USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan > Part 41
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of the office of the Postal Telegraph Company at Salem, Ohio, where he continued for two years, but on the expiration of that period he returned to this city in the fall of 1904 to accept the posi- tion of manager of the office of the Western Union Telegraph Company, which is his present business relation here. He is an expert operator and thereby well qualified for the duties that de- volve upon him in this connection.
Mr. Sweet has membership relations with the Golden Rule lodge of Masons in Ann Arbor and in life exemplifies the beneficent spirit of the craft. In politics he is a republican, keeping well in- formed on the questions and issues of the day. Every step that he has made in his business career has been one in advance and he is now a most cap- able manager and operator, and is destined to win still greater success in his business career, while in the city in which he has made his home al- most continuously for sixteen years he has a wide and favorable acquaintance, his fidelity to prin- ciple, social nature. kindliness, geniality and deference for the opinions of others winning him warm personal regard.
GEORGE J. MANN.
George J. Mann, who has been prominent in political circles in Washtenaw county as the cham- pion of the democracy, was born in the township of Freedom on the 23d of January, 1858, and represents one of the pioneer families here, his father. Conrad Mann, having become an early settler of the county, where in the midst of the forest he hewed out and developed a farm, be- coming a prominent, successful and influential agriculturist and man of affairs. He was a native of Germany and enjoyed the highest regard of the German-American citizens of this part of the state. He married Christina Rehns and they had three children, the eldest being G. C. Mann, who is now living on the old homestead farm which originally comprised one hundred and thirty-eight acres, but which at the present time covers an extensive tract of land of three hundred and four acres. It is equipped with fine farm buildings, also a saw
mill and threshing machine, and it was the Mann family who had the first steam thresher in the county. The daughter, Margaret, is the wife of C. Rentshler, a resident farmer of Lodi township, Washtenaw county ; while George J. Mann is the youngest of the family. The father departed this life in 1879. having for several years survived his wife, who died in December, 1868.
George J. Mann acquired his early education in the district schools and for three years was a stu- dent in the Union school at Saline, this county. and for two years in Parsons Commercial College at Kalamazoo, Michigan. He was reared to the occupation of farming, early becoming familiar with the best methods of caring for the fields by the assistance which he rendered to his father in his boyhood days. When twenty-one years of age he began farming on his own account and fol- lowed that pursuit until 1904, when he put aside the active work of the fields and established his present business as a member of the firm of Mann & Zebe. dealers in agricultural implements at No. 210 South Ashley street, Ann Arbor. They also carry the Milburn wagon and conduct quite an extensive business as dealers in hay and grain. They have secured a liberal and constantly grow- ing patronage that renders their enterprise a grati- fying source of income and in connection with his mercantile interests Mr. Mann is identified with business affairs of this city as a stockholder in the new German American Bank.
He has figured quite prominently in local po- litical circles, being elected in the spring of 1879. when but twenty-one years of age, to the office of township treasurer as the candidate of the demo- cratic party. At the end of that year he removed from the township and purchased a farm in Lodi township, where he was afterward elected town- ship treasurer and also justice of the peace, acting in the latter capacity for thirteen consecutive years, his "even handed justice" . "win- ning him golden opinions from all sorts of peo- ple." Still higher political honors awaited him. for in the fall of 1808 he was elected county treas- urer and after filling the position for two years he was re-elected for a second term, retiring from the office in 1902 as he had entered it, with the confidence and good will of the general public.
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In the spring of 1899 he removed to Ann Arbor in order to administer the duties of the position and has since made his home in this city.
Mr. Mann was married in 1882 to Miss R. Walker, of Lodi township, a daughter of Fred- erick Walker, whose farm he purchased. He was quite successful as an agriculturist and in his present line of business is meeting with gratifying prosperity. Moreover, his official career has been such as commands the respect of people of all parties, for over the record of his public life there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil.
MICHAEL FINKBEINER.
Michael Finkbeiner, senior member of the firm of Finkbeiner & Arnold, mason contractors of Ann Arbor, and now engaged in the cut stone work on the largest university buildings as well as many important structures in the city, was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, February 10. 1865. his parents being John and Dora Fink- beiner, who were likewise natives of Germany, where they spent their entire lives. The father was a stone contractor and died in the land of his birth in 1878, while his wife survived until 1881. In their family were seven children, but Michael Finkbeiner is the only one now sur- viving.
