USA > Michigan > Ingham County > Lansing > Past and present of the city of Lansing and Ingham county, Michigan > Part 26
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Mr. McEwing has not only evinced great ability in the organization, conduct and de- velopment of this company, but has origin- ated a device which promises not only large financial returns but to establish his reputa- tion as a leading inventor. His invention is a cultivator, known as the Beet Blocker and Thinner. It was patented July 26, 1904, and is being rapidly introduced to the agricultural community. The farmers of Michigan and Wisconsin are becoming familiar with its many excellent qualities and as a labor saving invention, it will soon be welcomed by the agriculturists of the country as a whole. Experts assert that it can do three times as much work as the old cultivator. Governor Bliss says that after giving the new cultivator a trial, he found that it saved the labor of nineteen men daily .. Others place the figures still higher.
In 1878 Mr. McEwing was married to Miss Ellen Whipple of Howell. Three children have been born to them: Foster is in business with his father; Luther, is on the Board of Health, and Edith, a graduate of the Lansing high school in '03, was the orator of her class.
Our subject is domestic and social in the best sense of the word. He also takes a deep interest in several secret and benevolent orders, being affiliated with the Maccabees,
William C. Nichols was born at Ann Ar- bor, Washtenaw county, Michigan, January 25, 1834. He was the eldest son of William and Mary Steffey Nichols, the mother of German extraction, while the father was a native of Massachusetts. The occupation of the elder Nichols was that of a manufacturer of sash, doors and blinds. He died in 1844, while yet in the prime of life and was buried in the family plat at Ann Arbor. Three other children were born to bless their union : Mary Cecelia, a twin of William C .; Jacob, born September 28, 1836, and H. Walter, born January 2, 1838.
At the tender age of two years Mr. Nich- ols was taken from the paternal home to live with his grandparents, Jacob and Mary Steffey, at Stockbridge of this county, which has been his home continuously from that to the present time. After the death of his grandfather in 1858 he inherited a part and purchased the remainder of the farm where he was reared, and has since added thereto, until now he owns one hundred and eighty acres of fertile land on sections 23 and 24, Branch Lake. His finely arranged buildings, fronting Branch Lake and within a few min- utes drive from the growing and enterpris- ing village of Stockbridge, make it a most desirable and pleasant location. With a pos- sible single exception, Mr. Nichols is the oldest resident of the township. He has
WILLIAM C. NICHOLS
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INGHAM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
many recollections of frontier life away back in the forties, when Ingham county was practically an unbroken forest. Rolling up log houses, building corduroy roads, logging bees, "breaking up land" with seven or eight yoke of oxen, hunting the cows after dark, the howling of wolves drowning the tink- ling of the cow-bell, mowing with a scythe the native meadow lands (marsh grass) and killing rattlesnakes, incidents of this char- acter were each in their time familiar to him. He recalls that at the time he went to live with his grandparents, though only two years of age and still wearing dresses, that a blanket served as a door for the shanty occupied by the family. The wolves made night hideous by their howling and prowling about the place. The Indians were quite numerous during those earlier years and had a permanent camp on the banks of both the Lowe and Mckenzie lakes.
The impression of the first death occur- ring in the settlement then known as "Pekin," later Stockbridge, has never been forgotten. It was a child belonging to the family of Ira Wood. This was the first bur- ial in the old Stockbridge cemetery. The first stock of goods brought to the settle- ment was by Mr. Silas Beebe and were re- tailed out from a little room in one end of his log dwelling. The first school build- ing was of logs, and Mr. Nichols remem- bers that on a certain occasion he and "Mack" Beebe were the only pupils present for one-half day.
January 12, 1858, Mr. Nichols married Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob West- fall, and for more than forty years they shared the joys and sorrows common to the lot of mortals, rearing to useful manhood and womanhood six dutiful children. Mrs. Nichols passed away December 3, 1902. The following genealogy is given as a record of data for reference :
Alida, born February 24, 1859, the wife of Gay Spery of Ludington.
George Walter, born June 12, 1861, mar- ried Mary Brown, is engaged in the lumber trade at Stockbridge.
Emery and Emma, twins, were born March 12, 1864.
Emery is in business with his brother George Walter. Emma is the wife of Al- bert Kinney, residing at Ludington, Michi- gan, who is engaged in fruit growing.
