USA > Michigan > Ingham County > Lansing > Past and present of the city of Lansing and Ingham county, Michigan > Part 40
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PAUL E. DUNHAM
المبسط هابـ
303
INGHAM .COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Besides being at the head of this import- ant business and industry, Mr. Dunham is secretary and treasurer of the Michigan Re- tail Implement and Vehicle Dealers' Asso- ciation. That organization, which repre- sents one of the leading industries of the State, holds its next meeting in Jackson, December, 1905.
Like a good American citizen, Mr. Dun- ham has always taken an interest in affairs which do not directly concern his individual welfare; in other words, he is liberal minded, public spirited and has assumed his full share of the municipal burdens. Upon the organ- ization of the Board of Public Works he be- came a member thereof. He also served as Alderman from the first ward, being the only representative of the Republican party to be elected from that section of Lansing for thirty years. He was a member of the School Board for one term; in fact, while never anxious to assume public office, he has always felt it his duty to assume it when such is the expressed wish of his fellow citizens.
In 1882 our subject was united in mar- riage to Miss Alice A. Gregory, daughter of Hiram Gregory of Clinton county. Their only child, Elton Clare Dunham, is learning the tinner's trade as the first step toward the mastery of the hardware business. Outside his domestic life and the sociability centering in it, Mr. Dunham devotes a portion of his time to societies of the Royal Arcanum, Woodmen, Maccabees and I. O. O. F.
Further, Mr. Dunham takes merit and pride in the old home farm in Clinton county, which he has maintained and greatly improved by adding one hundred and twenty acres to the old homestead of eighty acres, now making a total of two hundred acres. Everything is now conducted upon modern lines and he has not only brought the land to a high state of cultivation, but has a fine
collection of Holstein cattle and operates a dairy which is well conducted and profitable. Mr. Dunham now contemplates moving out on the old homestead in the near future and make it his permanent home, as soon as his son, Elton Clare, gets the business well under way so he can handle and continue the business now at Lansing.
J. E. BANGHART.
Among the influential farmers of Lansing township, we are pleased to mention the name of J. E. Banghart, who was born De- cember 14, 1855. He is the youngest of five children born to Jabez G. and Mary (Camp- bell) Banghart, the father having been born March 4, 1818, and the mother, January 9, 1825. The parents of our subject were mar- ried February 20, 1842, at Ann Arbor, where they located. They had invested their first savings in sixty acres of land which they afterward sold, and moved to Iowa for two years. They came back to Lansing city and there the father died at the home of our sub- ject, in 1884, on the sixth day of January, the mother having passed away March 15, 1858.
The mother and father of our subject came to this country when the land was all new and endured the hardships common to the pioneer of those days. In politics. the father was a Democrat.
J. E. Banghart acquired his early educa- tion in the common schools and later at Lansing. At the age of twelve years he started out for himself and worked on a farm by the month for eight years, when he went to Lansing and was engaged in the meat market business for seven years. During this time Mr. Banghart bought a farm in Lansing township. consisting of about forty acres. about five acres of which was cleared and upon which was a small house and barn.
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As prosperity attended our subject he added to his possessions and at present is the own- er of one hundred seventeen acres of highly cultivated land on section four.
November 14, 1877, Mr. Banghart was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Van Etta, whose parents were old settlers of Locke township and afterwards lived in Meridian township.
Three children have blessed the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Banghart: Arthur J., born August 25, 1878, married Maud Housel and resides at Mason ; George E., born October 26, 1880, lives at home ; Fred A., born Sep- tember II, 1882, lives in the old homestead near the father.
Mr. Banghart is an active Republican and has held the position of Highway Commis- sioner for three years. He is socially con- nected with the Royal Arcanum.
In agricultural circles, Mr. Banghart is re- garded as a prominent man, as the fine con- dition of his farm gives him a prestige which he richly deserves. His fine modern home, erected in 1904, and the excellent improve- ments about the place show to every observer the hand of a thorough going and systematic farmer.
LEVI ABBOTT.
Happy is the man who has lived a long life that has been characterized by upright- ness of purpose and whose high moral stand- ing is gratefully recognized by his fellow- men. Those men who came to Ingham county in the very early days and made the first settlements here were men of more than ordinary calibre. Their early work prepared the way for those who came after them to build up the institutions of education, busi- ness and society which make Ingham county so desirable a home.
