Portrait and biographical album of Oakland County, Michigan, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 42

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 42

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

three hundred Indians was located on Bald Eagle Lake, near where Mr. Bingham settled. Their burying-ground was also located there. Marketing was done by ox-team to Detroit, and clearing and improving went on apace. Mr. Bingham was Justice of the Peace and Supervisor of the town- ship. He died in 1866, having seen hard times in the new country, as he came here with limited means, but he achieved a good degree of success, of which his children are justly proud. His good wife was the mother of six children, four of whom are living. She was a devout and earnest member of the Congregational Church and passed to her long home in 1871.

The subject of this sketch was nine years old when he came to Michigan and he has clear recol- lections of pioneer life. After availing himself of the educational advantages offered in the log schoolhouses, he began at seventeen years of age to teach, receiving at first 822 per month, and later attaining the munificent monthly salary of $40. lle taught for fifteen winters and remained at home until he was twenty-five, and pursued farm- ing during the summers. In 1870 he sold his farm, and coming to Ortonville, engaged in the mercantile business. After fifteen years of suc- cessful effort he turned over his business to his son. He is a man of more than ordinary ability as a financier, and during the fifteen years lie was in business in Ortonville he made 830,000.

Mr. Bingham in 1853 united his fortunes for life with those of Amy R. Arnold, who was born near Syracuse, N. Y., in 1830. Her children are Ella, William and Don C. William is engaged in the mercantile business in Stockton, Kan. The second son has taken charge of his father's busi- ness in Ortonville and Ella is the wife of L. C. Truax, of Bad Axe, Mich., who is a hardware mer- chant there. The mother of these children was called from earth in 1875.

Mr. Bingham has been a Justice of the Peace for many years and his political affiliations are with the Democratic party. He has been for a number of years a Trustee in the Free Will Baptist Church, of which he is a member. His second marriage took place in 1876. He was then united with Julia Cummings, a Michigan lady. One child,

392

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHIICAL ALBUM.

Dora B., has erowned this union. Our subject started in life with nothing and went in debt for his first land, but his energy, perseverance and enterprise brought him snecess in a high degree. He has a beautiful home in the village, where he spares no pains to secure the happiness of his fam- ily. Ile has ever been a liberal contributor to charitable purposes and no man who is worthy of his confidence is ever unkindly turned away when he seeks a favor at the hands of Mr. Bingham.

ONATHAN PHILLIPS, an enterprising farmer of Milford Township, is pleasantly located on section 21. He has one hundred and forty acres of land, eighty of which is under the plow and devoted to divers crops. The buildings now standing on the farm were put up by Mr. Kesby. Mr. Phillips has done a large amount of tiling on the place. He is a son of Leonard Phillips and a brother of A. J. Phillips, to whose sketch the reader is referred for facts re- garding his parents.

The natal day of Mr. Phillips was April 30, 1842, and his birthplace his father's farm in Milford Township. He received an elementary education in the district schools and later attended the State Normal School at Ypsilanti. He resided at home until he was of age, and then started out without any assistance to make his way in the world. He first worked on a farm near Milford and did not lose an hour's time in eight months and a week. Ilis wages were $17 per month. Ile then worked for Sidney Hudson until Christmas, helped his father build a shed, and then returned to his former employment and did not lose a day during the remainder of the winter. In the spring he entered the service of Mr. Kesby, who then owned the farm now possessed by himself. Ile worked for that gentleman three years, and then rented the farm for an equal length of time, paying a rental of one-third the crops raised. Mr. Phillips next bought land on section 28, and settled upon it. The ninety acres had been poorly cultivated and the buildings were in keeping with the condition

of the land. After remaining there two years he sold the place and bought his present property.

