USA > Michigan > Huron County > Portrait and biographical album of Huron county Michigan, Containing biographical sketches of citizens also a complete history of the county, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 28
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Mr. McGregor is a Democrat in political connec- tion, and at present (1884) is Treasurer of his Town- ship.
He was married, March 27, 1866, to Ann J. Tripp. Their children were born as follows: Duncan John, April 3, 1867 ; Catherine Mary, May 27, 1869 (she died April 29, 1879, while on a visit to Canada, with her mother); Jane, April 12, 1873; Alexander, May 12, 1875 ; William Allen, May 7, 1879. All the children were born in Canada.
Mrs. McGregor is the daughter of Hiram and Catherine Emma (Harrington) Tripp, and was born Oct. 8, 1850, in Canada. Her parents are of Dutch and English descent. They reside on a farm in Maskoka, Ont.
illiam Anderson, farmer, section II, Case- ville Township, was born Feb. 23, 1834, in Berwickshire, Scotland. His parents, George and Jane (Young) Anderson, are both deceased. His father died in Scot- land, about the age of 59 years.
Mr. Anderson emigrated with his mother, four brothers and a sister-in-law, in 1852, to America, landing at Montreal. They purchased a farm in Beauharnois Co., Province of Quebec, where they lived eight years. In 1860, three brothers, Ander- son, came to Huron County and purchased wild land in Caseville Township. There were then no im- provements of any description there, and but a few traces of the dishonest lumbering which had been carried on previously. They guided their location by Government lines, there being no roads. Wild game, especially deer, was abundant. The claim secured by Mr. Anderson included 160 acres, of which he has cleared 40 acres and placed it under good cultivation.
Mr. Anderson was married Sept. 27, 1867, to Mary A., daughter of Irvin and Margaret McPher- son. Her father was born in Glenelg, Furnesshire, Scotland, in 1794. He emigrated to America in 1802 with his grandmother, mother and four brothers. His grandfather was a soldier in the British army during the Revolutionary War, and was in prison eight years in North Carolina. The father was a soldier in the British forces during the War of 1812. The mother of Mrs. Anderson was born in 1802 and died in Canada in 1841. Her father died at St. Urbain, Can., about 1870. She was born at that place May 12, 1834, and is one of a family of II children. (She had a twin brother.) Wm. McPherson was born March 17, 1824; Donald, Feb. 7, 1826; Kenneth, March 28, 1828; Angus, March 3, 1830; John, Feb. 14, 1832; Murdoch (twin brother of Mrs. Anderson), May 12, 1834. His birth occurred the day after that of his sister; Christina, July 24, 1836; Isabella, Oct. 3, 1838; Margaret M. Jan. 3, 1841 (died Dec. 21, 1868).
Mr. Anderson was drafted Sept. 27, 1864, and was assigned to Co. F, 15th Mich. Vol. Inf., Capt. W. W. Hubbell, General Oliver, Brigade Commander, of Second Division and 15th Army Corps, of the Cum- berland. He was discharged in May, 1865. The regiment was in the corps of General Sherman at Goldsboro, N. C., and Mr. Anderson saw plenty of skirmish warfare. His brother, John, was drawn in the next draft and they met on the field, when Mr. Anderson learned of the death of his mother, whom he left in health.
Mr. Anderson is a Republican, and with his wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church, in which they were reared.
A lois Berger, marketman and butcher, Sebe- waing, was born March 3, 1838, in Switzer- land, the native country and life-long resi- dence of his parents, John and Barbara Berger. He came to the United States in 1865, proceeding, directly after landing, to Sebe- waing. Three months later he went to Lapeer County and engaged in butchering, continuing in
Charles Baude
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that occupation there two years. In 1868 he es- tablished his business at Sebewaing, and has since continued its successful prosecution. Mr. Berger is in harmony with the principles of Republicanism in political opinion. He is a member of the Concordia Singing Society.
His marriage to Mary Schaade took place March 28, 1861, in his native land. She was born there April 30, 1825.
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charles Soule, of the firm of Eakins & Soule, manufacturers of salt and lumber, and general merchants, at Port Crescent, was born Nov. 23, 1824, in Rutland Co., Vt. His father, Gardner Soule, was a native of the Green Mountain State, where he was a farmer many years; and was a descendant from mixed Eng- lish and German ancestors. He married and late in life removed to Wyoming Co., N. Y., where his wife died, in May, 1879, aged 78 years. His death occurred in April, 1880, when he was 85 years old. He had been blind two years before his death.