Levi Abbott was born May 14, 1819, in
Vermont, and was the son of William and Sally (Woodcock) Abbott, the father a native of Massachusetts, and the mother of New Hampshire, the former living to the age of seventy-two years and the mother dying in the year 1856.
After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Wil- liam Abbott they moved from New Hamp- shire to New York and when our subject was nineteen years old they came to Mich- igan, locating in White Oak, where they bought eighty acres of wild land for two hundred dollars. Of the eight children born to these people, our subject is the only living member of the family, the deceased being Lenora Gibbs; William, drowned in Lake Champlain; Nancy, wife of Dr. McRoberts of Mason, Arvilla Winchell, Lavina, wife of John Coatsworth of Mason, Myron, married Hanna Reeves of Mason, and Juliett, who died when a young girl.
The opportunities for education in our subject's boyhood days were quite limited, but he attended the district schools of New York for a time and when nineteen came west with his parents and lived with them on the farm. After the brothers left home, the father deeded our subject the farm and he took care of the parents as long as they lived.
Levi Abbott was married in 1850 to Susan L. Ambright, who lived to bless his home but three years. To them were born two children, Sarah and Linaes, both dying in infancy. April 29, 1852, Mr. Abbott was again married to Salome Burgess and to them two children were born : William, April 10, 1854, married Marcia Ide of Ingham county and they have three children : Claude, aged twenty-seven ; Guy, twenty-five, and Leo, who is sixteen, and still at home. The second, a daughter, Evellyn, was born Au- gust II, 1857, the wife of Chas. F. LaFleur of Ingham township and they have two chil-
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dren, Clair, twenty-three years of age and Ernest, aged fifteen. Clair is married and resides in Owosso.
The political views of the father and son have led them to affiliate with the Demo- cratic party. Mr. Abbott attends the Bap- tist church of which his father and mother were consistent members.
Living more than sixty-five years in the Township of White Oak, Mr. Abbott has many warm friends who wish for him a joy- ous evening to his active and well spent days.
PETER J. BENNETT, JR.
The name of Bennett is inseparably inter- woven with the history of Ingham county. The father of our subject, Peter Bennett, Sr., first settled in Meridian township in the year of 1851, and there bought eighty acres of unimproved land. He was a native of Ohio, and there married Miss Rachel Hahn, a na- tive of the same state. To them were born twelve children, six of whom are now living. With characteristic energy, Peter Bennett began the improvement and cultivation of his land, and erected thereon a log house of pio- neer times, and here he and his good wife reared their family, while improving their possessions. Success crowning their united efforts they added forty acres to the original purchase, owning at the time of his death one hundred and twenty acres of mostly im- proved and productive land. Here he con- tinued to reside for more than twenty years, reclaiming the land from its primitive con- dition to the usage of civilization. Few of this generation can realize the hardships endured by our early history makers. The difficulties they encountered, the obstacles they overcame in laying deep and broad the foundation of their adopted county's present prosperous condition. Peter Bennett, Sr .. gave his political support to the Democracy,
and took an active and helpful interest in the early pioneer history of this county. Mrs. Bennett was a woman of estimable character, devoted to her husband and fam- ily, and proved a valuable helpmate on life's journey. Peter Bennett departed this life Sept. 13, 1894, his wife having died July 19, 1889. Both were laid to rest in the Oke- mos cemetery.
Peter Bennett, Jr., the subject of this re- view, was born on the 3d day of October, 1848, in the State of Ohio, arriving here with his parents when three years of age. Here he received his early education, attend- ing the common schools of his adopted coun- ty, and at the age of twenty-one years taught for one term in Meridian township; desir- ing to extend his knowledge, took a course in the Commercial College at Lansing. It was at about that time that he resumed his farming operations. In 1880 he purchased forty acres, and in the following year bought forty additional acres, now owning a desir- able property of eighty acres of good and productive land. Our subject has made many improvements upon that place, clear- ing much of the land. and placing it under cultivation.
