USA > Michigan > Genesee County > Portrait and biographical record of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola counties, Michigan > Part 26
USA > Michigan > Lapeer County > Portrait and biographical record of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola counties, Michigan > Part 26
USA > Michigan > Tuscola County > Portrait and biographical record of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola counties, Michigan > Part 26
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tion of the association held at Concord, in Sep- tember. 1836, the Rev. William W. Turner. in a speech at the banquet, alluded to Mr. Brown :- the Mute Cincinnatus of America, a title that clung to him ever thereafter. He held official po- sitions in several societies that left lasting monu- ments of their being. He died March 23. 1886. his mind being clear to the last. So ended the life of a man, who, while he waxed neither rich nor famous, made his way through the world creditably and left his mark therein. having dore muchi for his deaf brethren.
h ON. MARK W. STEVENS is the Secretary of the Board of World's Fair Managers for Michigan. to which position he was ap- pointed July 29, 1891, by Gov. Winans. This work occupies much of his time, as he has to be present at every meeting of the Board, and it involves much extra work. He was born in Argen- tine Township, Genesce County, April 1, 1819, and is a son of Binsley and Mary J. (Faulkner) Ster- ens. The father was one of the carly settlers of this county, who was born in 1823, came to the State in 1837, and died in 1886. He came on fool and alone from Detroit to this part of the State. and put up one night near Brighton. Livingston County, at the farm of Gov. Bingham, for whom he worked for two years. From there he went to Shiawassee County, where he married Miss Faulk- ter, and carly in his married life came to this county. As he was a miller by occupation, he found work in the Byron Mill. then owned by Dennis & Rebey.
The father of our subject bought a farm m Ar- genting Township, and remained a farmer there until his death in January. 1886. He left a family of a wife, our subject, and one daughter, France. now the wife of Timothy Wilkinson. For ton years the father was Town Clerk, and was Justice of the Peace at the time of his death. He was in early life a member of the Christian Church, but as that body disorganized in his neighborhood, he at- tended and supported neighboring chuches.
Mark W. Stevens studied at the High Schools of Byron and Fenton, and began teaching at the age of twenty, and finally became the principal for two gears of the Landen schools, after which he acted 1- traveling salesman for a commercial house at Detroit, and was afterward five years on the road, selling wagons and carriages for Joseph Beach, of Linden. his father-in-law. He had been reading law more or less for several years, and was admitted to the bar in Flint in 1××1. In 1885 he was ap- pointed lo President Cleveland. I'nited States In- dian Agent for Michigan. with headquarter- at Flint. and held the office until June, 80, 1××9. During that time he had charge of all the Indians in Mich- igan with whom the Government had treaty rela- tions, about eight thousand in number. At the same time be continued his law practice at Flint. and since he gave up that oflive, he has devoted his whole attention to law.
Mr. Stevens is often seen as a delegate at State Democratic conventions, and is an ardent sup porter of the principles of that party, and is one of the intental Democrats of Michigan. During different campaigns he has stumped the State for the success of his party, and is one of the most effective speakers therein. He married Miss Mary 1. Beach, of Linden, this county, on the 31st of August. 1871. and they have one son, Fred. who is now in the school of Flint. Mrs. Stevens was born in Leslie. Jugham County, and is a daughter of Joseph Beach. a well-known manufacturer of Linden.
F6 ERRIS FOREMAN HYATT. It is a fam- iliar saying that we measure life not by year- huit by intensity. and if this beso, Mr. Hyatt may be called one of the most venerable of men, although at the time of lus death he was only fifty-two years of age. Among the citizens of Flint he occupied an honored position to which his beautiful Christian character and rare talent justly entitled him. As one of the organizers and subsequent I'vespent of the Flint National Bank,
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he was closely identified with the banking interests of this city and indeed, of the entire State, but while he was one of the most prominent residents of the place, he posessed the true modesty which did not aspire to official distinction or political notoriety.
Many years ago there stood a certain house ou Elizabeth Street in the city of New York, which was especially interesting to Mr. Hyatt as being the place where his eyes first opened to the light. He was born September 9, 1830 and was the only child who lived to mature years, in the family of Clarke and Anna flyatt. His paternal grandfather was John Hyatt, n farmer and merchant, while on his mother's side, his grandfather was Miles Foreman, a soldier in the Revolutionary War who ran away from school to enlist therein at the age of fifteen or sixteen years, and who subsequently served as " father was a well known and influential man in Sheriff of Tioga County some fourteen years when it embraced about one-third of the State of New York.