Mr. Soule, of this sketch, was HI years old when his parents transferred their family and interests to the State of New York. He was carefully educated and became a teacher, but the vocation was detri- mental to his health and he exchanged the calling for the lumber business, in which he engaged in con- nection with active operations as a builder, in which branch he carried on extensive relations in Cattarau- gus County, the dwellings and business structures whose erection he superintended making in the aggregate a number sufficient for a city. His lumber business increased until it assumed extensive pro- portions. Eventually he sold all his business in the State of New York and came to Huron County, where he established a saw and grist mill and a mercantile enterprise in the township of Chandler (then Lake), which he was instrumental in having set off and named in honor of the late distinguished Senator from Michigan.
The public spirit and enterprise of Mr. Soule attracted settlers, and the place which at the date of his location was in primeval wildness soon displayed
the progress of civilization and development in the hands of persistent energy, and it is now one of the best improved sections of the county. The settle- ment which gathered about the nucleus established by Mr. Soule naturally took his name. For three years a private mail was sustained, which finally merged into a regular Government route through the efforts of Mr. Soule, and was established in 1884. He owns 300 acres of excellent farming land in the vicinity of Soule, which is rapidly growing and promises to be one of the leading inland villages of the county.
In 1880 Mr. Soule became a member of the firm of Williamson, Eakins & Co., successors to Woods & Co., in the manufacture of salt and lumber. In June, 1883, Mr. Williamson withdrew from the firm and it became Eakins & Soule. Their annual transactions reach an aggregate of $100,000, the salt block yield- ing about 150 barrels daily and their lumber product reaching about 30,000 feet per diem.
In political connection Mr. Soule is a Republican of decided type. He is a Justice of the Peace at this; writing (1884). Mr. Soule is the present Postmaster' at Port Crescent, having been appointed in 1880 by: President Hayes. He had previously been Post master in the township of Soule. At the election off Nov. 4, 1884, he was elected Probate Judge for| Huron County.
He was married in April, 1845, in Wyoming Co., N. Y., to Clarissa T. Rowley. The following children have been born to them : Julia E., Lotta E., Albert, Lorena A., Edward C., James T. and George. Mrs. Soule was born in April, 1825, in Bennington, Wyo- ming Co., N. Y. She is of New England parentage.@
The portrait of Mr. Soule adorns the gallery of this ALBUM, being given just preceding the above bio- graphical sketch.
ottfried Beck, Jr., farmer, section 16 Sebewaing Township, was born in Scio, Washtenaw Co., Mich., April 22, 1839, and is the son of Gottfried and Mary (Schill- ing) Beck. (See sketch of Gottfried Beck) He was but nine years of age when he came with his parents to the township of Sebewaing,
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where educational facilities were very limited on account of the unsettled condition of the country. He remained with his parents until he was 24 years of age, when, associated with two brothers, he en- gaged in the management of a farm in Sebewaing Township, which he operated six years.
In 1869 he located on 80 acres of land given him by his father, and he has now 60 acres of cleared and improved land. In politics he is a Democrat and he has been Treasurer one term.
He was married Nov. 30, 1871, in Sebewaing Township, to Helena P. Schilling, daughter of Fred- erick and Catherine Schilling. She was born Sept. 28, 1850, in Scio, Washtenaw Co., Mich., and is the mother of two children : Edmond H. and Clar- issa M.
eorge H. Van Woert, book-keeper for Thomas Winsor & Co., Port Austin, was born Oct. 2, 1831, in Albany Co., N. Y., and is the son of Tunis and Orletta (Smith) Van Woert. His father was a native of New York State, and lived the life of a farmer, dying at the age of 80 years, in Saratoga Co., N. Y., where he passed the last 30 years of his life. The mother was a native of Connecticut, and died in Sar- atoga County, when she was 81 years old.
Mr. Van Woert was brought up to the age of 18 years on his father's farm. He had obtained a good common-school education, and at the age named he began his career as an accountant. He followed book-keeping as an occupation successively in the cities of Troy, Albany and New York, and came to Port Austin in 1862, where he entered the employ of Ayres, Learned & Wiswell, operating in their interests 17 years as book-keeper and also as inspector of lumber. In 1879 he entered upon the duties of his present position, in the mercantile establishment of Thomas Winsor & Co.
Mr. Van Woert owns 120 acres of land situated six miles south of Port Austin in Dwight Township, all of which is under cultivation. He also owns a fine village property where he resides. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and has diş-
charged the duties of the office of Treasurer of Port Austin Township 12 years.
