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 65
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 65
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
tive of Dutch origin. Just when the Ameri- can branch of the family came to the United States is a matter of doubt, although it must have been in quite an early day, as the grand- father settled in New York many years ago. David Vader, the subject's father, was born in York state and followed agriculture and lumbering as his life work, meeting with fair success in both lines of endeavor. He spent the greater part of his life in his native state, subsequently moving to Canada, and still later to Wisconsin, where he lived to a good old age, being in his seventy-eighth year at the time of his death. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Samantha Amey, was a native of Canada, departing this life in the province of Ontario at the age of forty-five.
Calvin S. Vader, child of the above par- ents, was born in Ontario July 18, 1842. He spent his early years in his native country, attended at intervals the public schools and at the age of sixteen went to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where he finished his educational training, supplementing the regular literary branches with a business course in a commer- cial college. On November 17, 1863, Mr. Vader enlisted in Company G, Thirty-second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and served with the same until the close of the great Rebellion, receiving an honorable discharge May 15, 1865. He shared with his command all the fortunes and vicissitudes of war, and under all circumstances was a brave and gal- lant soldier, and retired from the service, having faithfully performed his duty in the defense of the national Union.
Returning to Wisconsin at the close of the war, Mr. Vader remained in that state until 1881, at which time he came to Mich- igan, locating at Muskegon, where the year following he became bookkeeper for the J. J.
&
516
GRAND TRAVERSE AND LEELANAW COUNTIES.
Fay, Jr., Lumber Company, which he held for a period of nine years, resigning in 1891. In the latter year he engaged with the Han- nah & Lay Mercantile Company, Traverse City, and has been with his firm ever since, his period of service covering nearly thirteen years, during which he has risen by succes- sive promotions to the responsible position of general cashier, and become one of the most useful and influential factors in the manage- ment of the business. Mr. Vader is an ac- complished bookkeeper and accountant, and enjoys to an unlimited degree the trust and confidence of the large firm with which he is identified. Possessing a thorough and ac- curate knowledge of every detail of the busi- ness, his manifold duties are so systematized as to cause him no inconvenience, while as manager of the company's finances his rec- ord has been honorable and upright, never having swerved from the strict path of recti- tude, but always proving able to discharge worthily the responsibilities resting upon him in a station requiring the highest order of business talent.
Mr. Vader has been twice married, the first time to Nancy J. Flanagan, who bore him five children, of whom one son and three daughters are living. Mrs. Vader dying in November, 1886, the subject later contracted a matrimonial alliance with Mrs. Sarah (Prouty) Holdsmith, who has been living in Traverse City since 1861, and who by her former husband had two sons, both married and residing in the same place.
Mr. Vader cast his first presidential vote at Nashville, Tennessee, in 1865, for Abra- ham Lincoln, and he has been an earnest sup- porter of the Republican party from that time to the present day. While deeply inter- ested in politics, as every good citizen should
be, and using his influence to promote the success of his party, he cannot be termed a politician in the ordinary acceptance of the term, nor has he ever stepped aside from his business to engage in the distracting and un- certain struggle for office or leadership. His fraternal relations are represented by the Grand Army of the Republic, the Knights of the Maccabees and the F. M. C organiza- tions, holding the title of past commander in the two first and at the present time filling the position of worthy ruler in the last.
Mr. Vader is a believer in revealed relig- ion, and as a faithful and consistent mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church of Traverse City his life exemplifies the beauty and value of Christianity practically applied. He is one of the active workers in his con- gregation, and manifests a lively interest in charitable and benevolent enterprises, wheth- er under religious or secular auspices. Mrs. Vader is also a Methodist, and, like her hus- band, takes a prominent part in the good work of her church, in which body she is popular and highly esteemed.
Aside from his connections with the Han- nah & Lay Mercantile Company, Mr. Vader has been an influential factor in the general business and industrial interests of Traverse City since becoming a resident of the same, everything calculated to advance the com- munity, materially or otherwise, receiving his support and hearty co-operation. He is unwavering in his allegiance to what he be- lieves to be right, and upholds his honest con- victions at the sacrifice, if need be, of every other interest. Conscientious in the dis- charge of the duties of citizenship, he is a valued member of the body politic, and his aim has ever been to shape his life according to the highest standard of excellence. He
517
GRAND TRAVERSE AND LEELANAW COUNTIES.
entertains noble aims and high ideals, and the consensus of opinion in the city of his res- idence is that he stands before the world a model business man and a true type of the intelligence, courteous, Christian gentleman.
JOHN G. STRAUB.
