Portrait and biographical album of Oakland County, Michigan, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 68

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 68

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The subject of this sketch was one of the very first white children born in Livonia Township, Wayne County, where he first saw the light No- vember 18. 1827. Ile grew to manhood on the old homestead. His first school was a select school taught by his aunt, Mary Macomber. He also at- tended subscription schools and was a pupil in the first district school organized there. He remained at home until he was more than twenty-two years old.

The marriage of Mr. Simmons and Hulda L. Powers was solemnized September 5, 1849, by the Rev. Sylvester Coekrane, a pioneer Presbyterian minister of that region. Mrs. Simmons was a daughter of Ira and Amy (Lapham) Power. Mr.

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Power was a native of Farmington, N. Y., where he was born January 3, 1799, and his wife was born in Palmyra, N. Y., February 2, 1803. They were married in New York State in 1824, and com- ing to Michigan in 1830 settled in Livonia Town- ship, Wayne County, and took up a section of wild land from the Government. He was a frail, deli- cate man and unused to hard labor, which, how- ever, he endured with great fortitude. Ile resided on his farm until his death, which took place Sep- tember 21, 1858. He gave to his sons portions of his large farms and retained two hundred and forty aeres. His widow now eighty eight years old makes her home with her son, E. L. Power, in Novi Township. She has pieeed one hundred and twenty quilts since her seventieth birthday and has quilted most of them, some of them being remarkably beautiful. More than fifty of them are log cabin quilts containing over four thousand pieces in each. She has remarkably strong faculties; she has been the mother of eleven children, five of whom are now living, namely: Mrs. Ada M. Lee; A. D. Power, E. L. Power, Mrs. Simmons, and A. L. Power. They belonged to the Society of Friends but later connected themselves with the Methodist Epicopal Church and, as was natural with this training, Mr. Power was a Whig and later a Repub- lican. He was deeply interested in education hav- ing been a teacher himself and earnestly promoted the interests of the district schools. Mrs. Simmons' grandfather, Arthur Power, was the very first set- tler in Farmington Township, his land occupying the ground where the village of Farmington now stands. He gave the name to the township and village and erected the first residence, the first grain barn, the first sawmill and the first store; he was a very prominent man and took up over sixteen hundred acres and settled his sons upon a quarter section each. Ilis youngest son William lives on the homestead and the remains of this notable pio- heer repose in the little Quaker cemetery in Farm - ington.

Mrs. Simmons was born July 29, 1830, and was six weeks old when brought to Michigan. Here she grew to womanhood and after attending the common-schioo I went to Northiville two years to study in the select schools. Previous to her mar-

riage she taught school in Farmington township. After their marriage, which event occurred some forty years ago, this couple made their first home on the farm where they now reside in a little log hut of one room. About fifty of their one hun- dred and fiffy-one acres were cleared and some rough improvements were made. They have now one hundred acres under plow and twenty eight aeres in an unusually fine orebard. Mr. Simmons built his present home in 1866 at a cost of $8,000 and his large barn in 1883 at a cost of 83,000. Mrs. Simmons is fond of plants and is very successful in their cultivation, having a large and choice col- lection of them. They have given to their chil- ‹Iren excellent opportunities for education. Their son William, born in 1851, married Hattie Shoe- smith, and lives in Novi Township. They have three children: William has been a teacher for years; the third son, Fred, born December 3, 1867, married Belle Sutton, by whom he has one child. They make their home in Novi Township. One daughter died in 1866, aged eleven years and ten monthis, and a son, Morell, a man grown, was ealled from them by death in 1888; he left a wife and three children. The mother is a member of the Northville Presbyterian Church. Mr. Simmons has always been a temperance man. Ile votes the Dem- ocratie ticket but in local affairs easts his ballot for the man whose eleetion he believes will do the most good.

D ANIEL KRESSLER is at the head of one of the largest business enterprises in Rochester and has been for almost a score of years one of the potent factors in the financial prosperity of the place. He is at present carrying on a planing-mill, sash and door factory, in which fifteen hands find employment, and he also has lum- ber and coal yards. As the patronymic indicates, Mr. Kressler is descended in the paternal line from Scotch ancestors, and those who are familiar with the prominent characteristics of the various nation- alities would easily be convinced of the fact by noting his condnet. The earnest heed that he gives

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to his affairs, the careful way in which the details of the business are managed, and the strict integrity and justice which he manifests in his dealings with his employes and his patrons give evidence that the Scotch nature is not ex- tinct.