He was married in Newtonville, Albany Co., N. Y., Nov. 20, 1867, to Mary J. Hermans. She was born Sept. 25, 1838, and is the daughter of Abram and Mary Hermans. One child has been born of their union, Herman, whose birth occurred Aug. 15, 1868.
aniel McGregor, farmer, section 9, Bloom- field Township, was born Nov. 20, 1835, in Glengarry Co., Ont. His parents, John and Catherine (McDonald) McGregor, are both living in the village of Wyebridge, Sim- coe Co., Ont. The father was born at Glen- lion in the Highlands of Scotland, and will be 83 years of age Dec. 25, 1884. The mother is 75 years old, and is a native of Ontario.
Mr. McGregor was reared to the vocation of far- mer by his father, and when he reached his majority engaged in lumbering in Simcoe Co., Ont., where he passed the winter seasons of four years in the various avenues pertaining to that branch of business, and at the same time he engaged in mercantile business at Wyebridge, in which he was occupied ten years. At the end of that time his business was destroyed by fire, and unfortunately without insurance.
He came to Michigan, and, meeting Mr. L. Hub- bard at Port Huron, he engaged with him in the capacity of foreman on his farm. He bought the property of which he has since been the owner in 1877. It was in a wholly wild condition and he has expended his labors and energies upon it until he has placed 45 acres in a good agricultural condition, with a frame house and barn upon it.
Mr. McGregor is a Democrat, and has been Super- visor of his township one year. He has a thorough knowledge of horses.
His marriage to Isabella Kennedy occurred Feb. 21, 1860. Their children have been born as follows : Katie M., April 22, 1862; Finlay, May 11, 1864; Margaretta A., April 7, 1867 ; Jeannette M., April 24, 1870; Lillian E., April 29, 1872 ; Bella May, July 4, 1876.
Mrs. McGregor was born Dec. 21, 1835, in Ontario, which is also the birth-place of her parents, Hugh
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and Jeannette (McIntosh) Kennedy. They are of Scotch descent and are about 82 years of age. Their family comprised nine children. She and her husband are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
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ames F. Weatherhead, farmer, section 12, Dwight Township, has been a resident of Huron County since the fall of 1859, when he pre-empted a claim of 80 acres of land, where he has since held proprietorship, and still owns one-half of his original acreage, near- ly all of which is under the plow.
He has held various school and township offices. His parents, James and Sarah (Hunter) Weather- head, were also born in Scotland, where they were married and resided until 1842, the year in which they emigrated to the Dominion of Canada, where they resided until death.
The son was 14 years of age when he accompanied his parents to the American Continent. His marriage to Ann Moore occurred March 27, 1855, in Canada, where she was born, July 22, 1832. They have had nine children-John J., George F., Robert, Smith A., William, Joseph, Agnes, Mary E. and Margaret E.
A ndrew H. Burton, farmer, section 25, Brook- field Township, was born June 1, 1831, in Madison County, N. Y. He entered his homestead claim of 160 acres Nov. 25, 1865, and was the first settler in the township. His father, Maj. Ross Burton, was a resident in the State of New York until 1858, when he removed to Michigan, and is now a resident of Barry County, and is about 80 years old.
Mr. Burton made his first acquaintance with the State of Michigan when he was 20 years of age. He remained two years, and traveled back to his native State on foot. In 1858 he came to Kent County, and operated as a farmer, and also as a carpenter
and joiner until his removal to Huron County. He adopts the tenets of the Democratic party. He was the principal factor in the organization of the town- ship, and was permitted, on account of his priority of settlement, to dictate its name, which he called "Brookfield," in memory of his native place in the Empire State. He was the first Clerk of the new township.
His first marriage occurred Oct. 2, 1854, in Al- mont, Lapeer Co., Mich., when Lovina Moe became his wife. She died in Brookfield Township, in the spring of 1880. Three of seven children of which she was the mother are deceased-Iacelona L., and Ann and Amy (twins). The latter died in infancy. Those living are : Liona R., Derillo A., Albert H. and Ada V. In the fall of 1880 Mr. Burton was again married, in Barry County, to Mrs. Ann (Scott) Burton. She was born in New York, and by her former marriage had three children, Ermina, Ina and Clara. One child, Chauncey, has been born of the second marriage. Mrs. Burton belongs to the United Brethren Church. Mr. Burton is a member of the " Ages to Come " Society.
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UUUUUL 1000000 unting Trescott, of Sand Beach, has been a resident of the place since June 13, 1856. He was born Aug. 20, 1802, in Hard- wick, Caledonia Co., Vt. His parents removed in 1807 to Grafton Co., N. H., where his father pursued his vocation as carpenter, the son acquiring a thorough knowledge of the same business, operating as his father's assistant.
