Grand Rapids, where Sybrant was born on June 8, 1859. He was given a common school education until 15 years old, when he went to work in a trunk factory. He clung to his studies, however and by a strict economizing of his funds he was able to enter Kalamazoo College, where hc graduated with the degree of A. B.
After graduating he went to teaching school, and continued at it while he quietly but energetically studied law and fitted him- self for the profession which has been so kind to him. Endowed by nature with a mental eapacity in keeping with his great physique, he was not satisfied with learning just enough to enable him to pass the ordinary legal exami- nation, and when he finally went to the cireuit court as a candidate for admission to the bar, he passed with a standing most creditable, entered at once upon the practice of his pro- fession, and soon built up a large and remun- erative practice, which has steadily increased.
In polities Mr. Wesselius has been promin- ent in his part of the State for many years. His prominenee among the large Holland pop- ulation of the eity and district gave him a large personal following, and his personal qualifications, his oratory, and his marked ability made him in great demand in the coun- cils of the Republican party. In 1890, as the Republican candidate for mayor of Grand Rapids against heavy odds, he made a most remarkable run and succeeded in holding the vote down so close that several of the eity wards were saved in the aldermanic battles. In 1889 he was elected a member of the State Senate, and served as chairman of the com- mittee on constitutional amendments and fed- eral relations, and as member of the judiciary committee, and was recognized as one of the strong men of that session.
Mr. Wesselius took an active part in the campaign which gave Hazen S. Pingree the nomination for governor in 1896, and his rela- tions with the governor were so intimate that he was given the title of "Governor of West Michigan." Immediately after the inaugura-
SYBRANT WESSELIUS.
tion of Governor Pingree, the office of rail- road commissioner was tendered him, to accept which he would not do withont giving all his attention to its duties, involving a sacrifice of his private practice, which he could not well afford. But he was induced to become a mem- ber of the state's official family, and for two vears made one of the most aggressive com- missioners of railroads the State ever had. He not only personally outlined and designed the system of taxation evolved in the Atkin- son bill (Session 1897), but directed most of the work of Governor Pingree himself for equal taxation.
He resumed the practice of his profession at the end of his term. One of the earliest sym- pathizers in the cause of the Boers in South Africa, he assisted in raising the large sums of money sent from Western Michigan, helped to awaken interest in many of the large cities, helped to bring accredited representatives of the South African republic to his own city, and was personally responsible for the start- ing of the League of Boer Sympathizers in the United States.
Very happily married and with a happy home, Mr. Wesselius enjoys life, enjoys his friends and they enjoy him. He gives a por- tion of his time to literary work, and is a mem- ber of the Elks, Oddfellows and Knights of Pythias.
362
MEN OF PROGRESS.
WELLINGTON R. BURT.
BURT, WELLINGTON R. Wellington R. Burt is a descendant of Henry Burt, who came from England to Massachusetts in 1838, making his home in Springfield, where he spent a long and useful life and raised a large family. His descendants may be found in Western Massachusetts, while many more fol- lowed the course of empire and will be found in the new States of the West.
Wellington R. Burt was born in the State of New York in 1831; in 1838 his father, Inther Burt, moved with his family on to a farm in Jackson county, Michigan, where he died five years later. Wellington R. Burt lived on this farm until he was twenty years old, receiving such education as could be obtained at the district schools in that locality, together with one year at Albion Seminary and one year at the Michigan Central College, which was located at Spring Arbor at that time. He taught school two years in Indian- apolis, Ind., and spent three years in a trip
around the world, stopping at Australia, New Zealand, Van Diemans Land, Sandwich Islands, South and Central America. On his return he went into the pine woods on Pine River, Gratiot county, at $13 per month. In 1860 he was married to Sarah Torrans and settled in East Saginaw and engaged in the lumber business, which he has continued until now.
He has taken an active interest in the busi- ness of the valley. Was elected mayor, both parties endorsing him and receiving every vote of the city. Ran for governor in 1888; was elected State Senator in 1892; organized and was president of the Home National Bank for thirteen years; was president of the Michigan Salt Association for fourteen years.
Wellington R. Burt has two sons and four daughters; the sons are in active business and the daughters' husbands are in high walks of business and professional life.
363
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
WILLIAM ALDEN SMITH.