The years of his boyhood and youth up to his eighteenth year were spent in his native country. during which period he acquired a fair education in the German schools, and also learned the trade of a stone mason there. In 1883 he came to the United States, hoping to improve his financial condition by a utilization of the better business opportunities of the new world, where competi- tion is more lively and advancement is more quickly secured. He resided in the state of New York for a time, and while there began busi- ness as a stone contractor. For five years he continued in a similar enterprise in Detroit and then came to Ann Arbor in 1903, entering into the cut stone contracting business in this city as a partner of Valentine Arnold under the firm style of Finkbeiner & Arnold. They are in con-
trol of the largest business of the kind in Ann Arbor, and at the present writing are executing important contracts in stone work on the largest of the university buildings and various city buildings.
In 1892 Mr. Finkbeiner was united in marriage to Miss Julia Honer, of Detroit, and they have a daughter, Hilda, who at the age of eleven years is attending school. Mr. Finkbeiner is a mem- ber of the Protracted Homestead and of the Bethlehem Lutheran church, while his political allegiance is given to the republican party. He is without aspiration for office, his important busi- ness interests leaving him no time for active con- nection with political affairs ; and yet he is never remiss in the duties of citizenship, and has ever manifested a loyalty to his adopted land that has found exemplification in his co-operation in many measures for the general good. He conducts his business on a large scale at No. 213 East Ann street, and from a humble beginning in the world of trade, has gradually worked his way upward until he is now in control of extensive business interests that make him a leading representative of industrial life in Ann Arbor.
MORRIS F. LANTZ.
Morris F. Lantz, proprietor of a steam laundry in Ann Arbor, was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. June 4. 1867. His father was Paulus Lantz, a native of Canada, and a blacksmith by trade. He followed that business for a long period but died about twenty years ago. His wife bore the maiden name of Eliza Weber, and passed away about nine years ago. In their family were a son and daughter, the latter being Minnie, the wife of Dr. Stoddard. Morris F. Lantz pursued his education in the schools of Halifax, and in 1882 came to Ann Arbor, being at that time a youth of fifteen years. Here he entered upon his business career as an employe of the firm of Schairer & Millen, proprietors of a large dry goods house, with whom he remained for seventeen years, dur- ing which time he won steady advancement by reason of his diligence, his capability and his
MICHAEL FINKBEINER.
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trustworthiness. On the expiration of that period he embarked in business on his own account through the establishment of a store at Whitmore Lake, Washtenaw county, and subsequently he went to Brighton, Michigan, where he embarked in the drug and grocery business. He next re- moved to Reed City, this state, where he con- ducted a laundry for two years, after which he returned to Ann Arbor and has since been en- gaged in the laundry business here as proprietor of the Ann Arbor Steam Laundry, in partnership with Clarence R. Snyder. Their plant is equipped with the latest improved machinery and is located at No. 331 Main street, South, where they are conducting an extensive business, the volume of their trade being an indication of excellent work- manship and reliable business methods.
In 1892 Mr. Lantz was united in marriage to Miss Julia Kennedy, of Ann Arbor, and they have two children, Robert and Gerald, aged re- spectively eleven and six years, and now students in the public schools of this city. Their home is at No. 505 Fourth avenue, North, and in addition to this property, Mr. Lantz is now erecting a new laundry building and two fine houses, being in- terested in real estate and other business enter- prises here. He belongs to the Golden Rule lodge of Masons, in which he has been senior dea- con and he has filled nearly all of the chairs in the subordinate organization of the Masonic fra- ternity, with which he has been identified for eighteen years. He is pre-eminently a business man, alert, enterprising and progressive, possess- ing the indomitable energy which has been the strong, potent force in the rapid upbuilding of the middle west.
HENRY J. SCHLEMMER.
