USA > Michigan > Genesee County > Portrait and biographical record of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola counties, Michigan > Part 24
USA > Michigan > Lapeer County > Portrait and biographical record of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola counties, Michigan > Part 24
USA > Michigan > Tuscola County > Portrait and biographical record of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola counties, Michigan > Part 24
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RESIDENCE OF ELIAS JACOX, SEC.17 .; FLINT TP., GENESEE CO. , MICH.
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RESIDENCE OF CRANSON CLARK, SEC 18., GRAND BLANC TR, GENESEE CO. , MICH.
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An intelligent and amiable ludy, she is a worthy representative of an excellent family and is well fitted to be the life companion of a man of such sterling qualities as our subject.
C RANSON CLARK. Grand Blaue Town ship, Genesce County, counts among its agriculturists no one who is more conver- want with the farming interests of the county than he of whom we now write, His residence is on section 19. and his birthplace in Mundy Township, where he first saw the light, September 6. 1811. Hle is a son of William and Julia (Cranson) Clark, the father being a native of New York as was also the mother. They migrated in 1813 to Mundy Township, and here became carly settlers. Erect- ing a log house, they undertook the clearing and cultivation of eighty acres of land, but being with- out much means they suffered great privations and hardships. The father died a few years after coming hither, leaving two children: Lois, wife of William Fletcher, and our subject. The mother survived until 1873, when she also passed away.
Cranson Clark was reared to manhood in this county, which has been his home throughout life. He received his education in the district school and ever regretted that he did not have better ad- vantages in that line, but has endeavored to keep himself in touch with the public movements of the times through reading and observation.
The marriage of our subject to Miss Hattie Rob- inson took place October 16, 1865. She was born in New York and is now the mother of three chil- dren, all of whom are still beneath the parental roof. William D. was born September 6, 1866; Ernest B., September 6, 1869; and Minnie 1., May 25. 1873. For several years after his mar- ringe Mr. Clark resided in Mundy Township, where he began his farming operations on eighty acres, but he gradually acquired more until he now owns three hundred and twenty seres of land under good cultivation. In the spring of 1872 he removed to his present farm in Grand Mane Township. Both Mr. and Mr-, Clark are carnesl
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and active members of the Baptist Church. in which Mr. Clark is serving as Deacon and Trustee and where he has been prominent as Sunday- school Superintendent. He is identified with the social order of the Maccabees and is a Republican in politics,
Of a peculiarly conservative nature Mr. Clark is nevertheless well known for his good business abilities and his publie-spirited interests in all that concerns the welfare of others. He is the owner of one of the finest improved farms in Grand Blane Township, which cannot fail in its exterior to attract the eye and command the admiration of every passing stranger. He farms not only with brawn but with brain as well, and follows true sci- entific principles, hence has met with flattering success. A view of his residence and the rural surroundings on his farm is presented elsewhere in this volume.
J. IIU'RLEY, The genial President of the People's Electric Light and Power Com- pamy at Flint, dealer in wood and coal, manufacturer of soap and potash, is a man of many talents and varied interests. Hle was born in London, England, August 31, 1850, and is a son of John and Mary ( Allen) Hurley, all of whom were natives of the great metropolis. Our subject's grandsire on the paternal side was a merchant, as was our subject's father, having his business stand in East London. Our subject's mother died in her native city in 1878. She had nine children, and he of whom we write was the fifth in order of birth of the family.
Our subject obtained his education at Bedford House Academy, in Marlin Row. The acquisitive faculty soon showed itself to be strong within him, for when a child of only six years of age he began varning money by returnlpg the fruit bask- ets to the wholesale dealers, for which he received a cent apiece. When thirteen years of age he had required *100, and with it he started into the
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fruit and merchandise business for himself. He was very stressful and contained in business an- til twenty, but his success had cultivated in him extravagant habits. He lost his means, and being obliged to start anew, determined to come to America. He left Liverpool in May, 1871, and arrived in New York by steamer, a stranger. He came immediately to Grand Blanc, Mich .. thence he came to Flint on foot and engaged in the livery business for ×10 per month during the winter. In the spring of 1872 he started into business in partnership with William H. Pay as proprietor of the Sherman House. In 1876 Mr. Hurley bought out his partner's interest and con- tinned to run it alone until 1879, when it was entirely consumed by fire.