The forefathers of Mr. Kressler came to Amer- ica during a rebellion in Scotland, and the man who instituted this branch of the family made his settlement in Bucks County, Pa. He bought three farms which he sold after the Revolution for conti- nental money and by reason of the depreciation of Colonial currency, he lost his entire fortune. He retrieved it somewhat, so that he was able to be- queath each of his two sons a good farm. The next in the direct line of descent was George Kress- ler and following him was Eli, whose early home was in Pennsylvania, and who was engaged as a lumberman in that State and in New Jersey. He lived to a goodly age, passing away in the spring of 1887, survived by a widow and eight children. llis wife bore the maiden name of Mary Bougher and she too was a native of the Keystone State. The good couple were living in Warren County, N. J., when their son Daniel was born May 21, 1842.

Our subject, prior to his twelfth year, pursued his studies in the common school in his native State, but he then went to Phildelphia and con- tinued his studies there until he was sixteen years old. At that age he became astudent in Bethany Academy in Wayne County, from which institu- tion he was graduated in 1858. He learned the trade of a millwright at Easton, Pa., and remained in that section, working industriously until five ycars had elapsed. He continued to carry on the craft he had so thoroughly mastered, until 1874. when he engaged in the sale of lumber and coal. Two years prior to that time he had come West and located in Rochester. After a time he added the mill and factory to his enterprises, being one of those men who can carry on more than one trade and get satisfactory work out of those wlio enter their service.

The marriage ceremony of Mr. Kressler and Miss Emma E. Ross was solemnized February 2, 1873, and they have been blessed by the birth of

six children, named respectively, Ida Belle, Harry E., George R., Charles S., Milly M. and Mary E. Mr. Kressler is a member of the Masonic order, in the work of which he finds some outlet for his benevolent spirit as well as his social nature. In politics he is a Republican, although his first vote was cast for Stephen A. Douglas. He belongs to the Congregational Church, as does his estimable wife, and they have an honorable position in tlie society that is made up of intelligent and reputable people.

HEODORE DAHLMANN, Postmaster at Rochester, is as fine a representative of that class of Germans who have become thor- oughly Americanized and are in full sympathy with the institutions of this country, as can be found in Southeastern Michigan. He is himself, a native of America, but his parents Frederick and Maria (Gievers) Dahlmann, emigrated from the fatherland in 1848. They were natives of West- phalia and Mecklenburg and were drawn hither, as were many others about the same time, because of their love of liberty and the too free speech of which the husband had been guilty.

The Dahlmanns established their home in Queens County, N. Y., but after a few years removed to Boston, Mass., and later lived in Newark, N. J. Mr. Dahlmann came to this State in 1858, located in Rochester and there continued to work at his trade-that of a jeweler, until his death. He passed away June 9, 1889, when he lacked but five days of being seventy-one years old. The mother of our subject was his first wife and her death took place in 1863. Their union has been blessed by the birth of three children-Theodore, our subject; Lewis, who is engaged in the woolen factory; and Fred, a farmer. The second wife of Frederick Dahlmann was Mrs. Caroline Muller, a German lady, who survived him. To them were born two children, Frank and Emelie.

The gentleman with whose name these paragraphs are introduced was born in Queens County, N. Y., February 29, 1852. He worked at the jewelry

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trade with his father at odd times while he was attending school, and in this way became a practi- cal and efficient workman. His education was ob- tained in the public schools of Rochester and he took the entire course of study upon the curricu- lum. He worked at the trade he had learned until July 3, 1889, when he entered upon his duties as Postmaster, a position to which he had been ap- pointed as a partial recognition of his services to the Republican party, but which he would not have received bad he not been recommended for quali- ties which fitted him for the place.

Mr. Dahlmann is a man of progressive ideas, combining with the sturdiness of the ancestral race that particular spirit that is commonly known as "young Americanism." He has been Secretary of the Agricultural Society of Avon Township, Oak- land County, six years, and manifests his public spirit in various ways. There is no more loyal Republican to be met with in the county than he. He keeps himself well informed regarding all mat- ters of general interest, is social and friendly, and has a good reputation throughout the commun- ity.

