Portrait and biographical album of Oakland County, Michigan, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 46

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 46

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ESHACHI G. NORRIS, a rosi lent of Holly, Mieb., and a dealer in fine stock, was born August 19, 1824, in Stansted, Canada. Ilis parents are Meshaek and Hannab (Young) Norris, natives of New Hampshire. They lived successively in Canada, Vermont and New York, and in 1834 in Trumbull County, Ohio, and finally reached Michigan in 1837 and settled in Holly Township. They were among the pierpers of this place. They finally took eighty acres of Government land in Rose Township where they built a good frame house which is still standing. They made substantial improvements and made it their permanent home. After the death of the father of our subject, which occurred in March, 1864, the mother came to Holly and took up her residence there with her daughter, Mrs. Carrie Walker, with whom she remained until her death in 1872.

The grandfather of our subject was the Rev. Moses Norris, of Vermont, who was a Revolution- ary soldier. He was a Baptist clergyman. The maternal grandparents of our subject were Thomas and Tamma Hays, natives of New Hampshire, who removed to Canada and there engaged in farming. On both sides of the house they were well-to do farmers.

The father of our subject had a family of seven

children, four of whom are living, namely: our subject, Mrs. Elsena Hollister, of Detroit; Mrs. Carrie Walker of Detroit; and William Y., of Minneapolis, Minn. When fifteen years of age young Meshach left home and went to work for his unele Ansen Beebe. After he remained there one year he went into the woods on Lake Huron and worked through the winter at a place called Point of Barks. In the spring he went to Lexing- ton and worked in the pine woods for Jacob Buell, where he served as foreman for three years. Ile then for one season went on the lakes boating from Buffalo to Chicago. The next twelve years he spent at wagon making, learning the business and afterward carrying it on.

Mr. Norris now came to Holly and engaged in speculating. Hle purchased a lot on the corner of Maple and Saginaw Streets upon which he built an hotel and sold it. Later he purchased the same property au I kept it for two years. He has built four houses and two barns and has suffered consid- erably by fire, losing his hotel and two barns. He has a fine farm one mile east of town where for many years he has been buying and selling fine horses and speculating in lands. For a number of year's he filled the office of Deputy Sheriff.

The presiding genius of the home of Mr. Norris is his excellent wife, to whom he was united in mar- liage June 11, 1818. She was Mary J. daughter of William and Lucy (Gilman ) Young, natives of New Hampshire and Vermont, respectively, who came to Oakland County in 1836 and took up Government land in Holly Township. They built a log house which is still standing. Mr. Young was thus one of the first pioneers of Oakland County. He died in Holly January 13, 1890. He had been bereaved of his wife December 28, 1869. They were the parents of eleven children, seven of whom grew to be men and women, but only four of them are now living. The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Norris were Joshua and Tabitha Gilman, natives of Ver- mont. Ile was a soldier in the Revolutionary War.

Mr. and Mrs. Norris have a family of two chil- dren, namely, Herbert M., one of the leading attor- neys in Detroit, and Alma A., Mrs. Wendell of Rose Township. An adopted daughter, Lydia

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Brown, is now Mrs. Dunning. The Democratic party receives the votes of this gentleman. He is deeply interested in the prosperity of the town and has always promoted every effort to make it better. The latch string of the Norris mansion always hangs out and no one is turned away hungry from their hospitable door.

LARK B. TURNER. Few men exert a greater influence over the people in any community than the editors, and none have better opportunities to promulgate their views and spread information. It is generally conceded that the business of a newspaper man is one that re- quires pronounced ability and the man who suc- ceeds in this field is deserving of commendation. The gentleman whose name introduces these para. graps is one of the firm of Kimball & Turner, editors and proprietors of the Pontiac Gazette, a well-conducted weekly which has a good circula- tion and reputation. The paper is a nine-column folio, 28x44 inches, is neatly printed, carefully edited, and gives a weekly compendinm of well- assorted news. Its editorial and local columns are filled with pithy criticisms and items of interest to the community, and its influence in politics is on the side of Republicanism. In connection with the publication, Messrs. Kimball & Turner carry on a job-printing department, which is equipped as well as any in the county, and turns out a large quan- tity of excellent work.

