USA > Michigan > Genesee County > Portrait and biographical record of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola counties, Michigan > Part 29
USA > Michigan > Lapeer County > Portrait and biographical record of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola counties, Michigan > Part 29
USA > Michigan > Tuscola County > Portrait and biographical record of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola counties, Michigan > Part 29
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from that institution. He is now practicing medi- , with Miss Louise Horton, of Monroe County, NY. cine at East Saginaw, Michigan. He is widely known, having lectured extensively in the United States and Canada in the interests of spiritnalism and also upon scientific subjects. He is a very able man. Mr. Andrus is a Democrat in politics nud an Odd Fellow in his social aftilliation.
ARMON VAN BUSKIRK. a dealer in drugs and groceries in Pine Run, Genesee County. was born in Henrietta. Momoe County. N. Y .. July 11, 1825. His father. Garrett Van Buskirk, was born at Buskirk's Bridge, Wash- ington County, N. Y., in 1778, and died in 1816. He was not only a farmer but a carpenter and joiner, and his father, John Van Buskirk, was a farmer and was killed during the War of 1812, at the battle of Oak Orchard Creek. The family is supposed to be descended from two brothers who came from Holland at an early day.
Our subject remained at home until he reached the age of thirteen, attending the district school and after that he worked out by the month upon n farm until he reached his majority. He then learned the cooper's trade, at which he worked for six years. He came to Michigan in 1858 and lo- vated at Belleville, Wayne County, and worked at his trade until the war broke out.
The young man then enlisted in August. 1802. in Company (, Twenty-third Michigan Infantry. and was with his regiment when it pursued John Morgan's raiders. He was in Knoxville at the siege and while nt Sulphur Springs, Tenn .. he was captured and taken to Belle Island, near Richmond, and afterward transferred to Libby Prison and Andersonville, where he remained until October&, 1863. Ile remained in durance vile in various prisons until March, 1861, when he was released and went home. After the war he resumed car- peentry for three years and then operated n shingle mill for two years, after which he devoted him- self to farming until 1879, and since that time ha- been in business in Pine Kun.
This lady was a daughter of Hiram Horton, who carried on a coopering business, and she had one child. Lydia .. who was born in October, 1815. and is now married to David Halstead, of Pine Run. This wife was called from earth's activities in 1×19, and somewhat later Mr. Van Buskirk mar- ried Louisa, daughter of Elijah Oakley, who was engaged in the manufacture of potash in Genesce County, N. Y. The one child of this marriage, Francis S,, who was born in 1851, died in 1872, and his mother departed this life in 1871. Mr. Van Buskirk was, in 1876, united in marriage with Mes. Van Nest, the widow of Henry Van Nest. Mr. and Mrs. Van Buskirk are members of the Pine Run Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is identified with the Masonic fraternity and with the tirand Army post at Vienna. He is also an Odd Fellow, and in politics is an ardent . Republican.
E E. HUYCK, a druggist and dealer in fur- niture, undertaking supplies and crockery, was born in Vienna Township, Genesce County, November 20, 1861, and now makes his home in Clio. His father, Charles M. Huyck, was 1 also born in Vienna Township, in 1810, and died in Andersonville prison in 1861. . He was a blacksmith and farmer, and enlisted as regimental blacksmith, Angust 9. 1862, in Company B. Twenty-third Michigan Infantry. His death was caused by disease and took place March 23, 1861.
George Huyck, the grandfather of our subject was a native of the Empire State, and came to Michigan in 1835, settling in Vienna Township, when there were not more than six people living within its bounds. Here he carried on farming un- til his death, in Ixx, at the age of sixty-two. The grandfather was a " 19-er" and went to Cali- fornia around by the way of Cape Horn, being your six years, during which the In worked in the gold mine. The mother of om subject na-
The marriage of oursubject in Ja11, united him . Susan E., daughter of Geogr T. Bingham; who
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came to Vienna Township in 1836, before the birth of this daughter, and made his home there until his death, in 1882.
Our subject remained at home until he reached the age of nineteen, and look a four years' course in the Flint High School, graduating therefrom in 1881, after which he learned the drug business in Detroit, spending a year there, and then came to Clio and worked for three years for druggists, after which he bought out the drug store which he has now conducted for five years. About one year ago be bought a stock of furniture and crock- ery, and he now has two large stores well filled with his various lines of goods, and has built up a fine trade, being considered one of the best busi- ness men in ('lio.