Mr. Trescott came to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1821, and remained there some time, devoting ten years to the calling of a teamster. On coming to Sand Beach, he was employed by Jeremiah Ludington to assist in the construction of a saw-mill at Center Harbor, below Sand Beach. He has continued to work at his trade most of the time since, the exception being devoted to draying. He is the owner of five village lots at Sand Beach; and has served actively in the local affairs of the village, having held the office of Justice of the Peace and School Inspector, and has
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Also officiated a number of years as member of the School Board.
Mr. Trescott was married in Brooklyn, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, Dec. 30, 1830, to Cynthia A. Brainerd. Nine children were born of their marriage, eight of whom survive. Alfonzo A. is a farmer in the town- ship of White Rock, Huron County ; Maria A. mar- ried Jeremiah Ludington, Jr., and resides at Verona Mills; Melissa B. is deceased ; Martha E. is the wife of Samuel Fuller, of Sand Beach; Minerva married John J. Kneale, an engineer at Alpena; Alva J. is a carpenter in the Breakwater in the harbor at Sand Beach; Loren J. keeps the light-house at Sand Beach; Lydia A. married Samuel H. Pangborn, a furniture dealer, of Alpena; Harriet S. is the wife of Geo. W. Gordon, of Alpena. Mrs. Trescott was born March 15, 1811, in East Adams, Connecticut, and is the daughter of Jabin and Lydia (Lamb) Brainerd. Mr. and Mrs. Trescott reside with their daughter, Mrs. Samuel Fuller.
Mr. Trescott was elected Supervisor of Sand Beach "Township in the spring of 1859. He has also held the offices of Justice of the Peace and Coroner, and was appointed acting Sheriff, and during the war was Deputy Provost Marshal of Sand Beach, Sigel, Verona, Huron, Bingham and Paris Townships.
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Charles Crawford, manager of the hardware business of his father, F. Crawford, at Caseville, was born July 31, 1859, at Cleve- land, Ohio. His parents came to Caseville, in this county, when he was in his early years, and he received his elementary educa- tion at the public schools of Huron County. Later he went to Ann Arbor, where he spent three years, after which he took a course of commercial study in the business college at Poughkeepsie, where he was graduated in the fall of 1878. On his return to Case- ville he engaged in the business of a butcher, which he pursued several years. In 1883, he took charge of the hardware interests of his father. The rela- tions of the establishment are the most extensive in Huron County, with the single exception of that of
Mr. Jenks at Sand Beach. The building is 30 x 70 feet on the ground, and the assortment of articles in- cludes all varieties of merchandise common to simi- lar establishments.
Mr. Crawford is a Republican, and cast his first Presidential vote for James A. Garfield. . Nearly the entire course of his life has been spent under Repub- lican administration.
rancis Etzler, farmer, section 28, Hume Township, was born Nov. 19, 1837, in Prussia. His parents, Antoine and Joan- na (Houckey) Etzler, were natives of Germany, where they belonged to the agricultural class. They came to the United States in 1853, and after a brief stay in Buffalo, N. Y., they moved to Geauga Co., Ohio, and some three years later to Port Austin, Huron Co., Mich. Their mother died there Oct. 3, 1857, and the father and three sons deter- mined to found a home in the (then) unbroken wilder- ness of Hume Township. They secured a half section of land situated on sections 28 and 29, which was afterward divided among the three sons.
Mr. Etzler, of this sketch, is the proprietor of 110 acres of the original tract. He suffered comparatively heavy losses in the fire of 1871, when two barns, with their contents, and the major portion of a fine orchard were destroyed. The latter has been replaced. Mr. Etzler has cleared and otherwise improved 80 acres, which is his homestead and where he has a new resi- dence and good farm buildings.
Politically Mr. Etzler is a Republican.
He was first married April 24, 1863, in Dwight Township, to Hannah Kaase. She died Aug. 13, 1878, and left seven living children : Johanna, Franklin, Albert, Conrad, Anthony, Lucinda and Matilda. Robert died three years before his mother. Her death was caused by abscess of the liver, from which she suffered five years. Mr. Etzler was a second time married, Oct. 22, 1879, at East Saginaw, to Mrs. Mary (Myers) Zellnar, widow of Powell Zell- nar. Six children were born of her first marriage . Mary E., Margaret, Paulina, Sophia, Barbara and Powell. The latter is deceased. One child, Min-
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Xnie, has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Etzler. The mother was born in Switzerland, Dec. 13, 1840. She came to the United States when she was 23 years of age, with a brother and sister, and located in Dwight SjTownship, where she remained until her marriage.
on. Joseph W. Snell, farmer and dealer in real estate, resident at Albion, Calhoun Co., Mich., whose business interests are situated largely in Huron County, was born June 2, 1826, in Lycoming Co., Pa. His parents, William and Emily (Molineaux) Snell, were natives of England. His father devoted his life to agricultural pursuits, emigrating early to the State of New York, where he died in 1839. The mother died in the same State in 1828.
