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 59
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 59
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103
learned the shoemaker's trade, serving a three years' apprenticeship. After mastering the business, he followed that pursuit as a ,journeyman in Ontario until January, 1880, when he severed the business relations which bound him to the Dominion and came to Leelanaw county, Michigan. At that time he took up his abode in Leelanaw township and has since been one of the prominent and influential citizens. Here he put aside his shoemaker tools and turned his attention to agricultural work. He today owns two hundred and fifty-five acres of land, which is still increasing in value be- cause of the natural rise in the price of land and because of the improvements which he has placed upon it. He now has one hun- dred and twenty acres under cultivation and upon his farm he has erected good build- ings.
In Leeds county, Ontario, on the 12th of September, 1866, Mr. Joynt was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Donovan, who was also a native of Leeds county and a daughter of Dennis and Elizabeth (Moris) Donovan. To this union were born seven children : Adelbert; Herbert O .; Mary E., who is now the wife of Alexander Galletch ; Charles S .; Sarah A., who is the wife of W. S. Graves; Harriet A .; and Henry C. Mrs. Joynt passed into the silent land on the 6th of December, 1898, at the age of fifty-eight years. Mr. Joynt is a mem- ber of the Congregational church of Omena and he votes with the Republican party, having given it a stalwart support since he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. His study into the questions which divide the two political parties led him to the belief that the Republican party contains the best elements of good government.
471
GRAND TRAVERSE AND LEELANAW COUNTIES.
When Mr. Joynt came to Leelanaw county he drove across the country with a team from Port Huron, Michigan, thus covering a distance of three hundred and seventy-five miles. Many have been the changes which have occurred during the years of his residence here and whatever has tended to promote public progress, improve- ment and advancement has received his earnest endorsement and in many cases his co-operation.
EDWARD E. MILLER.
Cities of ten thousand or twelve thou- sand inhabitants usually have a very full complement of drug stores. Drugs and med- icines are as much of a necessity as food and clothing. Although the general health of the people of Traverse City is far better than that of many other cities of its size, it has, nevertheless, many large, well-stocked drug stores, among them that of the sub- ject of this review, Edward E. Miller, who, in addition to his stock of drugs, medicines and toilet articles, carries a large supply of Indian work, which he buys direct from the makers, also many Indian curios of various kinds. He is the pioneer druggist of the lo- cality, having entered the business nearly forty years ago and has been engaged con- tinuously in it ever since. Among the In- dias he was born, reared and educated. The tribes were the Ottowas and Chippewas and he speaks their language as fluently as he does English. His older brother, Henry L. Miller, was the first white child born in Grand Traverse county and his mother was the first white woman to come as a bride to this region. An interesting article taken
from a history of the Grand Traverse re- gion, by Dr. M. L. Leach, regarding the coming of the bride, will be found in an- other part of this volume in the review of the career of Archibald A. Miller, brother of the subject.
Edward E. Miller was born at Old Mis- sion, on the peninsula in Grand Traverse county, November 27, 1847. His father was Lewis Miller, who was born at King- ston, Canada, in 1824. Early in life he was bereft of both his parents by death, the demise of both occurring the same month. When seventeen years of age he visited the Grand Traverse region and sojourned for a length of time among the Ottowa and Chippewa Indians, with whom he became a great favorite and acquired a very com- plete knowledge of their language. He then became an Indian trader, which business he followed with much profit until as time passed the advance of civilization in the lo- cality made the business unnecessary and unprofitable. The mother of Edward E. Miller was Catharine (Kiley) Miller, a native of London, England, who, like her husband, had been rendered an orphan by the death of her parents, while she was still quite young. When a young woman she came to America and by some means found her way to Mackinac, at that time one of the outposts of civilization. There, on one of his numerous visits, she became acquaint- ed with Lewis Miller. An attachment sprang up between them, which culminated in their marriage in September, 1845. To this union five children were born, viz : Henry L., now engaged in mining near Butte City, Montana, a widower, without family; Edward E., the subject of this re- view; Archibald A. and George, clothing
472
GRAND TRAVERSE AND LEELANAW COUNTIES.
merchants, of Traverse City, under the name of Miller Brothers; George W. is the father of two children and a widower; Will- iam died in 1885, at the age of twenty-five years. Both parents have been dead a num- ber of years.
