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 25
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 25
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his resistance delayed the advance of Gen- eral Early and thus saved Washington from capture.
General Wallace was a member of the court that tried the assassins of President Lincoln, and also of that before whom Cap- tain Henry Wirtz, who had charge of the Andersonville prison, was tried. In 1881 General Wallace was sent as minister to Turkey. When not in official service he devoted much of his time to literature. Among his better known works are his " Fair God," "Ben Hur," "Prince of India, " and a " Life of Benjamin Harrison."
T' HOMAS FRANCIS BAYARD, an Ameri- can statesman and diplomat, was born at Wilmington, Delaware, October 29, 1828. He obtained his education at an Episcopal academy at Flushing, Long Island, and after a short service in a mercantile house in New York, he returned to Wilmington and entered his father's law office to prepare himself for the practice of that profession. He was admitted to the bar in 1851. He was appointed to the office of United States district attorney for the state of Delaware, serving one year. In 1869 he was elected to the United States senate, and continuously represented his state in that body until 1885, and in 1881, when Chester A. Arthur entered the presidential chair, Mr. Bayard was chosen president pro tempore of the senate. He had also served on the famous electoral commission that decided the Hayes-Tilden contest in 1876-7. In 1885 President Cleve- land appointed Mr. Bayard secretary of state. At the beginning of Cleveland's sec- ond term, in 1893, Mr. Bayard was selected for the post of ambassador at the court of St. James, London, and was the first to hold that rank in American diplomacy, serving until the beginning of the Mckinley admin-
istration. The questions for adjustment at that time between the two governments were the Behring Sea controversy and the Venezuelan boundary question. He was very popular in England because of his tariff views, and because of his criticism of the protective policy of the United States in his public speeches delivered in London, Edinburgh and other places, he received, in March, 1896, a vote of censure in the lower house of congress.
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JOHN WORK GARRETT, for so many years at the head of the great Baltimore & Ohio railroad system, was born in Balti- more, Maryland, July 31, 1820. His father, Robert Garrett, an enterprising merchant, had amassed a large fortune from a small beginning. The son entered Lafayette Col- lege in 1834, but left the following year and entered his father's counting room, and in 1839 became a partner. John W. Gar- rett took a great interest in the develop- ment of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. He was elected one of the directors in 1857, and was its president from 1858 until his death. When he took charge of the road it was in an embarrassed condition, but within a year, for the first time in its exist- ence, it paid a dividend, the increase in its net gains being $725,385. After the war, during which the road suffered much damage from the Confederates, numerous branches and connecting roads were built or acquired, until it reached colossal proportions. Mr. Garrett was also active in securing a regular line of steamers between Baltimore and Bremen, and between the same port and Liverpool. He was one of the most active trustees of Johns Hopkins University, and a liberal contributor to the Young Men's Christian Association of Baltimore. He died September 26, 1884.
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Robert Garrett, the son of John W. Garrett, was born in Baltimore April 9, 1847, and graduated from Princeton in 1867. He received a business education in the banking house of his father, and in 1871 became president of the Valley Railroad of Virginia. He was made third vice-presi- dent of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1879, and first vice-president in 1881. He succeeded his father as president in 1884. Robert Garrett died July 29, 1896.
C ARL SCHURZ, a noted German-Ameri- can statesman, was born in Liblar, Prus- sia, March 2, 1829. He studied at the Uni- versity of Bonn, and in 1849 was engaged in an attempt to excite an insurrection at that place. After the surrender of Rastadt by the revolutionists, in the defense of which Schurz took part, he decided to emigrate to America. He resided in Philadelphia three years, and then settled in Watertown, Wis- consin, and in 1859 removed to Milwaukee, where he practiced law. On the organiza- tion of the Republican party he became a leader of the German element and entered the campaign for Lincoln in 1860. He was appointed minister to Spain in 1861, but re- signed in December of that year to enter the army. He was appointed brigadier- general in 1862, and participated in the second battle of Bull Run, and also at Chancellorsville. At Gettysburg he had temporary command of the Eleventh Army Corps, and also took part in the battle of Chattanooga.
