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 18
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The young gentleman began the publication of the Birmingham Eccentric, an independent local newspaper, in the spring of 1878, the first number having been issued May 1. They are still carry- ing on that sheet, the editorial work on which is chiefly in the hands of Mr. Mitchell. His language is terse and comprehensive, his utterances forcible and to the point, and the courage of his convictions gives him influence over the minds of his readers. The firm of Whitehead & Mitchell carry on the Exchange Bank and have control of the telephone exchange, so that they have various interests to look after, but they seem quite capable of manag. ing them all.
Miss Hannah E. Corey became the wife of Mr. Mitchell September 26, 1877. The bride was born in Macomb County and is a daughter of George W. and Narcissa (Mitchell) Corey, The happy
union has been blest by the birth of two children -Carrie E. and Eugene C., but the parents mourn the loss of their son. Mr. Mitchell is a Mason and has risen to the third degree, and is also con- nected with the Ancient Order of Foresters. His political affiliation is with the Democratic party, as he is a firm believer in its principles of govern- mental policy. He has been Township Treasurer and Village Clerk. In social, as in business life, Mr. Mitchell is one of the leading men of Birmingham and his career so far gives promise of his acquir- ing wealth and great influence.
OHIN BRAID, of Oakland Township, was born July 5, 1828, on the Isle of Man, which is situated in the Irish Sea. His father who also bore the name of John, was a farmer who lived upon this island to the age of seventy years and there ended his days. His grand- father, Archibald, was a native of the same isle. He was a finely self-educated gentleman and was author of the Manx Dictionary, which was used very generally in early days. The language now is becoming somewhat obsolete. The mother was also a native of this isle and died a short time pre- vious to the decease of her husband at the age of seventy years. Of her twelve children, seven are still living.
Mr. Braid was born and reared upon a farm and received a very limited education. He has always pursued a course of self-education which has largely overcome the early deprivation and he has drawn from all sources for his own informa- tion. lle has given his children excellent advan- tages and has followed theu or accompanied them in their studies, thus gaining with them an educa- tion quite thorough and comprehensive. He began life for himself at about twenty-four years of age. In 1852 Mr. Braid went to County Cumberland, England, where he worked by the year receiving from twelve to twenty ponnds a year for wages. In 1857 he returned to his native isle and was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Lecce, He theu sailed for America and was nine days and ten
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bours on the way to Quebec. Hle went to King- ston and hired himself out for a month, and was so well satisfied that he continued working there for eighteen months. In 1860 he emigrated to St. Clair County, Mich., and located near Smith's Corners. where he rented a farm and lived for three years. In 1863 he removed to Macomb County, and rented a farm near Washington. The next year he took a farm near Stony Creek. In 1865 he removed to Oakland County and located in Oakland Township.
In the spring of 1866 Mr. Braid rented a farm which he afterward purchased and on which he now resides. lle borrowed 850 with which to make the first payment, and was able in time to make good the borrowed money and to make his payments. He has greatly improved this farm. cleared and drained it and added substantial build- ings. Six children have blessed his home, Frances A., William E. (deceased), Edward. Eva, Emma and John. To each he has given an excellent educa- tion. Ile is a Democrat in his polities and is often a delegate to county conventions. Ilis wife is an earnest and active member of the Protestant Meth- odist Church.
In 1881 Mr. Braid paid a visit to his native country and found many changes. He owns his farm of two hundred and twenty acres besides sixty acres in Adrian Township. He makes a specialty of rutabagas and potatoes and raises an excellent grade of stock.
AMUEL MILLER, one of the wealthiest citizens of Springfield Township, as shown by the tax list, has made his fortune by industry, enterprise and an unusual degree of acumen. He was born in Monroe County, N. Y., October 12, 1826. llis father. George Miller, was the son of Joseph Miller, of Irish deseent. His ancestors in this country resided in New Jersey. llis grandmother, Mary Miller, lived to a good old age, having been the mother of three children. The father of our subject was reared upon the home farm and came to Monroe County. N. Y., when eight
years old. It was a new country and here he grew to manhood. After his marriage he settled on a farm of sixty acres.
