USA > Michigan > Grand Traverse County > Sprague's history of Grand Traverse and Leelanaw counties, Michigan embracing a concise review of their early settlement, industrial development and present conditions...to which will be appended...life sketches of well-known citizens of the county > Part 101
USA > Michigan > Leelanau County > Sprague's history of Grand Traverse and Leelanaw counties, Michigan embracing a concise review of their early settlement, industrial development and present conditions...to which will be appended...life sketches of well-known citizens of the county > Part 101
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Frankfort, Sutton's Bay, Northport, Maple City, Empire, Nessen City, Hannah, Fife Lake, Barker Creek, Isadore, Arcadia and Mapleton. He also built churches at Cadilac, Isadore, Barker Creek, Mapleton and Fife Lake, and a priest's residence at Provemont, which was then formed into a regular parish. After working faithfully for eight years, traveling night and day, exposed to all kinds of privations, it is not to be wondered at that he went the way of his predecessors. His health failed and he was obliged to re- tire. Feeling at the same time the desire to spend the remainder of his life in a higher state, he entered the Franciscan order at St. Louis, Missouri. As a Franciscan he was sent to Ashland, Washburn, and lastly to Cleveland, where he died at St. Alexis hos- pital on the 20th day of August, 1897.
Rev. Theophile Nyssen was sent to take the place of Fr. Zeigler. His first efforts were directed to place the parish on a sound financial basis. This accomplished, his ideas turned to the erection of a new church. Ow- ing to the great influx of families the frame church became entirely inadequate to accom- modate the Catholics of Traverse City. Fr. Nyssen, wishing to keep in touch with the lusty development of the thriving little city, urged the erection of a brick church, of the same proportions as the present edifice. Promises at first came in profusely, but ow- ing to the poverty of the people, rather than any lack of good will, these promises failed to realize in material value. So, like a wise general, he mustered his forces according to his means and decided to build a frame church instead of a brick one. The founda- tion of the building, forty-eight by one hun- dred feet, was completed at a cost of nine hundred and thirty-three dollars. The cor-
ner stone was laid May 15, 1887, by Rt. Rev. Henry J. Richter, who also preached the dedication sermon on this occasion. But the strain to complete the building proved too great. Fr. Nyssen would not continue unless money was at hand. All his efforts to raise funds for a ten thousand dollar church failing, he resigned the charge and left for Europe. The accounts of the parish, read on the Sunday before his departure, April 29, 1888, showed a deposit in the bank of two thousand nine hundred and sixty-five dollars and eighty-eight cents. For the next three months the parish was left without a resident priest, Bishop Mrack coming from Pashabatown every alternate Sunday to hold services. After spending a few months at the home of his childhood, Fr. Nyssen's heart again turned to the field of his maiden ef- forts. Hearing that Traverse City was still without a priest, he requested permission of Bishop Richter again to return to Traverse City and complete the church which he had begun. He resumed charge, the second time, Friday, August 3d. On the following Sunday, August 5th, he announced to the people that the erection of the church would at once begin. Means were supplied so gen- erously and promptly that the church was ready for dedication on August 18th of the following year. The church was dedicated by Bishop Richter with elaborate ceremonies, Very Rev. Joseph Benning officiating at high mass. The Rt. Rev. Bishop preached an elo- quent sermon on the occasion to a great . concourse of people. The church now be- ing completed, Rev. Fr. Nyssen resigned his position, and returned to his native home in Germany, where he still resides.
Fr. Nyssen was followed by Rev. Joseph Bauer, the present pastor, who was trans-
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ferred here from Provemont and assumed charge of Traverse City, September 4, 1889. During his fourteen years stay here the con- gregation has increased phenomenally. The parish counts at present all of three hundred and fifty families. The old frame church, being vacated, was renovated and remod- elled for a school, and was occupied as such in December of the same year. Fr. Bauer at this time also furnished the church with a heating apparatus at the cost of two hun- dred and sixty dollars. He next procured the beautiful large altars that now adorn the church, a communion railing, statues, stations of the cross, vestments, etc., and had the church furnished with electric lights, all at a cost of two thousand and twenty-five dollars and fifty-eight cents.
