Portrait and biographical album of Oakland County, Michigan, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 14

Author:
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman bros.
Number of Pages: 980

USA > Michigan > Oakland County > Portrait and biographical album of Oakland County, Michigan, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county > Part 14

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Russell AAgen

173

GOVERNORS OF MICHIGAN.

Russell A. Alger.

USSELL A.ALGER, Governor of Michigan for the term com- meneing Jan. 1, 1885, was born in Lafayette Township, Medina Co., Ohio, Feb. 27, 1836, Having lived a tem- perate life, he is a comparative young man in appearance, and pos- sesses those mental faculties that are the distinguishing characteristics of robust, mature and educated man- hood. When 11 years of age both his parents died, leaving him witha younger brother and sister to sup- port and without any of the substan- tial means of existence. Lacking the opportunity of better employment, he worked on a farm in Richfield, Ohio, for the greater part of each of the succeeding seven years, saving money enough to defray his ex- penses at Richfield Academy during the winter terms. He obtained a very good English education, and was enabled to teach school for several subse- quent winters. In 1857 he commenced the study of law in the offices of Wolcott & Upson at Akron, re- maining until March, 1859, when he was admitted to the bar by the Ohio Supreme Court. Hle then removed to Cleveland, and entered the law otlice of Otis & Coffinbury, where he remained several months. Here he continued his studies with in- creased zeal, and did much general reading. Hard study and close confinement to office work, however, began to tell on his constitution, and failing health warned him that he must seek other occupation.

He therefore reluctantly abandoned the law and re- moved to Grand Rapids, Mich., to engage in the lumber business.

When Michigan was called upon to furnish troops for the war, Mr. Alger enlisted in the Second Mich. Cav. and was mustered into the service of the United States as Captain of Co. C. His record as a cavalry officer was brilliant and honorable to himself and his company. He participated in some of the fiercest contests of the rebellion and was twice wounded. His first injury was received ir the battle of Booneville, Miss., July 2, 1862. Ilis conduct in this engagement was so distin- guished that he was promoted to the rank of Major. On the same occasion his Colonel, the gallant Phil. Sheridan, was advanced to the rank of Brigadier General. A few months later, on the 16th of October, Major Alger became Lieutenant- Colonel of the Sixth Mich. Cav., and was ordered with his regiment to the Army of the Potomac. After marked service in the early campaign of 1863, he was again advanced, and on June 2 received his commission as Colonel of the Fifth Mich. Cav. His regiment at this time was in Custer's famous Michi- gan cavalry brigade. On the 6th of July occurred the battle of Boonesboro, Md. In this conflict he was again wounded. His health received a more than temporary impairment, and in October, 1864, he was obliged to retire from the service. IIis career as a soldier included many of the most cele- brated contests of the war. Ile was an active charac- ter in all the battles fought by the Army of the

174

RUSSELL A. ALGER.

Potomac, from the time of the invasion of Mary- Iund by Gen. Lee in 1863, up to the date of his retirement, with the exception of those engagements which occurred while he was absent from duty on account of wounds. In all he took part in 66 bat- tles and skirmishes. At the close he was breveted Brigadier General and Major General for "gallant and meritorious services in the field."

Aside from regular duty, Gen. Alger was on private service during the winter of 1863-4, receiv- ing orders personally from President Lincoln and visiting nearly all the armies in the field.

Gen. Alger came to Detroit in 1865, and since that time has been extensively engaged in the pine timber business and in dealing in pine lands. lIc was a member of the well-known firm of Moore & Alger until its dissolution, when he became head of the firm of R. A. Alger & Co., the most extensive pine timber operators in the West. Gen. Alger is now president of the corporation of Alger, Smith & Co., which succeeded R. A. Alger & Co. Ile is also president of the Manistique Lumbering Company and president of the Detroit, Bay City & Alpena Railroad Company, besides being a stockholder and director of the Detroit National Bank, the Peninsu- lar Car Company and several other large corpor- ations.

While always an active and influential Republi- can, Gen. Alger has never sought nor hekl a sal- aried office. Ile was a delegate from the First Dis- triet to the last Republican National Convention, but aside from this his connection with politics has not extended beyond the duties of every good cit- izen to his party and his country.