At Old Mission, the place of his birth, the early life of Edward E. Miller was spent. He is possessed of a fair education, secured at the Indian mission school, where he and his brothers were the only white pupils. Rev. Peter Dougherty and his two daughters, Nettie and Susie, were the teach- ers. Along in the 'fifties the school was moved to New Mission, now Omena, the Indians having moved to that locality, and their pale-faced brethren, the Millers, ac- companied them. At Omena is now located what is known as the "Cincinnati Resort." It is one of the most famous and popular summer resorts on the northern lakes, and here many hundred people, residents of Cin- cinnati and vicinity, spend the sultry sum- mer months each year.
When Edward E. Miller was fifteen years old, he secured a position, as clerk, in a general merchandise store in Northport, holding this position two years, or until his removal to Traverse City in 1864. That - year he entered, as clerk, the first drug store opened in Grand Traverse county, and has been engaged constantly in the drug busi- ness since. He is the pioneer druggist of the Grand Traverse region. In 1875 he pur- chased a new stock of drugs, medicines, toilet articles and other wares kept in a well regulated and well equipped drug store and opened up in business for himself in Tra- verse City and for the next twelve years he devoted himself to the calling, had a flourishing trade and did a prosperous busi-
ness. Having an opportunity to dispose of his business at a fair profit, he did so and accepted the position of manager of the drug department of the Hannah & Lay Mercantile Company's general store, in which capacity he served for ten years and up to 1897, when he again resumed business on his own behalf.
Time has not in the least abated the friendly relations between the Millers and their Indian friends. The members of the two tribes, Ottowas and Chippewas, among whom the Miller boys were reared and ed- ucated, look upon them as a part of their own people. Born and brought up among them, the Indians insisted on giving each of the boys an Indian name, its bestowal being accompanied by all of the Indian cer- emonies, including feasting and dancing. The Indian name of the subject of this re- view is "Sha-win-e-ge-siek," which signi- fies Southern Day. The drug store of Mr. Miller is headquarters for hundreds of In- dian curios and Indian work of various kinds, such as baskets and hundreds of ar- tistic articles made out of birch bark. He exhibits an Indian cradle, a most ingen- iously constructed affair, that upon unques- tionable authority is shown to be over one hundred years old.
The Democratic party early won the good opinion of Edward E. Miller and he has never transferred his political allegiance since. His time, however, is more profitably occupied than it could possibly be in the political arena. However, he manages to vote his sentiments at each recurring elec- tion, and the overwhelming Republican ma- jority of his native county does not deter him in the least from casting an opposition ballot. The only fraternal society to which
478
GRAND TRAVERSE AND LEELANAW COUNTIES.
he belongs is the Knights of Pythias, Uni- form Rank, his membership being in Tra- verse City.
Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller, viz: Herbert E. and Florence C. Herbert, born March 20, 1877, was educated in the city schools and in the high school and has been in the store, assisting his father, about four years. He is a good, moral young man, but not a church mem- ber. Miss Florence is now in her eighteenth year, having been born April 12, 1885. She was educated in the city schools and is now attending the high school, from which she will soon graduate. She is a devout mem- ber of the Episcopal church, passionately fond of music and having both taste and talent in that line, it is her purpose to make it her life study.
The comfortable, commodious and richly furnished home of the family is lo- cated at. No. 529 State street, and the fam- ily circle is indeed a happy one. The father is kind and indulgent, the mother consid- erate and amiable and the children dutiful and obedient. While Mr. Miller's life in pioneer days among the Indians may have been anything but an ideal one, certainly the present has furnished him ample compen- sation and the future seems to promise even more than the present bestows. In the sum- mer time, each year, when thousands of summer tourists swell the population of Traverse City, the knowledge of the In- dian tongue possessed by Mr. Miller is fre- quently brought into requisition in giving Indian names to yachts, cottages and re- sorts. At this season his store, too, is gen- erally crowded during business hours, and there are very few who return to their homes farther south without taking one or more
souvenirs of their hot weather stay in Tra- verse City. These are always purchased at the Miller store.