Henry J. Schlemmer, manufacturer and inven- tor, now conducting an enterprise of considerable extent and importance under the firm name of the Ann Arbor Fluff Rug Company, was born in this city March 16, 1864. his parents being George J. and Katharine ( Trautwein) Schlemmer, both
of whom were natives of Germany. The father, who was born in Holbrun, a shoeman for many years and is now living at No. 908 Brown street, Ann Arbor, and although seventy-three years of age is still an active factor in business circles.
Henry J. Schlemmer attended the German and public schools of Ann Arbor and afterward spent one year on a farm, subsequent to which time he entered the large wagon manufactory of Wagner Brothers, of Ann Arbor, under whose direction he learned the trade, spending four years in their employ. He afterward worked for The A. P. Ferguson Cart Manufacturing Company of Ann Arbor and later spent some time in Manchester, Michigan, where he again worked at his trade. The succeeding year was passed with Staebler & Elmer, cart makers of Ann Arbor and he next went to Columbus, Ohio, where he worked at his trade until his return to Ann Arbor, where for two years he was employed at tool making by A. G. Schmidt. He was in the carpet cleaning business with E. J. Stillson on Detroit street, operating a steam plant there. On the expiration of that period he established the Ann Arbor Fluff Rng Company near the Cook House on East Huron street in small quarters, which the busi- ness soon outgrew, being then moved to Nos. 400-421 Huron street. West. This business is today the largest rug manufacturing plant in the United States, occupying an immense building which at one time was the largest pattern shop and foundry between Detroit and Chicago. The buildings stand on half an acre of ground and are fitted with the finest looms and mechanical de- vices for the manufacture of beautiful rugs from old ingrain and brussels carpets. The work is done at reasonable prices and the finished product is attractive in appearance and design. Employ- ment is furnished to twenty-five skilled operatives and they also have fifty local agencies all over the United States, the product of the house being shipped to all parts of the country. Much of the machinery used in the plant has been invented by Mr. Schlemmer to meet the needs of the busi- ness. In this enterprise he is associated with D. R. Shifferd, of Toledo, Ohio, but Mr. Schlemmer is the active manager and owns one-half of the stock of the company. They have taken first prize
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at numerous fairs and the quality of their work is its best advertisement.
Mr. Schlemmer is a man of excellent business ability, keen discernment and strong executive force and is interested in various enterprises of Ann Arbor, his wife also being a valued factor in the successful conduct of the business concern here. Fraternally he is connected with the Odd Fellows and has attained high rank in the order and his religious connection is with the Bethle- hem Evangelical church. Entering business life Mr. Sclemmer has made consecutive advancement. each step being carefully and thoroughly made and his ambition and energy stand forth as the strong elements in his creditable career.
GEORGE W. MERRILL.
The student of history need not carry his in- vestigations far into the annals of Washtenaw county before he learns that the Merrill family has from early pioneer times been represented in this part of the state. The subject of this re- view was born May 13, 1844, in Webster town- ship, his parents being Winthrop and Mary ( Haight ) Merrill. The father was born in Can- ada, June 18, 1810, and when a boy went with his parents to the state of New York, where he was reared and educated. When twenty-three years of age he came to Michigan, arriving in 1833. He had previously learned the tailor's trade in New York, and had followed that pur- suit until his removal to the west, at which time he located eighty acres of land in Webster town- ship. He afterward returned to the Empire state. but in the spring of 1835 came again to Michi- gan, making the entire journey by team. When he arrived here with his wife and one child he built a log house and began clearing his land. which was covered with timber. As the trees were cut down and the stumps taken out he placed the fields under cultivation and later he purchased more land until he had about ninety or ninety-five acres. He was one of the first set- tlers of the township and was an industrious and hard working man, who bravely met the condi-
tions of pioneer life with all its hardships and dis- advantages. In the '5os his log cabin was re- placed by a frame residence, and he spent his re- maining days upon the home farm. He acted as one of the school directors for twenty years or more and gave his political allegiance to the dem- ocratic party. His life was upright and honorable and he was respected by all who knew him. On the 13th of October, 1833, in Steuben county, New York, he had wedded Miss Mary Haight. who was born in Philadelphia, December 12, 1815. For almost sixty years they traveled life's journey together and were separated by the death of the wife on the 18th of August. 1803, while Mr. Mer- rill passed away on the 23d of November, 1894, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. In their family were nine children: Susan M., who was born September 16, 1834, and is now deceased ; Stephen H., who died in infancy ; Julia A .. who was born October 17. 1837, and is the wife of Thomas A. Rutherford, of Chicago; Sarah D., who was born May 24, 1840, and died in infancy ; George W. ; Emily G., who was born October 26, 1847. and is the widow of Joseph Rutherford : Frances E., who was born April 4, 1851, and mar- ried Edgar Olsaver : Herbert L., who was born April 2, 1853, and is now superintendent of the D. Y. Cameron school in Chicago; and Marian A., who was born August 25, 1856, and is the wife of John Lovett, of Chicago.