Gen. Alger is now forty-nine years of age, an active, handsome gentleman six feet tall, living the life of a busy man of affairs. Ilis military bearing at once indicates his army life, and although slenderly built, his square shoulders and erect carriage give the casual observer the impression that his weight is fully 180 pounds. IIe is a firm, yet a most decidedly pleasant-appearing man, with a fine forehead, rather a prominent nose, an iron- gray moustache and chin whiskers and a full head of black hair sprinkled with gray. IIe is usually attired in the prevailing style of business suits. His favorite dress has been a high buttoned entaway

frock coat, with the predominating cut of vest and trousers, made of firm gray suiting. A high collar, small cravat, easy shoes and white plug hat com- plete his personal apparel. Ile is very particular as to his appearance, and always wears neat clothes of the best goods, but shuns any display of jewelry or extravagant embellishment. IIe is one of the most approachable men imaginable. No matter how busy he may be, he always leaves his desk to extend a cordial welcome to every visitor, be he of high or low situation. His affable manners delight his guests, while his pleasing face and bright, dark eyes always animate his hearers.

Gen. Alger is a hard worker. lle is always at his office promptly in the morning and stays as long as anything remains that demands his attention. In business matters he is always decided, and is never shaken or disturbed by any reverses. IIe has the confidence of his associates to a high degree, and al. his business relations are tempered with those little kindnesses that relieve the tedium of routine office life. Although deeply engrossed in various busi- ness pursuits, Gen. Alger has yet found time for general culture. He owns a large library and his stock of general information is as complete as it is reliable. His collection of paintings has been se- lected with rare good taste, and contains some of the finest productions of modern artists. His team of bays are perhaps the handsomest that grace the roads of Detroit, and usually lead the other outfits when their owner holds the reins.

Gen. Alger has an interesting family. His wife was Annette II. Henry, the daughter of W. G. Ilenry, of Grand Rapids, to whom he was married April 2, 1861. She is a slender woman of fair com- plexion, bright and attractive, and a charming host- ess. She is gifted with many accomplishments and appears quite young. There are six children. Fay. a lively brunette, and Caroline A., who is rather tali and resembles her mother, have completed a course at an Eastern seminary, and during the past year traveled in Europe. The remaining members of the family are Frances, aged 13; Russell A., Jr., aged 11; Fred, aged 9, and Allan, aged 3. All are bright and promising children. Gen. Alger makes his home at his handsome and large new residence on Fort street, at the corner of First street, Detroit.

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Very respectfully Cyrus Of Lucca.

177

GOVERNORS OF MICHIGAN.

Cyrus Gray Luce.

YRUS GRAY LUCE, the present Governor of Miehi- gan, combines in his charac- ter the substantial traits of the New England ancestry of his father, and the chival- rous and hospitable elements peculiar to the Southerners, which came to him from his mother's side of the house. The New Englanders, act- ive in the cause of American liberty, after this desired result was accom- plished, turned their attention to the growth and development of the country which their noble daring had constituted independent of foreign rule. The pri- vations they endured and the struggles from which they had achieved victory built up in them those qualities which in the very nature of events could not be otherwise than transmitted to their posterity, and this posterity comprises a large number of the men who to-day, like the subject of this history, are making a record of which their descendants will be equally proud.

Gov. Luce was born in Windsor, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, July 2, 1824. His father was a native of Tolland, Conn., served as a soldier in the War of 1812, and soon after its close emigrated from New England and settled on the Western Reserve in Northern Ohio. His mother, who in her girlhood was Miss Mary Gray, was born in Winchester, Va. Iler father, tinetured with Abolitionism, found his home in the Old Dominion becoming uncomforta- ble as an abiding-place at that time, and accord- ingly, with his wife and family of young children,

he also migrated, in 1815, to the wilds of Northern Ohio. There the parents of our subject, in 1819, were united in marriage, and continued residents of Ashtabula County until 1836. There also were born to them six sons, Cyrus G. of this sketch being the second.