In 1871 Mr. Phillips was married to Laura, daughter of Elizur and Mehitable (Stratton) Rug- gles. Mr. Ruggles was born in New York in 1806. and Mrs. Ruggles in Pennsylvania in 1813. Ile came to this State in 1831, and was the first permanent white settler in the village of Milford, having made his location where the depot now stands. The Stratton family removed from Penn- sylvania to Ann Arbor in the year 1825, and in 1835 settled in Ilighland Township, this eonnty, which they were among the first to build up. Jonathan F. Stratton, uncle of Mrs. Phillips, was the first .Justice of the Peace in that township, the first Township Clerk, and performed the first mar- riage ceremony among the settlers there. Mr. Rug- gles held the office of Treasurer and helped build the first sawmill in Milford Township. In fact he helped to organize the township and was one of its most prominent citizens during the early times. He was the first Assessor of Novi Township, and was also Fence Viewer. He lived on his farm forty-five years. His patent was signed by Presi- dent Andrew Jackson. He was first a Whig and then a Republican. Ile and his wife belonged to the Presbyterian Church, and he was a member of the standing committees. He died in 1876, and his wife passed away in 1882. They had eight children, three now living, viz: Mrs. Phillips, Stanley, and Eunice, wife of T. Ilarrison.

Mrs. Phillips was born January 15, 1815, on the old homestead and received her education in Milford. She taught school for several years. She is the mother of six children, of whom we note the following; Anna R., born February 29, 1872, is now the wife of W. K. Foote and lives in Ilel- ena, Mont .; John Dewey was born September 18, 1875; Cecil L., October 30, 1878; Amy, June 1, 1881; Elbert, January 9, 1885; and Bennie E., September 30, 1886. The married daughter was graduated from the Milford High School in the class of '90, and the eldest son is now pursuing his studies there.

Mr. and Mrs. Phillips and three of the children -Anna. Dewey and Amy-belong to the Presby- terian Church and the entire family take an active

-----

Francis Jerry

395

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

interest in the Sunday-school. Mrs. Phillips has been a teacher and Mr. Phillips has belonged to the standing committees of the church. He has been Moderator of the school district for the past seven years. He was formerly a Democrat, but, having been a strictly temperate man all his life and becoming convinced that the regulation of the liquor traffic was necessary to the good of the na- tion he helped to organize the Prohibition party in this vicinity and has worked with and for it ten years. lle and his family move in the best circles and are numbered among the most highly respected and prominent people of this vicinity.

F6 RANCIS PERRY. The pursuit of agricul- ture is carried on with satisfactory results in Orion Township by Mr. Perry, who lo- cated here in the fall of 1873, and is occupying a fine farm of one hundred and thirty acres. Ile was born in Warren County, N. J., April 6, 1827, and was brought to this county in his carly boy- hood. Ilis father, John G. Perry, a native of the same county as himself, took up Government land in Brandon Township and built the first log house erected there. Owing to the sparse settlements the son had meagre school privileges, as the public school system was not in force and the subserip. tions of the patrons would only allow of short sessions. The father died in 1812, when only about forty years old, and the son carried on the farm, and when he was of age bought the home- stead. Ile took care of his mother until hier de- cease in 1860. Her maiden name was Margaret Cruiser and she was born in New Jersey.

September 2, 1855, Francis Perry and Mary E. Gibbs were united in marriage. Their wedded life was brief, as the wife died in 1856. March 15. 1861, Mr. Perry was again married, his bride being Sarah Hart, who was born in this State in 1849. Her father, William Hart, a native of New Jersey, is numbered among the early settlers of Michigan. He took up Government land in Orion Township and died here March 29, 1821; at the age of eighty-three years. His wife, Margaret (Ilibbler)

Hart, was likewise a native of New Jersey. Her father, Abram Hibbler, took up a large traet of land in this section many years ago and died in Groveland Township. Mrs. Hart died in 1888, at the age of seventy-eight years. She was the mother of nine children, eight now living. To Mr. and Mrs. Perry there have come five sons and daugh- ters, whose names are William, Mary, Clarence, Frank and Lena.

Mr. Perry has shown energy and skill in the affairs of life and is deserving of a good report. lIe is intelligent, anxious to keep himself well in- formed, and interested in the welfare of the section in which he has made his home. IIe exercises the right of suffrage in favor of the candidates of the Democratic party. Ile has gained the good-willl of the people in his new home, as he had in the old, and he and his wife are generally respected.

A lithographie portrait of Mr. Perry appears on another page of this volume.

ENRY BARRETT. There are many fine farms in White Lake Township which are monumental of the industry and prudence of their owners, and are the center of such agricultural efforts as bring good results in the way of fine crops and stock and satisfactory incomes. One of these tracts consists of one hundred and thirty-one and a half acres on section 17, where numerous and substantial buildings have been put up, and various arrangements made for the comfort of the occupants and their convenience in carrying on their work. It is owned and occupied by the subject of this notice, who has lived here since 1853. lle is well known in the vicinity as a breeder of fine stock, including Percheron horses and Hampshire sheep. Ile was formerly interested in Merinoes.