C ALEB W. HORTON. A good example of persistent industry and good manage- ment and of the results obtained thereby, may be found in the life experience of Mr. Horton, of the firm of C. W. Horton & Co., dry-goods mer- chants in Pontiac, From one of the lower rounds on the financial ladder he has climbed upward un- til he now ranks among the most prominent mer- chants of the city, with a credit that is assured and enviable. In the establishment which he has in charge there may be found a full and well-selected stock of dry goods, carpets, oil cloths and notions, which are displayed and sold by a full force of competent clerks. In 1868 he established a store here under the firm name of J. J. Green & Co. The present firm has been established here only since 1888, at which time Mr. Horton bought out J. J. Green, but the experience of our subject be . gan some years before.

The parents of our subject were Joseph and Al-

mira (Marks) Horton, natives of New York, who grew to maturity and began their wedded life there. In 1832 they removed to this county and located in Farmington Township, where the hus- band operated two farms for a number of years. He died in 1876 in his sixty-sixth year, and his wife passed away abouta twelvemonth later. They had nine children, eight of whom lived to be adults and seven survive to the present. Mr. Horton was a Republican and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Horton family was estab- lished in America about 1736, when some who bore the name came from England and settled on Long Island.

The gentleman whose life it is our purpose to outline was born in Farmington, this county, Sep- tember 2, 1842, and is the third son and sixth child of his parents. His early days were passed on the farm in the usual alternation of study and work, and he remained with his parents until he was in his twenty-first year. Ile then enlisted in Company D, Fourth Michigan Cavalry, having as his regi- mental commander Col. R. H. G. Minty. His en- listment was in August, 1862, and he was an integral part of the Army of the Cumberland. At the battle of Mission Ridge, in 1863, he was taken prisoner and sent to Richmond to be confined in the Pemberton Tobacco House. From that place of captivity he was transferred to Smith's tobacco Warehouse opposite Libby Prison, where during the winter many of the captives were frozen to death. In February, 1864, he was taken to An- dersonville, and in September of the same year removed to Milan, Ga. Thence he was sent to South Charleston, then to Florence, N. C., and finally to Wilmington, where he was exchanged. After that happy event he was sent to Annapolis, Md., and furnished transportation to Camp Chase, at Columbus, Ohio, where he was discharged and paid off.

Returning to Farmington. Mr. Horton began his mercantile experience as a clerk in the store of J. J. Green. Mr. Green selling his business at Farming- ton, the firm of J. J. Green & Co. was formed, of which Mr. Horton was a member, and business was commenced at Pontiac. The connection lasted three years, after which Mr. Horton sold out his

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interest in the business and went to Farmington. He carried on mercantile pursuits there until he was burned out, after which he returned to Pontiac and embarked in the retail trade with Mr. Green for three years; then sold out to Mr. Green and entered the employ of Edson, Moore & Co., whole- sale merchants of Detroit. In 1888 he again be- came a retail dealer in Pontiae. His store is No. 38 North Saginaw Street.

March 20, 1869, Mr. Horton was married to Miss Loretta M. Lee, a native of this county, and at the time of her marriage a resident of Farming- ton. She is the daughter of Ralsman Lee. Her parents were natives of New York and old settlers of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Horton have three children, who are named Rosella, Carl M. and Grace. They have been carefully instructed in the principles that should animate all true men and women, and every effort has been made to develop their mental powers and fit them for usefulness.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Horton belong to the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Horton is now Steward and was formerly Superintendent of the Sunday-school. He is one of the leading members of the congregation, ready at all times to aid in Christian work, and he possesses the genuine pub- lie spirit that leads him to take an interest in the npbuilding of the city. Politically, he is a Repub- lican, and socially. a member of Pontiac Lodge No. 21, A. F. & A. M., also at the head of the organi- zation of Foresters. Ile stands well as a citizen, and to all loyal men he is more endeared by the sufferings he endured while in bonds for his devo- tion to his country.