Mr. Turner became connected with the Gazette in 1863, and he and his partner, Mr. Beardsley, found but an apology for an office, the establish- ment having been in the hands of non-professional printers and badly managed. They at once began to renovate the office and build up the business. They removed into new, clean quarters, added such material as was needed, and the improvements were continued until 1874, when the present proprietors added steam power to their facilities. The Gazette is now printed on a first-class Potter cylinder press and its mechanical appearance is in keeping with

the worth of its printed matter. Its advertising columns are well filled and displayed, and the cir- culation is nearly twenty-three hundred copies- the largest in the congressional district. Mr. Kim- ball has been particularly efficient in the political department of the paper and his work in behalf of the Republican cause has been acknowledged by his appointment several years since to the Post- mastership at Pontiac, and more recently as Gov- ernment Appraiser for the port of Detroit. A high moral tone is shown throughout the paper, particu- larly in the editorial columns, and its editors are radical in defence of what they deem right.

The birth-place of Mr. Turner was Mount Ross, Dutchess County, N. Y., and his natal day May 12, 1838. llis father, Cornelius W. Turner, was a woolen manufacturer in that town, and died at Flushing, this State, when eighty-three years old. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Anna Eliza Young, and is a daughter of David Young, who was the village blacksmith at Pine Plains, Dutchess County, N. Y. She was reared in the Quaker faith, both parents being of the So- ciety of Friends. She is still living and is now in her eightieth year. She bore her husband four children.

Clark Turner passed his school days in New York and Massachusetts and at the age of thirteen years was apprenticed to the proprietors of the Berkshire County Courier. He remained there two years. when Clark W. Bryan, one of the partners, went to Springfield and took control of the Springfield Republican, and young Turner went with him. Ile subsequently joined his father at Waterbury, Conn., and entered the office of the Waterbury American. There he continued his labors until 1857, when he found employment in the book publishing estab- lishment of George F. Trow in New York City.

In the fall of 1857 Mr. Turner came to Flint, this State, and entered the employ of F. II. Rankin, who was conducting the Wolverine Citizen, and ere long became foreman in the office, holding the po- sition six years. He then came to Pontiac with W. I. Beardsley, and the two bought the plant of the Pontiac Gazette. Some changes have been made in the firm, Mr. Beardsley having been suc- ceeded by Mr. Rann and he by S. H. Tomlinson,

yours Truly Brief. Baumgartner

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and in 1872 Charles F'. Kimball became associated with our subject. For about a year of this time Mr. Turner was sole owner, selling a half interest to Mr. Rann, his former partner, who in 1872 sokl to Charles F. Kimball. This connection has con- tinned and the two gentlemen have made a success of their business.

August 18, 1868, Mr. Turner and Miss Charity I. Northrup were united in marriage. The bride was born in Watertown, Conn., was left an orphan when six years old and was brought up by her sis- ter, Mrs. James MeWhinnie. Mr. and Mrs. Turner have five children: Arthur C., foreman in the Gazette office; Mabel; Birdie, who like her sister was graduated from the Pontiac High School; Ilarry N., salesman in Fife's Shoe store in Detroit ; and Roy N., a school boy.

The first Presidential ballot cast by Mr. Turner was for Abraham Lincoln, and he has been an un- swerving Republican since that time. Ile has been a Knight Templar for a number of years. He and his wife are devout Methodists and for fifteen years past Mr. Turner has been Superintendent of the Sunday-school connected with the church in Pontiac. Ilis intelligence, uprightness and good citizenship entitle him to the respect of other mem- bers of the community, and it needs but a mention of his name to hear him well spoken of.

R EV. F. J. BAUMGARTNER. The first edifice in Pontiac seen by an approaching traveler is the church of St. Vincent. It stands on an eminence and the gilded cross that tops the one hundred and forty-six foot spire is more than four hundred feet above the level of Detroit. The building is in the Gothic style of architecture, of red brick, with stone foun- dation and trimmings. Its length is one hundred and thirty-eight feet and its width forty-live feet, width of transept fifty-nine feet, and height from floor to crown of ceiling forty-two feet. The in- terior decorations are chaste and artistic, the fres- coing being of quiet tints and discriminatingly placed. The stained windows would do credit to a

cathedral and the entire structure reflects honor on the munificence of the congregation and the taste of the pastor. The many friends of Father Baumgartner, under whose leadership this building was planned and brought to completion, will be pleased to notice his portrait on the opposite page and to read the following paragraphs, in which the more salient features in his career are noted.

