Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Part 23

Author: Beakes, Samuel W. (Samuel Willard), 1861-; S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 886

USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan > Part 23

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Mrs. Reeve is the only surviving member of the Sill family. By her marriage she became the mother of two children: Cora, who is now the wife of Will W. Blakeley and is living in De- troit ; and Willets, who died in infancy.

Mr. and Mrs. Reeve have an attractive home in Dexter, which is justly celebrated for its gra- cious and pleasing hospitality. Mr. Reeve has

long been prominent in political circles, voting for the best man regardless of party affiliation. He has held several local offices and at all times is the champion of measures which have for their object the welfare of the community. He be- longs to Washtenaw lodge, No. 65, A. F. & A. M., and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Dexter. They are esteemed for their sterling worth and are numbered among the worthy pioneers and native citizens of this county, where they have spent their entire lives.

TITUS F. HUTZEL.

The name of Hutzel has figured for half a cen- tury in connection with the business of which Titus F. Hutzel is now a representative and which he has conducted continuously since 1878. His father, August F. Hutzel, came to Ann Ar- bor in 1838 and entered business life here as a grocer. He likewise became interested in a tan- nery established by his father-in-law, Henry Mann, and his enterprise and activity contributed to the early commercial and industrial progress and upbuilding of the city. He was married on the 30th of June, 1839, to Miss Sophia Mann, a daughter of Henry and Louisa ( Haller) Mann, who came to Ann Arbor May 20, 1830, having made the journey from Detroit with a wagon caravan, it requiring three days to complete the trip. At that time there were only eighteen or twenty houses in Ann Arbor and most of these were not plastered. Mr. Mann became almost immediately a factor in the growth of the embryo city and he purchased a tannery in which he ultimately built up a very extensive and profit- able business until his years of labor were crowned with a period of ease, and in honorable retirement from further commercial or industrial pursuits he lived in Ann Arbor up to the time of his death, which occurred August 18, 1865. In the family were three children : Emanuel, de- ceased, who was a druggist and member of the legislature in 1868; Mrs. Louisa Schmid, de- ceased, whose husband was the first German Lu-

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theran minister in the territory of Michigan ; and Mrs. Sophia Hutzel.

August F. Hutzel, after a happy married life of more than a half century, passed away on the 18th of September, 1889, his remains being in- terred in the German Bethlehem cemetery at Ann Arbor. His widow still survives at the age of eighty-four years. She is a cultured lady, still active, retaining her mental faculties unimpaired. She has a wonderfully retentive memory and can relate most interesting incidents of the early set- tlement of the county when the wilderness was unsubdued and the district had scarcely been re- claimed from the domain of the red man. She was born at Stuttgart, Germany, and in 1824 her father came to America, landing at Philadelphia. Soon afterward he went to Mexico but returning to Pennsylvania located at Reading and in 1825 sent for his family to join him. They started in the spring of 1826, traveling down the Rhine, their boat tying up each night, while the passen- gers sought shelter in the inn of a neighboring village. At Amsterdam they had to wait six weeks for a packet to Philadelphia and the voy- age covered seventy days. For four years the family lived in Reading, Mrs. Hutzel being then a little girl. Her father made a prospecting tour to Michigan, walking all the way from Reading to Buffalo, and being greatly pleased with Ann Arbor and Washtenaw county, returned east for his family, and early in the spring of 1830 they started for their new home, traveling in the primitive manner of the times. Mrs. Hutzel has since lived in this city. Her children and grand- children now number sixty and she also has fif- teen great-grandchildren. She is a most loved member of this now numerous family and as one of the venerable and esteemed pioneer ladies of Washtenaw county we are pleased to present to our readers this brief record of her life.