E DMUND L. GOFF. For more than half a century this respected resident of Avon Township has been a factor in the growth of this State and for nearly forty years he has re- sided where he now lives, a place located by a man known as Dutch Miller in 1819. His indus- trious and well-directed labors have resulted in the aceumnlation of property, and few men living in the vicinity can look back over a more successful

career than he. He owns two fine farms and con- siderable property in the town of Rochester, and for years has been engaged in money-loaning. IIis residence is supplied with every comfort and many of the luxuries of life and every convenience for the perfect carrying on of the work done there will be seen upon the land. Mr. Goff is a thorough and skillful farmer and has an excellent reputation as a teacher, having devoted several winters to professional work.

Mr. Goff is a lineal descendant of a man whose eventful history is familiar to all students of New England annals, one of its incidents especially be- ing almost as well-known as the nursery tales of childhood. The man to whom we allude was William Goff, who was born in England in 1607, and was a Judge during the reign of Oliver Cromwell. IIe was one of those by whom Charles I. was con- demned to death and for whom, dead or alive, a reward of £1,000 was offered by Charles Il. Ile and his associate, Judge Whaley, evaded the Eng- lish and made their way to America and for a time were secreted by a Puritan minister in Boston. Thence they were taken to lladley where history tells of Goff's sudden appearance in a strange garb during an attack made by the Indians, who, think- ing him an angel sent to lead the whites, precipi- tately fled. The two judges finally died on the banks of the Connecticut River, where they had · long been secreted in what is still known as the regicides' cave.

Charles Goff. son of Judge William Goff, was born in Wales and came to Rhode Island about 1700. In his family was a son Comfort, who was born in 1736, was a soldier during the French and Indian War and also served in the Revolution. Three of his sons, Charles. Squire and Comfort, Jr., also belonged to the Colonial Army. He re- moved to Western New York and died there in 1814, at the advanced age of seventy-eight years. One of his sons was Guernsey, who was born at HIaddam, Conn., November 13, 1766. Ile learned the trade of a jeweler and carried on that oceupa- tion in his native State. He also learned shoe- making, and in 1793 lost an eye by striking it with his hand whilst drawing a thread through a piece of leather. The eye ran out and three years after-

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ward the other was lost, and total blindness necessi- tated a change in Mr. Goff's occupation. He became a cooper and was pre-eminently successful at that trade and became known in Western New York, to which he removed in 1804, as the "blind cooper." He possessed decided mechanical genius, and made pocket-knives, jews-harps and other trinkets. By strict economy and untiring perseverance Guern- sey Goff acquired considerable property. He was a member of the Baptist Church for over fifty years. He died August 6, 1835, and was interred near the village of East Rush. His wife, Aseneth Brainerd, was born in Middletown, Conn., September 20, 1772, and died in Rush, N. Y., July 15, 1825.

To the couple above mentioned, while they were living in Monroe County, N. Y., a son was born January 6, 1817. He was christened Edmund L., and was the subject of affection and careful home-training. He came to this State in 1838, located near Flint, Genesee County, and engaged in the fur trade. In June of the following year he returned to New York and selling land that he owned and had formerly operated, in Monroe County, he again came to Michigan with the inten- tion of making a permanent residence. For five years he devoted the winter months to school teaching, the field of his professional labors being Genesee, Macomb and Oakland Counties. This profession he had followed in New York in eon- nection with farming before coming to this State. In 1810 he bought land in Shelby Township, Ma- comb County, and made that his home for several years. Ile finally sold the property and in April, 1852, removed to this county, and established his home in Avon Township.

March 31, 1844, our subject was united in mar- riage with Miss Lucy Bellows, who was born in Avon Township, May 8, 1823. She is the second daughter and fourth child of Ezra and Anna Bel- lows and her birth was among the earliest in this county. Her father was born at Bellows Falls, Vt .. March 22, 1786, and about 1817 removed to Genesee County, N. Y. Thence he came to this State in 1822 and died in Macomb County, March 18, 1862. The mother of Mrs. Goff was born near Three Rivers, in the Province of Quebec, Angust 1, 1793, and in 1803 went to Vermont to live with

a brother. There she was married. She was of American parentage. She lived to be eighty-four years old but breathed her last June 8, 1878.