An enumeration of the enterprising men of Traverse City who have won recognition and success for themselves and at the same time have conferred honor upon the com- munity would be decidedly incomplete were there failure to make mention of the popular gentleman whose name initiates this review. He holds worthy prestige in business circles, and has been and is distinctively a man of affairs and wields a wide influence among those with whom his lot has been cast. In a biographical sketch of the subject, published in a recent issue of the Michigan Tradesman, is found the following introduction, which we take the liberty of quoting, as it appears peculiarly appropriate in this connection :
"It is safe to venture the assertion that no one attains eminence in any business or profession without passing through a more or less period of unremitting toil, of disap- pointments and struggles. He who has brought his business to a successful issue through years of work and has established it upon a substantial basis, and yet retains the appearance of youth, who has an unwrinkled brow, who has in his step the elasticity of younger days and shows no trace of worry and care that too often lag the footsteps of the direction of large affairs, must be a man possessed of enviable characteristics." Such is a brief description of John G, Straub, as he
now appears, after a long, active and prosper- ous business career, the peer of any of his contemporaries in all that enter into the make-up of the successful man of affairs or that constitutes a leader in important busi- ness enterprises.
John G. Straub, who is the head and gen- eral manager of the Straub Brothers & Amiotte candy factory at Traverse City, is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the third in a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters, whose parents were Jo- seph and Madaline Straub. The father, who was a native of Germany and a marble cutter by occupation, died in 1869 at the age of for- ty-five, leaving a widow and seven children, the subject of this review being nine years old at the time. The mother, whose maiden name was Madaline Miller, was born on the island Lindau, between Bavaria and Switzer- land, but belonging to the latter country, and she is still living in the city of Milwaukee. John G. Straub was born December 14, 1860, spent his childhood and youth in his native city, and after attending the public schools until fourteen years of age, was apprenticed to the Fernekes Brothers, in Milwaukee, to learn the candy business. He first received in- structions in the manufacture of stick candy, but so rapid was his advancement that within a few months after entering the establish- ment he was working beside many of long experience in the cream and chocolate depart- ments, branches of the business requiring a high degree of efficiency. After finishing his apprenticeship he remained three years with the Fernekes Brothers, and at the end of that time accepted a position with E. F. Berris- ford, of St. Paul, Minnesota, taking charge of the stick candy department in the latter establishment and discharging the duties of
-
518
GRAND TRAVERSE AND LEELANAW COUNTIES.
the same until engaging with the Bunte Brothers & Spohr, of Chicago, one year later. Mr. Straub entered the employ of the latter firm in the gum and cream candy department, but within three months he was given charge of a special branch of the business with six- teen men under him, although at the time the youngest man in the factory, but in point of efficiency the superior of any, with the possi- ble exception of the general manager and one or two others. After holding this responsi- ble position two years he resigned to take charge of the candy factory of Charles Jex at Port Huron, Michigan, and he had sole control of the establishment until its destruc- tion by fire, after which the business was dis- continued. From Port Huron Mr. Straub removed to Muskegon, where he effected a partnership in the manufacture and wholesale of candies, with John A. Snyder, the firm, under the name of Snyder & Straub, lasting until January 1, 1899, when it was dissolved, its career extending over a period of ten years. Two months later he formed a part- nership with his brother, Anton F. Straub, and George E. Amiotte in the manufacture of candies and confectionery at Traverse City, under the style of Straub Brothers & Amiotte, the firm soon taking high rank and building up a large local and an extensive wholesale trade which has continually grown in magnitude and importance to the present time. So rapidly did the business increase that it was found necessary to provide a building of sufficient capacity to meet thé growing demands of the trade, and accord- ingly the present structure, a handsome and imposing brick edifice, fifty by eighty-five feet, two stories high and basement, was erected and supplied with the latest and most approved machinery devices for the manu-
facture of all kinds of candies, and that, too, on a scale which compares favorably with the largest and most successful establishments of the kind in the state. In this complete and fully equipped factory a large force of ex- perienced workmen are employed, who turn out immense quantities of confectionery of all kinds and of the highest grade of excel- lence. The superior quality of the goods from this establishment has gained it a repu- tation second to that of no other candy fac- tory in the entire country, and its rapid and substantial growth is one of the firm's best recommendations to the trade. In addition to supplying the bulk of the local demand and supplying the leading commercial centers of northwestern Michigan, it has extensive busi- ness throughout the state generally, to say nothing of large and frequent consignments to many other parts of the Union. All the men connected with the business are of ripe experience, energetic, progressive, financially reliable, and the success of the enterprise, which has fully met their high expectations, is prophetic of still larger growth and further reaching prosperity in years to come. It is not too much to claim for Mr. Straub leader- ship in the business, for to his experience and skill in every department of candy making and to his sagacity, sound judgment and wise forethought, as a keen, resourceful busi- ness man, is the firm largely dependent for the series of continued successes which have marked its history from its organization to the present day. The authority from which we have already quoted liberally in speak- ing of Mr. Straub's personal success, does so in the following complimentary terms: "Mr. Straub attributes his suc- cess to the fact that he understands his business thoroughly, having worked in
1
519
GRAND TRAVERSE AND LEELANAW COUNTIES.