SMITH, WILLIAM ALDEN. William Alden Smith, of Grand Rapids, Mich., was born in Dowagiac, Cass county, Mich., May 12, 1859. Attended the public schools at that place and at twelve years of age removed with his parents in 1872 to Grand Rapids, where he has since resided. As a boy he was engaged in many youthful enterprises, selling newspapers and being messenger in the Western Union Telegraph Office. In 1879 he was appointed a messenger in the House of Representatives of the State Legislature by Hon. John T. Rich, Speaker. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1882 and has since been engaged in the practice of his profession in Grand Rapids. He was active and influential in securing the nomination of Hon. Cyrus G. Luce for gov- ernor in 1886 and during Governor Luce's term, without solicitation on his own part, he
was appointed State Game and Fish Warden, holding the position four years, and resigning on the incoming of the Democratic administra- tion in 1891. In 1887 Mr. Smith was ap- pointed General Attorney for the Chicago & West Michigan and the Detroit, Grand Rapids & Western Railroads. During the campaign in 1886 he stumped the state in behalf of the Republicans, doing efficient work. Congress- man Smith is a self-made man and by taking advantage of his opportunities has made him- self what he is. In politics, he is a staunch Republican. In 1894 he was elected a mem- ber of the Fifty-fourth Congress of the United States; was appointed by Speaker Thomas B. Reed on the Committee of Foreign Affairs, being placed fifth upon a committee of four- teen. He served on the same committee dur- ing the Fifty-fifth and Fifty-sixth Congresses.
364
MEN OF PROGRESS.
HENRY M. ROSE.
ROSE, HENRY M. Michigan newspaper men find recognition at Washington. Mr. Rose entered upon his duties as Chief ('lerk of the Senate April 1st, 1900, Dennis E. Alward having been Reading Clerk of the House for several years, both being newspaper men.
Mr. Rose's father was Rev. Henry A. Rose, a Baptist minister, who was descended from the Rose family of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. His mother, Zaida A. Martin, was a descendant of John Martin of Massachusetts. The son was born in Hornellsville, N. Y., March 16th, 1858. The family located in St. Johns, Mich., in 1865, where Henry M. en- joved the advantages of the public schools for the next ten years. In 1875 he took a prepara- tory course at the Fenton Seminary and in the fall of 1876 entered the Baptist College at Kalamazoo. His eyesight becoming impaired, he left college in the junior year and was for a time clerk in a store at Hasty, Gratiot county. and also taught a district school. In 1879 he bought a small job printing outfit and soon after joined forces with Otis Fuller in the publication of the Clinton Republican at St. Johns. Selling out his interest in 1880 he pur-
chased the Palladium at Benton Harbor, which he managed for nearly four years. In September, 1884, he became a reporter on the Morning Telegram at Grand Rapids and five months later became its city editor, so continu- ing until 1887, when he accepted a like posi- tion on the Evening Leader, which he held for three years, and thereafter was assistant man- aging editor of the Grand Rapids Democrat for a year. Coming to Detroit, he was state editor of the Detroit Journal for a year, at the end of which time he returned to Grand Rap- ids. During the legislative sessions of 1887 and 1889 he was engrossing clerk of the House of Representatives at Lansing.
Mr. Rose was quite actively connected with Republican politics in Grand Rapids and Kent county during his residence there and was chairman of the Republican county committee during one campaign. His experience as a newspaper worker and in his clerical capacity at Lansing gave him a wide acquaintance in the state and he can probably call as many of the political workers by name as anyone in the state. This fitted him peculiarly for the part which he took in behalf of Mr. Burrows' elee- tion to the U. S. Senate, he having had charge of that gentleman's "literary bureau," so called, and having otherwise actively assisted his canvass, which commended him to the new Senator as his confidential clerk and then as clerk of his committee, from which he earned his promotion as Chief Clerk of the Senate. In his new position Mr. Rose receives a salary of $3,000 a year. Ilis duties consist in general in keeping track of the thousand and one de- tails of legislation that must be kept in order and ready for presentation before the Senate at the proper moment.
Mr. Rose is a member of the Masonic fra- ternity, of the Knights of Pythias, and of the Michigan (Republican) Club. It is said of him that he "loves his friends," and while it is not presumed that he has any enemies, yet if he has, no doubt in obedience to the Golden Rule, he loves them also. He married Miss Gertrude Miley, daughter of John Miley of Niles, Oet. 7, 1880. They have one son, Willis S.