In the family of August and Sophia ( Mann) Hutzel there were fourteen children. Sophia, who is living with her mother, is the widow of the Rev. C. F. Spring, by whom she had the fol- lowing children : Samuel J. is deceased ; Emanuel C. is a member of the firm of Hutzel & Com- pany ; August F. is now with the Swift Company at Detroit ; Sophie is the wife of Rev. F. Volz,

of Saginaw, Michigan ; Mary W. and Victor J. are both deceased; Julius T. is a printer of Ce- dar Rapids, Iowa; Herman G. is a druggist at Unionville, Michigan; G. Adolph is a minister at Bird City, Kansas; Louisa H. is deceased ; Hannah M. is at home; Clara C. has passed away; Emma P. and Thusnelda M. are still with their mother. Pauline, the second child of Mr. and Mrs. August Hutzel, is now the widow of Frederick Wurster, by whom she had twelve children, namely : Louise, the widow of Jacob Wolpert, by whom she had one son, Jacob, Jr .; Christine Wurster, at home : August F. and Ma- tilda, both deceased; Ernest M., who married Emma Fiegel; Carl Victor; Pauline; Johannes T., an electrician living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Oscar H., Anna, Albert E. and Henrietta, all at home. Marie, the third member of the family of August Hutzel, died in childhood. Martha, the next younger, married Charles Steinbach, of Chelsea, Michigan, and they had seven children ; Henry A., who wedded Mary A. Laney and has two children, Francis C. and Henry B .; C. Otto Steinbach, who wedded Maud Wortley and has one child, Marion; A. Charlotte and Helena L. Steinbach, both at home; Edgar T. Steinbach, a resident of Helena, Montana; and Emily and Al- bert Steinbach, who are still with their mother. Louise Hutzel, the fifth member of the family, died in 1868. August Herman, a resident of Muncie, Indiana, married Pauline Graf and their children are : Robert A., who married Lulu Spier and is living at Magdeburg, Germany; Melitha, Sophia E., Max H., Hugo and Victor C., all of whom are at home; and Louise, who was just older than Hugo and who is now deceased. Hen- rietta Hutzel, the next member of the family of August F. Hutzel, is the wife of Eugene K. Frueauff, whose husband is deputy county clerk of Washtenaw county, their home being in Ann Arbor. Titus Frederick Hutzel, whose name in- troduces this record, is the next of the family. Johnathan F. Hutzel is deceased. Hannah Hut- zel is the wife of Henry Heim, of Saginaw, Mich- igan, who is president of the state board of phar- macy. Their children are : Dr. Arthur H. Heim, a dentist of Unionville, Michigan; Wanda C., Augusta J. and Henry T., all at home. Char-

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lotte Hutzel is living with her mother. Carl Vic- tor Hutzel is deceased. Two children of the family died in infancy.

Titus F. Hutzel was born in Ann Arbor, Feb- ruary 18, 1855, and has spent his entire life in the second ward of the city. He is indebted to its public school advantages for the educational privileges he enjoyed and in early manhood he embarked in his present line of business, estab- lishing a plumbing plant in 1878 at No. 114 South Main street. The business, however, has been conducted continuously for half a century under the Hutzel name. The original firm of Hutzel & Company consisted of August F. Hut- zel, Christian Eberbach and Emanuel Mann. In 1878 this firm was dissolved and August F. Hut- zel was joined by his sons. August Herman and Titus F. Hutzel under the firm style of Hutzel & Company. In 1888 the brothers purchased the father's interest and continued the business to- gether until 1893. when Titus F. Hutzel pur- chased his brother's interest and associated him- self with Emanuel C. Spring and Robert Guinner. who are now carrying on the business under the firm name of Hutzel & Company. The safe, con- servative policy inaugurated by its founder has always been maintained. The fier name is a synonym for business integrity and activity and Mr. Hutzel is recognized as a force in commer- cial circles of this community. He possesses un- tiring energy, is quick of perception, forms his plans readily and is determined in their execu- tion and his close application to business and his excellent management have brought to him the high degree of prosperity which is today his.

In 1883 Mr. Hutzel was happily married to Miss Emma Brehm, of Ann Arbor, a daughter of Peter and Louise (Limbert) Brehm, at Ann Arbor. They have five children: Eleanore, twenty-one years of age; August F., eighteen years of age; Irma. Ruth and Matilda, aged re- spectively fifteen, thirteen and ten years and all now in school.

Mr. Hutzel is prominent in fraternal and pub- lic interests in Ann Arbor. He belongs to the Masonic lodge and to the local German society and is likewise a member of the Bethlehem Evangelical church. That he has the entire con-

fidence and trust of the people among whom he has always lived is indicated by the fact that he has twice been chosen to represent his ward on the board of city aldermen and he is now super- intendent of the Ann Arbor Water Company. He is a man of attractive personality, of public spirit and a leader in business circles of his com- munity. Thoroughly interested in whatever tends to promote the moral, intellectual and ma- terial welfare of Ann Arbor, his popularity is well deserved.

