USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan > Part 22
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Frederick G., who is living in Leslie, Michigan : Chester A., at home ; Ray : and Clyde, deceased.
Mr. Valentine votes with the republican party, to which he has given his support since attaining his majority. Political honors or emoluments, however, have no attraction for him, as he pre- fers to give his undivided attention to his busi- ness interests, and his farm is to-day the visible evidence of his life of enterprise and unremitting diligence.
ANDREW JACKSON SAWYER, JR.
Andrew Jackson Sawyer, Jr., prosecuting at- torney of Washtenaw county, is a native son of Ann Arbor, where his birth occurred on the 18th of January, 1876. He is a son and namesake of Andrew J. Sawyer, a prominent lawyer of the Ann Arbor bar and the senior member of the firm of Sawyer & Son. Having mastered the elementary branches of learning as taught in the lower grades of the public schools, he continued his studies in Ann Arbor high school, from which he was graduated with the class of 1895. With an excellent literary knowledge to serve as the foundation upon which to rear the super- structure of professional learning, having com- pleted a course in the literary department of the University of Michigan in 1898, he took up the study of law and was graduated in 1899. He was then admitted to the bar and has since been his father's partner. In the fall of 1904 he was elected prosecuting attorney by a majority of seventeen hunded and forty-five. He made a strong and thorough canvass and in so doing drove a distance of seven hundred and eighty- eight miles in visiting various townships in the county. He has proven a capable officer and is regarded as one of the rising young lawyers at the Washtenaw county bar. He is a republican in politics, interested in political questions and issues and is numbered among the earnest work- ers for the party.
In 1898. in Stockbridge, Michigan, Mr. Saw- yer was married to Miss Lulu Rose, a daughter of E. S. Rose, of that place, and they now have a
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daughter and a son: Irene Hope, who was born in Ann Arbor in 1902; and Richard Watkins, born in 1905. Mr. Sawyer is identified with the Elks lodge, the Royal Arcanum and the Masonic fraternity and in the last named has taken high rank, being a representative not only of the lodge but also capitular and chivalric Masonry. He likewise belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star and is a worthy examplar of the craft. Since the organization of the seventh ward in Ann Arbor he has been a member of the ward committee for the republican party and also of the county committee and at a recent date was chosen secre- tary of the city committee.
CHARLES GAUNTLETT.
Charles Gauntlett was born upon a farm in York township about a mile northwest of the village of Milan, on the 7th of August, 1853. His father. James Gauntlett, was a native of London, England, and carried on merchandising in the world's metropolis for several years. He was born on Christmas day of 1811 and was there- fore in his thirty-fifth year when in 1846 he came to York township, Washtenaw county, Michigan. He was one of the two men in the township who voted for the whig ticket in the early '50s. He turned his attention to agricul- tural pursuits and also engaged in general mer- chandising in the village of Milan for many years, being a most enterprising business man, of keen discernment and unflagging industry-qualities which insured his success. He was always a stanch republican from the organization of the party and served as justice of the peace in York township for several terms, discharging his du- ties with a fairness and impartiality that won him high encomiums from the public. He had a wide and favorable acquaintance throughout Washte- naw and Monroe counties and his efforts in be- half of public progress along many lines were far-reaching and beneficial. He was the prime mover in raising the funds for the building of Union church-the first religious edifice erected in the village of Milan. He was also school di-
rector for several years and the cause of educa- tion found in him a warm friend, for he labored assiduously to promote its standard. His death occurred in the village of Milan, June 11, 1889. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Wilkins, was also a native of London, England, born December 3. 1812, and she gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Gauntlett in Lambeth church in their native city, August 19, 1832. She died upon the home farm in York township in 1854 when their son Charles was only a year old. Three sons of the family were soldiers of the Civil war and Charles also wished to enlist but was too young.
