USA > Michigan > Men of progress : embracing biographical sketches of representative Michigan men with an outline history of the state > Part 51
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was elected Circuit Court Commissioner for Oakland county, and re-elected in 1868, and was at the same time city attorney of Pontiac. In 1872 he was elected to the State Senate and although one of the younger members, he held a leading position in that body, serving through the regular session of 1873 and the special session of 1874. In 1876 he was elected to Congress and was re-elected in 1878. He served four years as consul-general at Berlin, Germany, 1881-1885. In 1886 he again en- tered the Congressional race and was elected, and re-elected in 1888, declining a renomina- tion in 1890. Mr. Brewer's career in Congress cannot here be sketched in detail. A Southern member had this to say of him in 1888: "I hear that Brewer is having a hard fight up in Michigan and that he is running against a big bank account. All I have to say is this, that as the Republicans are to have the next House anyway, the voters of his district will make a big mistake if they do not return him." In 1898 Mr. Brewer, without solicitation on his part, was appointed a member of the United States Civil Service Commission, the duties of which require his attendance at Washington, although his residence proper is still at Pontiac, Michigan. He was formerly a director of the Pontiac National Bank and was treasurer of the Building Commission having in charge the erection of the Eastern Michigan Asylum for the Insane. He was a delegate at large from Michigan to the National Republican Conven- tion in 1896, and as a member of the Commit- tee on Resolutions he helped frame the plat- form adopted at that convention. A local pa- per, when Mr. Brewer was candidate for Con- gress in 1886, said of him, "In Oakland county, where Mr. Brewer has lived from birth, he is held in the highest confidence and esteem by men of all political parties. He has been a staunch Republican and always deeply interested in the affairs of the country and his state. ITis record in Congress was such as to commend him to his constituents as he labored earnestly in their behalf." Mr. Brewer is a forcible, clear and logical public speaker, and has taken a prominent part upon the stump of Michigan and other states in every political campaign (save one, when he was abroad), since 1862. Mr. Brewer's present wife, to whom he was married December 26, 1889, was formerly Miss Louise B. Parker, daughter of Abiram Parker, president of the Com- mercial Bank of Pontiac. They have no chil- dren.
377
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
FISHER, SPENCER O. Hillsdale county although a strong Republican locality, yet produces some Democrats, of which Mr. Fisher is an example, with T. E. Tarsney, a former colleague in Congress. Mr. Fisher was born in Camden, Hillsdale county, Feb- ruary 3rd, 1843. His primary school training was supplemented by a year at Albion College and a like term at Hillsdale College. He be- gan his business career, peddling milk, was next porter in a general store at $5 per week, then partner in same line and next a railroad contractor on the line between Hillsdale and Ypsilanti, in which he credited up some $30,000 to the good. This was practically his start in life and he bought pine lands near Bay City and built a sawmill and was thus the founder of Fisherville. While a resident of Hillsdale, though a young man of twenty-five, he served a term as alderman. Becoming a resident of West Bay City he has filled the positions of alderman and mayor and has been a member of the school board twenty- one years and president of the Sage library board, having been appointed by H. W. Sage, the founder of said library, six years and trustee sixteen years. As mayor and alderman he made a record by his efforts for retrenchment, aiming to get the city departments on a basis similar to that on which he conducted his own business. In 1884 Mr. Fisher was elected to Congress from the Tenth District, and was re- elected in 1886, but defeated by about 100 votes for a third term in 1888, he not having been able, through illness, to make a thorough canvass of his district. Mr. Fisher applied business methods in his Congressional career, rather than oratory, although he has the fac- ulty of presenting his views in a clear, concise manner when occasion calls. He has been spoken of as the best Congressman the Tenth District ever had. During his service he se- cured the erection of the new government building at Bay City and also the holding of terms of the United States Court there. In 1894 Mr. Fisher was the Democratic candidate for Governor, but was unsuccessful. Al- though having large banking interests and having been president of the State Bankers' Association, Mr. Fisher has been pronounced in favor of the so-called free silver doctrine.
.
SPENCER O. FISHER.
He is a stockholder and director in the Lum- bermen's State Bank of West Bay City, which he organized and of which he was presi- dent for 25 years.