The record of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Goff is as follows: Celia Ann, born in Shelby Township, Macomb County, January 6, 1845, and now the wife of F. B. Skrine, a manufacturer, of Providence, R. I .; Gustavus, born November 17, 1846, was a member of Company H, Eighteenth Michigan Infantry and died in the army July 5, 1862; Gilbert, born January 31, 1849, is now farming near Utica, this State; Charlotte V., born October 16, 1851, is the wife of William Powell and lives in Rochester; Ellen E., born March 20, 1855, is the wife of Marshall Shoup, of Rochester; Eva A., born January 7, 1859, died August 20, 1873; Lewis B., boru July 10, 1861, is operating the homestead.

The sterling qualities of Mr. Goff have given him prominence and his influence is strong and ex- tended. He is decided in his likes and dislikes and in his expression of his views, but is willing to give others the privilege he claims for himself- that of a frank expression of opinion with a reason for the game. He voted for William Henry Har- rison in 1840, and was a Whig until the party was disintegrated, and since the organization of the Republican party he has given it his faithful alle- giance. Mr. Goff and the wife who has been his cherished companion for many years are as well know as any residents in the eastern part of the county and number as many sincere friends in their circle of acquaintances. Mr. Goff has been identi- fied with the Universalist Church for over fifty years.

W ILLIAM COTCHER. This gentleman is one of the successful farmers of Pontiac Township and his life affords a lesson of encouragement to those who begin their ca- reer without capital. He had nothing but the powers of his mind and body with which to under- take the battle of life, and he necessarily saw some hard times while fighting for a place in the world. lIe now stands on a solid financial basis with a

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fine property, and occupies a well-regulated farm on section 1, consisting of two hundred and thirty acres of land. He has one thousand rods of tile on the eighty he first purchased. The additional acreage was bought in 1881, and all is well devel- oped and well stocked.

Mr. Cotcher was born on the Isle of Man, Oc- tober 6, 1827, and his parents, John and Isabella (Loony) Cotcher, were natives of the same island, the one born in 1798, and the other in 1802. They emigrated to America when their son Wil- liam was an infant six months old, and made their home in New York for a time. In 1846 they came to this State and established themselves in West Bloomfield Township, this county. The father died in 1873, and the mother in 1888. Both held membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church. They had eleven children, seven of whom are now living.

Our subject received his education in the dis- triet school, studying in New York and this State as opportunity offered. About the time lie became of age he worked for Judge Green, of West Bloom- field Township, by the month for about a year, and then he took the job of clearing and breaking forty acres of land, which was part of a large farm bordering on Orchard and Cass Lakes and owned by the Judge. He completed the work according to contract in four years, and he then spent another twelvemonths in the Judge's employ. He has al- ways felt grateful to that gentleman for the inter- est manifested by him in the welfare, present and future, of his employe. Mr. Cotcher hoarded his resources in order to buy land, and as soon as pos- sible secured eighty acres, which was at that time a thorough wilderness. Many hard blows were needed before the trees and stumps were removed and the soil under good tillage but, little by little, it was transformed into a well-improved farm.

April 15, 1858, Mr. Cotcher was married to Miss Elizabetlı MeCullum, daughter of Archibald and Mary McCullum. The daughter was born in Scot- land February 6, 1838, and accompanied her par- ents to this country in 1850, their home being made near Orchard Lake, in this county. Mrs. McCullum died here in 1867, and her husband sur- vived until 1873. Our subject and his good wife

have eight children, who are named respectively : Archie, William, Fred, Angus, George, Charles, Maggie and Ella. Both Mr. and Mrs. Cotcher be- long to the Baptist Church and are held in high esteem for their sterling qualities. Mr. Cotcher votes the Democratic ticket. For four years he has been Justice of the Peace.

CTAVIUS ROBINSON, a farmer of Bloom- field Township, was born in White Lake Township, this county, October 21, 1854. His father, Octavius, and his mother Ann (Mills) Robinson, were natives of Lincolnshire, England, where the father was born in 1815. They came to America in 1840, and settled in Oakland County, and for about four years the father worked out by the month. He then bought a farm in White Lake Township, and there spent the remainder of his years. lle had no means when he came here, but hy judicious investment and frugal industry, ac- quired an estate worth $23,000. Both he and his excellent wife were devout members of the Epis- copal Church. ile held several town offices, and was a Democrat in his political views. His deathı took place, May 19, 1871, and his wife survived him until May 5, 1873, when she died at the age of fifty-nine years.

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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 68

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

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