The incidents in the early life of Gov. Luce were not materially different from those of other boys living on the farms in that new country. Ile was taught to work at anything necessary for him to do and to make himself useful around the pioneer homestead. When twelve years of age his parents removed further West, this time locating in Steu- ben County, Ind. This section of country was still newer and more thinly settled, and without recount- ing the particular hardships and privations which the family experienced, it is sufficient to say that but few enjoyed or suffered a greater variety. Markets were distant and difficult of access, the comforts of life scarce, and sickness universal. Young Luce, in com- mon with other boys, attended school winters in the stereotyped log school-house, and in summer as- sisted in clearing away the forests, feneing the fields and raising erops after the land was improved. He attended three terms an academy located at On- tario, Ind., and his habit of reading and observation added essentially to his limited sehool privileges.

When seventeen years of age the father of our subject erected a cloth-dressing and wool-carding establishment, where Cyrus G. acquired a full knowledge of this business and subsequently had charge of the factory for a period of seven years. In the meantime he had become interested in local polities, in which he displayed rare judgment and sound common sense, and on account of which, in 1848, he was nominated by the Whigs in a district composed of the counties of DeKalb and Steuben for Representative in the State Legislature. ILe made a vigorous canvass but was defeated by eleven majority. This incident was but a transient bub- ble on the stream of his life, and that same year

178

CYRUS GRAY LUCE.

Mr. Luce purchased eighty acres of wild land near Gilead, Branch Co., Mich., the improvement of which he at once entered upon, clearing away the trees and otherwise making arrangements for the establishment of a homestead. In August, 1849, he . wasunited in marriage with Miss Julia A. Dickinson, of Gilead, and the young people immediately com- meneed housekeeping in a modest dwelling on the new farm. Here they resided until the death of the wife, which took place in August, 1882. Mrs. Luce was the daughter of Obed and Experience Dickinson, well-to-do and highly respected residents of Gilead. Of her union with our subject there were born five children, one now deceased.

In November, 1883, Gov. Luce contracted a sec- ond marriage, with Mrs. Mary Thompson, of Bron- son, this State. Ile continued on the same farm, which, however, by subsequent purchase had been considerably extended, until after his election to the office of which he is now the incumbent. In the meantime he has had a wide and varied experience in public life. In 1852 he was elected to represent his township in the County Board of Supervisors, and two years later, in 1854, was elected Representative to the first Republican Legislature convened in the State of Michigan. Ile served his township altogether eleven years as a member of the Board of Supervisors. In 1858 he was elected County Treasurer of Branch County and re-elected in 1860. In 1864 he was given a seat in the State Senate and re-elected in I 1866. In the spring of 1867 he was made a member of the Constitutional Convention to revise the Consti- tution of the State of Michigan, and in all of the positions to which he has been called has evidenced a realization of the sober responsibilities committed to his care. To the duties of each he gave the most conscientious care, and has great reason to feel pride and satisfaction in the fact that during his service in both Houses of the Legislature his name appears upon every roll-call, he never having been absent from his post a day.

In July, 1879, Mr. Luce was appointed State Oil Inspector by Gov. Croswell, and re-appointed by Gov. Jerome in 1881, serving in this capacity three and one-half years. In the management of the duties of this office he is entitled to great credit. The office was not sought by him, but the Governor

urged him to accept it, claiming that the office was the most difficult he had to fill, and was one which required first-class executive ability. Ile organized the State into districts, appointed an adequate force of deputies and no more, secured a reduction of the fees by nearly one-half, and in every way managed the affairs of the office so efficiently and satisfae- torily that above all expenses he was enabled to pay into the State Treasury during his management $32,000.49.

In August of the year 1886 Mr. Luce was nom- inated by the Republicans in convention assembled at Grand Rapids, for the office of Governor of Michigan by acclamation, and on the 2d of Novem- ber following was elected by a majority of 7,432 over his chief competitor, George L. Yaple. In 1871 he became an active member of the farm- ers' organization known as the Grange. Believing als he does that agriculture furnishes the basis of National prosperity, he was anxious to contribute to the education and elevation of the farming com- munity, and thus availed himself of the opportuni- ties offered by this organization to aid in accom- plishing this result. For a period of seven years he was Master of the State Grange but resigned the position last November. Fidelity to convictions, close application to business, whether agricultural or affairs of State, coupled with untiring industry, are his chief characteristics. As a farmer, legislator, executive officer, and manager of county as well as State affairs, as a private as well as a public citizen. his career has all along been marked with success. No one can point to a spot reflecting discredit ir. his public career or private life. Ile is a man of the people, and self-made in the strietest sense. His whole life has been among the people, in full sym- pathy with them, and in their special confidence and esteem.