every branch of the trade before he finally engaged in the business for him- self, and since then he has been a constant student of the business, reading all the lit- erature on the subject he can possibly obtain and keeping abreast of the improvements which are constantly made in his line." "Like most men of German antecedents, he is a type of industry and faithfulness, being seldom absent from his desk during business hours, and subordinating every other consideration to the duties in hand. He has but one hobby, baseball, but his loyalty to business precludes his giving to the national game very much at- tention, except on holidays."
On the 10th of April, 1890, in the city of Muskegon, Mr. Straub was happily married to Miss Mary Alice Irwin, a native of that place, and his pleasant home in Traverse City, corner of Eighth and Maple streets, is gladdened by the presence of four bright and interesting children, namely: Roy A., born May 21, 1891 ; William J., October 21, 1892 ; Viola Laverne, September 27, 1895, and Irene Mary, whose natal day was March 21, 1900. Mr. Straub belongs to Lodge No. 323, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ma- sonic brotherhood, holding membership in the last named organization with Lodge No. 222, Traverse City. In the Woodmen he has been three times elected to the office of ven- erable consul, being one of the leading spirits in Duchess Camp No. 2345.
ASHER M. ATKINSON.
Asher M. Atkinson is connected with in- dustrial and agricultural interests in Leela- naw county, and makes his home on section
19, Kasson township. There he follows farming, and in addition to his work in that direction he has been identified with building interests, having learned the carpenter's trade, at which he has done considerable work. He was born upon a farm in St. Jo- seph county, Michigan, on the 14th of May, 1854. His father was Ephraim K. Atkinson, a native of Pennsylvania. After arriving at years of manhood he wedded Sarah Ann Van Buren, whose birth occurred in New York. They lived for some time in St. Joseph coun- ty, Michigan, and in 1866 removed thence to Leelanaw .county, taking up their abode upon section 19, Kasson township, where the father with characteristic energy began the development of a farm. From 1866 up to the time of his death he resided continuously in this county, with the exception of a period of three years spent in Pennsylvania. On the expiration of that time, however, they re- turned to the farm in Kasson township, and Mr. Atkinson continued to engage in the cul- tivation of the fields and the raising of stock until his life's labors were ended in death, when he was seventy-one years of age. His wife has also passed away, her death occur- ring May 27, 1897, when sixty-eight years old. Their marriage was blessed with a family of ten children, of whom Asher M. was the third in order of birth.
Mr. Atkinson of this review spent the first twelve years of his life in the county of his nativity, and then came with his parents to Leelanaw county, where he has since lived, with the exception of the family's brief resi- dence of three years in Pennsylvania. In early life he learned the carpenter's trade, be- coming an expert workman, and his capa- bility in this direction has made his services in great demand. In connection with the
520
GRAND TRAVERSE AND LEELANAW COUNTIES.
.
building interests, however, he has followed farming, and is today one of the enterprising and progressive agriculturists of Kasson township. Within the borders of his place is a tract of rich and arable land, comprising one hundred and twenty-seven acres, and of this one hundred and five acres have been placed under the plow and prepared for cul- tivation. He now raises good crops upon rich fields, and he has the latest improved machinery to aid him in the work of plowing, planting and harvesting. His home is a sub- stantial and attractive residence, and his farm is in keeping with the progressive spirit of the times.
On March 16, 1876, in Wayne county, Pennsylvania, was celebrated the mar- riage of Asher M. Atkinson and Miss Maril- la Rosencrace, who was born in the Keystone state, being a native of Pike county. Their marriage has been blessed with seven chil- dren-Blanche L., who is now the wife of Charles Riggs ; Ralph E .; Ephraim K .; Fan- nie, who is the wife of Charles Denny ; Edith M., Lucy W. and Elmer E., who are still under the parental roof. The Atkinson household is celebrated for its cordial and generous hospitality, which is extended freely to their large circle of friends. They have won the favor and regard of the great ma- jority of those with whom they have come in contact, and both Mr. and Mrs. Atkinson are widely known. He has been and is at the present time a member of the board of review, but has never been an active politician in the sense of office seeking. His is the rec- ord of a conscientious man, who by his up- right life has won the confidence of all with whom he has been associated, and he is re- garded as one of the representative citizens of Leelanaw county.
