USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan > Part 48
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JAMES H. EATON.
JACOB STORMS.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
In the schools of his native town Dr. Milis be- gan his education and his more specifically liter- ary course was pursued in the State Normal School at Kirksville, Missouri. He afterward engaged in teaching in various places in that state but subsequently turned his attention to merchandising and was thus associated with com- mercial interests until he took up the practice of Osteopathy. He was graduated at the American School of Osteopathy in Kirksville, Missouri, in 1900, and in February of that year located for practice in Ann Arbor, where he now occupies a fine suite of rooms in the State Bank Building. His practice is continually growing and is now very large as the public comes to recognize the value of osteopathic treatment in alleviation of human ills. It is a comparatively new departure in the realms of science but its worth has long since been demonstrated and its followers are be- coming more numerous every year. as its effec- tiveness as a remedial agency is proven by the splendid results which follow its use.
On the 22d of August, 1886. Dr. Mills was married to Miss Jane Archer, a native of Indiana, and they have one son, Harry D. Mills, who at the age of fourteen years is a high school student in Ann Arbor. Dr. Mills has pleasant relations with the Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen and the Masonic fraternity. being a valued repre- sentative of these different organizations, and is now junior warden in the Fraternity lodge, No. 262, A. F. & A. M. His political allegiance is given to the democracy. Dr. Mills is a young man of marked enterprise, wide-awake and ener- getic, keeping in touch with the world's progress. while an affable manner, genial disposition and (leference for the opinions of others have gained him warm, personal regard.
CHARLES F. PARDON.
Charles F. Pardon, occupying an enviable posi- tion in the business circles of Ann Arbor, exem- plifies in his life record the fact that success is not a matter of genius hut is the outcome of clear judgment. experience and laudable ambition.
Without special advantages in his youth he has worked his way upward and is now proprietor of a large grocery and meat market in Ann Arbor. his native city.
Mr. Pardon was born on the 20th of June, 1862. and like many of his fellow townsmen is of Ger- man lineage. His father. Edward Pardon, was a native of Germany and became a resident of Ann Arbor in 1859. For many years he conducted a merchant tailoring business here with a large and profitable patronage and is now retired from act- ive business, still making his home in this city in the enjoyment of the fruits of his former labor. At the time of the Civil war he espoused the cause of his adopted country and as a member of the Michigan Artillery served from 1861 until 1865. defending the Union cause. He married Miss Wilhelmina Lindemann, with whom he long trav- eled life's journey but they were separated by her death in 1802. In their family were eight chil- dren, namely: Ilulda, now the wife of John Schneider : Edward J., a business man of Ann Ar- bor : William E., who follows farming in Ann Arbor township: Charles F .: Mrs. Minnie Lutz, of this city : Emma, the wife of Jake Eschelbach. of Ann Arbor ; Frank, who is in the bakery busi- ness in this city ; and Clora, at home.
No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of life for Charles F. Pardon, who like most boys of the middle class divided his time between play and work and the duties of the school room in his youthful days. He is in- (lebted to the public school sytem of Ann Arbor for the educational privileges that he enjoyed and that fitted him for life's practical duties. When his text books were laid aside he began learning the butcher's trade under the direction of J. Schneider of this city and when he had become a good workman he embarked in business on his own account in South Lyon, where he remained for six years. He then returned to Ann Arbor. where he opened a market, continuing this for six years, when he further extended the field of his labors by adding an extensive grocery depart- ment. This was twelve years ago and he is still conducting business at Nos. 221 and 223 Main street. north, occupying a large brick building which he owns. An extensive business, drawing
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
his patrons from among the best class of citizens, well directed activity and unremitting energy have made him a prosperous merchant. As he has prospered in his undertakings he has wisely placed his savings in property and now owns con- siderable real estate in Ann Arbor-the safest of all investments.
In 1888 Mr. Pardon was married to Miss Au- gusta Bethka of this city and they have four chil- dren : Elsie Pearl, Olga B., Carl and Leo, all of whom are attending school. Mr. Pardon is a member of Zion Lutheran church. He stands well in business circles, his name being an hon- ored one on commercial paper and those who know him entertain for him warm regard and admiration, which is ever given to those men who work their way upward through their own efforts and whose methods will bear the closest investiga- tion and scrutiny. Promptness, exactness and accuracy have been strong features in his busi- ness life and his keen discernment and indefatiga- ble energy are qualities which any might well emulate.