Personally, Gov. Cyrus G. Luce is high-minded, intellectual and affable, the object of many and warm friendships, and a man in all respects above reproach. To the duties of his high position he has brought a fitting dignity, and in all the re- lations of life that conscientious regard to duty of which we often read but which is too seldom seen, especially among those having within their hands the interests of State and Nation,

Edwin B Hinaus

18I

GOVERNORS OF MICHIGAN.

Edwin

Finans.

ON. EDWIN B. WINANS, who began his duties as Governor of Michigan, January 1, 1891, is a son of the Empire State, of which his parents also were G natives. From German ancestry on the father's side, he derives the in- stinets of frugality and careful con- sideration of ways and means, and these are strengthened by the sub- stantial traits of the Puritan fore- fathers of his mother. Both lines have transmitted to him the love of country and home that has led thousands into untrodden wilds where they might secure that which would be for the future good of themselves and posterity.

John and Eliza (Way) Winans removed from New York to this State in 1834, and settled on a farm in Livingston County, where the boyhood of Gov. Winans was passed. He was about eight years old at the time of the removal, having been born at Avon, Livingston County, N. Y., May 16, 1826. Up to the age of eighteen years he attended the district school, and he then entered Albion College, from which he was graduated in 1850. The excitement attendant upon the discovery of

gold in California had not died out, and young Winans felt a strong desire to visit the coast and try his fortnne in the mines. He decided in favor of the overland route, crossed the plains in safety, and spent the ensuing eight years in seeking the precious metal-a quest that was fairly successful.

Returning to Livingston County, this State, Mr. Winans bought land and engaged in general farm- ing. He has retained the farm as his home through all the changes varions official positions have brought him, and joyfully returned to it whenever his faithful discharge of public duty would allow. His estate now includes four hundred acres of land . under a high state of cultivation and improved with buildings of the best construction and modern design. In connection with general farming Gov. Winans has given considerable attention to raising stock of high grades, and his understanding of agriculture in its various departments is broad and deep. He believes that his success in political life is largely due to his thorough identification with the agricultural interests of the State and no doubt he is right.

The public career of Gov. Winans began in 1860, when he was elected to represent his county in the State Legislature. He served two consecutive terms, covering the period from 1860 to 1865. In 1867 he was a member of the Constitutional Con-

182

EDWIN B WINANS.

vention of the State, and in 1876 he was elected Probate Judge of Livingston County for a term of four years. The next important position oecu- pied by Gov. Winans was that of Congressman dur- ing the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses, representing the Sixth District. It was always his lot to be nominated for office when the Democratic party was decidedly in the minority, but such were his personal characteristics and his reputation as one interested in the welfare of that great class, the farmers, that in every case he made a successful race. When he was put up for Congress the oppo- sition had a majority in the district of three thou- sand votes, but he was elected by a plurality of thirty. While in Congress he took an active part in all measures tending to the public good and served on the Committees on Agriculture and l'en- sions. In the fall of 1891 his name headed the Democratic ticket and he was elected Governor of the State.

In his private life Gov. Winans has been as ex- emplary as in his publie career he has been useful and influential. He is a consistent member of the Episcopal Church and in his religious faith and practice has the close sympathy of his wife, who belongs to the same society. Ilis marriage was solemnized in Hamburg, Livingston County, in 1855, his bride being Miss Elizabeth Galloway, who

was born and reared on the farm she still calls home, as it was bought of her father by Gov. Winans. She is a daughter of George and Susan (Haight ) Galloway, who are numbered among the early settlers of Livingston County, whither they came from New York. She is an educated, refined woman, whose mental attainments and social qualities fit her for the position which she occupies as hostess of the Gubernatorial mansion. Governor and Mrs. Winans have two sons, George G , who is now act- ing as his father's private secretary, and Edwin B., Jr., a graduate of West Point.