William J., born February 12, 1878, is conducting, the home farm during the ab- sence of his father, who is serving as County Treasurer.
Irene E., the youngest, born October 7, 1879, is at present the homekeeper for her father. The legacy of six intelligent, indus- trious children is a rich inheritance to cheer ยท and bless the declining years of a parent.
Mr. Nichols' educational privileges were those common to the boys of his time in a new country, attending district school win- ters. He later completed a select course in the Ann Arbor High School.
In politics, Mr. Nichols is a Republican, believing in and advocating those policies and principles that tend to the betterment of the country at large. He has for many years been a consistent member of the Pres- byterian Church society of Stockbridge, and active in the advancement of its influence for good.
The Masons, the Odd Fellows and the Grange are among the more prominent so- cial organizations with which he is identified. Mr. Nichols' fitness for public service and. integrity of character have been recognized by his townsmen and he has frequently been honored by a place on the ticket and has held nearly every office in the township from Supervisor to Constable. He was elected County Treasurer in 1902, has filled the of- fice in a very creditable manner and was rec-
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ommended by acclamation for a second term and reelected by the overwhelming majority of 1,800.
Mr. Nichols feels a just pride in the records made by his brothers, H. Walter and Jacob, and a half-brother. George Gaunt, during the war of the Rebellion, and only regrets the lack of data to make the history of the service rendered by them more com- plete.
Jacob Nichols was among the very first to volunteer his services in the defense of his country's flag and honor. He was a mem- ber of the Ist Michigan Infantry. At the organization of his company, he was made a corporal. Possessing a kindly disposition and being of a happy, jovial temperament he easily made friends of all who came un- der the general influence of his pleasing ways. He saw much hard service following the fortunes of the "old fighting first" for nearly three years. He was killed in action in one of the many hard fought battles be- fore Petersburg, Virginia, June, 1864.
Whether on the scaffold high Or in the battle's van, The fittest place for man to die Is where he dies a man.
H. Walter Nichols entered the service October 7, 1861, as sergeant of Company A, Ioth Michigan Infantry. He was promoted to second lieutenant May 25, 1862, and again promoted to first lieutenant March 31, 1863. He was mustered out of service and honorably discharged April 1, 1865, having to his credit three and one-half years of active service.
Col. Christopher J. Dickinson in his re- port of an attack by guerillas on a supply train on the Murfreesboro road in 1863 guarded by a detachment of the 10th In- fantry as given in Michigan in the War, has
this to say with reference to Lieutenant Nichols :
"The command of the party now devolved upon Lieut. H. Walter Nichols, who, seeing there was no possibility as saving the train, retreated with his men in good order to the first stockade this side of Lavernge. Here he was reinforced by about fifteen men who were stationed at the stockade. He then marched his men back to a point where the train had been thrown from the track. The rebels had captured the mail and express matter on board and had set fire to the train together with the engine and tender. The fire, however, had done very little damage to the engine and it was saved. Lieut. Nichols gathered up the wounded, who were taken to some houses near by and made them as comfortable as possible under the circum- stances. Considering all the circumstances attending the foregoing attack upon said train, and the large number killed and wounded, no less than eighteen out of forty- six officers and men inclusive, the conclusion is irresistible that both officers and men be- haved with the utmost bravery."
Lieut. Nichols bears the distinguished honor of being one of that gallant host that marched with Sherman from "Atlanta to the Sea."
A half-brother of our subject, named George Gaunt, born in Ann Arbor, Mich., October 12, 1848, enlisted in Stockbridge, Mich., in March, 1864, went into camp at St. Johns, Mich., afterward in hospital in Detroit, entered the 2d Regiment, Michigan Infantry, Co. I, taken prisoner in August, died in Danville prison at Danville, Va., October 8, 1864.
Enjoying the confidence and esteem of the public generally with a personal con- sciousness of having acted well his part in life, with a goodly competence for his declin- ing years, surrounded by children and grand-
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children, Mr. Nichols ought to be, indeed he is, a happy man.
JACOB M. NIEBLING.
