USA > Michigan > Men of progress : embracing biographical sketches of representative Michigan men with an outline history of the state > Part 62
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Miss Mary Alice Osburn, daughter of Levi J. Osburn, of Big Rapids, became Mrs. Brown in 1870. They have four children now living, Carrie, wife of Sammel G. Reynolds, of Bil- lings, Montana ; Lillian H., Clarence F., and Mary Alice, at school and college.
462
MEN OF PROGRESS.
ROSWELL P. BISHOP.
BISHOP, ROSWELL P. Mr. Bishop is a direct descendant of the Bishops who came from England and settled in Connecticut very early in the history of the State. His father, Edward Bishop, was a farmer and local Metho- dist preacher, living in Delaware county, New York, where he married Miss Anna Andrews, who was also a native of Delaware county, New York. Mr. Bishop was born at Sidney, Delaware county, New York, Jan. 6, 1843. being one of seven children. He was carly ealled to provide for himself, and at the age of ten years went out from his home to earn a livelihood for himself, which he has done from that date, spending many of his early years with one Henry Wickham, at Oneonta, New York. His first effort at gaining a livelihood was working on a farm for $1.50 per month, and at the breaking out of the Rebellion he was earning $13.00 per month. His education was received in the local schools up to his tenth year, with a few months at school subse- quently. July 28th, 1861, he enlisted in Com- pany C, Forty-third N. Y. Infantry Volun- teers, for service in the Civil War. He par- ticipated in the battles of Yorktown, Williams- burgh, Antietam and first Fredericksburgh,
and was with McClellan during the Peninsular campaign. Was wounded at the battle of Lee's Mill, Va., April 28th, 1862, and lost his right arm. He was sent home for treatment, but soon rejoined his regiment, where he remained until the last of December, 1862, when he was mustered out of service. Returning to his former home, the next six years were passed alternately in teaching and in prepara- tory studies at Unadilla, Cooperstown Semin- ary, and at Walton, N. Y. He entered the University of Michigan in the fall of 1868, taking a special course in the literary depart- ment, and then entered the law department, from which he graduated in 1872. While at Ann Arbor he spent one year as superinten- dent of the graded schools at Brooklyn, Jack- son county, Michigan, where he saved suffi- ciently from his wages to complete his course at the University. After graduating, he held a position under the sergeant-at-arms of the House and Senate, and in the postoffice at the national capital. In the spring of 1875 he was elected alderman of one of the wards at Ann Arbor, Mich. In June, 1875, he took up a homestead of 160 acres in Mason county, near Ludington, but in 1876 removed to Lud- ington, where he has sinee practiced his profes- sion of law.
Mr. Bishop's official career has been excep- tional, and a just recognition of his abilities and of his sacrifices in the cause of the Union. He has served three terms as prosecuting at- torney of Mason county, eleeted in 1876, 1878 and 1884. He served two terms as represen- tative in the Legislature of Michigan, being cleeted in 1882 and again in 1892. He is now serving his third term as Representative in Congress from the Ninth Michigan District, first elected in 1894, and is now in nomination for a fourth term. His plurality in 1894 was abont 8,300, his majority in 1896 about 5,500, his majority in 1898 abont 6,500. He is sec- ond on the House Committee on private land claims and third on the committee on rivers and harbors. Mr. Bishop is a member of the G. A. R., Oddfellows, Knights of Pythias and Elks. He married Miss Louisa Gaunt, daughter of John Gaunt, of Ann Arbor, in 1872. He has one son, Roswell F., who grad- uated from the literary department of the University of Michigan in 1899, and is now assistant librarian of the House of Representa- tives at Washington.