George W. Merrill, having mastered the branches of learning taught in the district schools of Webster township, afterward became a sttt- dent in Bryant & Stratton Business College at . Chicago, which he attended in 1868-9. He was reared to the occupation of farming and has al- ways carried on agricultural pursuits. On the 26th of September, 1871, he was united in mar- riage to Miss Frances E. Ball, who died in May. 1881, and their only child, Donna, died in in- fancy. On the 30th of August, 1882, Mr. Mer- rill was again married, his second union being with Miss Marian Butler. a daughter of Harvey C. and Mary ( Wadley) Butler. Her father was born March 19, 1819. in the Empire state, and (lied May 26, 1871, while his wife was born Jan- uary 1, 1830, in Oswego, New York, and died August 6, 1905. They were married in 1848, and
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after losing her first husband, Mrs. Butler be- came the wife of Amos Eggleston, who died in 1880. By her first marriage she had five chil- dren : Roxanna, who was born July 6, 1850, and is now the wife of Robert Dawson, of Hastings, Michigan : Mrs. Merrill, who was born October 19. 1852; Joseph W., who was born in 1854 and died in infancy ; Harvey A., who was born Sep- tember 7, 1857, and died at the age of four years ; and Anna May, who was born on Christmas day of 1859 and died when about two years of age. Mr. Butler, the father, became a resident of Ham- burg township. Livingston county, Michigan, at a nearly day, accompanying his parents on their removal to the west. They were pioneer settlers of this portion of the state, and on taking up their abode here, MIr. Butler, father of Mrs. Merrill. began working for himself. He was then about twenty-six years of age. and he purchased a farm in Woodland. Berry county, where he lived for about four or five years. He then sold that property and bought a farm where the city of Hastings now stands, making his home thereon throughout his remaining days. During the early period of his residence in this state Indians were still seen in the neighborhood and considerable wild game was to be had until the '50s. Mr. But- ler never cared for public office, but was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Hastings.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Merrill have been born four children, but the eldest died in infancy. The others are: Mary Belle, who was born April 12. 1887. and is now attending Michigan Agricul- tural College in Lansing: George R., born De- cember 9. 1889: and Hazel G., born August 28. 1802.
Mr. Merrill resided upon the old homestead un- til 1872, when he purchased a farm of one hun- dred and twenty-three acres and afterward added to this until he now owns two hundred and six acres of good land under a high state of cultiva- tion. In addition to the raising of cereals he has also devoted considerable attention to improving the grade of Shropshire sheep in this county, and he keeps on his farm from one hundred and twen- ty-five to one hundred and fifty head. He also feeds every year about one hundred lambs, some
of which he buys for feeding purposes. He also raises from fifteen to twenty head of cattle and from fifty to sixty hogs each year. All of his stock is fed for the market. He also raises White Leghorn chickens, having from two to four hun- dred fowls of this breed for sale each year. In his business interests he is careful, systematic and industrious, and has met with gratifying success as the years have gone by. He now has a modern home in the rear of which are good barns and other outbuildings and everything about his place is kept in first class condition. That he is deeply interested in agricultural development, not only for the sake of his own interests, but also for the benefit of the community, is indicated by the fact that he has capably served for twelve or thirteen years as president of the Webster Farm- ers Club.
Mr. Merrill has filled the office of township clerk and superintendent of schools. He is a member of Hamburg lodge, No. 438, I. O. (). F., and was initiated into this order in Huron lodge, No. 30, at Dexter, in 1881. In politics he is a democrat and is a member of the Congrega- tional church of Webster township, of which he has been one of the trustees. He has always lived in this county, and therefore for more than six decades has been a witness of its improvement and of the many changes which have been wrought as a forest region has been converted into a rich agricultural district in the midst of which are splendid cities and towns.