Jacob M. Niebling was born in Wetten- berg, Germany, Nov. 27. 1848, and is the son of John and Dorethea (Brown) Nieb- ling, natives of the German fatherland. The father's birth occurred Sept. 10, 1812, and the mother's Aug. 18, 1823. The parents emigrated to America in 1855. The father was a shoemaker by trade in the old country, , but when coming to America he lived in Freedom township, Washtenaw county. Michigan, and there engaged in farming for one and a half years. They then moved to Lima, bought a farm of sixty acres and here lived until his death. Aug. 4, 1889. The mother died Feb. 10, 1888. They were members of the German Lutheran church and the father was a staunch Democrat. John Niebling was the only one of four children who came to America. Mrs. Niebling was one of seven children.
Our subject was one of nine children, namely : Mary, born Jan. 21, 1834, in Ger- many, was the wife of George Meyer and lived in Washtenaw county, and died one year ago, leaving seven children : John, born May 14. 1841, enlisted in the 20th Michigan Infantry, Co. B. in 1862. He was killed at the Battle of Petersburg, July 30, 1864; Lena, born Dec. 20, 1843, is the wife of Louis Klunsinger of Williamston ; George, born Feb. 23, 1845, died May 14. 1867; Rachel, born Oct. 3, 1846, is the wife of R. Dick and lives in Saugatuck, Allegan coun- ty ; our subject ; Godlob, born Oct. 28, 1850. and died Oct. 27, 1872 ; Christina, April 28. 1857, the wife of John Gretsinger of North Dakota; Caroline, March 5, 1862, married Alonzo Rogers of Dexter.
Our subject came to America with his par-
ents when seven years old and lived with them until he reached the age of sixteen, at- tending the district school and also German school one year, when he went to work on a farm and worked by the month for eight years. He then rented one hundred and eighty acres of land adjoining the father's farm and worked it for four years. He was married Nov. 11, 1876, to Lizzie Horning, who was born in Philadelphia Feb. 26, 1858. Mrs. Niebling was the daughter of Jacob Horning, born in Germany and who died Dec. 20, 1903, at the age of seventy-three years, while the mother, whose maiden name was Dora Shoemaker, also a native of Ger- many, was born Sept. 5. 1833, and is living in Manchester. Mr. and Mrs. Horning came to America in 1860 and located at Philadel- phia, where they lived for six years and then moved to Manchester, Washtenaw county, and bought eighty acres of wild land, upon which there was a log house and there lived until sixteen years ago, when they moved to Grass Lake, where Mr. Horning died.
To the Hornings were born eight children. Mrs. Niebling being the second : Jacob mar- ried Carrie Shaferr, lives in Adrian and has three children; our subject's wife; Emma. born Feb. 27. 1860, married George String- ham of Lansing and they have three chil- dren ; Mary, born June 5. 1858, died thir- teen years ago. She was the first wife of George Stringham: Sophia, born Feb. 28. 1870, the wife of Jacob Waltz of Grass Lake: John, March 12, 1873, married Clara Rouser and they have two children ; William, Dec. 25, 1871. married Julia Day and lives in Jackson. They have three children, and Carrie married Joe Vogelbacher of Man- chester and has three children.
The following year after the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Niebling. they bought forty acres where he now lives and upon this place were a log house and barn. These
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have been replaced by fine buildings and Mr. Niebling, as he has prospered, has added to his possessions until he now owns eighty-five acres of well improved land.
Two children came to bless the lives of these highly respected people, namely : Emma C., born Jan. 20, 1877, a teacher in the village schools of Okemos, where she has been employed for six years, and Wil- liam, born Feb. I. 1879, married to Stella Felton of Alaiedon township, who was born Feb. 8, 1877. William is living on the farm with our subject.
Mr. Niebling was, in his early days, a Democrat, but today has unbounded faith in the Republican party and its leaders, though never a seeker after office. The family are active members of the German Lutheran church of North Lansing.
Mr. Niebling is engaged in general farm- ing and the characteristic energy and ability of the German-American farmer has brought to him the usual reward, as he is today a prosperous farmer of his community.
CARLOS P. OSBORN (DECEASED).
The name Carlos P. Osborn in the neigh- borhood in which he lived for so many years stood for geniality, enterprise and progress. A-neighborly regard that was shown him at interment proved how greatly his loss was felt in the community. He left a widow, who now resides in the Village of Dansville. Mrs. Osborn's mother, Mrs. Jabez Brown, is still living at the advanced age of eighty- six years.