365
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
WRIGHT, HAMILTON M. Hamilton M. Wright, the present Judge of Probate of Bay county, was born in New Orleans, La., Oct. 26th, 1852. Ilis father, Hamilton M. Wright, was a native of Dutchess county, N. Y., but went south when a young man and became a cotton broker and merchant in New Orleans. His mother, Virginia Huekins, was a native of the State of Virginia. When the Civil War broke out the mother and children went to Geneva, Switzerland. The son had some early school training in New Orleans and he attended school in Geneva until he was seventeen. He then went to Cheltenham, England, where he pursued a preparatory course for college. Ile graduated from the literary department of Yale College in 1875, taking third place in a class of 150. That same year he entered the Yale law school and gradu- ated from the law department with the class of 1877, taking first rank in his class and re- ceiving the Jewell gold medal for excellence of scholarship. After graduation he looked around for a favorable spot in which to settle and was induced by favorable reports to come to Bay City. He moved there in September, 1877, and practiced his profession for some years. His wife having owned a tract of land in the eastern part of Bay City, he interested himself in its improvement, building a house for a family residence in 1879 and selling city lots to workingmen and others at low rates and on long time, encouraging settlement. Ile also built houses and sold them on casy terms. In all he built thirty-six houses, which added greatly to the valuation of the city. He never had a law-suit with a tenant or foreclosed a mortgage or contract. In April, 1881, he was elected alderman and was re-elected for sey- eral terms. In 1882 he was elected to the State Legislature and re-elected in 1884. At the expiration of his term as alderman in 1887 he was nominated for mayor and elected by a plurality of 804 votes. He was again elected mayor in 1895. In 1888 Mr. Wright was elected Judge of Probate for Bay county, on the Democratic ticket. When elected, Judge Wright determined to till the trust, to which
HAMILTON M. WRIGHT.
he has always given personal attention. His aim has always been to have all matters promptly attended to and large savings have been effected to estates and to creditors, by so doing. Judge Wright's administration of the office during his first term was so satisfactory that he was elected for a second term in 1892 and for a third term in 1896.
The wife of Judge Wright was formerly Miss Anne Dana, daughter of Wm. D. and Anne E. Fitzhugh of Livingstone county, N. Y., to whom he was married Nov. 30th, 1871. They have had eight children, seven living, the oldest of whom, Anne Virginia, is the wife of Dr. Thos. L. Kane (a nephew of Dr. Kane of Arctic fame), residing in MeKean county, Pa. Hamilton, Jr., is an attorney at Los An- geles, Cal. The others reside at home, except one, Arch. V. R., who is a railroad employe. Judge Wright is of Scotch-English descent and Mrs. Wright is connected with the Car- rolls of Maryland and the Van Rensselaers of New York.
The congressional nomination for the Tenth district on the Democratie ticket was tendered Mr. Wright unanimously in 1888, but was declined for personal reasons.
366
MEN OF PROGRESS.
GERRIT JOHN DIEKEMA.
DIEKEMA, GERRIT JJOHN. Some time in the 1840 decade, there came to Michigan a gentleman from Holland known as the Rev. A. C. Van Raalte. His mission was to seleet a location on which to plant a colony of his countrymen. He selected a place in Ottawa eounty at a point then known as Blaek Lake, where has since grown up, the city of Holland. The emigrants who came with Rev. Van Raalte and their descendants, through the proverbial industry and frugality of that people, have aequired competenee and comparative wealth. Through their virtues, also, their method, and their love of learning, they hold a position of influenee in the social, political and business affairs of western Michigan. Mr. Diekema is a produet of the stock planted by the Rey. Van Raalte and it is no flattery to say that he represents the highest type, intellectually. socially and morally, of that worthy people. His parents were natives of Holland, while Mr. Diekema himself was born in the Michigan Holland in 1859. His education was most systematic and thorough, conformably to the method of his people. A Holland colony would not be such without its college, and Hope College sprang up with the colony in
Michigan. To this college Mr. Diekema passed from the primary schools, graduating in 1881. . He began reading law and in due course en- tered the law department of the University, from which he graduated in 1885 and was ad- mitted to practice at Ann Arbor. He at once opened an office in Holland, with every ele- ment that invites success, which has come to him abundantly. Self-reliant, he has never formed a professional partnership and his law practice has been interrupted only by the de- mands that his fellow citizens have made upon him for official service. In the year 1884 he was elected a representative in the State Legis- lature and was three times re-elected, serving four terms in all. At the session of 1887 he was chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and in 1889, when but thirty years old, was chosen Speaker of the house. In 1893 he was the Republiean candidate for Attorney-General of the State, and although leading the head of his ticket by fully one thousand votes, he suffered defeat on account of the fusion of the Demo- eratic and People's parties on Attorney-Gen- eral at that eleetion. In 1894 he was ap- pointed a member of the commission with Mark S. Brewer of Pontiac and Edwin F. Conely of Detroit, charged with the work of preparing the forms for aets designed as gen- eral laws for the incorporation of cities and vil- lages. The work of the commission, of whielt he was president, was reported to the Legisla- thre at the session of 1895 and is represented by the present statutes on the subjeet. Mr. Diekema was mayor of Holland in 1895 and has been for many years a member of the city Board of Edneation and one of the trustees of Hope College, and is also a member of the Board of Directors of the State Pioneer Soci- ety. In his religious connection he is a mem- ber of the Reformed Church in America (for- merly 'Dutch Reformed). At the Republican State Convention held in Detroit May 3rd last, he was unanimously chosen to the respon - sible position of Chairman of the State Central Committee. Miss Mary E. Aleott, a graduate of Hope College, became Mrs. Diekema in 1885. They have four children. Aside from his legal business, Mr. Diekema has large bus- iness and manufacturing interests at Holland.