After the war he located at St. Louis, and in 1869 was elected United States sena- tor from Missouri. He supported Horace Greeley for the presidency in 1872, and in the campaign of 1876, having removed to New York, he supported Hayes and the Re- publican ticket, and was appointed secre-
tary of the interior in 1877. In 1881 he became editor of the "New York Evening Post," and in 1884 was prominent in his opposition to James G. Blaine, and became a leader of the "Mugwumps," thus assist- ing in the election of Cleveland. In the presidential campaign of 1896 his forcible speeches in the interest of sound money wielded an immense influence. Mr. Schurz wrote a "Life of Henry Clay," said to be the best biography ever published of that eminent statesman.
G EORGE F. EDMUNDS, an American statesman of national reputation, was born in Richmond, Vermont, February I, 1828. His education was obtained in the public schools and from the instructions of a private tutor. He was admitted to the bar, practiced law, and served in the state legislature from 1854 to 1859, during three years of that time being speaker of the lower house. He was elected to the state senate and acted as president pro tempore of that body in 1861 and 1862. He became promi- nent for his activity in the impeachment proceedings against President Johnson, and was appointed to the United States senate to fill out the unexpired term of Solomon Foot, entering that body in 1866. He was re-elected to the senate four times, and served on the electoral commission in 1877. He became president pro tempore of the senate after the death of President Garfield, and was the author of the bill which put an end to the practice of polygamy in the ter- ritory of Utah. In November, 1891, owing to impaired health, he retired from the sen- ate and again resumed the practice of law.
L UCIUS Q. C. LAMAR, a prominent political leader, statesman and jurist, was born in Putnam county, Georgia, Sep-
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tember 17, 1825. He graduated from Emory College in 1845, studied law at Macon under Hon. A. H. Chappell, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. He moved to Oxford, Mississippi, in 1849, and was elected to a professorship in the State University. He resigned the next year and returned to Cov- ington, Georgia, and resumed the practice of law. In 1853 he was elected to the Georgia Legislature, and in 1854 he removed to his plantation in Lafayette county, Mis- sissippi, and was elected to represent his district in the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth congresses. He resigned in 1860, and was sent as a delegate to the secession conven- tion of the state. He entered the Confed- erate service in 1861 as lieutenant-colonel of the Nineteenth Regiment, and was soon after made colonel. In 1863 President Davis appointed him to an important diplo- matic mission to Russia. In 1866 he was elected professor of political economy and social science in the State University, and was soon afterward transferred to the pro- fessorship of the law department. He rep- resented his district in the forty-third and forty-fourth congresses, and was elected United States senator from Mississippi in 1877, and re-elected in 1882. In 1885, be- fore the expiration of his term, he was appointed by President Cleveland as secre- tary of the interior, which position he held until his appointment as associate justice of the United States supreme court, in 1888, in which capacity he served until his death, January 23, 1894.
B ENJAMIN PENHALLOW SHILLA- BER won fame in the world of humorists under the name of "Mrs. Parting- ton." He was born in 1841 at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and started out in life as a . printer. Mr. Shillaber went to Dover,
where he secured employment in a printing office, and from there he went to Demerara, Guiana, where he was employed as a com- positor in 1835-37. In 1840 he became connected with the "Boston Post," and acquired quite a reputation as a humorist by his "Sayings of Mrs. Partington." He remained as editor of the paper until 1850, when he printed and edited a paper of his own called the "Pathfinder," which he con- tinued until 1852. Mr. Shillaber be- came editor and proprietor of the "Carpet Bag," which he conducted during 1850-52, and then returned to the "Boston Post," with which he was connected until 1856. During the same time he was one of the editors of the "Saturday Evening Gazette," and continued in this line after he severed his connection with the "Post," for ten years. After 1866 Mr. Shillaber wrote for various newspapers and periodicals, and during his life published the following books: "Rhymes with Reason and Without," "Poems," "Life and Sayings of Mrs. Part- ington," "Knitting Work," and others. His death occurred at Chelsea, Massachu- setts, November 25, 1890.