In 1890 feeling the need of a short rest, he revisited Germany, and remained three months, his place being filled temporarily by Rev. August Shinner. Fr. Bauer re- turned in the early part of September and immediately completed arrangements which he had contemplated, to purchase eighteen lots on the north side of Eleventh street, con- tiguous to the church and convent property. The deal was consummated at a cost of two thousand, two hundred and fifty dollars, Bishop Mrack donating the Sisters' share of one thousand, two hundred and fifty dol- lars. The property being procured Fr. Bauer now began the erection of the large parochial school on Cass street, south of the church. The school was under course of construction from June, 1893, to the fol- lowing September, when it was completed and ready for use, costing eight thousand, three hundred and fifty-eight dollars and sixty-six cents. It was blessed by Bishop Richter, September 17th, of the same year,
and opened with an attendance of one hun- dred and fifty children. The next perman- ent improvement was placed on the pastor's residence, which was remodelled and en- larged in July, 1896. The parsonage is now a large and commodious dwelling and a standing credit to the congregation. The present church being unable to hold the in- crease, steps are being taken for building another Catholic church on the west side.
The first Catholic school established in Traverse City was accomplished through the zeal and self-sacrificing efforts of Rev. Ziegler. He realized the fact that real Catholic thought and Catholic life, to be permanent and effective, must begin by the religious training of our youth, and that no means are better fitted for this end than a Catholic parochial school, where the train- ing of mind and heart go hand in hand. Hence his efforts were directed to secure Sisters to impart this religious training. This was by no means an easy task at this early date, as the demand for Sisters far ex- ceeded the supply. The difficulty became greater here, owing to the fact that the ac- comodations and inducements were of the most meager kind. Yet, with a confidence born of a holy zeal and trust in God, he ap- plied to the Sisters of St. Dominic in New York. His prayers were answered. Six Sisters were sent from their convent to es- tablish a branch house here. The good sisters arrived in the summer of 1877, and opened a school on the east side of Union street, between Eighth and Ninth streets. This temporary dwelling also served as a convent. The building was purchased by Rev. Fr. Ziegler from his own purse at the cost of one thousand dollars, and furnished by the congregation at a cost of six hundred
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dollars. The beginning, indeed, was very modest, but God blessed the work. Means were soon provided to erect the present large convent. The attendance of the Catholic children rapidly increased. The school was transferred to the present convent, from the convent to the old church, and in September, 1893, the children occupied for the first time the present large and commodious school, furnished with all the improvements. It stands now, indeed, the pride of the parish.
The convent, under the auspices of the church, is due to the efforts of Rev. George Ziegler, who, after repeated requests, at last succeeded in inducing the Sisters of Dominic of New York city to send five Sis- ters and establish a branch house in Traverse City. The Sisters, accompanied by Mother Aquinata, arrived on Thursday, October 25, 1877, and were most warmly welcomed by the good priest to their temporary dwelling on Union street, which he had purchased for them from his own private means at a cost of one thousand dollars. The house had been furnished by the congregation for church and school purposes as well as for a Sisters' residence at a cost of six hundred dollars.
The ground floor contained two class- rooms, in one of which mass was celebrated on week days, and early mass and vespers with benediction on Sundays and holydays. The second floor, the Sisters' dwelling proper, contained a small chapel where the blesed sacrament was served, two bed-rooms, a sitting-room and a kitchen. In this house the Sisters lived for nearly six years. On the Monday following their arrival school was opened with only six pupils, at the end of the year the number had increased to fifty ; while at present it is two hundred.
The beginning was, in many respects, hard, indeed, for many were the obstacles, the trials, the difficulties; yet the good ex- ample of the heroic Father Ziegler, as well as the material help and encouragements of the good and faithful farmers of St. Francis parish, whose faithful and persever- ing generosity cannot be too much praised, bore fruit, so that the good work begun was continued and prospered.
The first Sisters to arrive in Michigan were Mother Aquinata, Sisters Boniface, Angela, Camilla, Borromeo and Martha. After a short stay in Traverse City, Mother Aquinata returned to New York to remain two years longer in the East. In May, 1870, she returned to remain permanently in Michigan, taking charge of the community, which was beginning to grow and spread; since then the order has increased to over two hundred members. The Sisters now have charge of schools and institutions in the diocese of Grand Rapids, as well as in that of Detroit.