In April, 1837, George Miller came to this State, walking the entire distance from his home to Lock- port, N. Y., where he took the canal boat to Buf- falo, and the steamer to Detroit. He then resumed his journey on foot to his new home in Independ- ence Township. Here he bought one hundred and twenty aeres and made a bome out of a log house which had been used as a stable. Hle then sent for his wife and six children and founded a home in the wilderness. Indians were numerous, but no other settlers, and the little children were very homesick and timid. Three hundred Indians with seventy-five ponies eamped near the farm. Mr. Miller was a successful farmer and stock-raiser, and at his death May 9, 1882. he was the possessor of three hundred acres of finely improved land. Hle was first a Democrat, later a Whig, but upon the organization of the Republican party, identified himself therewith. Ilis religious belief was that if a man lived an upright life he would go to heaven.
The wife of George Miller bore the maiden name of Polly Smith. She was born in New Jersey. April 16, 1803, and saw some hard times here in the early days. Her children were named Hannah, Samuel, Anna, Mary. Dave and George. Her religious be- lief accorded with that of her husband. Her father, David Smith, was a soldier in the War of 1812. and having been wounded in the aim, he became a pensioner of the Government. George Miller was for a long time Road Commissioner and helped to lay out many of the roads in Independence Township.
The subject of this sketch was seven years old when he came to this county. The rate bill system was then in vogue in the district where he lived, and his father paid the tuition of many a poor boy, who otherwise would have been deprived of edu- cational advantages. At that time Indians were more plentiful than white men and our subject often attended Indian pow-wows. Ile used to sleep up in the garret of the log house and could look out and see the wolves, twenty or thirty in a drove. Ile lived with his father and worked the home farm until he was twenty-eight years old. When
Jo. S. Norton
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he started out in life for himself be bought one hundred and twenty acres adjoining his father's land, but traded it in 1863 for the same amount of land in this township.
The marriage of our subject took place July 4, 1854. His wife, Catherine llouser, a native of New York, died two years after marriage at the early age of nineteen. She had one child which died when two and one-half months old. Mr. Miller's second marriage took place March: 29, 1863. His wife was Elsie Mesurall, a native of Independence Township, and born November 22, 1841. Her par- ents came hither in territorial days, and passed the remainder of their lives in this community. To our subject and his estimable wife five children have been born, four of whom still remain to cheer the hearts of their parents. They were named Sidney I., Charles G., Thaddeus, Benjamin and David C. The latter is deceased.
Mr. Miller owns five hundred and fifty acres all in one body, four hundred and twenty -five of which are cleared. Ile keeps between four hundred and one thousand head of sheep, and breeds Shropshire fine wool sheep, as well as large numbers of other stock. Ilis large brick mansion was erected in 1877, and his fine barns in 1880 and 1883. In pol- itics he is a Republican and has served as Road Commissioner and in school offices. His home is pleasantly situated three miles from Clarkston and is one of the most attractive in the community. For many years Mr. Miller ran a threshing machine and found the business quite lucrative. A man of remarkable ability and good judgment, he is highly esteemed by his neighbors.
ON. JOHN D. NORTON. Among the prominent citizens of Pontiac, whose su- perior abilities and splendid reputation en- hanced the fame of this beautiful city, may well be mentioned the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. His record as a banker in Pontiac, and as a progressive and active promoter of all the best interests of the county, is worthy of note. He was born December 18, 1843, at Van Buren,
Onondaga County, N. Y., and is the youngest of four children. ITis father, Dudley Dorman Norton, was born in Hebron, Conn., in 1799, and removed to Onondaga County in 1822, where he married, January 24, 1824, Margaret F. Farrington. IIc followed the occupation of farming for forty years. Ilis death occurred in 1870, and that of his widow in 1875. They were prominent mem- bers of the Presbyterian Church for a number of years.
Mr. Norton passed the first twelve years of his life on a farm, and in 1854 removed to the village of Baldwinsville, N. Y., where he remained until 1867. His early education was obtained in the village schools. He prepared for college at the Elbridge (New York) Academy, and at Cortland Academy, in Ilomer, and entered Hamilton College, at Clinton, N. Y., in 1863, where be was graduated in 1867. He was an active member of the college secret society known as "Chi Psi."