463
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
BUCK, HOMER E. The Saginaw Valley is famous for its men who have forged their way to the front from the smallest beginnings, and of this class Mr. Homer E. Buck, of Bay City, is among the notable ones. Born at Bath, Mich., Oct. 4, 1859, his parents removed to Bay City, where his father died when he was twelve years old, leaving the family, consist- ing of the son, his mother and a sister, with but small means. The son at once rose to the sit- nation. He became practically the head of the family and its support. He managed the cir- culation of the Detroit Evening News at Bay City, giving his evenings to the work, and real- izing therefrom $30 to $35 per month, which supported the family and paid his own ex- penses. He attended school during the day, and being bright and apt to learn, secured a good common school education. Push and energy and a natural aptness to please, made him friends, and he has the confidence and respect of all who know him, as well for his business qualities as for his known probity. When sixteen years old he entered the employ of L. F. Miller & Co., where during a five years' service he acquired a thorough knowl- edge of the wholesale trade. He then engaged in the wholesale produce business on his own account, and later as a member of the firm of Buck & Leighton, conducting a successful bus- iness for fourteen years, when he sold ont to his partner and engaged in his present busi- ness, that of a commercial broker, importers' and manufacturers' agent, and car lot shipper. ITis present business brings him in touch with all the markets of the world and he handles some very large deals, both at home and abroad. He has been a member of the Board of Trade of Bay City for a number of years, and through his efforts while on the board many large business enterprises have been brought to the city. He is a stockholder in and president of the E. P. Roe Company of Bad Axe, and one of the directors of the Ar- gentenil Gold Mining Company, of Jackfish Bay, Canada, with large interests. He was a member of the board of fire commissioners of Bay City for three years and one year its presi- dent, and is now a member of the water board. He was one of the organizers of the Elm Lawn Cemetery Company, and is one of its directors. He is a Republican in politics, his first vote having been for James G. Blaine for president in 1884. He has been a member of the ward committee of his ward for fifteen years, has been treasurer of the county committee for a number of years and is at present a member of the advisory board of the State League of
110MER E. BUCK.
Republican C'lubs. He is a Mason and a mem- ber of the Knights of the Loyal Guard. He is a member and one of the deacons of the First Presbyterian Church of Bay City, his paternal ancestors having been for many years of that faith. Miss Margaret A. Lewis, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. M. Lewis, of Saginaw, be- came Mrs. Buck April 23rd, 1884. Seven chil- dren are the fruit of the union-Homer Clif- ford, Mary A., David Justice, Alma Blanche, Harold Lewis, Edna Margherita and Helen Ester. Mr. Buck never fails to speak of his amiable wife as a true type of American womanhood and a loving and dutiful wife and mother.
Mr. Bnek is not a little proud of his family history, tracing it back in an unbroken line on the paternal side to the year 640. The family were originally from Holland, going from thence to England about the year 1500, and from Norfolk County, England, to Boston, in 1647. From there the family went to New York, settling upon the Harlem river, and be- ing among the founders of New Amsterdam (now New York City). The family has been a prolific one, and the name is now found in all parts of the country. The family boast of having been a family of civil engineers and surveyors, and were also great farmers. Mr. Buck's mother, whose family name was Hen- derson, was of English and Scotch descent, and a native of the State of New York. The mother and sister are still living, to feel a just pride in the prosperity of the son and brother, whose early efforts contributed so materially to their support and comfort.
464
MEN OF PROGRESS.
RICH .. RD G. PETERS.
PETERS, RICHARD G. Mr. Peters was born July 2, 1832, in Delaware county, N. Y., upon the farm of his parents, James II. and Susan (Squires) Peters, The family ro- moved to Syraense, N. Y., and later to Cin- cinnati, Ohio, where, as well as at Syracuse, they were engaged at hotel keeping. In 1847 the mother died, and the son, now fifteen years of age, went to live with his grand- parents at Tully, N. Y., where he worked upon the farm, and employed his winters in completing his education in the district schools. For a year he was employed by his uncle as gate-keeper on a toll road, and in this school of "human nature" he learned much which in his subsequent career has enabled him to estimate man at their proper value. At the age of eighteen years he returned to Cin- cinnati, and in 1850 went to Monroe, Mich., where he worked on a farm belonging to a consin, leaving in the fall to enter the employ of the Michigan Southern Railroad Company, in the engineering department. He was soon placed in charge of a division of the road, in the capacity of assistant civil engineer, a posi- tion which he occupied for five years. In 1855 Mr. Peters' star beckoned him northward, where he took charge of the lumber and mill interests of the late Charles Mears at Big Point. An Sable, being thus employed for five years. He then went to Ludington, where he por- chased a small tract of government land, and proceeded to get ont timber on his own ac- count, giving up this enterprise, however, to accept a position with James Ludington, as