FRANK DETTLING.
Frank Dettling was born on the farm on which he lives on section 28, Freedom township, his natal year being 1866. Here he owns and culti- vates one hundred and thirty acres of land con- stituting a valuable and desirable property. He is of German lineage, his parents being George and Caroline (Weis) Dettling, both of whom were natives of Germany. The father came to the United States when about twenty-five years of age and, making his way at once to Michigan, settled in Freedom township, Washtenaw county. He was a mason by trade and became a contractor in that line of building operations, securing a very extensive patronage, which justified the em- ployment of from fifteen to twenty men. He also carried on farming and was very prosperous in business career, holding at the time of his death a valuable and well improved farm of two hundred and ten acres. He voted with the democracy and was a communicant of the Catholic church. His death occurred in 1876, when he was fifty-two
years of age and the county thus lost one of its best German-American citizens, a man whose ef- forts contributed to the general progress as well as to individual success and whose life exempli- fied the fact that prosperity is not a matter of genius but is the outcome of clear judgment, ex- perience and industry. His widow still survives and is living in Ann Arbor at the age of sixty-six years. She was a daughter of Joseph and Tekla (Santer) Weis, who were natives of Germany and came to the United States about 1850, locat- ing first near Adrian, Michigan, while later they took up their abode in Freedom township. Mr. and Mrs. Geodge Dettling were the parents of five children : Martha, deceased; Frank ; Josephine, of Ann Arbor ; Pauline, deceased; and Matilda, the wife of E. L. Shoemaker, a grocer with J. A. Brown, of Ann Arbor. By a previous marriage to Miss Anna Mosher the father had six children : Joseph and George, who are residents of Freedom township; Elizabeth, the deceased wife of Theodore Ulrich; Frances, the wife of Frederick Kern, of Manchester : Louis, deceased ; and Mary, the wife of Adam Riddle, of Bridge- water.
Frank Dettling was reared upon the home farm and attended the district schools, subsequent to which time he was a student in the high school of Manchester. He afterward engaged in teaching school through the winter terms for ten years and was a capable educator, giving excellent satisfac- tion in the districts where his services were en- gaged. He has always followed farming and is to-day the owner of one hundred and thirty acres of valuable land which he has placed under a high state of cultivation and which by reason of its ex- cellent condition constitutes one of the attractive features of the landscape. He raises Durham cat- tle and Berkshire hogs and he also owns some good horses.
On the 3d of April, 1894. Mr. Dettling was united in marriage to Miss Ida M. Staib, who was born in Grass Lake township. Jackson county, in 1870, and is a daughter of Matthew and Mary (Kress) Staib, who were natives of Germany, whence they came to Washtenaw county, settling here at an early day. Matthew Staib came to the United States with his parents a half century ago.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
In his family were nine children: Ida M., who was born in this county and who is now Mrs. Dettling : Fred E., a merchant at Saline, Michi- gan ; Anna, the wife of Frank McGuire, of Saline township : Clara, a resident of Detroit : Arthur, who is living on the old homestead farm in Clin- ton township. Lenawee county: Minnie and Grace, both at home: Leo, deceased: and Ber- nard, at home.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Dettling has been blessed with six children: Ruth, born Jan- uary 24. 1895 ; Russell G., April 10, 1896; Ezra M., December 7. 1897: Paul O .. July 23. 1899 ; Alta, June 15, 1902: and Lawrence, January 3. 1904. The parents are members of St. Dominic Catholic church of Clinton and Mr. Dettling be- longs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is a democrat and has been school inspector. while for five years he was supervisor of his town- ship. He is a man of high standing, being con- sidered one of the best farmers of the community. having a splendid property equipped with fine buildings and all the accessories of a model farm of the twentieth century. In all of his business dealings he has been straightforward and honora- ble and in citizenship has been loyal and progres- sive and in social life has been considerate and genial. so that the circle of his friends is con- stantly growing as the circle of his acquaintance increases.
WILLIAM H. DORRANCE, D. D. S.