After leaving college Mr. Norton started West, settling in St. Louis, Mo., where he engaged in the real-estate business, and remained about three months. In 1868 he became largely interested in pine lands in the western part of Michigan, and since that time has made the State his home. In 1874 he was elected from Oakland County in the Third Representative District, to the Michigan Leg- islature, and was re-elected in 1876, serving upon the Committees of Ways and Means, Railroads, and Education. He was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention, held at St. Louis in June, 1876, and was the member of that convention from Michigan upon Rules and Permanent Organ- ization. His political views are in strict accord- ance with those of the Democratic party, of which he has ever been an active member.
Mr. Norton was one of the charter members of the present organization of the First National Bank, of Pontiac, and its Cashier for a period of ten years, and was elected President of the Bank, January 1, 1887. Ile was one of the organizers, and is a Director of the Second National Bank, of Owosso, Mich., and is a stockholder in both banks, being the largest in the First National of Pontiar; he is also a stockholder in the Third National Bank of Detroit. Since 1883 he has held the
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office of Treasurer of the Michigan Asylum for the Insane, at Pontiac, and is also Treasurer of the Michigan Military Academy, at Orchard Lake, with which he has been connected since 1882, and in which he has taken a deep interest, being one of its strongest supporters financially. He is also Secretary and Treasurer of the Pontiae Knit Boot Company, of which he was one of the incorpora- tors, in 1884, and is likewise a member of the firm of C. E. Wakeman & Co, owners of the Pontiac Knitting Works, the main industry of Pontiac, and one of the leading mercantile houses of this section of the State.
Mr. Norton is still interested in Michigan pine lands, and is the owner of very extensive pine lands in the State of Mississippi. He recently purchased, in connection with one other, fifty acres of boulevard property in the city of Detroit, and owns in addition, considerable real estate in South- ern California, where he spends the winter season with his family. He has been for some years City Treasurer of Pontiac, and was also for a considera- ble period Treasurer of the County Agricultural Society. Ile was also one of the charter members of the Board of Control of Cemeteries, and one of the Board of Water Commissioners appointed by the Council of Pontiae and still retains the position. He has been a member of the Masonie fraternity for the last fifteen years, is a Knight Templar, and a member of the Knights of Pythias.
On the 9th of June, 1869, Mr. Norton was mar- ried to Elizabeth C. Flower, daughter of Theron A. Flower, Esq., formerly of Pontiac, a prominent business man, and who was its first Mayor on its incorporation as a city. They have three children living: Hattie M., John 1). Jr., and Mary C., all of whom reside at home. Mr. Norton has for a long time occupied a prominent place as one of the most enterprising and successful business men of his adopted city. He has interested himself largely in every enterprise of a publie nature, contributing both time and money towards the welfare of the community, and has aided largely in building up and maintaining its industries. Of sturdy and honorable character, and with business energy and ability of a high order, he has won a deservedly high place in the esteem of his fellow-citizens, and
a success in business that enables him to enjoy a life of comfort and happiness with his family and large circle of friends. In 1888 he was nominated for State Treasurer, and although making a mag- nificent run, was, with the majority of his party, defeated on the tariff issue. Many of the facts of this sketch are taken from the Cyclopedia of Miehi- gan, recently issued and it is noteworthy as a comprehensive account of a notable citizen. A portrait of Mr. Norton accompanies this sketch.
ARK HOLLISTER. One of the most pleasant rural abodes in Waterford Town- ship is that of the gentleman above named, which is located on section 16, in the midst of fertile fields, where everything necessary in the way of farm buildings has been erected and all other improvements made which would add to the value of the estate or the comfort of those who oe- eupy it. Mr. Hollister is quite well known as a man of means, possessed of decided business ability, and unlimited energy and perseverance. IIe is now liv- ing retired from the more active duties of life, in a pleasant home in Pontiac, while his son, Frank B., operates the home farm.