Being one of a large family he was early thrown upon his own resources and with many difficulties and privations pursued his studies in the district schools of the home neighborhood and in the Union school of York township. Dur- ing periods of vacation he assisted in the farm work and at the age of twenty-one years he en- tered mercantile life on his own account with little capital and much credit, establishing a boot and shoe store in Milan, which he conducted con- tinuously for eighteen years with the exception of a period of two years, which he spent in Ann Arbor in the employ of Henry Krause and one year in Detroit, where he founded the Queen Quality store of that city. On selling out there he returned to Milan, his family having remained there during his absence. In his mercantile life he has met with a creditable measure of success, his business constantly growing owing to his careful management and honorable principles.
Mr. Gauntlett has always been a great lover of fine horses and for some years maintained a stable of high quality. One of his horses, Hazel Ridge, won the first prize at the World's Colum- bian Exposition in Chicago, being one of the fin- est specimens of the noble steed that America has ever produced. He has had a most success- ful career as the owner of fine trotting stock. He has always driven his own horses and has sus- tained an unblemished reputation on the turf, never being connected with any underhand deal. He gradually withdrew from the turf, however, selling his stable, his last trotter being sold in the summer of 1905.
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On the 28th of August, 1876, Mr. Gauntlett was married to Miss Jennie Bunce, a daughter of John and Dorcas Bunce, of London township, Monroe county. They have one daughter. Lily Cecile, who was born August 19, 1883, and is a graduate of the Ann Arbor high school and also of the State University of Michigan, having com- pleted the literary course, while at the pesent time she is instructor in Latin in the Central high school in Adrian, Michigan.
In politics Mr. Gauntlett has ever been a stal- wart republican and has served almost continu- ously as committeeman from York township to the county conventions. He was the youngest member of the first council of Milan when the village was incorporated and he has been repeat- edly elected to this office to the present time. In March. 1903. he was chosen president of the village and was re-elected in 1904 but refused to accept further honors of that character. His co-operation in behalf of public progress has been far-reaching and beneficial and both in and out of office he has labored effectively for the general good. He was one of the original subscribers to the fund that was raised for the opening of the Toledo and Ann Arbor Railroad and he has been a leading figure in advancing other enterprises for the development of the village of Milan. He has been a member of the Odd Fellows since twenty-one years of age and is also a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity and the under- lying principles of these organizations have found exemplification in his life, for he is a friend to all who are in need or who seek his assist- ance, using his powers as far as possible to ameli- orate hard conditions of life and to advance in- tellectual, political, material and social progress.
HERMAN W. PIPP.
The beauty and attractiveness of Ann Arbor have been greatly enhanced through the efforts of Herman W. Pipp, who as architect has fur- nished plans for the construction of many of the finest business blocks, public buildings and resi-
dences of this city. He was born in Brighton, Livingston county, Michigan, January 1, 1872. His father. William Pipp, was an architect and builder of Brighton, who also extended his business operations to Howell, Mich- igan. and was equally well known in both places, his interests reaching con - siderable volume. He married Elizabeth Schmid. a representative of one of the old fami- lies of Livingston county. His death occurred in the year 1891 but his widow still survives and yet makes her home in Brighton. In their family were eight children : Louise, now deceased ; Min- nie, who is living in Howell. Michigan : Henry a contractor of Ann Arbor : William F., who is foreman of the New York Condensed Milk Com- pany conducting business at Howell: Fred, who is engaged in merchandising at Howell; Mrs. Matilda Case, who is living in Brighton; and Elizabeth, deceased.
In his early youth Herman W. Pipp began his education in the public schools of Brighton, where he continued his studies until he had passed through the successive grades of the grammar and high schools. Following his graduation he entered into business with his father, under whose wise and able direction he gained a comprehen- sive and practical knowledge of the laws govern- ing architecture and building operations. Seek- ing a broader field of labor he removed to Ann Arbor in 1891. He was not at that time entirely unknown to its citizens in the line of his chosen profession and it was not long before his supe- rior skill and ability were demonstrated in some of the fine structures here. Thus showing his handiwork to the residents of Ann Arbor he won a gradually increasing patronage until he is to- day numbered among the leading architects of the city, having planned a vast number of the most substantial business blocks and leading resi- dences here. Beauty and durability are charac- teristics of the plans and his labors have indeed in large measure been a factor in the adornment of Ann Arbor. That his business has reached very extensive proportions is indicated by the fact that he utilizes for offices two large floors of a handsome business block at No. 118 Washing- ton street, west. Outside of his interests in Ann
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Arbor he is also extensively connected with in- vestments in the Texas oil fields.