Mr. Fisher was vice-president of the Michi- gan Sugar Beet Company its first year and in 1899 closed out his interest and organized in one day the West Bay City Sugar Company, capitalized at $200,000, of which he became president. The plant did not start until late in the fall of 1899, but the company produced that year 4,000,000 pounds of sugar. He was an active promoter of the first coal company at Sebewaing (of which he is secretary and a director), which has developed the growing coal mining interests of the Saginaw Valley. He is president and general manager of the Michigan Land & Lumber Company, and of the Morgan Lumber Company, owners of standing pine timber in the Georgian Bay Dis- trict of Ontario, estimated to cut 150,000,000 fcet of lumber.
Mr. Fisher, with his family, attends the Presbyterian church. His wife, to whom he was married at ITillsdale, Mich., in 1867, was formerly Miss Kate H. Crane. Their family consists of three daughters, the eldest of whom, Grace, is the wife of Floyd A. Goodwin, pro- prietor of the Frazer House at Bay City. The other two daughters, Nellie and Kate, reside at home.
378
MEN OF PROGRESS.
DANIEL HARVEY BALL.
BALL, DAN HARVEY. Although not Michigan born, Mr. Ball escaped being a na- tive of this state by only a few months, having been born at Sempronins, N. Y., Jan. 15th, 1836, the family coming to Michigan in the spring of that year. They settled on a farm in the township of Webster, Washtenaw county, where the life of Dan HI. was passed until his sixteenth year. The father died in 1852, the family removing to Albion to avail themselves of the better educational facilities there, than the country schools afforded. After a year at Albion College, Mr. Ball took up the profession of teacher, teaching during the winter months and doing farm work in summer for several years, the family in the meantime having returned to the farm in Webster. In 1856 he entered the literary de- partment of the University, but lacking the necessary means to complete the course, he resumed the teacher's gown, teaching at Ham- burg, Michigan, and for a year or two in Illinois. In 1860 he entered the law depart- ment of the University, but family and busi- ness considerations compelled him to change his plans the following spring. The family
resources were invested in a half interest in a grocery and provision store at Marquette, un- der the management of a brother, and by the death of the brother, the necessity forced itself upon Mr. Ball to go there and assume the management, in order, if possible, to save the family interests. He bought out the other partner and after a year's hard work disposed of the business with a ledger balance showing but a small margin on the profit side. He had already made a beginning in law practice and it was his intention to open an office, but he was lured into the newspaper field. For two years he was part owner and editor of the Lake Superior News and later the Lake Superior Journal. He conducted his newspaper opera- tions until 1864, when he sold out and com- menced the practice of law. After two years at Marquette he removed to Houghton, which at that time seemed the more promising field. Hle there entered into a partnership with James B. Ross which continued until 1870, where a good practice was established, when Mr. Ball returned to Marquette, where he has since resided, with all the business that he could attend to. The present firm is Ball & Ball, the junior member being a son, James Everett Ball. The firm stands at the head of a profession in a district, the large mining in- terests of which demand the highest grade of legal ability. Mr. Ball was Register of the United States Land Office at Marquette from 1862 to 1865 and prosecuting attorney of Marquette county, 1864-5. Miss Emma E. Everett, daughter of Philo M. Everett, of Marquette, became Mrs. Ball May 2, 1863. They have five children, including the junior partner of the law firm. Emily M. is the wife of Attorney Clarence M. Smith at Redlands, Cal., and Mabel E. is the wife of Attorney Walter B. Hill, of East Liverpool, O .; George E. is second lieutenant, Twenty-first Infantry, U. S. A., at present engaged in the campaign in the Philippines, and Helen Grace is the wife of John G. Stone, a young lawyer of Grand Rapids, son of Judge Stone, of Mar- quette.