On Christmas day of 1880, Mr. Bennett was united in marriage to Miss Eliza, daughter of John H. Groat, a native of the Empire State, who came to Ingham county in 1865, settling on a tract of land compris- ing one hundred acres, which he improved and placed under cultivation. Here he re- sided until his death, which occurred in 1889. John H. Groat emigrated from East Flor- ence, Oneida Co., N. Y., in 1865. His wife was Ladesca, daughter of Manford Wash- burn, and they were united in marriage March 1. 1856. Mr. Washburn was a na- tive of the Empire State. Mr. Groat was quite successful in his farming operations, and was a man of considerable ingenuity. In
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connection with his farming interests he also successfully conducted a saw mill for a num- ber of years. His widow still survives him, making her home with two of her sons, who are single men. In this family there were three children : William J., born May 31, 1857; Simon M., born Dec. 23, 1859; Eliza A., born May 23, 1862. Mrs. Bennett be- ing the youngest. To our subject and his wife have been born two children, namely Ladesca, born Dec. 20, 1884, and William, born Sept. 23, 1891. Almost the entire life of our subject has been spent in Ingham history and has energetically assisted in its development and improvements. Mr. Ben- nett is a great admirer of fine horses, and usually owns a good team.
Mr. Bennett supports the men and meas- ure of the Democratic party. Enjoying the good will and esteem of his neighbors and associates, residing. in his pleasant home, where once the Indian roamed and wild game abounded, he can, in the later years of his life, look back upon the past, and take a par- donable pride in what has been accomplished by the Bennett family in the making of his- tory for Ingham county.
William C. Barker, the well known tile and brick manufacturer of Mason city, was born in the "Blue Grass State," at Win- chester, January 3. 1862. He was one of five children born to Robert and Emily Bar- ker. The others are Mary E., wife of B. D. Northrup of Lansing, Michigan, whose his- tory appears elsewhere in this volume; Sally M., wife of Edd Hendrick, a prosperous farmer in the southern part of the State; Charles S., whose home and business is in Chicago, and who has a family of three chil- dren, all living ; Roberta, the youngest, died
in infancy and was buried in the family lot in Lansing, where the father is also buried. He was born in Orleans county, N. Y., in 1827, and died at the age of sixty-nine years.
Mr. Barker's mother was born in Wyo- ming county, N. Y., in the year 1829. She makes her home among her children, where she is an ever welcome guest. She is a lady of refinement and culture and though past seventy-five years of age, is still able to care for herself. Robert Barker was for many years one of Lansing's most respected and prominent citizens, a man of the strictest county, and he is familiar with its early . probity of character and universally regarded . with esteem. He was a member of the Presbyterian church and a Christian gentle- man. He was a graduate of the Wellsville Academy of New York and after completing his studies he went to Paducah, Ky., and started a college for young ladies. A dis- astrous fire destroyed the building and he abandoned the enterprise. He moved his family to Lansing, Michigan, and during the war was employed by James M. Turner in the land office of the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw R. R. Co. His interest in educa- tional matters gave him recognition and he was chosen a member of the school board. He was also for a period of two years Super- WILLIAM C. BARKER. intendent of the State School for the Blind, this institution being located in the City of Lansing. He carried on for a time a general insurance business and for twenty-five years he manufactured brick and tile near the corporate limits of the city and acquired a comfortable competence for himself and family.
William C. received his education in the Lansing High School and later completed a course at Bartlett's Business College. In 1883 he came to Mason to take charge of the brick and tile manufacturing plant, located here and owned as a partnership concern. This he managed successfully for some
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WILLIAM GALBRAITH
MRS. WILLIAM GALBRAITH
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INGHAM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
fifteen years, giving employment to as many as twenty men at some seasons of the year. His plant has received much patronage from the farmers for many miles around, both for building and drainage. Mr. Barker had the contract for furnishing the brick used in the erection of the new court house. He pur- chased the entire outfit in 1898 and is now the sole proprietor of the enterprise. In politics, Mr. Barker can always be relied up- on to increase the Republican majority by one vote.
February 4, 1885, Mr. Barker married Miss Jennie R., daughter of F. M. Lewis of this city. One daughter, born April 1, 1887, is the light of their home and joy of their lives. She is a pupil in the Mason High School.
Mr. Barker is an Elk, a member of the Lansing organization. In addition to his business interests in the city he has interests in the Township of Alaiedon. Having pos- sibly just passed the meridian of life and being well established in business, he may reasonably expect his full share of the good things of life, as a reward for his industry and enterprise.