In 1895 Mr. Pipp was married to Miss Cath- erine Irwin at Ann Arbor and they now have a daughter, Marie, eight years of age. His relig- ious faith is that of the Catholic church and in his political views he is independent. The suc- cess of his life is due to no inherited fortune or to any happy succession of advantageous cir- cumstances but to his own sturdy will, steady ap- plication, studious habits, tireless industry and sterling integrity.
G. FRANK ALLMENDINGER.
Many departments of business activity have felt the stimulus of the co-operation and wise counsel of G. Frank Allmendinger, the secretary and treasurer of the Michigan Milling Company, one of the organizers of the Ann Arbor Organ Company and a director of the Farmers and Me- chanics Bank of Ann Arbor. His labor has given impetus to these various business interests, which have proven profitable not alone to the in- dividual stockholder but to the city at large through the promotion of commercial and indus- trial activity.
Mr. Allmendinger was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1855, his parents being Charles F. and Fanny (Dellenbaugh) Allmendinger. The father was born in Waiblingen near Stuttgart, Wurtem- berg, Germany, January 16, 1825, and came to America in 1832 with his father, John G. All- mendinger. The latter married Elizabeth C. Ilge. Charles F. Allmendinger was reared to manhood in Ann Arbor and afterward went to Buffalo, New York, where he spent the remainder of his life with the exception of three years' serv- ice in Sherman's army during the Civil war. His death occurred in Buffalo in March, 1800. His wife died when their son, G. Frank Allmendinger. was only a few months old and he is the only rep- resentative of their family living in this state.
Following his mother's death and while yet an infant the subject of this review was sent to Mich- igan, where he was reared by his grandparents,
making his home with them until their death. He afterward lived with his aunt, Mrs. Mary E. Fischer, the sister of his father, and remained with her until after he had attained his majority. He was educated in Ann Arbor and attended the University of Michigan. He graduated with the class of 1878, receiving the degree of civil en- gineer, but was unable to make a life work of his chosen profession because engineering work of all kinds was still nearly at a standstill as a result of the panic of 1873. His knowledge of engineering has, however, proved of constant service in the work of constructing and equipping the various plants in which he has been interested. For four years after his graduation Mr. Allmendinger was engaged in farming near Ann Arbor. In 1882 he became a member of the firm of R. K. Ailes & Company, conducting the Central Flouring Mill. which was located on South First street. Two years later Mr. Ailes retired and the firm became Allmendinger & Schneider. In 1885 this firm es- tablished the Ann Arbor Fruit Works, the prede- cessor of the Ann Arbor Fruit & Vinegar Com- pany, and in 1892 they became interested in the Ann Arbor Milling Company. In 1900 the Cen- tral Milling Company and the Ann Arbor Com- pany together with others engaged in the same line of business consolidated their interests, or- ganizing the Michigan Milling Company, con- trolling all of the properties which had before been owned by individuals or the firms desig- nated. Of the newly organized corporation Mr. Allmendinger became secretary and treasurer. which has since been his association with the busi- ness that from the beginning reached extensive proportions. He was also one of the organizers of the Ann Arbor Organ Company, his cousin, D. F. Allmendinger, the present superintendent, be- ing the prime mover in this enterprise. Our sub- ject is likewise a director of the Farmers and Me- chanics Bank of Ann Arbor and in 1899 and 1900 he was the president of the State Millers' Associa- tion, while for the past five years he has been the president of the State Bean Jobbers' Association.