At an early day the parents of our subject re- moved to Tioga County, N. Y., and made their home at Hyattville near Oswego, where the mother died. Clarke Hyatt served as one of the judges of the court of Common Pleas of Tioga County, and came to Mielngan to look after his large lumbering interests in this State. His death occurred in Flint, where he had resided for some time prior to his demise. In his political views he was a Democrat, and n Presbyterian in his religions sympathies. The best of school advantages were bestowed upon our subject and to say that he availed himself of them to the utmost is but to state what actually occurred. His early training was received at Nichols in Tioga County, and at the age of twelve years he entered Oxford Academy where he fitted for Harvard. Four years after entering the latter institution he was graduated with the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts, after which he went abroad and spent two years in European travel.
Upon returning to the United States Mr. Hyatt came to Michigan with his father and embarked in the lumber and real-estate business. His first mar- riage, which took place in Flint in 1866, united him with Miss Etta P., daughter of ex-Gov. II. Il.,
Crapo. Mr. Hyatt took his bride back to the Fast but their marned life was brief, as she died within a year and was buried in Flint. When Mr. Hyatt settled permanently in Flint be aided in the organ- ization of the Flint National Bank and became largely interested in real estate and money loaning. Hle erected a beautiful residence on the corner of Beach and First Streets, which has ever since been considered one of the finest in the city and which is now the home of his widow.
Mrs. Hyatt was born in Atlas, Pike County, III., not far from Pittsfield. Her father, Dr. Orin S. Campbell, was born at Chantanqua, N. Y., and her grandfather dosiah was a farmer at Painesville, Ohio. His wife, whose name was Hannah Shepherd, was a cousin of Ralph Waldo Emerson, her mother bearing the family name of Waldo. The grand- Ohio, where he remained until his death. Dr. Campbell was educated at Oberlin College and spent four years in the medical department of Ohio University. He came to Pike County, IN., in 1837, locating at Atlas, where he practised his profession until the county seat was located in Pittsfield. He then removed to that place and built up a large and lucrative practice. He was a stauch Republican and an enthusiast for the administration during the days of the war, saying in word and deed to many a man who was hesitating: "Go to the war. I'll take care of your family." His death occurred in Pitt-field at the age of sixty-two, resulting from heart disease. His good wife Abbie J. (Glover) Campbell, was born at Westchester, N. Y., and is it daughter of David 'T. Glover, a millwright in New York. She now resides in Pittsfield, having at- tained to her seventy-eight year, and is an earnest member of the Episcopal Church. She is a woman of fine culture, broad and liberal in her views, and of mare sound judgment. Of her nine children seven grew to maturity.
When Phoebe Campbell was only four years of age she entered a private school in Pittsfield and after attending the common schools became a pupil in the Thompson School. She was united in mar- riage, November 1, 1861, with Henry M. Watson, a native of Pittsfield and a son of William Watson, who conducted the first store and hotel in that
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town. Mr. Watson engaged in merchandising in Pittsfield and died in IsGs at the age of twenty- two years, leaving one child. Heury, who is now in the wholesale tobacco business. Her marriage to Mr. Hyatt, which was solemnised in Pittsfield, III., December 18, 1871, was blessed by the birth of tive children, namely; Marion T., a graduate of Exeter Academy, N. Il., and now a student in the University of Michigan; Clarke (., who also at- tends the State University; Anna E .; Jennie C. and Ferris, who are at home. Mr. Hyatt died. January 8, 1883, near Boston, Mass, from the effects of malarial fever. For thirteen yours a member of the First Presbyterian Church at Flint, Mrs. Hyatt possessesa consistent Christian character and much kindliness of heart, while her culture and social qualities endear her to a large circle of friends.
LAURENCE In CASE. Few residents of tien- eser County have had a wider experience of pioneer life, with its privations and dan- gers, its sorrows and pleasures, than the gentleman whose name introduces this biographical sketch. A native of Atlas Township, this county. he was born April 20, 1815, and having passed his entire life within the limits of the county he is thorough- Is familiar with the various phases of its growth. and has been no unimportant factor in its develop- ment. While working for himself and his own interests, he has also labored for the welfare of the community and has become well known as an hon- orable and reliable citizen, active in every good work, and ever anxious to promote the material and moral status of the township.