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He afterward purchased the soap works here from Mr. Wilson. He has enlarged the busi- hess. The first year he turned out fifteen him- dred boves, and now produces five thousand boxes per anmitm. He also engages extensively in the jobbing trade. Their factory is operated by steam power. In 1885 Mr. Hurley started into the busi- ness of dealing in wood and coal. He buys the timber standing, and cats and distributes it at his own expense. He probably has the most extensive stock in Michigan, keeping twenty-five thousand cords of wood constantly in stock and coal in proportion.
Our subject owns an area of fifteen acres of land between the railroad and the river. and this is the site of his most important business operations. In 1885 he became the incorporator of the People's Electric Light and Power Company, and is at the present time it- President. A. M. Gilles, is Vice- President; Romain Putnam, Treasurer, and .A. Ii. Behop. Secretary. Aside from these interests, he is an extensive owner of valuable real estate. He is half owner of ten residences built in 1889-90. They are located in the Fourth Ward, and the other half owner is F. P. Smith, Mr. Hurley also owns other property. He resides on Smith Street.
Our subject was married in this city to Miss Mary Flyon; a native of Connecticut and a daughter of Peter Flynn, a farmer at Mt. Mor- ris. The original of this sketch favors the Demin- cratic policy. His success is due to close applica.
tion to his business and to the comprehensive plans which he makes. He has always made an effort to be prompt in meeting his monetary obligations.
I'KE BOYCE, a farmer of Clayton Town- ship, Genesce County, lives upon a farm of viglity acres, where he settled in 1869. He i- a native of Cambridgeshire, England, and a son of Luke and Mary ( Morley) Boyce, and was born December 10. 1832. Ilis father was a farm laborer in England and there spent all his days. Our sub- jest is the only child of these parents and he was educated in England, not coming to this country until he reached the age of nineteen. After re- maining eighteen months in New York he traveled through the Western States working on the raif- roads and brick-making.
In 1859 Luke Boyce married Miss Angeline E. Vier, an adopted daughter of William Guslin, but their life together was very brief, as she died in Missouri in 1800. In St. Joseph, Mo., he en- gaged in brick-making and remained there until March 1861. when he went to Nebraska, where he was employed in chopping wood. While in Omaha he enlisted in Company B, First Nebraska Infantry. joining the army June 11, 1861, but was trans- ferred to Company E. He was in the service five years and twenty days, and during the latter part of this term was in the cavalry service, being changed by a general order from the Government in 1861, said order to the effect that territorial troops were to be mounted. They were engaged in fighting bushwhackers and guerrillas and during the latter part of the time were engaged in fighting the Indians on the plains and acting as guard to the stage coaches of the overland route.
Mr. Boyce was in the following battles: Ft. Henry, Ft. Donelson, Pitsburg Landing and Cor- inth and after that he went to Memphis and from there to Helena, Ark. Cape Girardeau was the next battle in which he took part. During the first skirmish in which he was engaged they took thist . ' andred prisoners, and sixty wagon loads
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of provisions were captured, He was neyel wounded nor captured but in the spring of 1861 he was in the hospital in Nebraska, as he was suf- fering fromseuryy. After his discharge at Omaha, July 1, 1866, he come to Michigan and settled upon the farm where he now lives, in 1890. It was then all covered with timber and he has im- proved and cleared it and put it in first class con- dition. All the buildings upon it have been put there by him. He is ardently attached to the organization of the Grand Army of the Republic and is a Republican in politics. He is a Director of the school and in every way one of the promi- nent men of the township, being identified with the order of Odd Fellowsand a stock-holder in the Clayton Center butter and cheese factory. His health has been greatly impaired ever since his army experience, and he finds it now difficult to allend actively to business and has withdrawn from most matters which require much effort.
M IETON PETTIBONE, senior member of the firm of Pettibone & MeCall, is a hl- eral and public-spirited citizen of Flint. where he does a prosperous business in clothing and mens' furnishing goods. A resident of the city since 1867. he is a native of Michigan and was born nt Howell February 7, 1813. He is the son of Roswell Pettibone, who was born In Rutland County, St., in 181. The paternal grandfather, John Pettibone, served in the War of 1812 as one of the tireen Mountain boys. By occupation he was a farmer, who early settled in the Holland Purchase, in New York, and later came West to Michigan, where he purchased a farm near Ypsilanti, now a part of that city. He was drowned in April, 1836, in Huron River dur- ing n freshet. The Pettibone family is of English descent and its various representatives possess the sturdy qualities of their English forefathers.