Prominent in political circles in Washtenaw county, Mr. Allmendinger gives support to the republican party. He was a member of the city council from the first ward for four years and de-
G. F. ALLMENDINGER.
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feated for mayor by a vote of only two when the city give a strong majority to the opposing party. He was also a candidate for the legislature but was defeated, and he was twice elected from the seventh ward to the position of county supervisor. During his term of service in the council he was a member of the committee which prepared a new charter for the city, making possible many im- provements impossible before. Electric lighting was established and the plans for the sewerage system adopted. The lawn extensions which have so beautified the city were inaugurated and the beginning of a park system made in the boulevard and Felch park. Mr. Allmendinger led the fight against the attempt made by private interests for the possession of Felch park and probably saved this ground to the city.
He was elected county supervisor for the ex- press purpose of attacking certain bills though op- posed by the men of his own party interested in them. He was sued for five thousand dollars damages for libel by an official, one of whose bills was assailed, the suit being dropped. however. be- fore coming to trial. The suit was butt an inci- dent following the fight against the machine rule which at that time existed in Washtenaw county. and it may be added that the bill was not allowed in full nor was any retraction or apology made by the subject of this sketch. As an endorsement of his course his ward returned him to the board the following year without opposition. He has for the last twelve years been active in city and county affairs, is strongly opposed to misrule and is an advocate of honest politics everywhere.
Mr. Allmendinger has been a member of the board of directors of the University School of Music and chairman of its finance committee since its inception in 1892. He holds a similar position on the governing body of the Students' Christian Association of the University of Michi- gan. He is one of the trustees of the Congrega- tional church and has been identified with various other organizations.
Mr. Allmendinger makes his home with his aunt, Elizabeth C. Allmendinger, who is the old- est living representative, but one of this family, prominent in the pioneer history of the county and the only survivor of a large family of broth-
ers and sisters. She was born in Ann Arbor in 1837 and this city has been her home. For two years after the Civil war she was a teacher of freedmen in the south. She later became in- structor in botany in the Ann Arbor high school, and under the direction of Professor M. W. Harrington of the University of Michigan, she assisted in the arrangement of the university her- barium. Her list of flora of Washtenaw county was published in 1881 and embraced three hun- dred and eighty-one genera and eight hundred and fifty species. This indicates a wonderful vari- ety of plants in this county. Dr. Asa Gray in his botany of the northern states gives one hundred and thirty orders. In Washtenaw county one hundred and one are represented, leaving only twenty-nine without representation.
Miss Allmendinger has been connected with the Congregational church for many years, and is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps. At the time of the Civil war she was very active in preparing supplies for the sick and wounded. and has been a most worthy woman, whose life has been a helpful one and who has thereby en- deared herself to many friends.
RUSSELL C. REEVE.
Russell C. Reeve, a retired farmer and stock- raiser at one time closely connected with the agri- cultural interests of Washtenaw county but now living in well earned ease at his pleasant home in Dexter, was born in Webster, this county, June 14, 1842. He is a son of Philip and Jerusha M. (Cooley) Reeve, the former a native of the Empire state and the latter of Massachusetts. In the year 1833 the father came to this county and purchased from the government five hundred acres of timber land and about one hundred acres of open land. He first built a frame house, which was considered a fine residence for that day and as a pioneer settler took an active and helpful part in the development of Washtenaw county. He did much toward clearing the land and reclaiming it for cultivable purposes and his name is inseparably interwoven with the early
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progress and improvement of this portion of the state. He married Miss Jerusha M. Cooley, who was born in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, No- vember 10, 1810, and was descended from Puri- tan ancestry, her parents being Russell and Bet- sey Cooley. After the death of her mother she left her old home at the age of fifteen years and came with her father to Michigan, settling in the midst of a wild western district, in which many hardships were to be met and many dif- ficulties overcome. She seemed to inherit the spirit of devotion, faith and love so character- istic of the New England Puritans and she brought with her to her new home in the wil- derness an unshakable faith in God and his promises. She with two other women was the first to organize prayer meetings in this locality. In the forest they met from time to time and later the religious services were held in a barn, while nine years afterward the church was com- pleted and thus the good seed, sown by those noble pioneer women, bore fruit. In 1840 Jerusha M. Cooley gave her hand in marriage to Philip Reeve and she proved an ideal wife and mother. She had a ready sympathy and a kindly spirit, was quickly moved by any tale of distress and she gave her best aid for the alleviation of such. Hers was one of those lives that carry with them the beauty of saintliness and holiness. Meek and gentle, she found and made life sweet for herself and by her charity and love for all brought pure religion to fruition. She never ceased to take a most helpful part in the work of the church but grew in her devotion to the cause of religion as the years passed. Mr. Reeve passed away on the 7th of January, 1876, while his wife survived until December, 1893. Thus were called to the home beyond two of the most worthy pio- neer people who have been connected with the early development of this part of the state, for they not only contributed to its material welfare but likewise assisted in its intellectual and moral progress and their memory remains as a blessed benediction to all who knew them. They were the parents of two sons and two daughters but the daughters have passed away. John W. Reeve, a brother of our subject, is now living on Nan- tucket Island.