The immediate progenitors of Mr. Case were David and Cassandra (Jones) Case, both of whom were natives of the State of New York, the father horn in Niagara County and the mother in tien- csee County. The father was by trade a black- smith and followed that occupation in connection with farming, the most of his life. At the age of six years he was brought by his parents to Michigan, and with them he located in Oakland
County. The mother accompanied her parents to this county at the age of twelve years, and over afterward made this her home. She was a good mother, and endeavored in every way possible to fit her children for honorable positions in life. Our subject attended the common school until he was fifteen years old, when he was obliged to cease his educational pursuits and work on the farm.
At the breaking out of the Civil War, David Case enlisted as a soldier in the defense of the I'nin, and our subject was therefore obliged to remain at home and take care of the other mem- bers of the family. When his father returned in Istit, our subject enlisted March 23, 1865, in Com- pany E, Twenty-fourth Michigan Infantry. Hle joined his regiment in Southern Illinois and did guard duty until he was discharged June 30, 1865, at the close of the war. After returning to Mich- igan, Mr. Cave engaged in farming in Tienesee County and by determined effort he gradually at- tained to prosperity. He received the cheerful and earnest aid of his wife, to whom he was mar- ried on July 1. 1867. She was known in maiden- hood as Nancy A. Collar, and was the daughter of Thomas and Sophronia (Wood) Collar, a manufac- turer of Thetford Township, Generer County. Mrs. Case was born in Canfield. Mahoney County, Ohio, June 12. 1811, and as she and her husband have no children of their own they have adopted a child. whom they call Merle and who was born April 9, 1878. I'mon this adopted daughter they bestow every attention as though she were their own and she is now attending school and being trained for a noble womanbood.
Mr. Case has been awarded success only after arduous exertion and as the result of patience, wise management and good judgment. He can well be termed a self-made man, and as he began life with no capital save his natural abilities and faculties of mind and body. For two years after starting out for himself he worked by the month. and it was not until 1870 that he commenced farming on his own account in Thetford Town- ship. After engaging actively in agricultural affairs until 1881 at that place be purchased the property which is his procent home and which comprises
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eighty acres of finely-improved land. With the ing it one of the first in the State in influence and exception of two years passed in Saginaw, he las reputation. been a life-long resident of this county. Polit- ically, he is a Republican and hasserved efficiently as Justice of the Peace, which position he still tills. His father and mother still reside in Fine Run, where they are highly esteemed, but his three brothers, Floyd D., Charles S., and Manty B., were all killed by accidental poisoning.
OHN JACKSON COON, editor and pro- prietor of the Flint Evening and Wally Jonrunt, was born at Smithville, Peoria County, Ill., May 6, 1851. He is the youngest of four sons of Reune Runyon and Emi- line Coon. His father was born at Piscataway, N. J., in 1845; his mother was born near Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1820, her maiden name being Emiline Me- Cowen. His father is a minister of the Gos- pel, having commeneed to preach at about twenty years of age. He removed to Alton, Ill., about 1855 with his parents, where his father was pastor of the Baptist Church.
In 1861 the family went to Pana, Ill., and much of the time until 1871 he spent on the farm and attending school at Pana. In 1871 he entered the preparatory department of the I'niversity of Chi- cago and during the next few years his time was spent in attendanceat college and working on the farm through va ation and also often during the school year. He graduated in the classical coupe with the Class of '79, and was selected as ela> ora- tor.
Hi- first journalistic experience was in the publi- cation of the Chicago Real Estate and Building Jouren in 1880. In 1××| he bought the Hitman, III., Sher, which he ran successfully for three and a half years selling out at an increased price in the summer of jest. In October, 1881, he bought the Belvidere, It. Northwestern and after a successful and most prosperous period of three and a half years he sold it for almost double what he paid for it and purchased the Flint Evening and Weekly .Pourand which he has conducted with success, nach- !
Mr. Coon possesses qualifications which specially lit him for the profession of American journalism. He has a love for the profession, a sense of the fit- nes of things, quick perception of the situation, a ready knowledge of human nature, and the news instinct-alert in the gathering of facts, and skill- ful in using them. His style is characterized by vigor, directness and force.