superintendent of his mill and lumber opera- tions at the mouth of the Pere Marquette river (now the city of Ludington), where he remained two years. In 1866 Mr. Peters, to- gether with M. S. Tyson and G. W. Robinson, of Milwaukee, purchased the mill and timber property of Filer & Tyson, at Manistee, com- prising the sawmills on Manistee lake and a large portion of the site of the city of Man- istee, for which the sum of $250,000 was paid. llis connection with this firm continued for two years, since which time Mr. Peters has been practically alone in his business affairs, which have been mainly conducted under the style of "The R. G. Peters Salt & Lumber Company." In 1869 Mr. Peters bought the Wheeler & Hopkins mill on Manistee Lake, which he operated until it was destroyed by fire thirteen years later. His next step was the purchase of forty acres of land, and a mill at East Lake, the site of the present Peters plant. This mill was rebuilt and a second mill added and upon the discovery of salt in this vicinity, a well was struck at the Peters plant and salt struck, adding this industry to that of the manufacture of Lumber. The Manistee & Luther railroad, extending from East Lake to near Le Roy, Osceola county, eighty miles, is part of the Peters plant. In the last named vear also, Mr. Peters, in connection with Hor- ace Butters, purchased two large tracts of land, twenty-eight miles south of Manistee, on the F. & P. M. R. R., containing 130,000,000 feet of pine, and laid out the town of Tallman. This firm acquired mill property and a salt block at Indington, together with thirty miles of Logging road. Mr. Peters' timber holdings in Michigan and Wisconsin have been esti- mated at 150,000 acres, with 100,000 acres in the sonth, and he has been styled the "King among Imbermen." Mr. Peters is president of the R. G. Peters Salt & Lumber Company, of the Manistee & Enther Railroad, of the Peters Lumber and Shingle Company of Ben- ton Harbor, is vice-president of the Butters & Peters Salt & Lumber Company of Lud- ington, and the Batchelor Cyprus Lumber Company with mills at Panasoffkee, Florida, a director in the Manistee National Bank, in the Michigan Salt Association, and in the Manistee (Furniture) Manufacturing Com- pany. His religions connection is Congrega- tional. IIe is Republican in politics and a member of the Michigan Club. Mr. Peters has been twice married, but has no children. First to Miss Evelyn N. Tibbits, at Oberlin, Ohio, April 6, 1862, who died Feb. 14, 1879. Again June 15, 1898 to Miss Jeanet Telford, of Onekama, Mich.
465
ILISTORICAL SKETCHES.
IIIRAM J. HOYT. Iu the first years of the 1840 decade there came to Michigan two brothers named Hoyt. One was a physician and the other a lawyer. They came from the State of New York, and their mission was to find a location in Michigan suitable for the practice of their respective professions. The physician, Dr. James W. Hoyt, settled at the little hamlet known as Walled Lake, in the town of Commerce, Oakland county, and the lawyer, Wm. C. Hoyt, settled in the village of Milford, in the same county, but subse- quently removed to Detroit, where he died many years ago. That two young men should have chosen places comparatively retired may be regarded as indicating their preference for a quiet neighborhood life, in which they might enjoy the confidence, the respect and the love of their neighbors, rather than the bustling, shifting scenes of the commercial centers, where one man scarcely knows his neighbor. The life of Dr. Hoyt is confirma- tory of this thought. He lived to a ripe age, the skilled physician, the village practitioner, honored and beloved by a wide circle, the lapsing of the waters of the lake, near the banks of which he lived, singing his matin song and his vesper hymn, until at last they sang his requiem. For a mumber of years before his death Dr. Hoyt was totally blind, but continued his practice. His wife was Margaret Barrett, daughter of Hiram Barrett, a prominent citizen of Oakland County sixty years ago, and a most estimable lady. Chil- dren born of such parentage and with such surroundings may be supposed to be tempera- mentally influenced by them. Dr. and Mrs. Hoyt were the parents of ten children, of whom Iliram J. was the oldest. He was born at Walled Lake, March 23, 1843. Ilis primary school education was supplemented by attendance at Aurora Academy at East Aurora, N. Y., from which he graduated in 1863. He at once took up the study of law in the office of the late Judge M. E. Crofoot, of Pontiac, and after three years' study was admitted to practice before Judge Sanford M.
HIRAM J. HOYT.
Green, then presiding in Oakland Circuit. Ile located in Muskegon in 1867, and pursued a successful practice alone for seven years, and in 1874 became a member of the well known law firm of Smith, Nims, Hoyt & Erwin. This firm has continued uninterruptedly in business at Muskegon for over a quarter of a century. Mr. Hoyt has found an ample field for his efforts in his professional work, and has held uo public office, although practically he is a Democrat both from inheritance and choice. He is a Thirty-Second Degree Mason and a member of the Muskegon Commandery Knights Templar. He was for many years an officer aud active member of the Universal- ist Church. He was married February 26, 1867, to Miss Ada E. Smith, daughter of Benjamin Smith, a farmer of Oakland county. One son, Wilbur S., a graduate of the Orchard Lake Military Academy, and now engaged as a packer and shipper of dried fruits and raisins at Fresno, California, is the fruit of the union. The Hoyts are direct descend- ants from Simon Hoyt, who came from Eng- land in 1638. and settled near Hartford, Conn.