Father Baumgartner was born at Connor's Creek, near Detroit, July 28, 1850, and is the son of Wendelin J. and Frances ( Anselm) Baumgart- ner. They were natives of Baden, Germany, and settled in Wayne County, near Detroit, Mich., in 1832. Both are now deceased. After being grad- uated at the district school our subject spent two years at the Lansing Academy and then went to the Seminary of Our Lady of Angels, at Niagara Falls. There he remained but a year, ill health compelling him to abandon his studies there, but he did not give up the thought of entering the priesthood to which he felt called. After his re- storation to health he attended St. Francis Semi- nary at Milwaukee where in due time he received the orders of Sub-deaconship and Deaconship from the hands of the venerated Arch-Bishop Ileuni.

On the completion of the course of ecclesiastical studies, Father Baumgartner was ordained in St. Clair June 9, 1876, by the Right Rev. C. H. Bor- gess, Bishop of Detroit, and soon afterward was appointed to take charge of the parish of Our Lady of Ilelp in Detroit. Owing to poor health he re- signed this charge and came to Pontiac, where he was ordained. At that time he weighed only one hundred and twenty three pounds, but he has since regained his health and now presents a stalwait manhood and almost perfect physique, being about six feet tall and weighing one hundred and ninety pounds. This appointment was occasioned by the illness of the late Father Limpens, and on November 26 the Bishop placed the young priest in charge of the mission at Pontiac.

Owing to the fact that the members of the par- ish of Pontiac had not been educated in the re- quirements necessary for a prosperous congrega- tion, the mission was considered the least desirable in the diocese, and the charge was one to daunt

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the courage of a bolder man and one of a more rugged physical constitution than Father Baum- gartner. Ile, however, did not shrink from the difficulties before him but entered upon his work with the enthusiasm and ardent desire for success that were followed by the natural sequence. Old prejudices were removed, new friendships cemented and by slow but natural degrees the people were made to realize their obligations to God and man. Ere long they saw the necessity of a larger and better church as they were meeting in what was originally a l'niversalist house of worship-an old building on which continual repairs were nceded.

The congregation of St. Vincent was formed into a committee of the whole and a monthly taxation for the erection of a building fund was instituted. As soon as circumstances warranted, a beautiful site of two acres was purchased and the work of building begun. The edifice, whose dedication was an imposing religious demonstration, is a mon- ument alike to the industry of an untiring pastor and the zeal of what is now one of the most willing congregations in the State. Father Baumgartner is possessed of liberal views and much public spirit, and while his chief interest centers in his own peo- ple, he is desirous of the welfare of the community in general and the upbuilding of the city in which he is laboring. His culture of mind, his genial manner, and his pleasing address prepossess new acquaintances in his favor and he is very generally liked by the citizens of Pontiac and vicinity. To his parishioners he is greatly endeared by his efforts in their behalf, and by the clergy in general he is respected as his culture and zeal merit.

L ON S. WARNER, the genial Postmaster at Orion, is a native of this county, born June 21, 1859. He is a grandson of Judge Mat- thew Warner, of Livingston County, N. Y., who was Circuit Judge for many years and bad a prom- inent position in society. The father of our sub- jeet was Ambrose S. Warner, who was born in Lima, N. Y., in 1815, and came to Livingston County, this State, in the '40s. After eight years

of farin life near Hamburg he sold out and removed to this county, setting up his home in Orion which was a bamlet of a few houses. For two years he was engaged in mercantile business and two years after he withdrew from the trade be re-entered it as a partner of David Rowley, with whom he was as- sociated several years.

The interest of Mr. Rowley in this business was finally bought by Mr. Warner who carried on the trade alone until 1880, when his son, our subject, became his partner. The firm then became known as A. S. Warner & Son, and under that style the business was conducted nine years when the senior member retired. He died February 12, 1890, at the age of seventy -four years. He was a conspicu- ous figure in local political circles and was a stanch supporter of Republican principles. During Lin- coln's administration he was appointed Postmaster of Orion and with the exception of two years dur- ing Johnson's administration, he served until 1886. His religious home was in the Congregational Church, of which his wife was a member. Mrs. Warner hore the maiden name of Lucretia Tinker, was born in Livingston County, N. Y., in 1823, and died in this county in 1874.