WILLIAM GALBRAITH.
One of the enterprising, progressive farm- ers of Bunker Hill township is Willliam Galbraith. He was born in the Empire state, September 18, 1842, in the Village of Randolph. The father, Henry Galbraith, and the mother who bore the maiden name of Fanny Turner, came to America in 1840, both being natives of Ireland, and settled in New York, where the father followed the occupation of farming throughout the re- mainder of his life.
The subject of this sketch is one of a fam- ily of nine children, the oldest, James, was born in Ireland and there remained; the
second, Thomas, also a native of the Emer- ald Isle, there remained until about fourteen years of age, when he joined his father and mother in New York, he eventually settled in Minnesota, but is now deceased ; the third, John, is also a native of Ireland, and he ac- companied the family on their removal to America, and is now a resident of Randolph, N. Y .; William, the fourth, was born Sep- tember 18, 1842, at Randolph, N. Y .; the fifth, Mary Ann, born in 1845, is mar- ried and resides in the city of Buffalo, N. Y .; Agnes, the sixth, was born in 1848, and is now deceased; the seventh, Fannie, was born in 1850, and now resides on the old home place in New York; the eighth, Jane, born in 1853, is deceased, while the ninth, Henry, was born in 1857, is married and also resides on the old home place.
Our subject received his early education in the district schools of New York state, after which he worked by the month on a farm for two and one-half years, when in response to his adopted country's call, he enlisted in service on the first day of Septem- ber, 1862, in Co. H, 154th N. Y. Volunteer Infantry, and in this he saw considerable service. He was sent to Maryland Heights, Va., in company with his regiment and was in the Battle of Chancellorsville and Gettys- burg, and was one of the four bunk-mates who escaped death, in his regiment in that memorable engagement. In 1863 his regi- ment was transferred to a western army and he was left in hospital at Alexandria seri- ously ill, but followed his regiment in the spring of 1864 and rejoined his command at Chattanooga, and took part in the entire cam- paign, Sherman's March to the Sea and was in South Carolina when President Lincoln was shot. The officers called the regiment up into the public square and there read them the message of Lincoln's assassination. He participated in that great Grand Review
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of Veterans at Washington, D. C., and was there mustered out of regular service. Pro- ceeding then to Elmira, N. Y., he there re- ceived his discharge from the state service. Returning home he worked by the month, for three years, and then in the fall of 1869. came to Henrietta, Jackson county, of this State. In the spring of that year he found employment on a farm at Rives Junction, where he remained for one and one-half years. In 1871 he worked for James and John Blackmore, in their mill near Leslie, and in the following spring found employ- ment on a farm at Layton's Corners.
In 1872 an important event occurred in Mr. Galbraith's life when he was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Ripley, who was born July 5, 1847, at Union City, Branch county, Michigan. They removed to Bunker Hill township and in 1873 pur- chased a farm of forty acres, section one, Leslie township, and there they remained two years and then found employment with Mr. George Archer for three years, and during the last year of this employment he traded his farm for the place where he now resides, which consisted of one hundred and twenty acres, to which he has since added forty acres, owning now, altogether, one hundred and sixty acres of valuable and productive land, to which he has added many improve- ments, until he now has one of the best farms in that locality. Here he has engaged in general farming and stock raising, in which he has met with uniform success. He casts his vote for the Republican party, and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, while in the army at Savannah, Ga. Unto our subject and wife have been born six children : Arthur, born March 7, 1875; Al- den, born March 10, 1879; Elva, born De- cember 16, 1876; Grace, born June 17, 1881, married Theady Hamilton, February 4, 1903 ; Genevieve, born December 23, 1885,
and the last, born July 19, 1887, is deceased. Since 1873 has Mr. Galbraith been a resi- dent of this locality, and as the years have gone by he has prospered until today he is considered one of the substantial agricul- turists of his community.
FRANK M. BOND.