466
MEN OF PROGRESS.
CHARLES J. CANFIELD.
CHARLES J. CANFIELD. Mr. Can- field was born at Manistee. April 1st, 1868, the son of John and Frances V. (Wheeler) Canfield, his mother having been from Berk- shire county, Mass. Ile received his educa- tion in the public schools of Manistee, and at the age of eighteen became an assistant to his father in his extensive lumbering opera- tions, beginning at the bottom and learning all the varied branches of the business. His business interests at present are represented as follows: Hle is exeentor; with his mother, of his father's estate, secretary and treasurer of the Canfield Salt & Ember Company, vice-president of the Canfield & Wheeler Company (Manistee), secretary and treasurer of the Union Lumber & Salt Company of Stronach, president of the Manistee & Grand Rapids Railroad Company.
In the spring of 1900 Mr. Canfield was nominated for mayor of Manistee by the Republicans, and elected by a majority of 1,200, being the second Republican mayor elected in that city since its incorporation. Personally Mr. Canfield is modest and unas- simning, but is, in current phrase, a hustling young business man, having the confidence
and respect of everybody. He was married in 1889 to Miss Belle Gardner, daughter of C. D. Gardner, of Manistee. One daughter, Doris, is the fruit of the marriage.
The biography of a young man of two and thirty is necessarily brief in itself. Bnt, like most descendants of New England stock, Mr. ('anfield boasts an ancestry in which he feels not a little pride. He is eighth in descent from Thomas Canfield, who came from Eng- land early in the seventeenth century, set- tling at Milford, Conn., where his name appears as early as 1646, and was one of the commission who obtained a charter for the colony of Connecticut. The grandfather of Charles J., Roswell Canfield, was a native of Massachusetts, but became a lumber dealer in Racine, Wis., in 1842. He built a mill and became interested in the lumber trade at Manistee in 1848, and his son, John Can- field, father of Charles J., became a resident there and partner with his father in 1849. John Canfield was born at Sandisfield, Mass., in 1830, and attended school at Sandis- field, at Homer, New York, and at Racine, Wis. When he was fourteen years of age he left school, and for three years worked as a clerk in a mercantile establishment at Racine. He then spent a year in his father's Imber yard at Racine piling and selling huber, and at the end of the year, his father placed the bookkeeping of the firm in his hands. Roswell Canfield died in 1860, and the Manistee interests then comprising two mills, passed into the hands of his two sons, Edmund and John, under the firm name of E. & J. Canfield until the death of Edmund in 1868, when E. D. Wheeler acquired his interest under the firm name of Canfield & Wheeler. In 1865 John Canfield became a partner with James Shrigley, under the firm name of Shrigley & Canfield, in the erec- tion of a mill since known as the East Lake Mill of the Canfield Salt & Lumber Com- pany. Mr. Canfield became one of the most widely known and extensive operators in
Northern Michigan, and had extensive hold- ings of timber lands both in Michigan and Wisconsin. He was a man of the strictest probity and enjoyed the confidence of his fel- low citizens, both at home and abroad. Mr. Canfield died in 1889. His widow is still living at Manistee.
467
IHISTORICAL SKETCHES.
YOUNGQUIST, M. D., OTIS E. Delta County Hospital in Escanaba, Michigan, is under the charge of Dr. Otis E. Youngquist, a physician of only 31 years of age, yet skilled and learned in the Hippocratic art.
The hospital has 50 beds and during the year of 1898 as many as 510 patients were treated there for the county.
Andrew J. Youugquist, the father of the subject of this sketch, came from Sweden to America in 1852 and located on a farm near Plymouth, Michigan, where he lived for ten years, and then, in 1862, moved to Lisbon, Kent County, Michigan, where, December 28, 1868, Otis E. Youngquist was born.