Mr. Coon was married December 8, 1881 to Miss .Julia Hawley, youngest daughter of Benjamin Rug- gles and Hannah Rosamond Hawley, of Chicago. His wife is also a graduate of the U'niversity of Chicago, of the Class of '80.
Politically he has always been a strong Repub- lican.
Le EWIS S. THOMPSON. who resides in Mundy Township. tienere County, was born in Peru, Berkshire County. Mass. May 29. 1827. When he was quite young his parents removed to Monroe County, N. Y. and lived there for some nine or ten years before coming to Michigan where they settled in Mundy Township. His father was Lyman Thompson and his mother bore the maiden name of India Payne, and they were natives of Massachusetts and Ohio respectively. They both died on the farm now owned by our subject. Their family consisted of three daughter and two sons and our subject is the second child. Since coming to this county he has continued to live upon the same property which he cleared from timber and upon which he has placed excellent improvements and sub- stantial and commodious buildings.
The first marriage of Mr. Thompson took place in Mundy Township and united him with Sophia Annabel. After her death he was again married March 10, 1860 to Evaliza Bell daughter of Lewis and Sarepta (Stanley) Bell. Mr. Bell was a native of the Empire State and Mrs. Bell of Vermont, and they came from Allegany County, N. Y. to Michigan and settled in Mundy Township where
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they spent the remainder of their days, coming to Michigan in 1851.
This worthy couple were the parents of eight children of whom Mrs. Thompson is the sixth in order of age, She was born in Allegany County. N. Y .. March. 15. 1811. Two children were born to this marriage, namely: Frank S. who married Rosa Bentley and William E.
The declarations and platform of the Re- publican party embody the political views which Mr. Thompson considers most sound and best conducive to the general prosperity of the country, and he therefore gives his vote for the aggrandizement of that party. He is not only thorough and systematic in his farming but wide awake and enterprising and has made his home most comfortable and attractive. The buildings are excellent, the fences well kept. and everything nhơnt the farm shows the hand of a competent
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b ON. JAMES VAN FLEET. Romulus. Sen- "a County, N. Y., is the native home of this prominent gentleman and he was born July 28, 1819; but he calls himself a thor- ough Wolverine as he came bither and settled in Gaines Township. Coneste County in JX1. His father, Jared Van Vleet, was born in New Brun- wick County, S. ... and was of Dutch descent. The served in the War of 1812 and at the age of sev- entresix years died in Roundus. The mother, Dolly (Swarthont) Van Veet, was born in Senees County, N. Y., of German ancestry and died m her uative State. Her ten children grew to matmay and five still survive.
Our subject remained upon the farm attending the district school and working with his father un- til he reached the age of majority. In 1811 he was there married to Miss Mary A. Cooley, of Orange County, and after spending two years upon a farm near Romulus they came West in July, 1811, and bought unbroken woodland in Gaines Township. Genesee County. They soon put up a log house 18x26 feel and for months lived without doors,
windows or doors. When Mr. Van Veet estab- lished hinself with his wife and child in his new home he had seventy -five cents with which to buy provisions, Head work and small returns was the order of the day but the family managed to live. To crown their misfortunes the wife was taken sick in the fall and as there was no one to care for her the husband out a road two miles through the woods to the nearest neighbors, placed ber upon a bed in a sleigh and carried ber to these , hospitable friends to be cared for. With them she remained through the winter, keeping up meanwhile a brave heart and never saying she was homesick to return to the East.
During the pioneer day- Mr. Van Vleet was for many years Supervisor and served also as Clerk. In Istit he waselected on the Repuldican ticket to the State Legislature, to which he was re-elected two years later. In the fall of 1868 he received his election a. County Treasurer which induced him to remove to Flint and to put his farm in the hands of a tenant during the two terms that he served in that capacity and ako while he was Deputy Treasurer for four years. At the expira- tion of that time he was made Supervisor of the Third Ward of the city of Flint and was this nine years in succession in an official position in this city, since which time he has dropped out of poli- livs. No man in the county has served as long as he in the office of Supervisor and no one has held the office of Treasurer for a longer period. While in the Legislature he was Chairman of the Commit- ter on Halfroads. Since leaving public office he has drifted into the insurance fussiness and has done a great deal in the line of setthng estates, and in conveyancing and also places loans for Eastern parties.