Frank M. Bond was one of three children born to George and Cornelia Bond, the others died in youth. His parents, natives of the old Bay State, emigrated to the wilds of Michigan in the year 1838, and settled in the Township of Raisin, Lenawee county. His father purchased eighty acres of heavy tim- bered land, built a log house, and with his own trusty ax felled the forest, and cleared the land. The experiences common to pio- neers in a new country. the lights and shades of life were theirs to enjoy and endure. Frank remembers hearing his father remark, referring to the early days, "we had to look straight up through the tops of the trees to see daylight." After several years spent in clearing up, and improving the farm, his father sold and purchased 160 acres in the Township of Rome, same county. This was the family residence for some years after- ward, and until the year following the close of the war, 1866. The elder Bond sold his interests in Lenawee, and purchased 170 acres in the Township of Aurelius, Ingham county. Frank remained at home assisting his father upon the farm, an occupation to which he was always greatly attached. His health permitting, he would prefer farming to any other business. His early education he "picked up" much after the manner of boys on the farm a half century ago, attend- ing school only until large enough to be of service about the farm, and from that time on it was "catch as catch can," a few months of schooling during the winter with several
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INGHAM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
hours of chores to do at the ends of the day. Returning from the war, he attended college at Adrian for a year and laid the foundation of a practical education to which he has added by experience, as the years have gone by. August 13, 1862, he enlisted in the 18th Michigan Infantry and followed the fortunes of his regiment to the close of the war. This regiment met the enemy at Dansville, Ky., February 24, 1863, Pond Springs, Ala., June 28, 1864, Curtis Wells, Ala., June 24, Court- land, Ala., July 25, 1864, Athens, Ala., Sep- tember 24, 1864, Decatur, Ala., October 24, November 28, 1864. The regiment bore upon its rolls of muster, 1,374 officers and men ; of this number, 310 yielded up their lives, that the nation might live. The deadly south- ern climate made fearful havoc in the ranks of the command. While on the skirmish line, advancing on the enemy in the face of a storm of bullets, Mr. Bond was shot in the mouth by a Minie ball, knocking out two teeth, was dazed for a time, but kept his place in line and fought to the close of the engagement. He enjoyed good health all during his term of service, was rugged and ambitious, and rather relished the hardships incident to the life of a soldier in active ser- vice. He was mustered out of service at Nashville, Tenn., June 26, 1865, and on the day following, the regiment under command of Col. John W. Horner, left for Michigan, arriving at Jackson, July 2. On the 4th it was paid off and discharged.
The regiment was frequently compli- mented in general orders for discipline and "soldierly bearing."
For several years past Mr. Bond has been engaged in the grain elevator business at Ma- son. He has disposed of his farm, and has a comfortable residence in the city. He is a member of Vevay Lodge, I. O. O. F. Is also a charter member of Steele Bro.'s Post 441, Dept. of Mich. G. A. R. In politics it has
always been perfectly clear to him that duty for him was to "line up" with the G. O. P. A compensation of eight dollars per month for services long since rendered, is a gentle reminder that the nation is not unmindful of the sacrifices of her citizen soldiery. Mr. Bond has a strong attachment for his friends, is a genial, cordial gentleman, whom it is a pleasure to meet.
ELDORUS BYRUM.
The owner of the finely cultivated tract of land in section 14, Onondaga township, Ingham county, is he whose name is at the head of this sketch. He is a son of George and Emma (Clark) Byrum, both natives of the Empire State.
Mr. Byrum is a product of Onondaga township, as his birth occurred there on the 2Ist day of November, 1855.
The father and mother of our subject were married in the home state and came to Michigan and settled on this farm of eighty acres. The hardships of the pioneer life are well understood by this worthy couple, as, at the time of their arrival in the "West," the country was all a wilderness. By the help of his sturdy sons the father was en- abled to clear the farm and make it one of the good farms of today. The brothers worked in partnership for some time, and now own several eighty acre farms. Four sons of this noble and energetic father now reside in Ingham township.
Mr. George Byrum died at the age of sixty years, this being forty years ago, the mother died six years ago, at the age of sev- enty-nine years. Mrs. George Byrum was a member of the M. E. church and she lived her life in harmony with its teachings.
Eldorus Byrum received his early educa- tion in the schools of Onondaga, where he spent the whole of his life. He was mar-
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ried five years ago to Basha ( Wilcox) (Gould). the daughter of Elijah and Lucy (Delamater) Wilcox, who were natives of . subject of this sketch was fifteen years of the State of New York.
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