ANDREW F. ANDERSON.
Andrew F. Anderson is now capably filling the position of postmaster at Omena, and he is also engaged in merchandising in this place. He was born in Sweden on the 3d of October, 1857, and was but twelve years of age when he arrived in the United States. Landing in New York, he made his way into the interior of the country and lived in Chicago and Galesburg, Illinois, un- til 1880. At that date he entered upon his business career as a clerk in his father's store in Omena, occupying the position for about a year. When that period had elapsed he returned to Chicago, but after a short time he again came to Leelanaw county and accepted a clerkship in the employ of W. S. Johnson, with whom he remained for about ten years. In the summer of 1883 he em- barked in merchandising on his own account in Omena and has thus been connected with the commercial interests of the city for twenty years. There is perhaps no resident of this section of the state more widely known, and because of his honorable busi- ness methods, his fair treatment of his pa- trons and his earnest desire to please those who accord him their business support, he has received a very liberal patronage. In connection with the supervision which he gives his mercantile interests he is also serv- ing as postmaster, having occupied the posi- tion during the greater part of his residence in Omena. Mr. Anderson is also interested.
474
GRAND TRAVERSE AND LEELANAW COUNTIES.
.
in real estate, having made judicious invest- ments of his capital in property until he is the owner of three hundred and fifty acres of valuable farming land in Leelanaw county.
Mr. Anderson was married in North- port, Michigan, on the 18th of June, 1883, to Miss Marit Bahle, a native of Norway, and they are now the parents of five sons : Louis E., George C., Frank J., Oscar M. and Carl F. Mr. Anderson is very promi- nent in public affairs, and is an acknowl- edged leader of the Republican party in this section of the state. He fills the office of notary public and is also school director. No trust reposed in him has ever been be- trayed in the slightest degree and his co- operation in public measures has been of marked benefit to the community. Fra- ternally he is a prominent Mason, belonging to the lodge at Northport, and he has also taken the Royal Arch degrees. He like- wise holds membership with the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows, and of both of these fraternities he is a valued representa- tive because his life is in consistent har- mony with their teachings. His career demonstrates in the highest and broadest sense that nationality or birth do not deter- mine, in this country, either in spirit or de- gree, the future standing of anyone, either in business, patriotism or society, and is also illustrative of the American idea of the com- mon brotherhood of man.
JOHN R. SANTO.
The business of an underwriter is sel- dom looked upon as anything approaching a profession. In most other callings some
special training is required, but people get into the life insurance business because they imagine no special knowledge of it is nec- essary other than what they may require after having embarked in the calling. Hun- dreds of persons have tumbled into the fire insurance business in just that way who have found, to their sorrow and financial loss, that outside of special natural adapta- tion to the vocation, they should have had a good deal of training and some experience. John R. Santo, the subject of this sketch, is not one of these. Before embarking in the business of an underwriter for himself he spent eleven years actively engaged in the business, four of them in Detroit and seven in Grand Rapids. He qualified himself in every detail relating to the business, and it was only then that he ventured to secure an agency and branch out in business on his own account. He may not have thought of it at the time, but he certainly acted upon that wise admonition of Davy Crocket, "Be sure you are right, then go ahead." The result is that he has conducted a most suc- cessful business as a fire insurance agent for nearly ten years. John R. Santo was born in London, Canada, June 29, 1865. His father was John Santo, a native of England, born in 1830, who, when fifteen years of age, emigrated to America and located in London, Canada, where he met and mar- ried Miss Mary Rendle. He followed farm- ing and stock raising, was prosperous and possessed of considerable means. They were the parents of eight children, all of whom are living, comfortably situated in life. The early life of John R. Santo was spent at his native place in Canada. When not occupied with his studies he aided his father on the farm, cultivating the soil and
...
HON. JOHN R. SANTO.