379
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
MASON, RICHARD. The city of Glad- stone, the Lake Michigan port of the Minne- apolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie railway (called for short the "Soo Line"), was founded by Mr. Mason, whose energy and persistence finally succeeded in spite of many difficulties. in convincing those interested of the necessity for this link of their enterprise. The father of Mr. Mason came to America from England in 1828. He was a machinist by trade and was employed in the construction of the second steamboat built in this country, at some point on the Connecticut river. He came to Spring Lake, Michigan, in 1837, where he built the second sawmill at the mouth of the Grand River, the first having been built by the Rev. Mr. Ferry, whose name is historically associ- ated with the locality. The mills were steam mills of about six-horse power. The younger Mason was born in a log cabin at Spring Lake, May 30, 1842, and his first schooling was in a log school house in a school taught by his aunt. The father having removed to Chicago in 1848, the son attended school there and in 1857 was sent to school at Evanston (near Chicago) and in 1858 to a business school in Chicago. The elder Mason having in 1852, bought what was known as the "Steam Mill" on Baie de Noquet (popularly Bay de Noc), the son began the business of life there, as a bookkeeper. In 1864 the father resumed busi- ness in Chicago with the son as a partner, clos- ing out in 1868 by reason of the son's illness. The father died in 1870 and the son resumed the manufacture of lumber at the mill (then called Masonville) but closing out by reason of the panic in 1873, which made the work un- profitable. He then read law for several years but never applied for admission to the bar. When the Soo Line was built in 1887, Mr. Mason resumed the lumber business in con- neetion with C. N. Davis of Chicago, at Saunders' Point, the site of the present city of Gladstone, continuing the manufacture until the panic of 1893 once more interrupted the business.
As the founder of the young eity of Glad- stone, Mr. Mason was elected Mayor in 1892
HON. RICHARD MASON.
and again in 1894. In November, 1894, he was elected a member of the State Senate, by a majority of some 2,500, in a district which by an adroit territorial arrangement, a previ- ous Democratie legislature had thought to make solidly their way. He was re-elected in 1896 by about 1,000 better than his previous majority, notwithstanding the cry raised against him that he was a "corporation man" and an enemy of the people, because he de- manded justice for the pioneer railroads of the Upper Peninsula as well as for everyone else. As a senator, Mr. Mason was not among the friends of the so-called Atkinson bill, which he regarded as radieal and unconstitutional, a view which he believes the sincere men who favored that measure will in time come to share with him. He did, however, favor a commis- sion similar to the present tax commission, charged with the duty of enquiring into the whole subject of taxation and reporting to a subsequent legislature. He also favored the repeal of special charters and placing all cor- porations under general laws. Senator Mason wishes particularly to be remembered as the author of the amendment to the tax laws which makes it impossible for a tax title shark to take a man's home on a tax title.
380
MEN OF PROGRESS.
JAMES RUSSELL.
RUSSELL, JAMES. The first daily news- paper in the Upper Peninsula owes its pater- nity to Mr. James Russell. Born at Hartford, Wis., January 23rd, 1849, the son of Francis T. Russell, a farmer, his early education was received in the public schools of Hartford Village and at Mankato, Minn., to which his parents removed. Here he received his first introduction to the printer's art, beginning at the bottom round of the ladder, as an appren- tice. Ile returned to his school work, how- ever, passing through the High School at Man- kato, and after teaching a couple of years, en- tered the State University at Madison, Wis. His star of destiny, however, seemed to point to the field of journalism, and in 1871 he left the University before graduating, to take a position on the Fond du Lac (Wis.) Journal, of which his uncle was part owner. In 1873, with T. F. Strong as partner, he purchased the paper, which under the new management started on a new career, trebling its business. Mr. Russell continued this connection until 1880, when he disposed of his interest and established the "North Star" at Marinette, Wis. But he was adapted to a broader field, and quite naturally the place did not suit him.
He sold out the following June and went to Marquette to take charge of the Mining Jour- nal, then a weekly and the oldest paper in the Upper Peninsula, having been established by A. P. Swineford, who was still its owner. Within a year Mr. Russell purchased an in- terest in the paper in connection with Mr. A. Hornstein and two years later the Daily Min- ing Journal was launched, with Mr. Russell as managing editor. In 1885 Mr. Swineford was appointed Governor of Alaska, and went to that territory to assume the duties of the office. In 1888 the Swineford interest was purchased by Mr. J. M. Longyear and the "Mining Jour- nal Company, Limited," was formed to carry on the business, Mr. Russell continuing (as he still continues) in charge of the paper, during all these changes.
Mr. Russell held the office of postmaster at Marquette during the first Cleveland adminis- tration, and during his term the free delivery system was instituted there, it being the first city in the Upper Peninsula to be given the service. Until 1898 he had affiliated with the Democratic party, though not fully in sym- pathy with its policies, but he now ranks as a Republican, but one of pronounced inde- pendenee in his views, and a vigorous opponent of machine rule and bossism. He was ap- pointed Commissioner of Mineral Statistics by Gov. Pingree in April, 1899. While at Fond du Lac he was clerk in the Fond du Lac County Court. He is now serving as member and president of the Board of Light and Power Commissioners of Marquette, in charge of the city's lighting plant. He served as a member of the Water Board for seven years, during which the water system now in use was brought to its present state of perfection. He also served as Supervisor of his ward. His official record, therefore, runs through ward, city, county, state and national service.