Mr. Huyck, m 1881. married Miss Harriet N., daughter of bane C. Van Epps, a merchant of Flint. and she is now the mother of two interesting chil- dren-Charles Il., who was born December 17, 1882. and Josie M., born September 2, 1885. Both Mr. and Mrs. Huyck are carnest and devoted members of the Congregational Church, and he is one of the Trustees of the church. In politics he is a strong Republican, and an carnest advocate of the principles of that party. His warm interest in educational matters, and his thorough intelligence, have made him a useful member of the Clio School Board. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Vienna Lodge No. 205. A. F. d. A. M .. of which he is Worthy Master, and also belongs to the Wash- ington Chapter of Flint, and Genesee Valley Com- mandery K. T.
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C HAARLES BROWN. In passing through a section of country, it is not difficult to de- termme who are the thrifty and enterpris- ing men, and who are the drones of the com munity. Occupying a part section of 21, Thetford Township, Genesee County, is the farm belonging to Mr. Brown, and noticeable among its Imilding- is the commodious residence, a view of which, with its surroundings, appears in this volume. The place contains all the appliances of a well.
regulated country estate. Mr. Brown is one of the many who began life poor in purse, and who have presented to their community the spectacle of perseverance amid difficulties and the shores of well-directed . forts.
The Brown record leads us back in imagination to England, where many years ago there lived a worthy couple whose names were William and Jane (Barn) Brown. They were both roared in the same county of which they were natives, the father having been born at Lisset, a village of Yorkshire, and the mother at Robin-Hood's Bay. They passed their lives usefully as members of the farming community and reared their children to lives of honesty and uprightness, Their son Charles was born in Bridlington, Yorkshire, England, on July 12, 1835. His educational advantages were limited to the common school near his home, and the knowledge which he now has, was self-acquired.
In 1850 Mr. Brown sailed across the broad Atlantic, and reaching New York State. engaged in farming in Niagara County, where he sojourned seventeen years. In 1867 he came to Michigan and located in Genesee County, where he purchased an eighty-acre farm on section 21, Thetford Town- ship. Here he still lives, although the estate has been materially improved since he first came, and now ranks among the best-cultivated farms in the community. Mr. Brown was united in marriage on March 2, 1861, with Miss Georgia Woodman, the daughter of John and Mary Woodman, the father being a farmer of Niagara County, N. Y. Mrs. Brown was an estimable and refined lady, possessing noble traits of character which won for her friends wherever she was, and in her home she was a loving wife and a careful, judicious mother. Two children born of this happy union, died in infancy; those remaining are-Anna E., Francis A., Nellie V., Laura 11 .. William J. and Esther E. The death of the wife and mother, which occurred September 28, 1877, was not only a severe blow to those within the immediate family circle, but was deeply mourned by neighbors and friends.
Mr. Brown is now building a two-story residence on his farm, and this he expects to ocenpy in a short time. It is of a modern style of architecture, commodious, and tastily finished, and will no
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RESIDENCE OF CHARLES BROWN, SEC 21. , THETFORD TP., GENESEE CO., MICH.
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RESIDENCE OF DAVID KURTZ , SEC.I9 .; GENESEE TP, GENESEE CO , MICH.
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doubt be furnished with an elegance and taste which befit the inmates of the household. In educational affairs Mr. Brown has always taken an active interest, and nothing that will be of value in promoting the spread of knowledge does he hesi- tate to do. Although a firm Democrat he has always avoided holding office, and is by no means active in politics. His place among his fellow-cit- izens is a high one and he enjoys their unlimited confidence.
AVID KURTZ, a prominent farmer of section 19. Genesee Township, Genesee County, was born in Erie County, N. Y., in Clarence Township, September 12, 1852. His father, Jacob Kurtz, a native of Lancaster County, Pa., settled in New York when a young man and there pursued farming. He died in Erie County, N. Y .. in March, 1861; his good wife, Anna Leih, a native of Pennsylvania, removed to Erie County. N. Y., with her parents at the age of nine years and it was there that she met and married the father of our subject. The mother died at Mt. Pleasant, Mich., while on a visit to her daughter in 1889. Their six sons and three daughters all grew to manhood and womanhood, and three of them-John, Abraham and Barbara-died after reaching the ages respectively of seventeen, twenty- four and eighteen years. Those who are now living reside in Genesee County, with one excep- tion, and are named Jacob Jr., Elizabeth, Heury. David, Daniel and Mary, who married .I. C. Free- man, of Mt. Pleasant.