+
GRAND TRAVERSE AND LEELANAW COUNTIES.
475
acquiring habits of industry, which he has found exceedingly valuable during his busi- ness career. His education was secured in the common schools and in the high school of his native city, but he failed to complete the course in the latter institution, greatly to his regret, on account of sickness. When seven- teen years of age the condition of his health made it necessary for him to leave school, and the next year he devoted himself to the improvement of his health. In 1883 he came to Michigan and located in Detroit, securing a position with the Detroit Board of Fire Underwriters, which position he held for four years, improving every oppor- tunity to familiarize himself with the details of the business. The Michigan inspection bureau in 1887 tendered him a lucrative po- sition and one in which he could further ad- vance his knowledge of the business. He accepted the place and was for the next seven years connected with the bureau at Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1894 he pur- chased the H. F. Harsha Fire Insurance Agency of Traverse City, immediately moved here and has here resided ever since. He has conducted his business in a manner that has won him a greatly increased patron- age, and today the agency is worth many times what it cost him.
May 12, 1892, at Grand Rapids, Michi- gan, John R. Santo was united in marriage to Frances C. Thompson, a lady of many ac- complishments, amiable disposition and the possessor of numerous noble qualities. They have one child, Gwendolyn, now three years old. In politics Mr. Santo affiliates with the Democratic party. While rather passive in his political tendencies, he is fre- quently called upon to help out during heat- ed political campaigns, and the Macedonian
cry seldom goes forth without a hearty re- sponse on his part. However, he indignant- ly disclaims the imputation of being a politi- cian, though in April, 1903, he was elected mayor of the city. His own private business concerns have occupied all of his time he cared to spend away from his family, which has heretofore prevented him from seeking or accepting any office of trust or profit had he had the inclination to do so. He is a Ma- son, Knight of Pythias, an Elk and a Mac- cabee, and in the work of each of those or- ders he is deeply interested. He is a thor- ough business man, careful, systematic and methodical. The care he exercised in well equipping himself for his calling is indica- tive of the trend of his mind. He possesses every element necessary for a successful busi- ness career, and the past nine years of his life in Traverse City is a sure indication that he is amply capable of applying well the tal- ents with which he has been richly endowed by nature.
GEORGE E. AMIOTTE.
The gentleman to a brief review of whose life and characteristics the reader's attention is herewith respectfully invited is among the most progresive young business men of Traverse City, who by energy and correct methods have not only achieved success for themselves but have also contributed in a very material way to the commercial and in- dustrial advancement of their place of resi- dence. In the course of an honorable career, he has established himself in a liberally re- munerative enterprise, won the confidence and esteem of his fellow townsmen and the worthy prestige which he today enjoys in
..
29
476
GRAND TRAVERSE AND LEELANAW COUNTIES.
business and social circles shows him the pos- sessor of those sterling qualities of head and heart essential to the largest measure of suc- cess in laudable undertakings. In the lan- guage of another, "The life of George E. Amiotte goes to show that it is possible to gain a firm foothold in the fihancial world and that before old age lays a chilling hand upon the worker, robbing him of the power of enjoying the fruits of his labor and taking from life so much of its charm." A young man into whose history nothing of the event- ful or tragic has entered, but whose ad- vancement has been along well-chosen ways, where Dame Fortune has thrown her favors, he has by the master strokes of his own genius risen from an obscure position and won success and reputation such as many older in years and riper in experience have not attained.