Mr. Russell is connected with several fra- ternal organizations and is Exalted Ruler of Marquette Lodge, 405, B. P. O. E. (Elks).
Miss Katherine Riley, daughter of Mr. E. and Mrs. Bessie Riley, of Fond du Lae, be- came Mrs. Russell in 1878. Their children are Frank, now in charge of the repertorial work of the paper at Ishpeming and Negau- nee, and Fannie, Edith and Mabel, at home.
381
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
WINSOR, LOU B. Having been an en- thusiastic member of the Masonic fraternity, Mr. Winsor's record in that behalf commands the greater prominence. Now an attorney-at- law at Reed City, Mr. Winsor was born in Providence, R. I., January 24, 1858, came to Michigan in March, 1863, with his parents, who located in Hillsdale, graduated from Hillsdale College in June, 1877, went to the University of Michigan in the fall of 1877, taking a law course and graduating in 1879, then went to Port Austin, Mich., and entered the law office of Winsor & Snover as a clerk, remaining there until November, 1880, when he went to Reed City and formed a law part- nership with Ransom Cooper under the firm name of Cooper & Winsor, which continued until 1888, since which time he has continued in business there alone. He held the office of City Attorney of Reed City from 1881 to 1892, twelve years; City Clerk, 1884 to 1892, nine years; Judge of Probate of Osceola county four years, from 1893 to '97. He was married at Reed City, September 16, 1886, to Miss Emma Adams, Carl Webb, an infant, being their only offspring. Mr. Winsor re- ceived the Blue Lodge Degrees (Masonie) in Reed City Lodge, No. 361, in the summer of 1881, was made a Royal Arch Mason Febru- ary 22, 1882, in Big Rapids Chapter, No. 52, Royal and Select Master, February 26, 1889, in King Solomon Council, No. 25; Royal and Select Master at Big Rapids, Knights Templar and Knight of Malta, April 11th, 1882, in Pilgrim Commandery, No. 23, Big Rapids; Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, 32d De- gree, February 12, 1885, in De Witt Clinton Consistory at Grand Rapids; Noble of the Mystic Shrine, February 10, 1886, in Saladin Temple, Grand Rapids. He received the 33d Degree September 20, 1898, at Cincinnati, Ohio. He has been the recipient of the high- est official honors that the fraternity can be- stow. Having passed the chairs of the local bodies, he was in 1896 elected Grand IIigh Priest of the Grand Chapter of Michigan, and a year later, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge. He was one of the charter members of Saladin Temple at Grand Rapids in 1886, was elected First Ceremonial Master and pro- moted cach year up to the position of Poten-
LOU B. WINSOR.
tate in 1893 and in 1900 was elected Imperial Potentate at Washington. Mr. Winsor's Masonic record is one of which any man may be proud and the honors which have come to him are due to his excessive zeal in the order. From the time of his first receiving light in Masonry he became an active and enthusiastic worker and his brethren, recognizing his abil- ities, were lavish in showering upon him all the official gifts in their power, and in every position to which he has been called he has displayed a remarkable ability that has con- stantly won for him deserved promotion.
Mr. Winsor traces his descent back over four hundred years, to Lord Edward Windsor of Windsor Castle, England, whose great grandson, Robert Windsor, was in 1520 hon- ored by Henry VIII. His father, James W. Winsor, and mother, Ann Chilson, were resi- dents of Providence, the father being in direct descent from Joshua Winsor (descended as above), who came from England in 1637 and settled in Providence. After coming to this country the "d" was left out of the name. Samuel Winsor, son of Joshua, married Mercy Williams, a daughter of Roger Williams, and Mr. Lou B. Winsor is seventh in descent from this union.
In connection with his legal business, Mr. Winsor conducts an insurance, real estate and loan office at Reed City.
382
MEN OF PROGRESS.
ROBERT HUGH SHIELDS.