At the age of eighteen our subject left his native home, and after spending two years in Missouri, working upon a farm and attending school, he re- turned to New York. There he was employed ou a farm and taught school until he was twenty-six years old. At about that time he was married January 23, 1879, to Maria Martin, of Clarence, N. Y., daughter of David and Catherine (Leib) Martin, both natives of Pennsylvania who removed to New York in their early life. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz consists of two som and two daughters, Reuben JJ., Alma E., Horace 11. and Ella.
In 1879 Mr. Kurtz purchased the farm where he now resides and moved upon it in April of that Jenr. He has erected a first-classset of farm build- ings, conspicuous among them being a barn 10x 100 feet with an 1. 26x60 feet, with basement under the entire building. One hundred and righ- teen acres of the estate are well-improved and here the owner carries on general farming and stock-raising. A view of the place with its prin- cipal buildings appears in connection with this sketch. By proper rotation of crops the soil has been brought to a high state of cultivation and yields bountiful harvest of golden grain. A prac. tical farmer, Mr. Kurtz brings to his work good judgment, energy and industry, qualities which have enabled him to crown his efforts with success.
In his political convictions Mr. Kurtz is a Repuli- lican and has served in various official positions, among them that of Highway Commis-joner, also School Inspector. He is a member of the Iron Hall at Mt. Morris, and in his religious sentiments is a consistent member of the Baptist Church at that place. At the organization of the church he served as Truster and is at present Clerk as well as Chorister, having. held the latter position most of the time since the church was organized. To church work he is a liberal contributor of his means and influence and he maintains an especial interest in the Sunday-school, of which he was the first Super- intendent. He has charge of the singing there and belongs to a family well known for its singers. He is one of four brothers now living, all of whom belong to the same church, and have never used tobacco or intoxicants in any form.
F6 RANK D. BAKER, M. D. A man of many interests and enterprises, besides his work as a physician, our subject is present Sheriff of Genesee County. He was one of the organizers of the Equitable Building & Loan Association. He was born near Biddeford. Devonshire. England. October 10, 1852, and is a son of Charles and Eliza (Dymond) Baker. Our subject's father onine to America in 1856 and located in Flint. Three
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years later he purchased a farm in Burton Town- ship, where he still resides. They have been the parents of thirteen children, all of whom are liv. ing and ten of whom reside in this county.
Our subject is the fifth in order of birth of his father's family. With his family he came to this country in a mailing vessel, the voyage occupying seven weeks. They landed in Quebec. Our sub- jeet was reared in Burton Township, three and a half miles from Flint. He attended High School until graduation in 1872 and was then engaged in teaching here for three years. In 1875 he went to Latirange, Cook County, Ill., and taught for one year and then entered the literary department of the I'niver-ity of Michigan. where he staid for one year, when he began the study of medicine under Dr. Cogshall. In 1877 he entered the med- ical department of the University of Michigan, remaining there until 1879, and in 1880 received his degree as Doctor of Medicine. He began the practice of his profession in the town and country of Tuscola, where he remained for three months, thence going to Edwardsville. HL .. where he resided for three months.
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In 1881 Dr. Baker purchased a farm of two hun- dred and forty acres in Clayton, Genesee County, which he still operates. He then engaged in the drug business under the firm name of Miller & Baker. In 1889 they sold out to Mr. Craft. Hle then engaged in the real-estate business and be- come Secretary of the Equitable Loan & Building Association. Meantime he carries on his real es- tate business, his office being on Saginaw Street. In the fall of 1890 he was nominated and elected Sheriff on the Democratic ticket, assuming his of- lice Janumy 1, 1891.