The Hon. Perry Hannah, of Traverse City, having very generously donated six lots on Tenth street to the Sisters for the purpose of erecting thereon a convent board- ing school, in May, 1883, the building was begun, and, thanks to the generosity of the good Father Zeigler and other kind bene- factors, the present commodious convent was completed in the beginning of September of the same year; the building, including furniture and fences, cost about ten thousand dollars, of which two thousand four hundred was kindly donated by Rt. Rev. Bishop Mrack. The new convent was solemnly dedicated by Rt. Rev. Bishop Richter on the first Sunday in Sep- tember, 1883, and all that day the build-
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ing was open for inspection. The next day school opened; the children of the parish oc- cupied the class rooms in the convent build- ing until the completion of the new church, when the old church was remodeled for a school, and in December, 1889, the children were transferred to the new quarters pre- pared for them. In 1891 Bishop Mrack most kindly purchased for the Sisters ten lots adjoining the convent on the south side, at a cost of one thousand two hundred and fifty; for this and his deeds of benevolence of former years, he is regarded as one of the community's greatest benefactors.
Of the first five Sisters who came to Traverse City, Sisters Borromeo and Martha have already been called to their eternal reward, their remains resting in the cemetery of their first mission.
Among the most important elements con- tributing to the unity, solidity and success of St. Francis parish are the various Cath- olic societies, spiritual, benevolent and social, under the auspices of the church, all of which are strong in membership and influence and in flourishing condition. These are the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association, which meets in St. Francis Hall on every alternate Wednesday, its history dating from April 29, 1881 ; the Ladies' Catholic Benefit As- sociation, Branch No. 24, organized March 25, 1897; St. Stanislas, Polish Society, for insurance and sick benefits, organized in March, 1893; St. Wenzeslas Bohemian So- ciety, established August 18, 1885; Ladies' Altar Society, Young Ladies' Sodality, Young Men's Sodality, Boys' St. Aloysius Sodality, Children of Mary, and the St. Francis Literary Society, composed of the young people of the church of both sexes,
who meet at stated times for mental improve- ment.
REV. JOSEPH BAUER .- The efficient and popular pastor of St. Francis church, Trav- erse City, is a native of Alsace Lorraine, Germany, and was born on the 4th day of January, 1862. He spent his childhood and' youth in his native land, received his pre- liminary education there and later from 1875 to 1884 studied in Paris, France. Coming to the United States, he finished his theologi- cal course at Baltimore, and on December 27, 1885, was ordained priest . at Grand Rapids, Michigan, by Rt. Rev. Henry J. Richter, and stationed at Provemont, where he labored with much acceptance from Jan- uary, 1886, to September 1, 1889. At the latter date Father Bauer was transferred to the Traverse City charge, which he has filled in an able and eminently satisfactory manner, materially and spiritually, as is attested by the rapid advancement along all lines of work under his auspices.
Father Bauer is recognized as an able and scholarly divine, a clear, logical and eloquent preacher, and the fact is generally conceded that in all its history St. Francis church has had no more devoted or self- sacrificing pastor. He is characterized by broad culture, bright intellect and quick perception, and, being courteous, social and kindly in demeanor, is sincerely beloved by his own flock and stands high in the confi- dence of the public, irrespective of church or creed. His earnest, conscientious work and faithful leadership have greatly endeared him to his people, and he well deserves the emi -. nent position to which he has attained, as one of the leading Catholic divines of the state which he has long made his field of labor.
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GRAND TRAVERSE AND LEELANAW COUNTIES.
WALTER L. ALLEN.
As a farmer Walter L. Allen has mate- rially advanced the wellbeing of Kasson township and has opportunely availed him- self of a branch of industry particularly adapted to this region. He has a home on section 16, where he owns one hundred acres of land, of which about fifty acres has been improved. He has also been well known in connection with educational in- terests of this portion of the state and has taught successfully for twenty-six terms.
Mr. Allen was born on a farm in Steuben county, New York, on the 2d of July, 1857. His father was Philetus Allen, and his mother bore the maiden name of Al- meda Burditt. They were farming people of the highest respectability and because their lives were honorable and straightfor- ward they enjoyed the warmest regard and esteem of those with whom they were as- sociated. In their family were ten children, of whom Walter L. Allen was the fourth. The father has now passed away, having died in Steuben county, New York, when seventy-three years of age.