WALTER ALLEN KLOPFENSTEIN, M. D.
Dr. Walter Allen Klopfenstein, a practitioner of the homeopathic school in Manchester, was born in Bowling Green, Ohio. April 26, 1876, a son of George and Direxa ( Craw) Klopfenstein. who were also natives of Bowling Green. There they yet reside, the father devoting his energies to agricultural pursuits. His political support is given to the republican party.
Dr. Klopfenstein, their only child, was a pub- lic school student in his native town. and after completing his literary course. he began prepara-
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tion for the practice of medicine as a student in the office and under the direction of Dr. E. P. Thomas of that place. He entered the Chicago Homeopathic College in 1894 and was graduated in 1899. In the summer of that year he entered upon active practice in Manchester, where he has since remained. meeting with deserved success. He pursued a post graduate course in 1903 in the New York Homeopathic College in general prac- tice, and the same year took a special course in the Illinois School of Electro-Therapeutics. He has a large clientele in Manchester and the sur- rounding country and is serving as health officer of the village.
Dr. Klopfenstein was married September 16, 1901, to Miss Ruth Goodenough, who was born in Bowling Green, Ohio, in 1877, a daughter of Henry and Mary (Coen) Goodenough, the former a farmer by occupation.
Dr. Klopfenstein is a Mason and finds ample opportunity in his practice to exemplify the spirit of the craft. His political views are in accord with the republican principles, and he is inter- ested in the success of the party, but without as- piration for office himself, preferring to give his attention to his professional duties. He is, how. ever, serving as health officer-a work largely in the line of his chosen profession.
ANDREW R. SCHMIDT.
Andrew R. Schmidt was born in Ann Arbor, September 18, 1843. His father, Adam Schmidt, a native of Bavaria. Germany, became a lock- smith by trade, learning the business in Basel, Switzerland, whence he came to the United States with the Rev. Frederick Smith, the first Lutheran minister in the territory of Michigan. He located first at Reading, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in teaching school and eventually he came to Ann Arbor, where he sucured a clerkship in the em- ploy of William S. and Mosley Maynard, at the corner of Main and Ann streets. He later was manager of the Cook House, the leading hotel of the city, for a number of years, capably con- ducting that hostelry and making it a favorite re-
sort with the traveling public. He also assisted in surveying the territorial road from Ann Arbor to Jackson, in which he was associated with a Mr. Stratton, and he was likewise freight agent of the Michigan Central Railroad Company when its line was one of the old strap railroads and ex- tended from Detroit to Ann Arbor. He was thus a prominent factor in various enterprises which contributed to the material progress, development and upbuilding of this portion of the state, and he passed away in the year 1879, his death being deeply regretted by many who knew him. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Wilhelmina Moeckel, has also passed away.
Andrew R. Schmidt acquired his education in the common schools of Ann Arbor and the high school academy, which he entered in 1849. He now lives in a building on Detroit street, which was used at that time for high school purposes and was known as the academy. His present connection with business interests in Ann Arbor is that of a carriage manufacturer, and he is also doing general repair work in his line. His busi- ness is located at No. 502 Detroit street, where he has been since he became a representative of industrial circles here. He learned the trade in early manhood, thoroughly mastering the work in principle and detail and as a carriage manufac- turer has placed upon the market many fine vehi- cles, which because of durability, excellence of workmanship and superiority of finish have found a ready sale on the market.
In 1869 Mr. Schmidt was united in marriage to Miss Rosie Frank, a representative of one of the old families of Washtenaw county. He is a prominent Odd Fellow, having passed through all of the chairs of the lodge and is likewise con- nected with the encampment and has been repre- sentative to the grand lodge. For ten consecu- tive years he filled the position of right supporter to the noble grand and his identification with the order covers nearly four decades, during which time he has always been loyal to its tenets and teachings and in hearty sympathy with its basic principles. In politics he has been a stalwart re- publican since casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, whom he supported in 1864. having in that year attained the age of
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