SHIELDS, ROBERT HUGH. Although the name of Mr. Shields has an Irish flavor, he is of Scotch parentage, his father, James Shields, having come to the Michigan Copper District in 1857, from Kilmarnock, Scotland. The son, Robert H., was born at Hancock, May 22nd, 1861. His early youth was passed at the local schools and when eleven years old he went to work washing copper at the Frank- lin Stamp Mill at $12 per month, being there employed for two years. He then resumed his school studies until he was eighteen, when he secured a first grade teacher's certificate and taught at the Ripley school for five years. During the summer vacations he attended the Valparaiso, Ind., Normal School, and was one summer at the Bryant & Stratton Business College, Detroit, from which he graduated in 1883. With this thorough equipment for a successful business career, he entered the field of journalism and established the "Copper Journal," of which he was editor and proprie- tor. He was also correspondent of the Mar- quette Mining Journal, being their first cor- respondent in the copper country. After- wards he became clerk of the Centennial Cop- per Mining Company, and in 1892, while thus employed, he was elected County Clerk of
Houghton county on the Republican ticket, entering upon the duties of the office January 1st, 1893. He was re-elected in 1894 and again in 1896, and during his term was ten- dered the position of clerk of the newly organ- ized Arcadian Mine in Houghton county. Mr. Shields enjoys the distinction of having re- ceived the largest vote cast for any candidate in Houghton county, and upon his retirement from the office of County Clerk, the Repub- lican county convention held in August, 1898, "in consideration of his long term of service to the county and of his efficient and faithful work" unanimously tendered to Mr. Shields a hearty vote of thanks. He served out his term as County Clerk, closing with January 1, 1899, when he at once entered upon his new duties, giving his whole time and attention in looking after the financial and office work of the above named company.
Mr. Shields' fraternal connections are Masonic, including the Knights Templar and Mystic Shrine Degrees, Knights of Pythias and Elks. Miss Carrie K. Merton, daughter of James Merton, of Calumet, became Mrs. Shields in 1893. They have three children, two daughters and a son-Marion, Dorothy and Nathan.
383
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
BURROWS, HON. JULIUS C. Mr. Burrows first came before the people of Michi- gan in a publie way as a young lawyer at Kal- amazoo in 1861. The breaking out of the war broke up his immediate plans as to practice and he raised a company, of which he became Captain, which was attached to the 17th Mich- igan Infantry. Reared in the atmosphere of the Western Reserve in Ohio, which was strongly anti-slavery in sentiment, Mr. Bur- rows the more readily enlisted in a struggle which by the logic of necessity (whether so recognized at the time or not) involved the opposites of freedom and slavery.
Mr. Burrows was born, of Connecticut par- ents, in Erie county, Pa., January 9th, 1837, the family removing in 1850 to Ashtabula county, Ohio. He was the youngest of a fam- ily of eight children, seven of whom were boys. He began the battle of life as a teacher at the age of sixteen. Later he attended the Kingsville Academy, cooking his own food and doing chores at the institution, to pay his tuition. In the fall of 1856 he was made prin- cipal of a female seminary at Madison, Ohio, and at the age of nineteen found a wife in the person of one of his pupils, Miss Jennie Hib- bard. In the fall of 1858 he became principal of the Union School at Jefferson, Ashtabula county, and during his service there he took up the study of law, which had been his am- bition, and was admitted to practice in 1859. In 1860 he came to Michigan with his wife and infant daughter and took charge of a sem- inary at Richland, Kalamazoo county, from whenee he removed to the then village of Kal- amazoo.
Capt. Burrows was summoned from the field in the fall of 1863 by the illness of his wife, who died in August, 1864. ITis voice and efforts were, however, effectively em- ployed in home work in measures necessary in the prosecution of the war. He resumed the practice of law at Kalamazoo and was elected Prosecuting Attorney in 1866 and again in 1868. He was a law partner with Henry F. Severans, now U. S. Circuit Judge, from 1868 to 1872, the firm being the leading one in Southwestern Michigan. In the last named vear Mr. Burrows was elected to Congress and his subsequent history cannot be separated from that of the state and nation. He was defeated for re-election in 1874 and resumed his professional relations with Judge Severans.
HON. JULIUS C. BURROWS.
IIe was again elected in 1878 and 1880, but defeated by a narrow margin in 1882. He was again returned in 1884 and at each subsequent election up to and including 1894, making six consecutive elections, and in all nine terms in Congress, resigning his last term, however, to accept a seat in the U. S. Senate. At the legislative session of 1895 he was elected to the U. S. Senate in place of Senator Stock- bridge, deceased, and again elected for the full term in 1899. During the intervals of his Congressional service Mr. Burrows was ten- dered several flattering appointments, which he declined.
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