William H. Dorrance, formerly a professor in the dental department of the University of Mich- igan and now in active practice in the city with a well appointed office which shows his familiar- ity with the most improved methods of the sci- ence, was born in Orleans county, New York, August 29, 1842. His father, William H. Dor- rance, was a native of Massachusetts and in later life made his home in Albion, New York. He died in the year 1883. A portrait painter in his younger days, he afterward became a jeweler and engaged in that business throughout life. He married Julia A. Baldwin and they became
the parents of seven children, namely : William H .: Juliet, now Mrs. Packard, a widow living in Ann Arbor: George, who is engaged in the jewelry business in Jackson, Michigan ; Mary, the wife of a physician of Whiting, Iowa ; Frank, deceased: Silas, business manager of a large clothing store in New York city : and Ada, who died in infancy.
Dr. Dorrance supplemented his early educa- tion, acquired in the public schools, by a course in Albion Academy at Albion, New York, from which institution he was graduated. Subse- quently he entered the University of Michigan in 1877 and completed the full course in the dental department with the class of 1879. Pre- vions to this, however, he had received instruc- tion from a dentist in Albion, New York, and had engaged in practice from 1856 until 1861. Manifesting superior skill and ability in the prac- tical work of the profession as well as compre- hensive knowledge of the science, he was chosen a teacher in the dental department of the State University in 1877 and retained connection with the institution in that manner up to 1902. He is now actively engaged in practice in Ann Arbor with a well appointed office equipment with every modern appliance known to the science of dentistry, the practical utility and value of which have been proven. He has always kept abreast with the most modern thought concerning dental practice and in fact has been a leader in investigation and experiment resulting in benefit to the profession. His superior ability has as- sured him a liberal patronage and his position in the ranks of the dental fraternity is a foremost one. He belongs to the Washtenaw Medical So- ciety. the Michigan Medical Association, the De- troit Dental Society, the Michigan Dental So- ciety and other organizations for the dissemina- tion of knowledge that promotes the proficiency of the followers of his calling.
Dr. Dorrance was married in 1867 to Miss Clara E. Baldwin, a representative of an old New York family, and they have three children : Wil- liam H., a mechanical engineer with the Solvay Works in Detroit : Susan Juliet : and Wendell Baldwin, who is the wife of Robert M. Fox, one of the bridge engineers of the Michigan Central
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Railroad Company. The family residence is at No. 700 South Ingalls street, Ann Arbor.
Dr. Dorrance is a very prominent Mason, hav- ing attained the Templar degree of the York rite and the thirty-second degree of the Scottish rite and his name is also on the membership rolls of the Royal Arcanum and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In April, 1861, soon after the outbreak of the Civil war, he enlisted in the Twenty-seventh New York Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the Potomac, and he received an honorable discharge in Febru- ary, 1863. He is now a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. His political support is given the republican party and his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Baptist church. He is a man of scholarly attainments and broad intellectuality, who by consecutive steps has advanced to a position of prominence in the dental fraternity of Michigan.
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT, M. D.
Albert Benjamin Prescott, M. D., Ph. D., LL. D., for many years director of the chemical laboratory and dean of the pharmacy department of the University of Michigan, was born in Hast- ings, New York, December 12, 1832. He was the son of Benjamin and Experience ( Huntley) Prescott. He received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in the University of Michigan and at once volunteered, and was appointed assistant surgeon of the Michigan Infantry and was placed in charge of a hospital at Louisville, Kentucky, and subsequently at Jeffersonville, Indiana. He was also a member of the medical examining board at Louisville, Kentucky.