The original of our sketch was married in Ed- wardsville, Madison County, 11., August 30, 1880, to Miss Mattie Ritter, a daughter of Henry and Philopene (Gablemon ) Ritter, the father being a prominent business man man of Edwardsville, Il. Dr. and Mrs. Baker have become the parents of four children, whose names are Mattie, Gertrude. Frank and Jessie. In 1887.×8 Dr. Baker served a- Alderman from the Second Ward and m 1889 wa- Mayor. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is n Mason. He also belongs ">
the Knights of the Maccabees and is a Forester. Hle and his wife are prominent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
0 BRIN HART. The gentleman whose name heads this sketch is one who is prominent in commercial circles in the village of Flush- ing, Genesee County. He is the senior member of the firm of flart & Clark, proprietors of the Flash- ing Flouring Mill. which has already gained a wide reputation as producing a most excellent quality of flour. Mr. Hart is a native of Broome County, N. Y., and was born January 23. 1825. He is a son of Marcus E. and Polly (Clark ) Hart, natives of Connecticut and New York respectively.
Our subject's father was engaged in farming and lumbering in New York. He was a man of wealth and position, but sold out and in 1836 came to Michigan, settling about Flint. Staying there only a short time he then removed to Cal- houn County, where he purchased land with the intention of farming, but he died in 1837. After huis decrase his family returned to Gruesee County. His wife still lives, being a resident of Oak Grove, Livingston County, and is eighty-seven years of
Of the three children born to his parents our subject is the only one living. The original of our sketch was educated in a log schoolhouse, where the seats were of slabs, with pin lige. On his father's death be left home and lived with his maternal uncle, Samuel Clark. He remained with him until eighteen years of age and then went to live with his uncle, Judge Ogden Clark, who was at that time a resident of Ogden Township, where he had a farm and store and mill. In 1816 Judge Clark settled at Flushing and young Hart came with him and assisted in the mill and store. In time he purchased a farm west of the village of Flushing and devoted himself to farming for ten years, In the fall of 1862, in company with Our F. Clark, Mr. Hart purchased the mill property at I'm on the Flint River, and has continued
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the Inusiness ever since. They have owned live mills, three of which have been burned and one is how vacant. The one which is running has six- tren sets of rollers and is one of the best mills of the county. It is accessible to the Cinemati, Sag- inaw & Mackinaw Railroad and has side tracks to the very door.
Our subject is one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Flushing. He is also interested m other banks in the State and has besides landed interests in this and other States. He was married to Miss Margaret Ashbaugh, January 1, 1868. The lady is a native of Ohio and a daughter of Harvey and Eliza ( Elliott) Ashlaugh, natives of Pennsyl- vania. Mr. and Mrs. Hart are the parents of two sons, Robert O. and Reunie E. Politically our subject is a Prohibitionist. Socially he is a Mason. Hle adheres to the creed as taught by the Metho- dist Church, although his wife belongs to the Ad- venti-ts' Church. They have a pleasant residence on Main Street and the family is recognized as one of the leading ones in the social circles of this place.
LINT P. SMITH. The original promoter and present manager of the Flint P. Smith Lumber Company is he whose name ap- pears above. He is one on whom the enterprising duties of life have pressed themselves and has been found equal to the demand- made upon him. He was born in Pentielt, Lorain County, Ohio, Sept- ember 22, 1858. He received most of his educa- tion in his native place, so that when he came to Michigan with his father he began his active career as a business man. He married Miss Frane A. Brainer, of Attica, N. Y., their nuptials being solemnized in September, 1875, and by this union our subject is the father of two children-Ward and Gwennola.
Our subject's father, Hiram Smith, was born in New York in 1821, and when a young man came West to Ohio, where he engaged in the Number business in Lorain County. In 1815 he came 10 Lapeer County, and was engaged in lumbering,
which he carried on for several years and then returned to Ohio. In 1817 he sawed a large amount of lumber in Lapeer County and rafted two large boats of the same down to Saginaw, this being the first humber that was ever sent from Lapeer County. He remained in Ohio until 1861 and on the Making out of the war spent one year in getting out black walnut of which to make gun stocks for the Government, after which he enlisted in the army, but had been in it but a short time when his hand was shattered and he wassent home on a furlough and wa- afterward discharged on necount of disability.