E FASTMAN JOHNSON stands first among painters of American country life. He was born in Lovell, Maine, in 1824, and be- gan his work in drawing at the age of eight- een years. His first works were portraits, and, as he took up his residence in Wash- ington, the most famous men of the nation were his subjects. In 1846 he went to Bos- ton, and there made crayon portraits of Longfellow, Emerson, Sumner, Hawthorne and other noted men. In 1849 he went to Europe. He studied at Dusseldorf, Ger- many; spent a year at the Royal Academy, and thence to The Hague, where he spent four years, producing there his first pictures
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of consequence, "The Card-Players " and "The Savoyard." He then went to Paris, but was called home, after an absence from America of six years. He lived some time in Washington, and then spent two years among the Indians of Lake Superior. In 1858 he produced his famous picture, "The Old Kentucky Home." He took up his permanent residence at New York at that time. His "Sunday Morning in Virginia " is a work of equal merit. He was espe- cially successful in coloring, a master of drawing, and the expression conveys with precision the thought of the artist. His portrayal of family life and child life is un- equalled. Among his other great works are "The Confab," "Crossing a Stream,' " Chimney Sweep," "Old Stage Coach," " The New Bonnet," " The Drummer Boy," "Childhood of Lincoln," and a great vari- ety of equally familiar subjects.
P IERCE GUSTAVE TOUTANT BEAU- REGARD, one of the most distin- guished generals in the Confederate army, was born near New Orleans, Louisiana, May 28, 1818. He graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1838, and was made second lieutenant of engineers. He was with General Scott in Mexico, and dis- tinguished himself at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, and the battles near the City of Mexico, for which he was twice brevetted. After the Mexican war closed he was placed in charge of defenses about New Orleans, and in 1860 was appointed superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He held this position but a few months, when he resigned February 20, 1861, and accepted a commission of briga- dier-general in the Confederate army. He directed the attack on Fort Sumter, the first engagement of the Civil war. He was 12
in command of the Confederates at the first battle of Bull Run, and for this victory was made general. In 1862 he was placed in command of the Army of the Mississippi, and planned the attack upon General Grant at Shiloh, and upon the death of General Johnston he took command of the army and was only defeated by the timely arrival of General Buell with reinforcements. He commanded at Charleston and successfully defended that city against the combined at- tack by land and sea in 1863. In 1864 he was in command in Virginia, defeating Gen- eral Butler, and resisting Grant's attack upon Petersburg until reinforced from Rich- mond. During the long siege which fol- lowed he was sent to check General Sher- man's march to the sea, and was with Gen- eral Joseph E. Johnston when that general surrendered in 1865. After the close of the war he was largely interested in railroad management. In 1866 he was offered chief command of the Army of Roumania, and in 1869, that of the Army of Egypt. He de- clined these offers. His death occurred February 20, 1893.
H ENRY GEORGE, one of America's most celebrated political economists, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 2, 1839. He received a common- school education and entered the high school in 1853, and then went into a mer- cantile office. He made several voyages on the sea, and settled in California in 1858. He then worked at the printer's trade for a number of years, which he left to follow the editorial profession. He edited in succession several daily newspapers, and attracted at- tention by a number of strong essays and speeches on political and social questions. In 1871 he edited a pamphlet, entitled "Our Land and Policy," in which he outlined a
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theory, which has since made him so widely known. This was developed in " Progress and Poverty," a book which soon attained a large circulation on both sides of the Atlan- tic, which has been extensively translated. In 1880 Mr. George located in New York, where he made his home, though he fre- quently addressed audiences in Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, and throughout the United States. In 1886 he was nominated by the labor organizations for mayor of New York, and made a campaign notable for its development of unexpected power. In 1887 he was candidate of the Union Labor party for secretary of state of New York. These cam- paigns served to formulate the idea of a single tax and popularize the Australian ballot sys- tem. Mr. George became a free trader in 1888, and in 1892 supported the election of Grover Cleveland. His political and eco- nomic ideas, known as the "single tax," have a large and growing support, but are not confined to this country alone. He wrote numerous miscellaneous articles in support of his principles, and also published: "The Land Question," "Social Problems," "Protection or Free Trade," "The Condi- tion of Labor, an Open Letter to Pope Leo XIII.," and " Perplexed Philosopher."