In 1865 he returned to the University of Michi- gan as assistant professor of chemistry and lec- tured on organic chemistry and metallurgy. In 1870 he was made professor of organic and ap- plied chemistry and of pharmacy, a title which was changed in 1889 to professor of organic chemistry and of pharmacy. He was also made director of the chemical laboratory in 1884 and served as dean of the pharmacy department from
1876 until his death, February 25, 1905. The degree of Ph. D. was conferred upon Professor Prescott by the University of Michigan and the degree of LL. D. by the University of Michigan in 1896, Northwestern University also conferred the degree of LL. D. upon him in 1903. Pro- fessor Prescott was a member of many scientific societies. In 1876 he was elected a fellow of the London Chemical Society. In 1886 he was elected president of the American Chemical So- ciety and in the same year was made vice presi- dent of the American Association for the Ad- vancement of Science and in 1890 president of that association. He was made one of the coun- cilors of the American Chemical Society on its organization in 1891. He presided at the World's Congress of Chemists in Chicago in 1893 and in 1900 was president of the American Pharmaceut- tieal Association. In 1901 he became an honor- ary member of the British Pharmaceutical con- ference. He was also a member of the Amer- ican Philosophical Society of Philadelphia. In the year of 1880 at the convention of the United States Pharmacopoeia he was chairman of the sub-committee upon descriptive chemistry. He was a contributor to the periodical literature of chemistry from 1869 until his death, his work in- cluding reports of scientific work under the direc- tion of the university chemical laboratory and his various chemical investigations, chiefly on ana- lytical organic chemistry. Among his books may be named Qualitative Chemical Analysis with Professor Douglas, which first apeared in 1874 and ran through a number of editions; Outlines of Proximate Organie Analysis, 1875 : the Chemi- cal Examination of Alcoholie Liquors, 1875: First Book in Qualitative Chemistry, 1879: Or- ganic Analysis, A Manual of the Descriptive and Analytical Chemistry of certain Chemical Compounds in Common Use, 1887. He con- tributed the chapter on Alkaloids in the Amer- ican Text-book of Legal Medieine and Toxicol- ogy in 1003.
Dr. Prescott was married December 25. 1866. to Miss Abigail Freeburn, who was of Scotch- English lineage, being the daughter of Robert William and Nancy (Spear ) Freeburn. She sur- vives him.
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President Angell, in his memorial address. spoke of Dr. Prescott as a man of singular modesty, most winning amiability, positive in his convictions and persistent in his work, a man of the highest ethical and religious temperament, of the simplest character and the purest motives. He had the respect and admiration of his colleagues. his students and his townsmen, and what he was to the university in its years of development and growth was best shown by the esteem in which he was held by his associates of the faculty, by the students who have been under him and by the profession at large to whom his writings have been an encouragement and an aid.
For many years Dr. Prescott was an elder in the Presbyterian church. He was faithful in all the relations of life and his memory is kept green in the hearts of many young men who learned to love him.
R. L. SPEECHLEY.
R. L. Speechley, living in Ann Arbor town- ship, where he follows general farming. is a na- tive son of England, born in 1835. His parents. R. J. and Elizabeth ( Lancaster ) Speechley, were also native of that country and in the year 1836 the father brought his family to the new world. settling first in Canada. whence he removed to Washtenaw county, Michigan, in 1838. He first purchased ten acres of land in Ann Arbor town- ship, where he began gardening and upon that place he lived for twenty years. He then ac- cepted the appointment to the position of janitor of the Union school. in which capacity he was retained for several years, or up to the time of his death in 1870. In his family were three children : R. L. : Martha, the wife of John Peech; and Susan, the wife of Cornelius Cook.
R. L. Speechley, whose name introduces this record, began his education in the district schools and upon the home farm worked when not busy with the duties of the school room. He remained with his father until 1866 and then started out in life on his own account. Whatever success he has sinee achieved or enjoyed is due entirely to his own efforts. In 1866 he was married to Miss
Anna Wallington, a daughter of Edward Wal- lington, and following his marriage he worked upon his father-in-law's farm for a time, but in 1868 took up his abode upon his present farm on section 35. Ann Arbor township, where he pur- chased one hundred and eleven acres of land. He has since sold fifteen aeres of this property but still retains possession of ninety-six acres, which constitutes a good farm. He carries on general agricultural pursuits, his principal erops being wheat, oats, potatoes and beans and he also feeds some stock, both branches of his business prov- ing profitable. The farm is a well developed property and Mr. Speechley is now in comfort- able financial circumstances.
Unto our subject and his wife have been born three daughters: Martha, who is now a nurse at Fort Wayne, Indiana : Susie, at home ; and Carrie. who is also a nurse at Fort Wayne. The family are well known in Ann Arbor township and enjoy the warm regard of many friends. In politics Mr. Speechley has been an earnest republican since casting his first presidential ballot and has firm faith in the principles of the party. He is a man of generous impulses and kindly disposition and his benevolent spirit, deference for the opin- ions of others and honesty in business life have gained for him the high regard and warm esteem of all with whom he has been brought in contact.