After returning from the war our subject con- tinned lumbering in Ohio until 1867-68, when he enie to Flint, which at that time was a lumber town, only having about twenty mills here. Hle built a mill and was engaged in dealing in hard- wood, probably culling half the hard lumber ever marketed in this county, and handling a large amount of oak. He built an elegant brick resi- dener at the corner of Third and Stockton Streets, in 1872. the place being one of the few really fine residences in the town, and its style and construc- tion was so superior that it still maintains its pres- tige being a beautiful place located in a wide-spread velvety lawn. This was his home until his death, and the place is still kept in the family. Ho mar- ried Miss Maria Penfield. of Penfield, Lorain County, Ohio, the place being named in honor of her father, Truman Penfield. He left a family of seven children. 1
The children of which our subject is one are; Flint P. Myron. Park, Eli, Jenny, Mrs. George II. Rankin, of Milwaukee, Hiram and Jock, of Detroit. Mi. and Mrs. Smith were members of the Congre- gational Church. He was not a politician, and although he frequently had offices tendered him, did not care to mix up in politics, Mir. F. P. Smith came to this city with his parents in 1868, his father, Hiram Smith, at once allying his inter- ests with the lumber business. He built a mill and became largely interested in the manufacture of hardwood, and was the operator of quite an extensive business at the time of his death. Our subject succeeded his father and has been running the mill until this last summer, when he lensed the
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old Crapo mill on account of its superior water power. He will run the former mill during the winter for the manufacture of hard-wood lumber and staves, being interested in the cooperage bu-i- ness. They buy their material from the logs shipped in by rail. The mill is located near the Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad.
OSEPH 1 .. DUNBAR, who has been a resi- . dent of the county since 1812, and who is one of the most extensive contractors and builders in Flint, was born in Rochester. Oakland County, this State, June 3, 1838. Ilis father, Joseph Dunbar, was a New Yorker by birth and was married in New Jersey. He was a car- penter by trade and a Corporal in the American Army in the War of 1812. He became an early settler at Rochester and about the year 1811 settled near Vernon, Shiawassee County, and the follow- ing year removed to Flushing, which was his home until his death in 1851. He was a Democrat in his political views and for several years was constable of Flushing. Ths wife, Christiana Bigler, dangh- ter of John Bigler, of New Jersey, survived him for twenty years and died at the age of seventy- three. They were Baptists in their religious faith.
Our subject was one of a family of six children, all daughters but himself, and he had his educa. tion and early training at Flushing. This attendance in the log school house was limited to winters, and during the summer he worked assiduously at any work he could command and for any wages which he could get. At the age of lifteen he began an apprenticeship under B. F. Warner to learn the carpenter's trade, receiving a bonus of 250 a your. About this time he bought a lot in Flushing for što on four years' time, paying $10 down which was his entire salary for two and one-half months. After passing one year at his apprenticeship he went into partnership with M. P. Mcclellan and after the first season engaged in trade for himself, beginning his eneer as a contractor and builder at the age of seventeen. He did independent busi-
ness thus and did a large part of the work himself, erecting residences and business houses.
In 1878 Mr. Dunbar came to Flint and worked with Mr. (. Landers, having charge of his men, and a little later entered into partnership with 1. F. Cleveland who at that time was a leading con- tractor here. During the three years that they were connected, they erected the Catholic Church and the dining room and kitchen for the Michigan School for the Deaf, a building valued at $30,000, and also the wagon works and the inside linish of Owosso Catholic Church all of which were large contracts.
Since 1883 this young man has carried on busi- nes alone and has the largest set of men at work of any one in the city. He has put up a block of stores on First Street and also one on Saginaw Street, besides the beautiful residence of Alexander MeFarland and others.
This gentleman was married in Orion, Oakland County, in 1862, to Miss Mary A. Bigler, daughter of Jesse Bigler, a New Yorker, and a son of Philip Bigler. a Revolutionary soldier and a pioneer of Orion. Three children have blessed the home of Mr. and Mrs. Dunbar, namely : Lena, Jennie (deceased), and Daisy. The eldest daughter is a fine musician. Mr. Dunbar belongs to the orders of Masonry and Odd Fellows. and is independent in polities.
CHIN ALGOE. The year 1861 marked the arrival of this gentleman in the city of Flint, and he is therefore now one of the oldest residents. He is still actively en- gaged in business as a pension and insurance agent and money loaner, and through his elose at- tention to his private interests, he has gained a competency. Perhaps no other citizen of Flint has been more thoroughly identified with the progress of the city then he, and we lind his name associated with almost every enterprise which tends to promote the material, social or moral develop- ment of Flint. At one time he was Supervisor of the Third Ward of this city, and in that position
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labored assiduously to advance the interests of Flint, his efforts meeting with flattering sheets. In the various other responsible positions to which he has been called, he has worked with the same self-sacrificing spirit which be displayed as super- visor.
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