At the end of fifteen years Roswell Pettibone came to Michigan, where he married a few years after his arrival. In 1812 he located in Genon, Livingston County. purchasing a farm and im-
proving the same. During his active years he engaged in farming operations, but now bves re- tired with a son in Detroit. Politically he is a Republican and a man whose opinion has consider- able weight in the community where he resides. His wife was Letitia Terhune, who was born in Cayuga County, N. Y., to Joli and Sarah (De- Few) Terhune, natives of New York State and of Dutch decent. The mother died in 1881. Her eight children all survive and are people of in- Quence in their several localities.
Milton Pettibone was reared and educated in Howell, his birthplace, and took advantage of lus opportunities for receiving an education until, at the age of nineteen, he was qualilied to enter the profession of tet hing. One year later he engaged as a clerk with Jewelt & Crossman, dry-goods mer- chant. of How. Il, and acted in this capacity two year-, In I86; he came to Flint, where he clerked for ludd. Met reary & Avery, who were in the mercantile business. Five years after entering the store as a elerk he was taken into the firm as a partner, the firm name being F. W. Judd & Co. The financial venture was a success, but four years after forming the connection the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Pettibone engaged as elerk for Smith. Bridgenamn & Co. two years. In 1878 he started in the clothing business on Saginaw Street, the firm name being Lewis & Pettibone. In Jan- mary, 1889, Mr. Pettibone sold out his interest and with A. C. MeCally, started again in business as a clothier.
.At their place of business. No. 609 Siginaw Street, Pettibang & Metall carry a large line of stock, including mens' good-, hats and caps, elec. They oceny two floors, posso feet, and are numbered among the solid men of the city. The residence of Mr. Pettibone on the corner of Third and liberty Street is presided over by a refined lady, who berme his wife in Howell in 1866. Miss Ele (. Rider was born in Genoa, Livingston County, Mich., and is the daughter of Joseph Rider, a native of Cayuga County, N. Y., as well as one of the carliest settlers of Livingston County, this State. Mr. Rider was a successful farmer and one of the first in the county to bring therein blooded and thoroughbred cattle. He
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served as Justice of the Peace many years and now lives a retired life in Genoa. Mrs. Rider was in her maidenhood Miss Marin Fishbeck and why born in New York. Mr. and Mrs. Pettibone have three children-Bertie. Charles L. and Max MI., all at home. Socially he is a member of the Free . and Accepted Masons, the Royal Arch Masons, is Past Eminent Commander of the Genesee Val- ley Commandery. No. 15, K. T., belongs to the Knights of the Maccabees, and the Royal Arena- He is a strong Republican in politics.
b ENRY C. FAIRBANK, M. D., the oldest physician now residing in Genesee County, and a prominent citizen of Flint, is also notable as being one of the old Abolition- ists, taking rank with the workers the party as far back ns 1813. The Fairbank family came from Wales in 1632 and settled in Dedham, Mass., nud a house built by those progenitors in 1635 still stands and is occupied by a descendant. The original and Welsh spelling of the name is Ffarbanche.
Since 1816 Dr. Fairbank has been in medical practice in this county, first in Fenton, then for sixteen years in Grand Blanc, with one year mean- while in Flint, and returned to this city in 1861. He was born in Rose, Wayne County, N. Y., De- cember 20, 1821. The father, Zenas, was born in Walpole. N. H., and the grandfather, Capt. Eb- enezer, took part in the Revolutionary War, and died in Eastern New York.
The father of our subject, who was likewise a practicing physician, began the pursuit of his pro- fession in Wayne County, N. Y., in 1835, and the following winter came to Michigan and spent the first season near Ann Arbor, locating the follow- ing spring in Genesee County, where he took up forty acres of new land in Fenton Township, and also started a grocery store in the village of Lin- den, besides carrying on his profession. He was prominent in the township in public movements and also in the Free Will Baptist Church to which
he belonged and he died in Linden in 1851 at the age of sixty-one. He was one of the organizers of the township of Argentine.