REV. EUGENE ALLEN.

Rev. Eugene Allen, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church at Ypsilanti, is a native of Addi- son, Lenawee county, Michigan, born December 12. 1869. and is a son of Rev. Dr. Charles T. and Elnora ( Root ) Allen, natives of Michigan. The father was a Methodist Episcopal clergy- man, and for thirty-six years was connected with the Detroit conference, preaching all the time within sixty miles of his birth place. For three years he rendered active service to the First Mich- igan Infantry in the Civil war, and he died Octo- ber 12. 1904. He had four brothers, who were also soldiers of the Civil war, including Captain E. P. Allen, of Ypsilanti. Further mention of Rev. Charles T. Allen is given on another page of this work. In his family were two sons and a daughter: Clarence E., now pastor of the Court Street Methodist Episcopal church at Flint, Mich- igan : Clara, twin sister of Clarence, and the de- ceased wife of William Bostwick, of Ypsilanti ; and Eugene.

In the public schools of Detroit and of Pon- tiac Rev. Eugene Allen acquired his early edu- cation and was graduated from Albion College in 1895 with the degree of Bachelor of Philoso- phy. His first pastoral work was at Watrous- ville. Tuscola county, Michigan, and he has since been located at Birmingham for three years, in the Preston church of Detroit for five years and since the fall of 1904 at Ypsilanti. While in Detroit he was instrumental in the erection of a church valued at thirty thousand dollars. His work in Ypsilanti has been most commendable

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and far reaching in its influence. During the past year he has added one hundred and forty to its membership, and in the year 1905 has made repairs upon the church to the value of five thou- sand dollars. He is an earnest, forceful speaker, and his zeal in behalf of the church is manifested by his almost untiring labor for the upbuilding of the different church activities and the recla- mation of his fellowmen to the lives of righteous- ness. Mr. Allen is also the author of a volume of one hundred and fifty pages entitled "Abra- ham Lincoln," a historical sketch which was pub- lished in 1895. He is deeply interested in educa- tional and philanthropic work and is now a trus- tee of Albion College. He was also one of the original members of the board of trustees of the Old People's Home of the Detroit conference.

In 1892 Rev. Allen was married to Miss Min- nie ' McKeand, a daughter of James and Mary McKeand, of Pontiac, and they have two inter- esting little daughters, Ruth and Mary. With a mind that is continually being broadened through his reading, study and research, and his contact with his fellowmen, already Rev. Allen become a strong power for good in Michigan, and is recognized as one of the able members of the Methodist ministry in the state.

RICHARD GREEN.

A splendid type of the self-made man is Rich- ard Green, of Manchester township. He came to the new world empty-handed and amid unfavor- able circumstances began life in Michigan ; but through perseverance, adaptability and genuine worth worked his way steadily upward until he is today one of the substantial, prosperous and honored citizens of Washtenaw county. His birth occurred in Nottinghamshire, England, in the village of Clipstone, near Mansfield, March 10, 1822. His father, Richard Green, Sr., was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1782, and was a farmer by occupation. He married Sarah Bou- skil, who was born in England in 1785, and died in that country at the advanced age of seventy- seven years. Her brother, Charles Bouskil,

fought under Wellington in many of his cam- paigns, and was with him at the battle of Water- loo. There Mr. Bouskil sustained a severe wound but survived his injuries and lived for many years, being rewarded by a grateful government with a large pension. When his sister, Mrs. Green, visited London, Charles Bouskil, having access to many places of importance connected with the government, had and embraced the op- portunity of taking his sister over different war vessels and to various historic places in old Lon- don. Mr. and Mrs. Richard Green, Sr., became the parents of ten children, all of whom reached years of maturity, namely : Susan, now deceased, who married James Cobb and came to the United States in 1843: Elizabeth, who married John Stothard and is living in England; George, de- ceased; Sarah, the deceased wife of William Blackwell ; Mary, the deceased wife of William Terry ; Ann, who married William Fallowell and died in England; Phoebe, the wife of Richard Silverwood, of Jackson county, Michigan; Rob- ert, who is a resident of Manchester township, Washtenaw county ; William, who died in Eng- land ; and Richard, of this review.