The father and grandfather of our subject bore the same given name, John, and were natives of Ireland, in which country the elder lived and died. John Barrett, Jr., emigrated to America in 1848, and three years later came to this State and established his home in Highland Township, this

396

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

county, on a farm of forty acres. After a short residence there he came to White Lake Township and lived on his son's farm until his death, which event took place in the year of 1860. He was married in the Emerald Isle to Fanny Porter, whose father, Charles Porter, was an Irishman. Mrs. Barrett lived until November, 1886. To her had been born the following children : Florendo, Matilda, John, Henry, Margaret, William, Mary J., Fanny, Samuel and James (twins). Annie and Re- becca. Mr. Barrett was a Democrat and he and his wife belonged to.the Episcopal Church,

Henry Barrett was born in the Emerald Isle in 1831, and at the age of fourteen years came to America and began his personal career in life. Ile lived in New York City ten years and while there was a porter in a wholesale commission house. From the metropolis he came to this county. where his work has resulted in a good maintenance and the accumulation of the property before mentioned. Mr. Barrett was married in Newark. N. J., to Elizabethi A. Heany, who was removed from him by death in May, 1856. She was a consistent member of the Episcopal Church, and was a highly valued neighbor and friend.

Mr. Barrett is a member of the Prohibition party and has been an adherent of its principles for more than a decade. Ilis religious home is in the Pres- byterian Church, and he earnestly endeavors to carry out its teachings in his daily lite. His brother, John Barrett. fought for the Union from 1862 until the close of the struggle. Hle enlisted in Company A, Ninth Michigan Cavalry, December 24, 1862. and saw much hard service. lle was wounded near Nicholasville, Ky.

ENRY E. ALLISON. Few. if any names are better known in Pontiac than that of Henry E. Allison, who for thirty-cight years devoted himself diligently to the jewelry business and during that period repaired up- wards of twenty thousand watches and clocks. No man in Oakland County has been continuously engaged in the business so long as he. He is now

retired, having in 1887 sold out to his son, Edwin V., who is continuing the business at the old stand. The jewelry store is situated in a fine brick block on Saginaw Street, in a part of the city that is favorable for business purposes, and a large and thriving trade is there carried on.

Samuel Allison, grandfather of our subject was born in New York and was of Irish and English ancestry. His son David was born in the same State as himself and adopted the occupation of farming. In 1836 the latter moved his family to Oakland County, this State, and settled in Troy Township. His wife bore the maiden name of Susan Hammer, was born in New Jersey and was a daughter of John Hammer, who was descended from natives of Holland. To David Allison and his wife there were born eight sons and two dangh- ters, and our subject was the seventh on the family roll. Ile was born in Broome County, N. Y., June 19, 1831, and was five years old when his parents came to this State. His school days were begun in Troy Township and he afterward attended school at the Rochester Academy. HIe decided to learn the jewelry business and served an apprenticeship of three years after leaving the school room, Ilav- ing mastered the trade lie began business for him- self and carried it on continuously until succeeded by his son.

In 1862 Mr. Allison was united in marriage with Miss L. Irene Rhodes, an estimable lady who was born in this county and is a daughter of James A. and Lneinda ( Martin) Rhodes. Her parents were natives of Vermont and New Ilampshire respec- tively and were early settlers in Oakland County, to which they came soon after their marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Allison have six children of whom we make the following mention: Henri D. is an at- torney in Anacortes, Wash. ; Edwin V., is his father's snccessor in Pontiac; Bertha I., married Benjamin F. Stevens, and lives in Los Angeles. Cal .; John R. and Mary E. are students in the High School; and Frank is a school boy in a lower department.

Mr. Allison is a Mason of a high degree and has membership in Pontiac Lodge, No. 21, F. & A. M. Pontiac Chapter, R. A. M. and the Consistory and Commandery. In politics he is a stanch Republican. He has one of the most beautiful

397

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

homes in Pontiae, his residence, a two-story brick, being situated on a rise of ground fronting on Oakland Avenue, and the grounds consisting of about five and one half aeres adorned with for- est trees and evergreens. Mr. Allison is in the habit of spending considerable time in exten- sive travels over the country for pleasure and health, and his journeys have extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the lakes to the gulf.