On the old family homestead in the Em- pire state, Walter L. Allen was reared and there he lived until the spring of 1887. His preliminary education was acquired in the common school and was supplemented by study in an academy. He thus gained more than an ordinary education and, possessing strong mentality, he readily mastered the lessons which occupied his attention. Hav- ing left the schoolroom as a student, he en- gaged in teaching for several years during the winter seasons; the months of summer were devoted to farm work and the dual occupation brought to him a fair competence.
Ere leaving the east, Mr. Allen was mar- ried, in Steuben county, New York, on the 23d of December, 1886, to Miss Carrie M. Willey, a native daughter of that county. They now have six children, namely: Hugh W., Florence M., Lenora V., Clara E., Clar- ence W. and Bertha L. In the spring of 1887 Mr. Allen brought his young wife to Leelanaw county, Michigan, where they have since resided. At that time he settled upon a farm which has now been his home for sixteen years. He has continually car- ried on the work of developing his land and his well cultivated fields now return to him a good income. He has also built a substan- tial residence, good barns and other out- buildings upon his place and in his farm work has been most energetic and indus- trious. The winter season has not been a period of idleness to him, for during the months of cold weather he has continued his work as an educator, having taught for four- teen terms since coming to Leelanaw coun- ty. In this work he is most capable, having the ability to impart with clearness, accuracy and conciseness to others the knowledge that he has acquired.
Mr. Allen has held the office of township clerk, of school inspector and has served as a member of the board of review and his political support is given to the Prohibition party. He and his wife hold membership in the Oviatt Methodist Episcopal church of Kasson township and are numbered among its active and faithful members. He enjoys ยท the well-earned distinction of being what the public calls a self-made man and an analysis of his character reveals the fact that persist- ent purpose and honorable dealing have been the essential features in his prosperity. As a citizen he is loyal, manifesting a commend-
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able interest in everything calculated to im- prove the general welfare. He is strong and generous, extending a helping hand to the poor and needy and always ready to aid those less fortunate than himself. He has a large circle of friends throughout his own and adjoining counties and is uniformly re- spected.
FRANKLYN H. SMITH.
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The subject of this sketch has been a resident of Traverse City the greater part of the time since about the year 1860, dur- ing which period he has not only grown with the city's growth and witnessed its contin- ued prosperity, but his active life has been closely identified with various industrial en- terprises, being at this writing the executive head of a company that has done much to develop and advance the lumber interests of northern Michigan. F. H. Smith was born April 20, 1853, in Oswego, New York, of which state his parents, William and Ada Smith, were also natives, the latter before her marriage having borne the name of West. The father dying when Franklyn was four years old, the latter afterwards accom- panied his mother to Traverse City, Michi- gan, reaching the place about 1860, as stated above, and receiving his early educational training in the city schools. After pursuing his studies here for about four years he went to Chicago, where he also attended school about the same length of time, then returned to Traverse City, where he finished his edu- cation at the age of seventeen. On quitting school young Smith entered the employ of Hannah & Lay, working first in their saw- mill, through the different departments of
which he finally passed, the meanwhile spending the winter seasons as a logger in the northern woods and pineries. To these lines of work he devoted about fourteen con- secutive years, during which time he became familiar with the lumber industry in its every detail, and at the expiration of that period he engaged as timber estimator and buyer with the Oval Dish Company, which respon- sible position he still holds.
Mr. Smith, in 1886, organized the Smith & Hull Company, for the sale of timber and stump lands, which was subsequently incor- porated and of which he has been president ever since the enterprise was inaugurated. In addition to their regular product, this company deals quite extensively in timber lands, especially in the upper and lower pe- ninsulas, where it now holds large and val- uable interests, doing a thriving and far- reaching business, which is steadily growing in magnitude and importance. Mr. Smith is an energetic, up-to-date business man, fully alive to the best interests of the enter- prises with which he is identified, and his success as a manager has redounded greatly to his own financial advantage, as well as to that of his associates. He also enjoys the confidence of the Oval Dish Company, with which he has been connected in an important capacity for a number of years, and aside from his business relations he stands high as a citizen, being public-spirited in all the term implies and an influential factor in all that concerns the material advancement of the city of his residence and the social and moral good of his fellow men.