T HOMAS ALEXANDER SCOTT. - This name is indissolubly connected with the history and development of the railway systems of the United States. Mr. Scott was born December 28, 1823, at London, Franklin county, Pennsylvania. He was first regularly employed by Major James Patton, the collector of tolls on the state road be- tween Philadelphia and Columbia, Penn- sylvania. He entered into the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in 1850, and went through all the different branches of work until he had mastered all the details,
of the office work, and in 1858 he was ap- pointed general superintendent. Mr. Scott was the next year chosen vice-president of the road. This position at once brought him before the public, and the enterprise and ability displayed by him in its manage- ment marked him as a leader among the railroad men of the country. At the out- break of the rebellion in 1861, Mr. Scott was selected by Governor Curtin as a mem- ber of his staff, and placed in charge of the equipment and forwarding of the state troops to the seat of war. On April 27, 1861, the secretary of war desired to establish a new line of road between the national capital and Philadelphia, for the more expeditious. transportation of troops. He called upon Mr. Scott to direct this work, and the road by the way of Annapolis and Perryville was. completed in a marvelously short space of time. On May 3, 1861, he was commis- sioned colonel of volunteers, and on the 23d of the same month the government railroads. and telegraph lines were placed in his charge. Mr. Scott was the first assistant secretary of war ever appointed, and he took charge of this new post August 1, 1861. In Janu- ary, 1862, he was directed to organize transportation in the northwest, and in March he performed the same service on the western rivers. He resigned June I, 1862, and resumed his direction of affairs on the Pennsylvania Railroad. Colonel Scott directed the policy that secured to his road the control of the western roads, and be- came the president of the new company to operate these lines in 1871. . For one year, from March, 1871, he was president of the Union Pacific Railroad, and in 1874 he suc- ceeded to the presidency of the Pennsyl- vania Company. He projected the Texas Pacific Railroad and was for many years its president. Colonel Scott's health failed
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him and he resigned the presidency of the road June 1, 1880, and died at his home in Darby, Pennsylvania, May 21, 1881.
R DOBERT TOOMBS, an American states- man of note, was born in Wilkes coun- ty, Georgia, July 2, 1810. He attended the University of Georgia, and graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York, and then took a law course at the University of Virginia. In 1830, before he had attained his majority, he was admitted to the bar by special act of the legislature, and rose rapidly in his profession, attracting the attention of the leading statesmen and judges of that time. He raised a volunteer company for the Creek war, and served as captain to the close. He was elected to the state legislature in 1837, re-elected in 1842, and in 1844 was elected to congress. He had been brought up as a Jeffersonian Democrat, but voted for Harrison in 1840 and for Clay in 1844. He made his first speech in congress on the Oregon question, and immediately took rank with the greatest debaters of that body. In 1853 he was elected to the United States senate, and again in 1859, but when his native state seceded he resigned his seat in the senate and was elected to the Confederate con- gress. It is stated on the best authority that had it not been for a misunderstanding which could not be explained till too late he would have been elected president of the Confederacy. He was appointed secretary of state by President Davis, but resigned after a few months and was commissioned brigadier-general in the Confederate army. He won distinction at the second battle of Bull Run and at Sharpsburg, but resigned his commission soon after and returned to Georgia. He organized the militia of Georgia to resist Sherman, and was made
brigadier-general of the state troops. He left the country at the close of the war and did not return until 1867. He died Decem- ber 15, 1885.
A USTIN CORBIN, one of the greatest railway magnates of the United States, . was born July 11, 1827, at Newport, New Hampshire. He studied law with Chief Justice Cushing and Governor Ralph Met- calf, and later took a course in the Harvard Law School, where he graduated in 1849. He was admitted to the bar, and practiced law, with Governor Metcalf as his partner, until October 12, 1851. Mr. Corbin then removed to Davenport, Iowa, where he re- mained until 1865. In 1854 he was a part- ner in the banking firm of Macklot & Cor- bin, and later he organized the First Na- tional bank of Davenport, Iowa, which commenced business June 29, 1863, and which was the first national bank open for business in the United States. Mr. Corbin sold out his business in the Davenport bank, and removed to New York in 1865 and com- menced business with partners under the style of Corbin Banking Company. Soon after his removal to New York he became interested in railroads, and became one of the leading railroad men of the country. The development of the west half of Coney Island as a summer resort first brought him into general prominence. He built a rail- road from New York to the island, and built great hotels on its ocean front. He next turned his attention to Long Island, and secured all the railroads and consoli- dated them under one management, became president of the system, and under his con- trol Long Island became the great ocean suburb of New York. His latest public achievement was the rehabilitation of the Reading Railroad, of Pennsylvania, and
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during the same time he and his friends purchased the controlling interest of the New Jersey Central Railroad. He took it out of the hands of the receiver, and in three years had it on a dividend-paying basis. Mr. Corbin's death occurred June 4, 1896.