George E. Amiotte, son of Joseph and Olive Amiotte, was born in Muskegon, Michigan, on the 3d day of September, 1866. His father, a farmer and stock raiser, is still living, his mother having departed this life in the year 1894. Reared in close touch with nature and spending his early years under the rugged but wholesome dis- cipline of the farm, young Amiotte grew up with a proper appreciation of the dignity of honorable endeavor and, being one of nine children, it fell to him while still a lad of tender years to take his place in the fields and assume his share of the responsibility of the family's support: In the country schools he obtained a knowledge of the elementary branches of learning, but by reason of his services being required at home his educa- tional experience as far as books were con- cerned terminated with his twelfth year; meanwhile, however, he learned in the school
of experience what is of quite as great prac- tical value as a collegiate course-the val- uable lesson of self-reliance and how to order one's way so as to make the most of oppor- tunities. Mr. Amiotte's first money as a wage earner was received for work in and around the saw and shingle-mills of his na- tive city and he devoted himself to this kind of labor for about seven years, not only paying his own expenses in the meantime, but like a dutiful son contributing a goodly share to the support of the brothers and sisters younger than himself. At the age of nineteen he entered the employ of his cousin, J. J. Amiotte, who conducted a livery stable in Muskegon, and while thus engaged his work took in everything that had to be done in and about such an establishment, includ- ing in addition to his regular duties the transportation at frequent intervals of trav- eling men from store to store around the city and often trips to more distant points. This experience was a valuable education in many respects, as it made him acquainted with business men and their methods, brought him in contact with the world, awakened his perceptive faculties and taught him how to discern the qualities and char- acteristics of different individuals, to com- pare their relative merits and deduce there- from lessons to his own benefit. By court- eous treatment of commercial agents he won their confidence and good will and by try- ing at all times to make himself useful, re- ceived from his employers and others many marks of encouragement which had not a little to do in fostering a spirit of manliness and leading him early to decide as to what his future course of action should be. By, frequent contact with business men and the traveling public generally he finally made
477
GRAND TRAVERSE AND LEELANAW COUNTIES.
up his mind to become a commercial tourist and after five years of faithful service in the livery stable he resigned his position and, entering the West Michigan University, took a business course, the better to fit him- self for his chosen calling. Receiving a diploma at the end of six months' faithful and painstaking study, he returned to Mus- kegon, poor in purse but with a laudable ambition to succeed and a sufficiency of will power to enable him to create opportunities providing none presented themselves. Two days after his return he was engaged by the Muskegon Cracker Company, which had been but recently organized, as city sales- man, on a very meager salary, but he soon demonstrated his ability by making up a large and lucrative practice for the firm, the best part of the experience, however, being the establishing of his own reputation as a successful solicitor. After eight months with this company he resigned and a few weeks later engaged as traveling salesman with Snyder & Straub, manufacturers of candies and confectionery, at Muskegon, which position he held for a period of eight years with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the firm and patrons. At the expiration of that time the well-known firm of Straub Brothers & Amiotte was formed, consisting of John G. and Anton F. Straub and George E. Amiotte, the object of which was to engage in the manufacture of confec- tionery and candies at Taverse City, the sub- ject to represent the company on the road. Since becoming identified with the enterprise Mr. Amiotte has traveled over a large area of territory in Michigan and elsewhere, building up an extensive business and adding not only to his already well established rep- utation as'one of the ablest and most suc-
cessful commercial tourists in the state, but continually advertising his house and giving it much of the high prestige it now enjoys among the manufacturing and wholesale en- terprises of Michigan. From a biographical sketch of Mr. Amiotte which recently ap- peared in the Michigan Tradesman, we quote the following reference : "Mr. Amiotte is associated in business with two of the best candy-makers that can be found. He keeps in touch with what the trade likes in all the best sellers and then orders the goods made, the quality of his confectionery being al- ways of the very best. His last year's sales (1902) were the largest in quantity in the history of the house. Mr. Amiotte has been a traveling salesman for fourteen years; he always accepts things as they are, not as they should be, and secures and retains trade by honest methods, preferring to lose a sale rather than make one in such a manner that he could not see a second order."
Mr. Amiotte is one of the popular men of his city, manifests an abiding interest in its affairs, assists to the extent of his ability and resources in its material development and is an influential force in the social and be- nevolent agencies of the community. When a young man of twenty he joined the Mus- kegon Rifles, a military organization, with which he was identified for three years, and in 1892 he became a member of the Michi- gan Knights of the Grip, a society composed of the traveling men of the state, to which he still belongs. Later, 1894, he joined the Modern Woodmen of America, with which he has since held membership, and in 1897 he was initiated into the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, which completes the list of his fraternal relations. While in politics and appreciating the value of good
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.