CHARLES STEINBACH.
Charles Steinbach, who since the spring of 1872 has been engaged in the harness business in Chel- sea. with a patronage that makes him a prosper- ons merchant. while his business methods and en- terprising spirit constitute him one of the leading representatives of commercial interests in the town, was born in Hessen, Germany, in 1844. Ilis parents were Henry and Catherine ( Volland ) Steinbach. The father came to America with his family in 1854 and made his way at once to Michigan. He was first engaged in the grocery business in Europe, but by trade was a weaver. When he arrived here he purchased a farm of eighty acres north of Ann Arbor. which he
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cleared and improved continuing its cultivation until 1865, when he sold that property and re- moved to the Nowland farm a mile and a half to the north. He rented that place for a year and in the fall of 1865 bought a farm a quarter of a mile west of Lima Center, comprising one hun- dren and ten acres, to which he added by addi- tional purchases until his place comprised one hundred and ninety acres of rich and valuable land. He was thus identified with agricultural pursuits up to the time of his death, which oc- curred December 31, 1801. His wife died July 30. 1896. In their family were ten children : Charles, born July 15, 1844: Jacob, August 27, 1846: Martha Elizabeth, February 10, 1849 ; Bur- nett. February 17, 1851 ; Martin, who was born April 8, 1853, and died in March, 1885 : Caroline, who was born November 1, 1855, and is the wife of Peter Oesterle, of Sylvan township; Minnie Eva, who was born October 27, 1859. and is con- ducting the Utopia Millinery Parlor at Ann Ar- bor ; John Henry, born March 3. 1862; George, born May 3, 1866 ; and Anna Catherine, who was born May 22, 1872, and is the wife of Herman Fletcher, of Lima township. The father was a re- publican, active in the work of the party and deeply interested in its success. His wife was a sister of Herman and Jacob Volland, the oldest harness merchants of Ann Arbor.
Charles Steinbach acquired his early education in the schools of Germany and laid the foundation for a successful career. After coming to Amer- ica he remained on his father's farm until 1861, when in August of that year he entered the em- ploy of Jacob Volland, of Ann Arbor, with whom he remained for three years during which time he learned the harness maker's trade. In the fall of 1864 he returned to the home farm spending the winter with his father's family, and then came to Chelsea. where he spent six months. In the spring he removed to Lima Center, where he engaged in business on his own account for five years, and in the spring of 1872 he returned to Chelsea, where he has since engaged in the harness busi- ness with gratifying success. In 1804 he erected a fine brick business block forty by sixty feet and two stories in height. Here he is conducting an excellent business, being accorded a liberal pat-
ronage. In 1880 he was granted a patent on a harness pad and in 1881 was granted a patent on a gig tree for harness. He began the manufac- ture of those articles at Ann Arbor but owing to a destructive fire and the competition of others who forced him out of business he was never able to place his inventions on the market. He has, however, prospered in his industrial and mercan- tile efforts and is now conducting a good business in Chelsea.
On the 19th of March, 1872, Mr. Steinbach was married to Miss Martha Hutzel, a daughter of August Hutzel, who is represented elsewhere in this work. They have seven children : Henry A., who is married and is connected with the Bell Telephone Company ; Otto, who is a piano tuner living in Adrian, Michigan ; Charlotte Anna, who is engaged in teaching in Jackson; Emily, who follows the profession of teacing in Sylvan ; Helena Louise, who is a graduate of the Michigan University and is engaged in teaching music ; Ed- gar T., who is in the west ; and Albert Martin, at home. The family possess exceptional musical talent and skill and Mr. Steinbach at one time was a teacher of the violin. In his political views he is an earnest republican and for some time he served as township treasurer in Lima, while for four years he was postmaster at Lima Center. Fraternally he is connected with Olive lodge, No. 156, A. F. & A. M., with the Knights of the Mac- cabees and the Ancient Order of United Work- men. There have been some discouraging and disheartening features in his career but the obsta- cles he has met have been overcome by deter- mined and earnest purpose and he has gradually and steadily worked his way upward, gaining a comfortable competence and an honored name as well.
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