Carlos P. Osborn was born in Genesee county, N. Y., October 4, 1835. He was the son of Chauncey A. and Zeruah Mathew- son Osborn, who came to Michigan in 1837 from the Empire State and located in Mason. The elder Osborn worked at the trade of car- penter and cabinet maker for over half a
century. He was one of the familiar figures upon the streets. He was the Sheriff of Ingham county from 1850 to 1854. He died March 31, 1885, aged seventy-one years.
Our subject was one of twelve children, six of whom are now living: Amos, re- siding in California; Ellen, now the wife of Mr. Charter of Bay City; Mrs. M. D. True of Mason; John Osborn, who is located at Ashland, Mich. ; C. H. Osborne of Dansville, and Mary L. Streeter of Jackson city.
Our subject was educated in Mason, and at the age of fifteen years began working on a farm by the month.
In 1858 Mr. Osborn was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Jabez W. Brown, a native of England. Mr. Brown was born September 19, 1811, and his wife, Jane Burgess, was born at Steuben county, N. Y., February 27, 1818. Mrs. Osborn was born in Ingham township, Jan- uary 22, 1838. She was one of five children. Data respecting the family is given as fol- lows : Ellison S., a successful farmer in the State of Washington ; he was born October 9, 1839; Emily B., born March 25, 1842, is a member of the family of her brother Elli- son ; Albert, born March 27, 1844, is en- gaged in fruit farming in California ; Joseph Edward, born August 24, 1850, resides in Eldorado county, California.
In January, 1862, Mr. and Mrs. Osborn, in company with a party of twelve persons, with six emigrant wagons crossed the plains, making the overland trip to California. Four and one-half months were consumed in the journey. They located in Sierra county and engaged in the dairy and stock business. Here they remained for about four years with very satisfactory results, after which they returned to Michigan by the way of the Panama route. To Carlos and Mrs. Osborn were born four children, three of whom are now living : Charles E., born July
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JUDGE ROLLIN H. PERSON
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4, 1863, married Miss Etta Coy and lives in Ingham township; Elbridge F., born Decem- ber II, 1866, a resident of National City, California ; Jennie, born May 10, 1869, died April 19, 1898. She married A. M. Cum- mins, now an attorney at Lansing; Clara, born July 9, 1871, the wife of Cort Cross- man of Dansville.
Soon after marriage Mr. Osborn bought eighty acres of wild land in the Township of Vevay which he cleared, built a log house and barn. After his return from the west, he purchased what is known as the Hoffman home of Ingham township, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, a fine farm in a pleasant location. He erected a substantial brick house upon the premises, built a barn and otherwise improved the outbuildings, ar- ranging for himself and family a very com- modious farm home.
In politics, Mr. Osborn was an enthusiastic Democrat. He served a term of two years as Drain Commissioner. His mother was a member of the M. E. church at Mason. Mrs. Osborn's people are largely members of the Baptist church. The Osborn family are well and favorably known throughout the county. Mr. Osborn died June 23, 1903, aged sixty- seven years. His remains were laid at rest in Maple Grove cemetery, at Mason.
HON. ROLLIN H. PERSON, LANSING.
Judge Person, a man of stalwart character and a prosperous lawyer of fine legal abil- ities, has already served nearly a decade upon the Circuit bench, and as he is still in his prime will doubtless have other laurels added to his honorable record. The son of Cornelius and Lucinda (Stafford) Person, he was born in Livingston county, Mich., October 15, 1850. His father, who was a native of New York, was born in 1822, and came to Michigan when he was only fifteen
years of age. He combined the teaching of school with farming, and in his early manhood was considered not only the most competent teacher in the county, but the most thoroughly educated man. But such a reputation was not obtained without long and determined self-application, as he was self-taught in the strictest sense of the word. Literally his education was acquired in the fields, while plowing, with a book in one hand and the handle of his plow in the other.
There were two children in the family- Rollin and a younger brother, Omro. Both parents died in 1899, the death of the mother preceding that of the father by only a week.
Rollin was of a self-reliant as well as a studious disposition, a combination of char- acter traits somewhat rare. At nineteen years of age, having received a solid educa- tion at home through the good offices of his parents, he ventured to make his way in the world. Having not only thoroughly mastered the common and some of the higher branches, and imbibed from his earli- est years the scholarly atmosphere which surrounded his father, he was fitted even at that age to give a fair account of himself as a teacher. Before he had reached his majority he had a first grade certificate, armed with which he zealously performed his pedagogical duties for two years.