Mr. Snell is the youngest of six children, and was but two years old when his mother died. At the age of eight years he went to live with an uncle, Jesse P. Haines, of Niagara Co., N. Y., under whose supervision he remained until he attained his majority. Mr. Haines was a surveyor by profession and a prominent member of the Society of Friends. In character he was one of the finest examples of all that the principles of his creed tend to develop. Always just and wise, pre-eminently solicitous for the welfare of the community of which he was a mem- ber, he exerted an influence that survives him even now in the character of those with whom he was intimately connected.
Soon after attaining his majority, Mr. Snell went to Haldimand Co., Ont., and became interested in lumbering. He operated there 16 years, and during the time was married (May 17, 1857) to Fidelia Holmes. She was born in May, 1827, in Haldimand County, and is the daughter of William Holmes, a wealthy farmer and lumberman of that county who has retired from active business. Her mother, Mary (Hoover) Holmes, was of German extraction and born in Pennsylvania. She died about 1869. Mrs. Snell obtained a good common-school educa- tion and engaged some years in teaching. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Snell includes six children. Jessie H. is the wife of the Rev. Lyman Bacon, a graduate of Albion College and a minister of the
M. E. Church. Mrs. Bacon was graduated at Albion College and was a successful teacher for some years. Maud, the second child, was graduated in the department of music in the same college. William M. and Thomas C. are students at Albion, where the two youngest children, Joseph W. and Day H., are taking preparatory courses of study.
Mr. Snell removed his family to Saginaw, Mich., in 1866. After a brief residence there, he came to Huron County and purchased several hundred acres of timbered land, making his location at Bay Port. Soon after he opened a mercantile enterprise, which he has since conducted, in conjunction with farming and lumbering. Together with his wife, Mr. Snell owns about 2,000 acres of land within Huron County.
He is an active and prominent member of the Republican element in politics, and has been Super- visor of his township several years. In 1868 he was elected to represent the people of Huron County in the Legislature of Michigan, and served during the two sessions of his term. In 1872 he was again put in nomination for the same office, but owing to local divisions was defeated by a small majority. Mrs. Snell is a prominent and zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
enry Pangborn, farmer and breeder of stock, section 22, Verona Township, was born Sept. 13, 1837, in Brock Township, Ontario Co., Can. He is the son of John and Barbara (Shier) Pangborn, and his father was a lumberman and farmer in the Dominion, in the first of which occupations he assisted until he was 18 years old, when he began to work chiefly on the farm. The family came to Verona Township in 1862, when the father bought 160 acres of land on section 25, in the southeastern part of the township.
In 1863, Mr. Pangborn bought his farm of 200 acres, where he has since pursued agriculture of a high character, and has 115 acres under cultivation. He also deals in cattle. He was a heavy loser by both the fires which have devastated Huron County. In the first he was compelled to witness the destruc-
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tion of his barn, which was filled with farm products, his granary, farm implements, fences, etc., entailing a loss of $2,000. In 1881 he lost fences and five head of cattle. His house became the refuge for several families who lost everything, and he gave them shelter from one to three months, as the emer- gency demanded.
Mr. Pangborn has been an active and useful member of society, and of the community to which he belongs. He has been Supervisor five years, and has discharged the duties of the school offices a number of years. He has been deeply interested in the official duties of the several positions he has held. The parents of Mr. Pangborn are residing with his brother John in this township.
His marriage occurred Jan. 22, 1866, in Verona Township, to Mary A. Noonan, daughter of John and Mary (McLaughlin) Noonan. She was born Sept. 4, 1848, in Canada, 21 miles south of the city of Ottawa. The father of Mrs. Pangborn died Oct. II, 1877, in Verona Township, aged 59 years. Her mother was born in August, 1817, and is still living, with her daughter. The latter is the mother of seven children: John A. V., Mary A., Albina G., Nellie M., Samuel H., Matilda B. and Bertha M.
It is with a considerable degree of satisfaction that the publishers of this work are permitted to place the portrait of Mr. Pangborn among its pages. Truly, the citizens of the county will recognize in the like- ness one whose interest is in common with their own, and a representative citizen of the county.
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