Richard Green spent his boyhood and youth in his native land, and his capability as a husband- man was early manifested, for at the age of eigh- teen years he won the first prize in a plowing match at Olarton, England. He is a man of splendid physique, of indomitable courage and unfaltering perseverance. He acquired his edu- cation in his native locality, and came to America in 1843, landing in Quebec on the 28th of June. He at once turned his gaze westward, however, and upon reaching Detroit, Michigan, set out on foot for Manchester. He was already in debt six dollars and could not afford the luxury of riding. Thus penniless he reached his destina- tion, but he at once began seeking work and was first employed to cut grass with a scythe, work- ing for six shillings per day. Soon, however, he hired out for thirteen dollars per month, and dur- ing the winter of 1843 and 1844 he cut one hun- dred and fifty cords of wood in three months, for which he was paid twenty cents per cord. During the next year he again engaged with his former employer, working for one hundred and forty

MRS. ANNA E. GREEN.

RICHARD GREEN AND NELLIE W. SUTTON.

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dollars per year, and following this he took serv- ice with Peter Van Winkle for twelve and a half dollars per month. During that season he cradled forty-five acres of wheat. That his labor always gave satisfaction is indicated by the fact that he had no trouble in securing employment and worked for the same employer the next year.

Desiring a companion and helpmate for life's journey, Mr. Green was married on the 19th of August. 1846. to Miss Anna English, a native of Kings county, Ireland, born May 23. 1828, and a daughter of Richard and Susan (Green) Eng- lish, who are mentioned on another page of this work. Her father was also born in Kings county, while County Westmeath, Ireland, was the native home of her mother. Mrs. Green was but eight years of age when she came to Michi- gan with her parents, with whom she remained during her girlhocd or until she gave her hand in marriage to Richard Green. The young couple located on section 20, Manchester town- ship, on a farm of forty acres which Mr. Green had just purchased with the money saved from his earnings. After a year he began operating a farm on shares at Iron Creek, and was this employed for three years, during which time he bought and partly improved eighty acres of land on section 20, where his beautiful home now stands. The place at that time bore little re- semblance to the present fine farm of today. There was a log house into which the young couple moved. and which remained their resi- dence for nine years. Their present beautiful home was erected in 1861 and has since been re- modeled and improved in keeping with the spirit of modern progress along architectural lines. He also has immense barns, all nicely painted and kept in excellent condition of repair. There is a tenant house and other buildings upon the place and in fact no equipment of a model farm of the twentieth century is lacking. Here Mr. Green owns three hundred and fifty acres of rich and valuable land, upon which he has resided for fifty-four years. For some years, however, he has been practically retired from active farm pur- suits, although he does some work upon the farm, and while the historian was securing ma- terial for this sketch Mr. Green was piling up in

his wood house nine cords of wood which he had cut himself. This indicates in no uncertain way his splendid physique, and the fact that his powers are as yet largely unimpaired.

The liberality of Mr. Green is well known in Washtenaw county. He is charitable to a marked degree, which is evidenced by his many gifts to movements and institutions for the public good. He has also made investments in business affairs which have contributed in substantial measure to the commercial and industrial prosperity of the county. He became a stockholder in the Clinton Woolen Mills and in the Hillsdale Railroad. He assisted in building a parsonage for the Baptist church at Manchester at a cost of two thousand dollars, of which he donated ten hundred and eighty dollars himself. He also gave two hun- dred and fifty dollars out of a sum of five hun- dred and sixteen dollars necessary to secure a bell for the church. For more than a half cen- tury he has been a most liberal and generous con- tributor to the support of the church, in which he has served as deacon for more than thirty-five years, and from year to year he has given freely of his means to the Baptist College at Kalama- zoo. He has a life membership in the Bible Union Revision Society, and he has to his credit a contri- bution of fifty dollars for the endowment of a chair of mathematics as a memorial to Edward Olney. LL. D., of Kalamazoo.

As no children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Green, they adopted two daughters, whom they reared as tenderly as though they were their own. The elder. Phoebe M., is the wife of Har- mon Clark, and the younger, Georgia Chapple. is the wife of George M. Sutton, who now con- ducts the farm.