The subject of this notice attained to his major- ity in Orion and in 1878 he began clerking in a store at Oxford. lle remained there some three years, then returned to Orion and went into busi- ness with his father. He is the only living repre- sentative of the parental family, the other two members having died. He is possessed of an un- usual degree of energy, as is shown in the fact that lie is able to oversee various business enterprises besides the distribution of the mail and the proper management of the post-office. Ile is American Express Agent and represents the Aetna Insurance Company. He owns one hundred and five acres of land adjoining the town, and twenty acres within the corporation which is platted in town lots. Ile has served acceptably as Village Treasurer and Clerk and has held the position of Postmaster since 1889. Politically he is a Republican.

In 1882 Mr. Wagner was married to Miss Cora B. Andrews, who died in 1887, leaving one child, Vern A. In 1888 Mr. Warner made a second mar- riage, wedding Miss Edna Shurter, who was born in

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Brandon Township, this county. Husband and wife are identified with the Congregational Church. They endeavor to keep abreast of the times in their knowledge of affairs of general interest, and having courteous manners and fine characters they have a large circle of friends. Mr. Warner is not only full of energy and business tact, but he is obliging and therefore popular.

C HANCEY EARL. Among the most useful members of society in any community are those physicians who by their character and their standing in the profession have made themselves a necessity to the comfort and health of their fellow-citizens. Dr. Earl, of Pontiac, is one of these men, and having devoted thirty-eight years to the practice, is universally respected and trusted by those who know him. He was born in Erie County, N. Y., on September 3, 1828. Ile was the third son of Grandy and Polly ( White) Earl, both natives of New York. The father was born May 11, 1793, and was the son of Benjamin Earl, of English descent.

The mother of our subject was born August 21, 1796, and was married to his father in Montgom- ery County, N. Y., February 9, 1812. Soon after marriage they removed to Erie County, where they remained on a farm until the fall of 1838, when they located in Oakland County, this State. They took up a farm in the township of Oxford, cleared it of timber and improved it. After the death of his wife Grandy Earl removed to the vil- lage of Oxford, where he died June 27, 1883, at the very advanced age of ninety years. Ile had been twice married, his second wife being Miss Deborah Powell. The village schools furnished what education our subject received during his earlier years. As soon as he was old enough he began teaching during the winters. IIe then studied medicine in the office of Dr. Spaulding, of Oxford. After this he entered the department of medicine at the University at Ann Arbor, from which he was graduated in March, 1853.

The young Doctor began practice at Orion. this

county, in 1853, and remained there notil the fall of 1866. He then removed to Pontiac, where he established his practice and has continued to the present time. For the past twenty-one years he has been Examining Surgeon for United States Pensions and has been a member of the Pension Board since it was organized in 1890. The Doctor was married July 22, 1858, to Miss Mary P. Tan- ner, at Rochester, Oakland County. She is the daughter of Lewis G. Tanner and was born at Rochester, Mich. Her parents were very early settlers of the county.

Two lovely daughters have blessed the home of Dr. and Mrs. Earl. Josephine M. is the wife of J. R. MeLaughlin, attorney-at-law and real-estate dealer at Detroit, and is the mother of four chil- dren. Florence E. still makes her home with her parents and is an accomplished musician, especially upon the violin. The pleasant home of this fam- ily, at No. 115 North Saginaw Street, is ever open for the gathering of their friends and neighbors. The Doctor's political affiliations are with the Re- publican party and he is active and interested not only in local affairs but in national movements.

OSES HILL, a retired farmer residing at Pontiac, Mich., was born in Macedon, Wayne County, N. Y., July 18, 1814. He is the son of Elijah Hill, a native of Mas- sachusetts, who was born in 1775. The grand- father was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. The mother of our subject, Hepsibah Brown, was a native of Massachusetts, where she was born in in 1776. She removed to Wayne County, N. Y., in 1804, and died in 1818. The father married a a second time and died in 1848, in his eighty- fourth year. Our subject had six brothers and there were two children by the second marriage.

The common schools and the farm formed the education of young Moses. He married, in 1840, Harriet, daughter of Sylvanus and Harriet (Sex- ton ) Allen, of Palmyra, Wayne County, N.Y. Here they settled and engaged in general farming for sev- eral years. In April, 1855, Mr. Hill removed his

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family, consisting of his wife and two children, to Michigan and located in Independence Township, Oakland County, on a farm of one hundred and twenty acres. He has always kept his farm in an excellent condition and has it stocked with good cattle. In 1876 he left the farm and removed to Pontiac, where he lived a retired life.