Lucy Wade was the maiden name of the mother of our subject and she was born in Connecticut, a daughter of Dudley Wade. She ched in Linden in October. 1855, leaving eight children. The eld- est daughter. Mary F., is now Mrs. Lamb, and is living on the place where she first settled in Lin- den in 1835; Lafayette, the oldest son, a farmer in Linden, lost his only son by death in Anderson- ville Prison; Frances C., deceased; our subject and Jerome %. are next in order of age, and the son who follows them is Judge James R. Fairbank, who enlisted in the fall of 1861 in the Thirteenth Michigan Infantry, and after the war went West to Lincoln, Neb., of which city he was afterward acting Mayor, and is now Judge of the County Court in Valley County, Neb. The two younger children are William M., deceased, and Lucy C., Mrs. Dr. H. P. Seymore of Ann Arbor.
In the fall of 1835 our subject came to Michigan and the following spring settled in Linden, where he assisted his father to build a log house and helped to clear the land. He studied medicine at home with his father after attending the Linden School and after that was under the preceptorship of Dr. J. C. Gallup of Fenton for two years teaching school in the meanwhile to help himself along. In the fall of 1846 he entered the Univer- sity of Willoughby, Ohio, and the following year began his course in the medical department of the Western Reserve University nt Cleveland, graduat- ing therefrom in 1818 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. During the long period of his coun- try practice he forded and waded streams and journeyed many long miles on foot and on horse- hack and completely wore out a pair of saddle- bags.
In the summer of 1864 an urgent call came for volunteer surgeons to be sent to the front of the army, and Dr. Fairbank at once responded, going first to the National Capital, then to City Point, Va., remaining on duty in the field hospitals for twenty days, the length of time for which their services were demanded. He then came back to Grand Blanc, but in the following November lo.
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ented in Flint. He has been County Physician for three years and health officer for two terms.
Dr. Fairbank was, in 1819, united in marriage at Long Lake with Miss Harriet J. Waterman, a nu- tive of Binghampton, N. Y. Their oldest son, Henry W., who graduated at the University of Michigan with the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts, is now writing and publishing mu- sie in connection with the house of Bradbury & C'o., of Chicago. The eldest daughter, Carrie E., now de- censed, was Mrs. E. C. Green of Lapeer, while the youngest daughter, Jennie M., who afterward married Mr. Green, also died as did her sister, of consumption. The second marriage of our subject took place in Detroit and united him with Miss Mary A. Rice, who was born in New York State, and is a daughter of the late Judge Samuel Rice of Grand Blanc Township, the first Judge of the Probate Court of this county. She is a graduate of the Ypsilanti Normal School and for fourteen years had charge of the department of English lit- ernture in that institution.
Ile of whom we write is a member of the Flint Academy of Medicine in which he has served as President. Ile helped to organize the State Medi- cal Association in its original form and belongs to the present organization and is also nentified with the American Medical Association. For over twenty-five years he has been an official member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and is now Chairman of its official board. He is a Republican in his political views and in the early days was often a delegate to State conventions of the Anti- Slavery party of the State.
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HARLES E. MCALESTER, B. S. This gen- tleman has been practicing law in Flint since 1862 and for several years has tilled the office of Justice of the Peace. He was born in this city December 22, 1838, and is a son of James and Catherine ( Miller) MeAlester. The father first came here in the spring of 1836, from his home in New York where he had married. Ile was a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and while he worked at his trade of wagon-making during the week, be preached in different parts of the county on Sunday's until his health failed. For some years be was an invalid, his death occurring September 9, 1872. He left wife and our son, our subject. Miles D., of the United States Army, the other son, had died April 23, 1869. The mother still lives in this city at the age of righty-three years.
Our subject worked at the trade of wagon-mak- ing with his father for a time, and after teaching for about a year he entered the literary depart- ment of the University of Michigan in 1857 and graduated therefrom in 1861 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He studied law with Levi Walker and with Hon. E. H. Thompson and was admitted to the bar in 1862, but as the war then interested him he raised a company which became Company (', Twenty-third Michigan Infantry, and being made Captain of it they were sent South. They had to endure severe service and a long march of two hundred miles in Kentucky and on account of ill health he was obliged to take lighter duty. After four weeks spent in a hospital at Louisville he was detailed by Gen. J. T. Boyle as Judge Advocate of Court-Martial at Louisville, and afterward was placed with Gen. Burnside in charge of the defenses of the Louisville and Nash- ville Railroad.