The fine property of Mr. Van Vleet does not lie altogether in the city, but also includes a farm of one hundred and eighty acres in Gaines Township which is occupied by his son, besides pine lands in Missouri which will be developed as soon as the railroad passes Unrough that part of the State. He is a stockholder in the Commercial Savings Bank and was Director of the Citizens' National Bank from the time of its organization until it re-organ- ized twenty years later. His four children are;
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Albert B., who lives on the old homestead; Jared, a pension attorney and real-estate agent at Flint; John C., who is a graduate of the University of Michigan with the alegrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws; and Ann E. wife of William II. Fairchild, of Swartz Crock. During the war Mr. V'an Vleet acted as enrolling officer and had charge of the windows and orphans. He is a Free and Je- cepted Mason and a member of the County Pio- never Society. His politics are of the true-blue Republican stripe and he is often a delegate to county and State conventions.
A lithographie portrait of Mr. Van Vleet accom- panies this sketch.
DIN H. HICOK, A. M. One of the enter- prising practicing attorneys of Flint, is he whose name appears above. With his law business he also combines insurance, and in various ways infuses so much life into his enter prices as to be a public benefactor. Mr. Hieok was born in Cortland County, N. Y., March 25, 1811. Ile is a son of William T. and Elizabeth S. (Steele) Hicok, the former a native of Massachusetts, and born in 1811, and the latter of Rindge. N. IL. Our subject's paternal grandfather, AArnold Hicok, was a farmer in Berkshire County, Mass, He was later an early settler in Cortland County. N. Y. Our subject's mother was a daughter of Samuel Steele. who was a teacher in Mbany. N. Y., which calling he pursued for forty or fifty years. His great- grandmother on the maternal side, was a rela- tive of Israel Putnam and Maj. Butrick, of Revo- lutionary fame. His mother still survives and lives in Flint, at the age of seventy-seven years.
Two children lived to be grown, our subject and Elizabeth S., who is now preceptres of the Flint High School. John Hivok was reared at home and attended the Cortland Academy at Homer. When seventeen years of age he entered Hamilton Col- lege nt Clinton, N. Y., taking the classical course and graduating in 1865 with the degree of Bache- ler of Arts. Three years later the degree of M :- ter of Arts was conferred upon him. He was m
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business with his father awhile as a banker, and while in that business he began the study of law. In 1879 he sold out his interests and came to Flint, taking up the study of law in the office of Long & Gold. He was admitted to the bar in 1879, and has . since pursued the practice of his chosen profession in this Mate. In his insurance business he repre- sents some six or seven companies.
In 1881-85 he was elected City Attorney, and subsequently served as City Clerk. While in New York he was Supervisor of Homer for several years. In 1881 he became the Secretary of the Genesee County Agricultural Society, serving until Jan- nary 1, 1891. Mr. Hicok was married in Homer, N. Y., in August, 1867, to Miss Blendena M. Mathews, a daughter of David Mathews, of Homer. This union has been blessed by the advent of four chil- dren-John Holley, Elizabeth S., Florence and Ed- ward M. The eldest born is editor of the Copper Journal at Hancock, Mich .; Elizabeth S. is a teacher at La Crosse, Wis.
Our subject has east about his children the bene- firent influences of an association with the Preshy- terian Church, in which he has been Superinten- dent of the Sunday school. Politically he is a believer in Democratie principles, and is Secretary of the County Democratie Connnitter.
E LI BAXTER. Formerly'a resident of Good. rich. Atlas Township, Genesee County, and an old soldier who served during the Civil War, the record that Mr. Baxter left behind him ns an inheritance to his family is replete with noble and disinterested acts. He was born in the State of New York, November 8, 1838, being a son of Edward and Mary (Herrick ) Baxter. While a boy he emigrated to Michigan in company with his parents. They resided for a time in Oakland County, and later on removed to Atlas Township, where he made his home until entering the army.
Our subject received a common-school education. He learned the boot and shoe trade, and for a time was in that business in Goodrich. He enlisted in the Viv" Vor in January, 1862, in Company C,
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Tenth Michigan Infantry, and remained in service until his decease, which occurred July 25, 1861. His death took place in the hospital on Lookout Moun- tain. He was in a number of skirmishes and was a victim of the exposure necessary to camp life.
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