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JAMES GORDON BENNETT, SR.,
was one of the greatest journalists of America in his day. He was born Septem- ber 1, 1795, at New Mill, near Keith, Scot- land. At the age of fourteen he was sent to Aberdeen to study for the priesthood, but, convinced that he was mistaken in his vocation, he determined to emigrate. He landed at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1819, where he attempted to earn a living by teaching bookkeeping. Failing in this he went to Boston and found employment as a proof reader. Mr. Bennett went to New York about 1822 and wrote for the news- papers. Later on he became assistant editor in the office of the "Charleston Courier," but returned to New York in 1824 and endeavored to start a commercial school, but was unsuccessful in this, and again returned to newspaper work. He continued in newspaper work with varying success until, at his suggestion, the "En- quirer" was consolidated with another paper, and became the "Courier and En- quirer," with James Watson Webb as editor and Mr. Bennett for assistant. At this time this was the leading American newspaper. He, however, severed his con- nection with this newspaper and tried, without success, other ventures in the line of journalism until May 6, 1835, when he issued the first number of the "New York Herald." Mr. Bennett wrote the entire paper, and made up for lack of news by his own imagination. The paper became popu-
lar, and in 1838 he engaged European jour- nalists as regular correspondents. In 1841 the income derived from his paper was at least one hundred thousand dollars. Dur- ing the Civil war the " Herald " had on its staff sixty-three war correspondents and the circulation was doubled. Mr. Bennett was interested with John W. Mackay in that great enterprise which is now known as the Mac- kay-Bennett Cable. He had collected for use in his paper over fifty thousand biographies, sketches and all manner of information re- garding every well-known man, which are still kept in the archives of the "Herald" office. He died in the city of New York in 1872, and left to his son, James Gordon, Jr., one of the greatest and most profitable journals in the United States, or even in the world.
O LIVER WENDELL HOLMES, a noted American, won distinction in the field of literature, in which he attained a world-wide reputation. He was born at Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 29, 1809. He received a collegiate education and grad- uated from Harvard in 1829, at the age of twenty, and took up the study of law and later studied medicine. Dr. Holmes at- tended several years in the hospitals of Europe and received his degree in 1836. He became professor of anatomy and phys- iology in Dartmouth in 1838, and re- mained there until 1847, when he was called to the Massachusetts Medical School at Boston to occupy the same chair, which position he resigned in 1882. The first collected edition of his poems appeared in 1836, and his "Phi Beta Kappa Poems," "Poetry," in 1836; "Terpsichore," in 1843; "Urania," in 1846, and "Astræa," won for him many fresh laurels. His series of papers in the "Atlantic Monthly," were:
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"Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," "Pro- fessor at the Breakfast Table," "Poet at the Breakfast Table," and are a series of masterly wit, humor and pathos. Among his medical papers and addresses, are: "Cur- rents and Counter-currents in the Medical Science," and "Borderland in Some Prov- inces of Medical Science." Mr. Holmes edited quite a number of works, of which we quote the following: "Else Venner," "Songs in Many Keys," "Soundings from the Atlantic," "Humorous Poems," "The Guardian Angel," "Mechanism in Thoughts and Morals," "Songs of Many Seasons," "John L. Motley"-a memoir, "The Iron Gate and Other Poems," "Ralph Waldo Emerson," "A Moral Antipathy." Dr. Holmes visited England for the second time, and while there the degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by the University of Edinburgh. His death occurred October 7, 1894.
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