J OHN T. REID, one of Michigan's veteran soldiers, was born in Oxford, Oakland Coun- ty, January 13, 1840. His parents, Harvey and Sarah E. (Ketchum) Reid, were natives of New York, whence they came to Michigan in 1833. Here they were wedded and began to found a home. Harvey was a tailor. After coming here he engaged in farming pursuits, although he con- tinued working at his trade especially during the winters. To him and his excellent wife were born ten children, of whom our subject is the fourth in order of birth. The mother and five of the chil- dren still survive. The father was called from earth July 1, 1873.

The subject of our sketch grew up on the farm and continued there until after the breaking out of the late war. He enlisted as a private in Company A, Fifth Michigan Cavalry, August 18, 1862, and saw service in the Army of the Potomac. He was in seventeen different engagements, the most im- portant of which are Gettysburg, Montera, Boones- boro, Hagerstown, Winchester and Cold Harbor. Mr. Reid was taken ill with measles soon after the Gettysburg fight, and was not with his regiment until the following spring. He received his dis- charge at Detroit, May 15, 1865.

After the war our soldier came to Bruce, Macomb County, this State, and engaged in the agricultural business. The great and important event of his life was his marriage with Mary E., daughter of John L. and Lois (Pitts) Stanton. John L. Stan- ton, the father of Mrs. Reid, was a native of Ver- mont, and was boru in Bennington County, Feb- ruary 13, 1814. He came to the State of Michigan

in August, 1844, where he followed farming until 1873, when he retired from active life and now makes his home with his son-in-law, our subject. The Stantons have been notable in New England for generations. Thomas, the first of the name to come to America, located at Stonington. Conn. Ife was the great-grandfather of John L. His son John, the grandfather of John L., was left an or- phan when a lad and was bound out at the age of seventeen years to learn the trade of a blacksmith, in Rhode Island. There he met and married Mary Sherman, and a few years later removed to Ver- mont. Ilis son Lodovick, the father of John L., was born in Vermont, July 28, 1784, and married Mary Lawrence April 16, 1805. John, of whom we have spoken, who was born May 2, 1748, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and his grandson proudly exhibits a powder horn which was carried by him through that period of conflict. Ife died April 18, 1814. John L. Stanton is the last of his family now remaining. He is an intelligent old gentleman and a Democrat to the backbone.

To the subject of this sketch and his estimable wife have been born two children, Frank and Eva. Eva remains at home and is attending school; Frank died in infancy. After their marriage they removed to Orion Township, where Mr. Reid worked a farm on shares for five years. Thence he removed to Addison Township, and made their home there for four years. They spent one year in Oxford, and then bought a farm in Waterford Township in 1876, on which they remained for seven years, when the family removed to Oxford, where he has been engaged in the grain business for three years. Ile is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and a Democrat in politics.

h ON. CHARLES K. CARPENTER, a former citizen of Orion, was born at Hornellsville, N. Y., January 23, 1826, and died in Orion, August 19, 1884. He was a descendant of William C. Carpenter, who came from Amesbury, England, in the seventeenth century. Daniel P., the father of our subject, was born in Westchester

398

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

County, N. Y., in 1781. His wife, Anna Ketchum, was born in Cornwall, Orange County, N. Y., in 1787. Her ancestors were from Long Island, and removed to Orange County at an early day. The parents of our subject removed to Michigan and settled at Rudd's Mill in 1837, when Charles K. was but eleven years of age.

After a residence of a few years at Rudd's Mills our subject removed to the homestead where he has ever since resided. He was married November 27, 1847, to Miss Jeanette Coryell, of Mt. Morris, Livingston County, N. Y. Her parents were George and Eliza (Sherwood ) Coryell, and she was born March 8, 1831. Her parents came West in the fall of 1815, and purchased a home in Lapeer County, where they lived until the death of the father at the age of seventy-six years.