Mr. Smith is prominent in Masonic cir- cles, being a York rite and Scottish rite, thirty-second-degree Mason, and a zealous and influential worker in the different
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branches of this ancient and time-honored fraternity. He is also a member of the East- ern Star lodge, and belongs to the Benev- olent and Protective Order of Elks of Trav- erse City, having been honored with im- portant official positions in the latter brother- hood from time to time. While not identi- fied with any church or distinctly religious organization, he is a believer in Christianity, and has profound regard for its principles and precepts, many of which he exemplifies in his life, especially in his lumber dealings. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party, being well informed on the leading questions of the day, but his ambition has never run in the direction of office holding, the pressing claims of his business prevent- ing him from actively participating in public affairs. 1
Miss Ella Hatch, who became the wife of Mr. Smith in 1874, was born in New York in 1853, and received her education in that state and in the schools of Traverse City; she has borne her husband five children, whose names are, Clara B., Jeannette, Frank E., Allegra and Kenneth.
J. A. SNYDER, D. D. S.
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The accomplished and successful dentist whose name furnishes the caption of this re- view is a native of Michigan, born No- vember 21, 1867, in the town of Fulton, Kalamazoo county. George Snyder, the Doctor's father, was born June 30, 1823, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, of German parentage, moved to Monroe county, Mich- igan, in 1866, thence a little later to the county of Kalamazoo, where he spent the
remainder of his life, dying in the year 1903. In early manhood he worked at the carpenter's trade, but subsequently turned his attention to agriculture and followed the latter pursuit as long as he lived, meeting with fair success in the same and acquiring a liberal competence, which enabled him to spend his later years in comfortable retire- ment. He was a man of excellent character and substantial worth, a zealous member of the Dutch Reformed church for many years, and his piety and activity along all lines of religious and benevolent work caused him to be widely known and greatly respected in his community. Elizabeth Hoover, who became the wife of George Snyder in 1843, was also born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the event having occurred on April 30, 1824. She lived a long and useful life, bore her hus- band thirteen children, and died in Michigan on the thirty-first day of March, 1895. The following are the names of the children of George and Elizabeth Snyder, now living : Rebecca, born in 1845; George, 1846; Abram, 1847; Elizabeth, 1848; Isaac, 1849; Emma, 1851 ; Samuel B., 1857; Ella, 1859; Amelia, 1861 ; David H., 1864; and the sub- ject, the date of whose birth is noted in the initial paragraph of this review.
J. A. Snyder was reared in Kalamazoo county, attended for some years the public schools of his native town, and later pursued the more advanced branches of learning in the Athens high school, of which institution he was a student for a period of two years. Meanwhile he began earning money for him- self by working as a farm hand and on quitting school he engaged with a piano house to sell instruments in various parts of Michigan. After spending two years in this line of work, he entered the dental
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J. A. SNYDER.
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department of the Michigan University, at Ann Arbor, and while attending that insti- tion defrayed his own expenses by turning his hands to any kind of manual labor he could find to do. Applying himself closely to study, he completed his professional course in due time and was graduated in 1892, immediately after which he opened an office in Athens, where his success from the beginning was most encouraging. After spending two years in that place, he removed, in 1895, to Traverse City, and here he has since remained, building up the meanwhile a large and lucrative business and taking high rank among the leading dentists in the northwestern part of the state.
Dr. Snyder's parlors, over the People's Savings Bank, are the finest equipped of the kind in the city, being fully supplied with all the latest devices and appliances used in the profession, and as an operator he is skilled in every branch of his calling, being especially efficient in this line of mechanism, all of his work being guaranteed to give per- fect satisfaction. His patrons include many of the best families of the city and sur- rounding country and not infrequently pa- tients come to him from other and distant places, the high grade of his workmanship and professional services having won for him a wide and constantly growing reputa- tion. The Doctor is a close and painstaking student, who takes advantage of every op- portunity to increase his knowledge and effi- ciency, and keeps fully abreast with the times in everything relating to his calling.
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