Judge Person then realized that the prom- ise of a larger future for him lay in more active channels than these. First he entered the office of the Register of Deeds, at Howell, holding the position of deputy. In 1872 he began the study of law with Dennis Shields. These preliminary steps in his legal career were followed, in 1872-73. by a course in the law department of Michi- gan University.
Having been admitted to the bar in July, 1873, and married Miss May Ida May Mad-
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den, daughter of Judge Madden, of Mon- mouth, Ill., the young lawyer and husband started with his wife for the Nebraskan fron- tier. When the couple disembarked at Repub- lican City ( the bride was seventeen ) , the head of the future household and future judge had just five dollars in his pocket. But fortun- ately the Register of Deeds wanted to go on a vacation and offered Mr. Person all the fees that might come into the office during his absence, if he would look after its af- fairs while he was away. As it was this or nothing, the offer was promptly accepted, and it proved a fortunate venture on the part of Mr. Person. The Register's vacation extended over a period of six weeks, and the fees received by the pro tem. occupant of the office gave him a fair financial start in the community, while the acquaintance which he made was of substantial benefit to him afterward. While residents of Re- publican City, Mr. and Mrs. Person passed through the excitement of the Indian trou- bles and the County Seat war ; but, although professional prospects were bright, the grasshopper plague which temporarily blast- ed the prosperity of all that portion of the country drove them out of Nebraska and back to Howell, Mich.
There, in 1875, Judge Person opened a law office, and within the succeeding fifteen years established a large, remunerative and high-grade practice. In 1891 he was ap- pointed Circuit Judge of the new Thirtieth Judicial Circuit. In the following year he was elected to a three-years' vacancy, and in 1893 was nominated by all the parties in the field, being re-elected, without opposi- tion, for the full term which expired in 1899. Since that year he has been located at Lan- sing and has extended both his business and his reputation as a most able and successful general practitioner. It may also be added that Judge Person has served for one term
as Circuit Court Commissioner, and that he is a staunch Democrat, as well as a Mason.
The marriage of our subject has already . been recorded. To the young couple, who so bravely set off for the West, over thirty years ago, have been born four children : Harlow S., assistant professor of economics at Dartmouth College: Harry J., who, as a member of the First Fighting Scouts, served with the British army in South Africa for nearly two years, and had the satisfaction of being connected with the best regiment of the Imperial troops; May and Armand, who are living at home.
PHILIP NICE.
Philip Nice was born in Laudersheim, Germany, March 3. 1832. His parents, Philip and Minnie Nice, were natives of that country, where they lived and died.
At the age of seventeen years young Philip turned his back on his mother coun- try, secured a passage on a sailing vessel, City of New York, and after a voyage of thirty days landed at Castle Garden, N. Y., with just ninety-four cents in his pocket. But he had reached God's country, "the land of the free and the home of the brave," where there is absolutely no limit placed upon human possibilities. He possessed within himself the elements of success and he knew it and only asked for opportunity to practice them. Mr. Nice visited an aunt for a few days and then decided to locate in Pennsylvania. Arriving at the town of Minersville, he went to work in a general store and received nine dollars per week. With the true German characteristic, he stuck to his job for seven years. In the year 1853 Mr. Nice was married to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Caleb Stiles. Mrs. Nice was born in Stafford, Genesee county. N. Y., April 14, 1836,
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where she received a good common school education. Mr. Nice acquired his schooling in the "Faderland," where education is com- pulsory.
To Mr. and Mrs. Nice have been born three children, as follows: Clara Cecelia, March 4, 1856, died October 17, 1874, and was laid to rest in Maple Grove cemetery ; George L., born August 1, 1859, at Ashland, Pennsylvania, is a resident of Mason; and Charles Howard, born December 4, 1872, died December 16, 1874. He rests beside his sister in the family plat. In the year 1861 Mr. Nice came with his family to the Wolverine State, stopping for a brief period in Jackson, and finally located at Mason, which has since been his home town. Re- siding for a time upon a rented farm, five years later he purchased two lots in the vil- lage, and erected thereon the first brick resi- dence in the city limits, which afterwards became the second ward.
Mr. Nice was the first Street Commis- sioner after the formation of the city gov- ernment for Mason, and as an evidence of his good judgment and faithfulness he re- tained the office for the term of ten years. For some time he was quite extensively en- gaged in grading contracts, and as he put it, "did almost anything to make an honest dollar."
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