Mr. Carpenter has always been closely identified with the enterprise and progress of Oakland Coun- ty, and has held many positions of honor and trust. In politics he was a Douglas Democrat-a "war" Democrat. He was Supervisor of Orion in 1858, and was elected to the Legislature by the Demo- crats in 1859. When the war broke out he was the President of the first "war" meeting held in Oak - land County (at Pontiac) when Judges Baldwin, Crofoot and Trowbridge were speakers. During the war he did much valuable work raising troops and supplies in this township. Ile was President and Director of the Oakland County Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company when organized, and in 1871 helped organize the Detroit & Bay ('ity Railroad Company at Rochester, and was its first Vice President and Director until 1878, and for several years the only Michigan Director with the exception of James F. Joy, of Detroit. Ile spent the years 1871-72 in raising subscriptions and se- curing the right-of-way for this road, and proved very successful.

To Mr. Carpenter is largely due the locating of the Bay City road through Orion and Oxford in- stead of Romeo and Fish Lake. In recognition of his services in connection with this enterprise he was presented with a gold watch and chain by the citizens of Lapeer, in 1873. For many years he was a Director and for two years President of the Oakland County Agricultural Society. Believing

the Grange an important educator of the farmer he was an active member of that order-being the first Master of the Orion Grange and instrumental in organizing the Detroit and Bay City District Coun- cil, of which body he was Master for several years. Ile has also been Master of the County Grange and was one of the incorporators (preparing the con- stitution ) of the Patron's Aid Society.

In 1882 Mr. Carpenter was elected President of the Monitor Insurance Company, of Oakland County, which position he stilt held at the time of his death. As one of the incorporators of the Orion Park Association he has always taken great inter- est in the development of the park, and in making Orion a pleasant summer resort, his death probably being much hastened by his devotion to it, as his sickness dates from a day of service on the island. Ile always took much pains to advertise Orion as a resort, and by liberal treatment to encourage picnic parties to make their regular annual trips to Island Park.

Mr. Carpenter was always a strong temperance man, and on the organization of the Prohibition party became an active member, was nominated for various offices on its ticket, running for Gov- ernor in 1874. In 1876 the Greenback party nom- inated him for Governor, but he declined the honor and never acted with the party. He has written much for the newspapers on various topics of gen- eral interest, and for many years was a subscriber to many papers solely for the purpose of pushing and advertising the railroads and park project Ile was the author of a series of articles in the Detroit Free Press, over the signature of "An Oakland County Farmer," which were widely copied. Many of his articles on various subjects in that paper ap- peared as editorials.

Our subject was the father of eight children, six of whom are still living : Prof. Rolla C., of Cornell University ; William L., attorney-at-law, of De- troit; E. Blanche. now Mrs. C. II. Seeley, of Faulk- ton, Dak .; Louis G., a graduate of the Agricultural College, attended the John Hopkins University sometime, and is now professor of the department of meteorology and irrigation in the Agricultural College at Ft. Collins, Col. He is now also en- gaged in writing a work on irrigation; Mary L. is

1 1

Respectfully Power S. Colonn .

401

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

the wife of Dr. N. S. Mayo, professor in Manhat- tan Agricultural College, in Kansas; and Jeanette, who remains at home.

Mrs. Carpenter is identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has long been an active worker in the temperance cause, having given twenty-five years to service in this reform. She has the management of her husband's estate of nearly three hundred acres. She is a good business woman, practical and thorough in her work, with plenty of push and enterprise. She does not, how- ever, negleet her intellectual privileges, but in the fall of 1890 received her diploma for a four-years course of reading in the Chautauqua Literary and Scientifie Circle.

h OMER II. COLVIN, a member of the legal profession located in Pontiac, was born in Waterford Township, June 4, 1850. He is the eldest son and third child in the family of Levi B. and Keziah E. (Ilodge) Colvin, both of whom were born and reared in New York, and ac- companied their respective parents to this State in early days. Grandfather Nathan R. Colvin was born in Vermont and so too was his wife, Margaret Bachelder, the former being of Scotch and the other of English lineage. The name was originally spelled Calvin, they being lineal descendants of the founder of the Calvanistie doctrine. They came to this county in 1825 and settled on a traet of land and engaged in farming. He was socially dis- posed and open-hearted, and his dwelling was al- ways open to passing strangers. He died in May, 1873, when eighty-four years old, and his widow departed this life in March, 1889, when upwards of ninety years of age.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Portrait and biographical album of Oakland County, Michigan, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 42

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

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