In 1878 Mr. and Mrs. Green made a trip to England and Ireland. spending eight months abroad. and not only revisiting the scenes of their youth, but also many places of historic, scenic and modern interest in Great Britain. In 1889 they made the second trip across the ocean, this time visiting France on their way to the British Isles, and remaining in the old world until 1890. Mr. Green is now a well preserved man of eighty-four years with unimpaired intellect and good health. His life has indeed been of benefit

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to his fellowmen, and while he has achieved stic- cess that excites the admiration and awakens the respect of all who know aught of his history, it is his kindly spirit and generous disposition that have won for him the deep love and gratitude of many. His wife has been associated with him in his good work, and in the evening of life they are happy in each other's companionship and in the friendship of young and old, rich and poor, many of whom have known them through long years of their residence in Washtenaw county.

MORTIMER E. COOLEY.

Mortimer E. Cooley was born in Canandaigua, New York, March 28, 1855, and lived on a farm until his nineteenth year. His early education was secured in a district school and later at the Canandaigua Academy, famed in those days for the thoroughness of its work. In the winters of 1872-3 and 1873-4 he taught a district school. the money thus earned serving to pay his tuition at the academy. During the fall and spring he walked morning and evening to and from the academy, distant about three and one half miles from his home. This journey was necessarily a study hour, as no time was available at home for study.

In the summer of 1874, in casting about for means to further his education, he learned of the law providing for the appointment of cadet en- gineers at the United States Naval Academy on competitive examination. With no assistance or without influence of any kind, simply on his personal application by letter to the Secretary of the Navy, accompanied by a doctor's certificate as to physical condition, and a minister's letter as to character, he was granted permission to try the examinations in Annapolis the following Sep- tember. The summer months were devoted to preparation in the spare moments available from a busy farm life. One subject-physics, or natural philosophy, as it was then called-he had never studied, and this had to be prepared without as- sistance.

It was with no little anxiety that he went on to Annapolis for the examinations, and this anxi- ety was not lessened when on his arrival he found eighty or more aspirants for the twenty-five cov- eted appointments. The few days in Annapolis were trying ones. In one room on the top floor of the old Maryland Hotel, candidates from eight different states lived. They did not sleep. The proprietor tried to turn them out every night, but as his guests grew accustomed to the racket and found it did not avail to protest, the young men stayed on. Mr. Cooley faithfully attended every examination, staying the full time and doing his level best.

At the close of the examination he returned home feeling he had failed and accepted a place as teacher in the Canandaigua Academy. A couple of weeks later a telegram was received at the academy about noon, ordering him to report with- out delay at Annapolis. The three and one-half miles home were never traveled so fast, and that evening's train took him away from home for good.

Imagine his surprise on arriving to learn that he had passed number seven, and this was his number also on graduation in June, 1878. At the academy he captained the class crew for two years, rowing in one regatta. Just before the second year's race a great storm swept away the boat houses, that being the end of rowing at the academy for several years. He also excelled in fencing with foil and broad-swords, of which he was very fond.

After graduation his first orders were to the U. S. S. Quinnebang, which after a trial trip sailed in December to the Mediterranean. In November, 1879, he was transferred to the U. S. S. Alliance which on her return to America was attached to the North Atlantic squadron. The Alliance was in Norfolk navy yard for re- pairs for several months. In December, 1879, Mr. Cooley secured a month's leave from the Alliance and was married to Miss Carolyn E. Mosely at Fairport, New York, on Christmas day. He returned to his ship in January and spent the summer on the banks of Newfoundland, going later to the West Indies.

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December 3. 1880, he was detached from the Alliance and on March 29, 1881, was ordered to duty in the Bureau of Steam Engineering at Washington. Congress passed an act in 1879 authorizing the detail of assistant engineers of the navy to teach marine engineering and iron ship building in colleges and technical schools. The University of Michigan was the first uni- versity to take advantage of this act, and to apply for such a detail, and in August, 1881. Mr. Cooley was ordered by the Navy Department to Ann Arbor. The customary detail of three years was at its expiration, by special request of the board of regents of the university, extended an- other year, and at the end of that time by invita- tion of the president of the university and the re- gents, he resigned from the navy and accepted the chair of mechanical engineering. To this work he has given practically his entire life and now has the satisfaction of seeing the department well established. Recently a large and commodi- ous building has been erected for the department of engineering. For this he has striven con- stantly for eighteen years.

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Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Part 23

Author: Beakes, Samuel W. (Samuel Willard), 1861-; S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago : The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 886

Author: Beakes, Samuel W. (Samuel Willard), 1861-; S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 886