The father of Mr. Hollister, whose given name was Henry L., was born in 1796 in Saratoga County, N. Y., and was reared on a farm. At that early day educational privileges were limited, and he had none of the opportunities offered to the youth of the present day. Upon attaining maturity he was united in marriage with Miss Eunice Avery, also a native of the Empire State, and born in 1804. She possessed robust health, and was a spinner and weaver by trade, which came in good play after the death of her husband, as she was able to clothe her children by spinning and weaving flax on shares. Eight children were born to her and her husband, of whom four survive, three re- siding in Michigan and one in New York. All the children attended common schools, while one brother was a student in a normal school; another, who was educated in a seminary, is now a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Conference in Michi-
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gan. The father was a Methodist exhorter, and a man of feeble health. He died April 12, 1840, leaving his family without means.
Our subject was born in Wayne County, N. Y., Avgust 9, 1825, and was the eldest of the eight children included in the family circle. When he was fifteen years of age his father died, and the care of the smaller children devolved upon him, thus throwing upon him early in life the responsi- bilites of manhood. He worked out by the month in the summer, giving his wages to his mother, and in the winter he did chores for his board and schooling. At the age of eighteen he and a brother took a contract to cut one hundred cords of wood for $31.25 and board themselves. From that time until he was twenty-one he took some land on shares, thus utilizing the younger children, and by this means he and his mother kept the family to- gether. One of his brothers, Henry L., spent five years in the late war, and now owns and operates a farm in Shiawassee County, Mich., while George E., a minister, is spoken of elsewhere.
A very important event in the life of Mr. Hol- lister was his marriage with Tryphena Benton, a native of New York. Of the two children born to them, one survives: Frank B., who was married in 1881 to Miss Jessie L., daugliter of Oliver W. and Mary E. Seger, natives of this State. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hollister have a family of four chil- dren, namely : Frank B., Edwin A., Pearl C., and a daughter as yet unnamed. In 1866 Mr. Hollister came to Michigan, accompanied by his family, and located in Waterford Township, Oakland County, where he lived five years. He then traded for a farm in Royal Oak Township, where he remained for twenty years. He improved a good farm and became well-to-do. In 1889 he purchased seventy acres in Waterford Township, which his son las since occupied. Two years later he bought an- other farm comprising eighty acres on section 17, adjoining the first purchase, and this the son also operates. His estate comprises one hundred and fifty acres of good land, upon which various im- provements have been made which mark the owner as a man of energy and enterprise.
Religiously Mr. Hollister belongs to the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, and in his political allilia-
tions he was formerly a Republican, but now a Prohibitionist. He has held the office of Justice of the Peace, and in him the township finds a loyal citizen, whose public spirit prompts him to pushi forward every movement for the benefit of the community.
ENRY P. BECK owns and operates a good farm on section 36, Royal Oak Township, consisting of ninety acres of well-improved land. He began the battle of life without money or extra help, and has made his own way, arriving at a condition that enables him to enjoy many comforts and feel that the future is secure. He bought his property in 1868 and has brought it from its wild condition through the various stages of clearing, breaking and improvement. The homelike farm house in which he lives was put up in 1869.
Mr. Beck is a German by birth, but has lived in this country since his childhood. His father, for whom he is named, was born in Hanau, Prussia, March 4, 1804, and had but an ordinary education. About 1830 he married Mary E. Giloy, who was born in Simmern, Prussia, December 24, 1811. She was the daughter of George F. Giloy, who was of French descent. In 1842 the Becks came to America and settled in Cleveland, Ohio, where the husband and father died January 29, 1874. The widow survived until January 25, 1882, and died in the same city. They had three daughters and two sons, and our subject was the younger son and third child. He attended the public schools in Cleveland and remained with his par- ents until 1859. Ile was then in his twenty-third year, having been born October 24, 1836.
August 26, 1862, Mr. Beck was married to Mary A. Warner, of Berea, Ohio. She was born November 22, 1811, in Columbia, Ohio, and was the elder child of Levi B. and Eliza ( Zuver) War- ner, having a brother Cassius M. Her father was born in Columbia, Ohio, May 5, 1819, and died at Royal Oak May 15, 1888. Adna Warner, the father of Levi B., was born in Waterbury, Conn.,
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August 29, 1792,and married Anna S. Bronson, who was born in 1800 in Waterbury, Conn .; her father Levi Bronson, was a native of Connecticut and removed with his family to Ohio in 1805. Anna (Bronson) Warner, was married in 1816 and died August 14, 1880, in Pipestone, Mich. There also her husband passed away May 25, 1868. The maiden name of her mother was Sarah Princle and the mother of the latter bore the name of Anna Southmayde.