As he had made a specialty of his engineering course at Ann Arbor he was enabled to take the position of Commander of the Engineering Bat- talion of the Twenty-third Army Corps, and finally acted as Chief Engineer of that corps dur- ing the stege of Knoxville and campaigns against Longstreet in Eastern Tennessee. During the At- lanta Campaign, when the army was a little south of Kenesaw Mountain, he was transferred to the department of the Cumberland, and was ordered to Chattanooga to organize Company B, of the First United States Veteran Volunteer Engineers, organized under a special act of Congress. All of the officers of this regiment were appointed after a competitive examination which he passed sue- cessfully and served with that body till it was mustered out of service September 26, 1865. During his connection with that regiment he was
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engaged in building pontoon bridges, block houses, ete., with Chattanooga as the center of operations.
Returning to Flint at the close of the war Capt. MeMester resumed the practice of law, and was elected twice to the office of Circuit Court Com- missioner, and later was elected Recorder for the city. In 1873 he engaged in the fire insurance ! business, acting as both State and local agent. Ile is a member of the Masonic order, of the Knights ot Pythias and of the thand Army of the Repub- lie, and for eight years has been secretary of his regimental association. In every capacity he has shown himself a man of marked abilities and one where talents and character make him worthy of the highest appreciation. Capt. MeAlester is a stanch Republican and assisted in the organiza tion of the party in Eastern Michigan.
Brevet Brigadier General Miles D. Me.Mester. the only brother of our subject, died at Buffalo. N. Y., April 23, 1869, He was born at Belfast, Allegany County, that State, and removed with his parents to Flint in 1836, and was there ap- pointed to the West Point Military Academy in 1852, graduating therefrom in the Class of '56. Being Second Lieutenant. he served as assistant Engineer at Ft. Taylor, and on the fortifications of New York Harbor where he was promoted to the position of Superintending Engineer. He was promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant and served with distinction in the Army of the Foto mag as Assistant Engineer on the defense of Washington, and afterward as Chief Engineer of the Third Corps in the Peninsular Compaign. For meritorious conduct on the field he was pro- moted in July, 1862, as Brevet-Major, and after- ward as Lieutenant-Colonel and during his service in the department of the Ohio he was made Cap- tain of Engineers in 1863. At the siege of Mobile he was Chief Engineer on the Staff of Gen. Canby -and for meritorious service was made Brevet Brigadier-General.
A short respite from his arduous duties was afforded by his detail as hetructor of Practical Military Engineering and principal Assistant Pro- fessor of Engineering at the I'nited State- Military Academy at West Point, and later be served as Chief of the Engineering Division of the Army of
West Mississippi. After much study of the mouth of the Mississippi River he designed and built under contract from the Government the United States Dredge Boat "Essayons" which was com- pleted in IXX and was a notable success. His work, of which we have given only a slight sketch, made him a noted man throughout the army and great grief was expressed by the officers, especially those connected with the engineering corps, on ac- count of his untimely death.
OHN LAUDERBAUGH. Among the thrifty, prosperous and intelligent German- Ameri- can citizens of Atla- Township, Genesee County, the worthy and much respected . subject of this biography stands in the front. His parents, John and Margaret Lauderhaugh, were Bavarians, as he also is, and he was born .Jume 4, 1819. Hle was reared in his native coun- try and early undertook the work of a farmer.
At the age of twenty-four the young man served an apprenticeship of some three years nt the stonemason's trade, and followed that line of work for more than twenty years in both Ger- many and America. His education was obtained in the fierman National schools, and he emigrated to America in 1819, taking passage in a sailing- vessel at Bremen and landing in New York. Ile first worked in Ningara County, and was there married to Elizabeth Ebler, and by her had ten children, only four of whom are now living, namely: William, John; Mary, wife of Charles Gehm; and Eliza, wife of Frank Miller.
Our subject and family came to Genesce County in the fall of 1856, and in the following spring settled on his present farm in a log cabin 16x24 feet in size, which remained their home for a number of years. In this deeply-wooded region Mr. Lauderbaugh has done a great amount of thor- ough pioneer work. For years his only draft ani- mals were oxen, and he found them ellicient, though slow, in breaking up land.
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