Russell C. Reeve, the other surviving member of the family, was reared to a farm life amid the environments of pioneer existence. He was edu- cated in the public schools and early became familiar with the arduous task of developing new land. Soon all the work of the farm was to him a matter of actual experience and when he started out in life on his own account he was well quali- fied for the work which he undertook. He be- came his father's successor in the ownership of the old homestead and there was never a cent of mortgage or indebtedness upon this place during the long period when it was in possession of Philip and Russell C. Reeve. In connection with the tilling of the soil Mr. Reeve made a business of raising fine cattle and his farm be- came noted for the splendid specimens of stock which he sold. In all of his farm work he was progressive and enterprising, keeping in touch with modern ideas of agriculture and making im- provements upon his place from time to time until the farm was unsurpassed in its fertility, its productiveness and in its splendid equip- ments. Mr. Reeve continued actively in the work of developing the property until April, 1904, when he sold out and purchased a fine home in Dexter, where he is now living retired.
Mr. Reeve was married to Miss Mary Willets, who was born in 1846, and they had one child, Edith, who died in infancy, while the mother passed away soon afterward. Later Mr. Reeve married again, his second union being with Miss Alice Sill, a daughter of Thomas and Almira (Phelps) Sill, and a native of this county. Her father was born in the state of New York and came to Michigan in 1828. He was a pioneer business man of Dexter, where for many years he was known as a commission merchant. He contributed largely to the substantial develop- ment of the town in early days and his labors in his business life brought him a creditable measure of prosperity. In 1832 he married Miss Almira Phelps, who was born in Enosburg, Ver- mont, March 17, 1810, and in 1828 came to Michigan. Four years later she gave her hand in marriage to Thomas Gillman Still, who died in 1842, leaving her a family of small children, the eldest being but nine years of age. She con-
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tinued a resident of this locality for sixty years and departed this life on the 24th of March, 1892. at the age of eighty-two years and seven days, this being the fiftieth anniversary of the birth of her youngest daughter, Ellen. Her beautiful life was a benediction not only to her own family but to the church and the community, for dur- ing forty years she lived the life of a devoted Christian woman, holding membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. She had five chil- dren, of whom one daughter died in infancy. George S., who for many years was a prominent business man of Dexter, afterward becoming en- gaged in the manufacture of cans at Detroit and at times having as many as one hundred em- ployes. He retired from business in 1900 with a handsome competency and passed away on the 4th of June, 1905, at the age of seventy-one years. Charles T., who was born in Dexter, November 29, 1837, was reared in this town and at the age of twenty years became a member of the Method- ist Episcopal church. Throughout the greater part of his business career his attention was given to the hardware trade and as a merchant in that line he conducted a store in Wyandotte, Detroit and Milan. Eventually he retired from the firm of which his son is now the head. He was mar- ried in 1862 to Miss Mary Reeve, of Dexter, and they had a son and two daughters. He be- longed to the Masonic fraternity at Milan and his remains were interred under the auspices of that lodge, when he passed away on the 10th of December, 1903. Ellen M. Sill, who was born in Dexter, March 24, 1843, was married June 8, 1870, to E. Appleton. She was for many years a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and her life was filled with good works, so that her death, which occurred January 16, 1885, was deeply deplored by the people of Dexter and vicinity.
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