Gov. Winans has in former years shown himself capable of close application to the duties which lay before him, and his judicious decisions and wise course when attempting to bring about a worthy object, are well known to those who are acquainted with the history of the State. Although it is often said that it is scarcely safe to judge of a man until his career is closed, yet Gov. Winans has acted his part so well thus far in life that he is confidently expected to add to the credit that already belongs to the great commonwealth of Michigan, and which to a certain extent lies in the hands of those who have been and are its chief executives. Among his personal characteristics are those of a love of truth, justice and progress, and a cordial, kindly spirit which makes warm friends and stanch adherents.

akland Bounty,

Michigan,

INTRODUCTORY.

HE time has arrived when it becomes the duty of the people of this county to per- petuate the names of their pioneers, to furnish a record of their early settlement, and relate the story of their progress. The civilization of our day, the enlightenment of the age and the duty that men of the pres- ent time owe to their ancestors, to themselves and to their posterity, demand that a record of their lives and deeds should be made. In bio- graphical history is found a power to instruct man by precedent, to enliven the mental faculties, and to waft down the river of time a safe vessel in which the names and actions of the people who contributed to raise this country from its primitive state may be preserved. Surely and rapidly the great and aged men, who in their prime entered the wilderness and claimed the virgin soil as their heritage, are passing to their graves. The number re- maining who can relate the incidents of the first days of settlement is becoming small indeed, so that an actual necessity exists for the collection and preser- vation of events without delay, before all the early settlers are cut down by the scythe of Time.

To be forgotten has been the great dread of mankind from remotest ages. All will be forgotten soon enough, in spite of their best works and the most earnest efforts of their friends to perserve the memory of their lives. The means employed to prevent oblivion and to perpetuate their memory has been in propor- tion to the amount of intelligence they possessed. The pyramids of Egypt were built to perpetuate the names and deeds of their great rulers. The exhu- mations made by the archeologists of Egypt from buried Memphis indicate a desire of those people

to perpetuate the memory of their achievements The erection of the great obelisks were for the same purpose. Coming down to a later period, we find the Greeks and Romans erecting mausoleums and monu- ments, and carving out statues to chronicle their great achievements and carry them down the ages. It is also evident that the Mound-builders, in piling up their great mounds of earth, had but this idea- to leave something to show that they had lived. All these works, though many of them costly in the ex- treme, give but a faint idea of the lives and charac. ters of those whose memory they were intended to perpetuate, and scarcely anything of the masses of the people that then lived. The great pyramids and some of the obelisks remain objects only of curiosity ; the mausoleums, monuments and statues are crum- bling into dust.

It was left to modern ages to establish an intelli- gent, undecaying, immutable method of perpetuating a full history-immutable in that it is almost un- limited in extent and perpetual in its action; and this is through the art of printing.

To the present generation, however, we are in- debted for the introduction of the admirable system of local biography. By this system every man, though he has not achieved what the world calls greatness, has the means to perpetuate his life, his history, through the coming ages.

The scythe of Time cuts down all ; nothing of the physical man is left. The monument which his chil- dren or friends may erect to his memory in the ceme- tery will crumble into dust and pass away; but his life, his achievements, the work he has accomplished. which otherwise would be forgotten, is perpetuated by a record of this kind.

To preserve the lineaments of our companions we engrave their portraits, for the same reason we col- lect the attainable facts of their history. Nor do we think it necessary, as we speak only truth of them, to wait until they are dead, or until those who know them are gone: to do this we are ashuimed only to publish to the world the history of those whose lives are unworthy of public record.

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Aug. C. Baldum

191

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

BIDGRAPHICAL.

UGUSTUS C. BALDWIN. There is in the anxious and laborious acquisition of an honorable competence and the solid career of the busi- ness or professional man, fight- ing the everyday battle of life, but little to attract the idle read- er in search of a sensational chap- ter. But for a mind thoroughly awake to the reality and mean- ing of human existence, there are noble and immortal lessons in the life of the man who, without other means than a clear head, a strong arm and a true heart, conquers adversity, and toil- ing on through the work-a-day years of a long and arduous carcer, sits down at the evening of his life with a good name. Such a man is the subject of this sketch, and it is to those who appreciate the value and would emulate the excellence of such lives, that the writer addresses the remarks which here follow.

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Portrait and biographical album of Oakland County, Michigan, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 14

Author: Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago : Chapman bros. Number of Pages: 980

Author:
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman bros.
Number of Pages: 980