367
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
CHURCHILL, WORTHY L. Though a resident of Alpena, Michigan, luis enterprises have not been confined to that loeality. In 1874 Mr. Churchill beeame a resident of Michigan, engaging in the manufacture of lumber in Alpena, where he has since resided.
A Democrat in polities, he has twice been honored by being elected mayor of the eity, and was chosen in 1875 to represent his dis- triet in the State Legislature.
In 1894 he was unanimously chosen by the Tenth District Demoeratie Congressional Convention as its candidate for Congress, but was defeated in the land-slide, it being the year when "Donovan of Bay" was the sole Michigan Democratic representative in state or national affairs.
In December, 1898, Mr. Churchill, with a few friends, organized the Bay City Sugar Company and was chosen president and gen- eral manager. With the usual energy and determination that has won him sueeess, he pushed to completion an enormous factory and was making sugar in ten months from the or- ganization of the company, producing the first campaign, seven million pounds white granu- lated sugar, giving employment to untold numbers of men, women and children eulti- vating the beet in the fields, and 250 men in the factory. The plant is one of the most complete and modern in the world.
He is also president of the Alpena Gas Com- pany of Alpena and the senior in the lumber firm of W. L. & H. D. Churchill. This firm, besides their lumber mills at Alpena and ex- tensive interests in that vieinity, are also large owners of Canadian timber in the Georgian Bay country.
Mr. Churchill comes of patriotic stock. He is a direct deseendant of Gen. Lovell of Revo- lutionary fame, who was known in verse and history as the Worthy Lovell from whom he was named. His grandfather was Gen. W. L.
WORTHY L. CHURCHILL.
Churchill of Batavia, N. Y., well known as an officer in the War of 1812.
His father, J. W. Churchill, a prominent attorney in the carly history of Illinois and member of the first Legislature, practiced law and rode the circuit with Lincoln, Doug- las, Wentworth and other pioneers of Illinois. Mr. Churchill's mother was Delia S. Wilson, daughter of Judge I. G. Wilson of Western New York, a lady loved by all who knew her. She lived to the good old age of 90, passing away less than two years ago.
Mr. Churchill married in Chicago Miss Amelia Montgomery, who with their daughter Florence, constitute their family.
He is a stauneh Episeopalian. Knights of Pythias and Elk, and a lover of good horses, which he both raises and drives. He is a very busy man, but I learned during my short visit with him that he is one who believes it is bet- ter to wear ont than rust out. That when one has been actively engaged in business all his life, if blest with health at the age of 50 or 60, keep on, for if one quits and folds his hands waiting for death, he will not wait long.
368
MEN OF PROGRESS.
GEORGE WILLIAM WEADOCK,
WEADOCK, GEORGE WILLIAM. The parents of Mr. Weadock emigrated from Ire- land, and settled in St. Mary's, Auglaize county, Ohio, where George W. was born November 6th, 1853. The Irish admittedly make the best of jurists and the Weadocks have contributed their quota to the legal pro- fession in Michigan, two brothers of George W., Thomas A. E., now of Detroit, and John C., of Bay City, being well known lawyers. After passing through the primary and high schools of his native town in the early seven- ties, George W. began reading law with a local attorney, which was continued under Hon. Isaiah Pillars, Attorney-General of Ohio. Ile then took a course in the law department of the University of Michigan, defraying his ex- penses by means earned by himself in teach- ing. Ile pursued a further law reading in the office of Wilson & Weadock, at Bay City, and was admitted to the bar September 11th, 1876. He began practice in Saginaw and a year later became a partner with Hon. Timothy E. Tarsney. While the latter represented the Saginaw district in Congress (two terms) Mr. Weadock had chief charge of the law business. This co-partnership was continued until 1891,
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