Tracing the ancestry of Mrs. Beck still further back, we find that the father of Adna Warner was Justus, a Revolutionary soldier of old New Eng- land stock. He came west to Ohio in 1811, and died in Liverpool, that State, in the fall of 1855, when one hundred years and twenty days old. Ile was Justice of the Peace many years. Urania, his wife, was seventy years old at the time of her death. This good old couple were of different polit- ical opinions, and both took their respective papers. When the postman came she, for fun, would take the tongs with which to carry in his paper. She was an educated physician and was often sent for as eminent counsel. It was quite common for her to travel fifty miles on horseback to be present at important consultations.
The mother of Mrs. Beck, Eliza Zuver, was born in Pennsylvania October 8, 1820, and was the daughter of John W. and Margaret (Bridgman) Zuver, the former a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Zuver was a generous, honorable man, and highly esteemed. George Beck, grandfather of our subject, was born in Prussia about 1773 and became an officer in the P'russian Army ; he also became a civil officer where his family lived.
In 1863 Mr. Beck came to this State and his first choice of a home was in Hluron County. Ile worked in the quarries of Grindstone City four years, then went to Columbia, Ohio, for a year's sojourn, after which he returned to this State and settled in Wayne County. In 1868 he bought the farm upon which he is now living and soon had it sufficiently improved to make it his home. When he settled here his nearest neighbor was a mile and a half dis- tant, and in coming to the new bome he found the roads so soft-much of the land being marshy, that
he carried a rope, by means of which to pull out the wagons when they were stuck. Mr. and Mrs. Beck have two sons-Warner Giloy, born Decem- ber 13, 1869, and Cassius Delos Joy, December 3, 1873.
The first Presidential vote cast by Mr. Beck bore the name of Abraham Lincoln and he has followed it by supporting each Republican candi- date to the present time. He has been a worker for the party of his choice though he is not an office-seeker, but one who thinks it the duty of every good citizen to exercise the right of suffrage intelligently and unfailingly. He bas served as Justice of the Peace two years and was re-elected, but declined to again qualify for the office. lle and his wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church and Mrs. Beck has been a teacher in the Sunday-school. Iler brother, Cassius M. Warner, laid down his life for the Union, dying at Chatta- nooga August 14. 1864. Ile was not yet of age, having been born September 10, 1843. He had enlisted in Company B, One Hundred and Third Obio Infantry, Col. Casement of Painesville, com- manding, and was present at the battles of Look - out Mountain, Chattanooga and Resaca, and was wounded during the last-named engagement. He belonged to Sherman's forces when that re- nowned commander started on the famous march to the sea.
OSEPH LONG is one of the large land- owners of West Bloomfield Township and one of the old settlers here, having taken up his residence in 1854. His home farm con- sists of three hundred and eight acres, and he has one hundred and seventy acres in another part of the township. He carries on extensive operations and finds abundant occupation for his waking hours in the management of his agricultural affairs and the duties he owes to bome and society. He was born in County Queens, Ireland, Septem- ber 12, 1810, and was reared in his native place, spending his boyhood days on a farm. His parents were John and Maria ( Manifold ) Long, natives of Queens and Kings Counties and residents in County
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Queens during their wedded life. The family was a large one, including eleven children, and Joseph was the fourth in order of birth. He received his education in the schools of his native land and un- der his father's guidance learned how to carry on a farm.
In 1830 young Long crossed the Atlantic on the sail-ship "Mogul," an American vessel, consuming seven weeks in the voyage. He landed in New York City early in October and went direct to Newark, N. J., and worked for his uncle, Daniel Whitfield, in a tannery. He subsequently learned and worked at the shoemaker's trade, still making his home in Newark until 1837. He then came to this State and began to work in St. Joseph County, but was soon taken sick with fever and ague and becoming discouraged, started back East. He got as far as Detroit and then decided to remain there and for several years he followed manufacturing and shoe- making in that city. Thence he came to this county and buying a farm in Bloomfield Township, he has remained here, adding to his landed estate and continuing to rise by his persevering exertions.
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