The son of a farmer, and born on a farm, the boy helped all he could in the cultivation of the fields, but until he was 11 years of age he was given the benefits of the district school during the full terms, and after that during the winter terms only, until he reached 13. Hle then attended the public schools of Lisbon until 1884, when he found a position in the drug store of Dr. S. J. Koon, of that place, where he commenced work and studied phar- macy. One year was given to this work and study and at the end of the year he took the examination before the State Board of Phar- macists at Lansing, Michigan, and was given a certificate as a registered pharmacist. Mr. Youngquist then returned to Dr. Koon's drug store in Lisbon, where he had learned his pro- fession, and entering his employ remained with him for three years, during which time he commenced the study of medicine. In the fall of 18SS he entered the medical depart- ment of the Rush Medical College at Chicago, Illinois, and by working during vacations he managed to pay his way through that college. He became a nurse, and assistant nurse in the hospital and earned a little money in this way, and one summer he went to Casnovia, Michi- gan, and became an assistant to Dr. C. E. Kook and came back to college in the fall with $160 in his pocket, the result of his sin- mer's work. The following summer, after the death of his former employer, Dr. S. J. Koon, Mr. Younggnist returned to Lisbon and
OTIS E. YOUNGQUIST, M. D.
practiced there for a short time. In March, 1892, he was graduated from the Rush Med- ical College. He traveled about the country, seeking a place where he could hang up the diploma and a shingle, visiting several of the large and small cities of the Northwest, and at last, on July 11, 1892, landing in Escanaba, Michigan, without a cent.
He rented a building three days later, and the first day netted him one dollar in cash. The next day brought him seven dollars, and since that time he has built up an extensive and remunerative practice.
Dr. Youngquist is a Republican. At this writing he is city physician and health officer, and also a member of the school board of Es- canaba. He was on the building committee during the creation of the new Washington street school, a brick structure which was a new departure in schools at Escanaba. Dr. Youngquist married in 1893 Miss S. Willhel- menia Gustafson at Ishpeming, Michigan. He has one child, Otis G., aged two. Dr. Young- quist is a member of the North Star Swedish Society, the R. A. M., B. P. O. E., I. O. O. F., A. O. U. W. and the K. O. T. M.
468
MEN OF PROGRESS.
HON. NATHAN MYRON KAUFMAN.
KAUFMAN, HON. NATHAN MY- RON. Marquette, Michigan, is the birth- place of Nathan Myron Kaufman, and in that city he was educated and spent most of his life. Ilis father, Sammel Kaufman, came from Germany in 1849, and removed to Mar- quette in 1852, and was one of the first and most successful merchants in that town.
Nathan Myron Kaufman was born July 4, 1862, and until he was 16 years of age he at- tended the publie and high school of Mar- quette, working when old enough during his vacations and on Saturdays in his father's store. When he became 16 years of age he seenred the position of traveling man with the firm of Wilson Bros., of Chicago, selling a line of gentlemen's furnishing goods through- ont northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Min- nesota. He was employed on a salary and commission basis and saved enough money in two years to enable him to open an establish- ment in the same line at Negaunee, and later to open a general store in the same place. In 1883 he sold out and became associated with his father at Marquette, and it was while he was engaged in business with his father that
he commenced operating in iron and mineral lands with much success.
In 1885 Mr. Kaufman secured an option on the Blue Mine, which he opened into one of the best iron producers in this state and later sold at an excellent profit. He enlarged in his dealings, making a feature of opening and developing the valuable mining properties of the Upper Peninsula, until in 1888, when he was appointed general manager of the Brietung estate, which was one of the largest holders of mineral lands in the Upper Penin- sula. He conducted the affairs of the estate, handling and disposing of their property in a most able manner until 1892.
Mr. Kaufman is a Republican, and in 1893-94 he was mayor of his native city, giv- ing Marquette an excellent and progressive administration during his term of office.
Mr. Kaufman still operates in mining prop- erty and has an interest in many enterprises of that nature. He is the president of the Washington iron mine in Marquette, a valu- able property ; a director in the Republic mine of Negaunee, secretary of the Negaunee Tron Mining Company, and a director in the Are- tie Mining Company. He is also the presi- dent of the Marquette County Savings Bank.
June 30. 1893, Mr. Kanfman married Mrs. Mary Brietung, widow of Edward Breitung, at Marquette.
Mr. Kaufman is a man with a wide range of friends and acquaintances throughout the state, and highly esteemed in the community in which he lives. He has taken all the Ma- sonie degrees, including the Knights Templar and both the Scottish and York Rite Consis- tory. He has also wandered over the sands to the Shrine, being a member of Saladin Temple at Grand Rapids. Besides the Ma- sonie order, he belongs to that flourishing and charitable organization, the Benevolent Pro- teetive Order of Elks, the Marquette Lodge.
He owns a fine home in Marquette and is always willing to further any scheme for the betterment of his native eity, and the interests of his fellow citizens, by whom he is looked upon as a representative capitalist, and man of progress.
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