Mr. Hill built his first residence in 1878, a large handsome frame building on the corner of Perry and Huron Streets. Two children, a daugh- ter and a son, brightened their home until they went out in the world for themselves. Delia A. is now the wife of L. C. Hanmer, of Detroit, a book- keeper in the Savings Bank. Pliny married Ida King and now resides on the old homestead in In- dependence Township.

Mrs. Hill is a devoted member of the Presby- terian Church. Mr. Hill was a Republican, but last spring voted the Prohibition ticket, and Mrs. Hill is also a stanch Prohibitionist, She is a woman of unusual intelligence and ability and takes an active part in furthering the cause of temperance in every way. She is often appointed on impor- tant committees and her commodious and well- appointed home is always open for meetings of committees who are planning work for the temper- ance cause. Her influence in the community is much more than ordinary and is always exerted for the good of her fellow-men.

C APT. ALMERON S. MATTHEWS, of Pon- tiac, a brother of Gen. S. S. Matthews, al- though a worthy citizen and one highly respected, leads a very quiet and retired life. On account of his injuries to health received in the Civil War he is on the pension list and is quite disabled from active work. He was born in Troy, Oakland County, September 20, 1824, and is the eldest son of Salomon J. and Susan ( Whitney) Matthews. Both father and mother were born near Auburn, in Cayuga County, N. Y., the father June 24, 1799, and the mother March 14, 1800. Mr. Matthews went to Michigan in 1822, and purchased a farm in Troy Township, in connection with his

grandfather. He, however, made a trip to New York in the fall of 1822 where he was married. Here he made his permanent home and passed his days. He died in August, 1850. llis wife survived until June, 1864. Of their nine children seven are now living.

Almeron S., the subject of this sketch attended the neighborhood schools and gained what he could from them in the way of education. He re- mained with his parents until he reached his major- ily and then learned the trade of a carpenter and joiner which he followed until 1854, when he took a trip to California by water and engaged in mining. After one year of this Western life he returned to Oakland County and engaged in working at his trade in Pontiac until in 1857 when, in January, he was appointed Under Sheriff of Oakland County, and kept the jail under Clark Beardsley who was then Sheriff. After this be spent two years in the pursuit of his trade and then enlisted in the service of his country, June, 1861, in Company H, Seventh Michigan Infantry, Col. Ira R. Grosvenor, com- manding. This regiment was assigned to the army of the Potomac and was in Landers Brigade, and participated in the battle of Ball's Bluffs. Having organized a company he was elected First Lieuten- ant of his company, but after the battle of Ball's Bluff in January, 1862, he resigned his position.

In July, 1862. this young soldier re-enlisted in Company D, Twenty-second Michigan, Col. Moses Wisner commanding, and was made First Lieuten- ant of his company. In October, 1862, he was made Adjutant of the regiment. He took part in the battles of Danville, Ky., March 24, 1863; Hickman's Bridge, March 27; Peavine Creek, Sep- tember 16; McAffee's Church, Tenn., September 19, and Chickamauga, September 20. At this last battle he was taken prisoner and removed to Libby Prison where he remained until May 7, 1863. He was then taken to Danville, Va., thence to Char- lotte and from there to Greensboro, N. C. He was then passed on to Macon, Ga., and to Charleston, S. C., where he was placed under fire and remained from July 29 to October 7.

Our subject was then taken to Columbia, S. C., and was carried eight miles into the country and placed in a stockade. December 12, he was removed

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to an open stockade without shelter at Columbia. Here he remained until February 14, when he was removed to Charlotte and afterward to Raleigh, N. C., and from there to Goldsboro, the same State. From there he went back to Raleigh, where he was paroled and exchanged.

The subject of this sketch was passed through the lines on the 1st of March, 1865, near Wil- mington, N. C. He went on to Annapolis Md .. where he was given a thirty days' leave of ab- sence and went home. At the end of thirty days he reported at Camp Chase, Ohio, and was ordered to join his regiment at Chattanooga, Tenn., where he arrived May 14, 1865. While he was a prisoner he had been promoted to the rank of Captain, the commission dating from October 11, 1863. He remained with his regiment until he was mustered out June 26, 1865. They proceeded to Detroit where they were paid off and discharged July 14.

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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 46

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

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