OSCAR SIMPSON.
The gentleman whose name furnishes the caption of this review is an active business and public-spirited man, who, in addition to honorable career in the various vocations to which he has devoted his attention, has a creditable record as one of Grand Traverse county's popular and efficient officials. Os- car Simpson, a leading horse dealer, was born December 17, 1847, in Hawksburg, Ontario, and is the son of Samuel and Samantha Simpson, the father for many years a success- ful farmer and lumber man of that province. The subject was reared in his native town, received his educational training in the pub- lic schools of the same and in 1861 took charge of his father's farm near Hawksburg, which he managed with encouraging success for a period of several years. Leaving the farm, Mr. Simpson, in 1867, came to Mich- igan and for several years was engaged in lumbering for different parties, finally rising to the responsible position of foreman with the Hannah & Lay Lumber Company, in which capacity he continued until 1889. In addition to his experience in lumbering he was for some time engaged in the grocery trade, but, not taking kindly to that business, disposed of his stock, and subsequently, with a partner, engaged in the boot and shoe business. The latter venture not proving very successful, he discontinued it at the end of two years and turned his attention to other pursuits, his principal business since 1891 being dealing in horses at Traverse City, buy- ing and shipping upon quite an extensive scale, and in connection therewith loaning money. Mr. Simpson has long been actively interested in the public affairs of Grand Traverse county, and in 1886 was elected on
,
521
GRAND TRAVERSE AND LEELANAW COUNTIES.
the Republican ticket to the office of sheriff, which position he filled with credit to him- self and to the satisfaction of the people for a period of four years, having been chosen his own successor in 1888. When Traverse City adopted city government Mr. Simpson was made a member of the first board of public works, which office he resigned to accept the office of sheriff. His official experience, both as sheriff and member of the board of pub- lic works, fully met the expectations of the people and justified the wisdom of his elec- tion to those responsible positions. His rec- ord while in office was without a stain, his course having justified public confidence and his ability to discharge worthily important trusts has never been questioned by his friends or political adversaries.
Mr. Simpson's present business interests are large and far-reaching, and have been crowned with a measure of success commen- surate with the ability and energy which he displays in all of his undertakings. He has always had the welfare of the community at heart, and as a public-spirited man of affairs lends his active support and hearty co-opera- tion for the general good. Of scrupulous in- tegrity and correct habits, strictly temperate in all things and a total abstainer as to tobac- co and all kinds of intoxicants, his life has been singularly free from fault, and wherever known his name is synonymous with all that is honorable in manhood and upright in citi- zenship. For a number of years he has been a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and, appreciating the dignity of his religious profession, he exemplifies the same in his daily walk and conversation. About the year 1870 he united with the Masonic order, and from that time to the present day
has been an active and consistent member of the same.
Mr. Simpson, on the 29th of April, 1880, was united in marriage with Miss Martha Johnson in the city of Grand Rapids, who departed this life January 14, 1883, after a brief but happy wedded life of less than three years, leaving a daughter by the name of Nel- lie, whose birth occurred seven days prior to the mother's death. Subsequently Mr. Simp- son contracted a matrimonial alliance with his present companion, Katherine Fowe, a union blessed with one child, Arthur Lester, who was born February 23, 1889.
HENDERSON SMITH.
Henderson Smith, a veteran of the Civil war, and for many years a highly respected citizen of Grand Traverse county, Michigan, was born September 22, 1842, in Trumbull county, Ohio, in which state his parents, Gor- don and Mary (Henderson) Smith, spent their last days. They were originally from New York, and had a family of eight chil- dren. Mr. Smith, of this immediate biog- raphy, was reared on his father's farm and educated in Trumbull county, where he re- mained until the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted, in April, 1861, for three months' service in Company F, Twenty- fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and went to the front. At the expiration of that term he re-enlisted for three years in the same com- pany, and again re-enlisted in 'Company E, One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Regi- ment, for the remainder of the war, which was about nine months. He took part in a
.
522
GRAND TRAVERSE AND LEELANAW COUNTIES.
number of thrilling engagements and hair- breadth adventures, and he has a fund of anecdote and history relating to those days which he relates in a very graphic manner.
Returning to Ohio, he remained there un- til 1866, when he came to Grand Traverse county and entered one hundred and sixty acres of government land in Mayfield town- ship, and has since made it his home. He is conceded to be one of the most thorough, practical farmers in the county, and a glance at his premises certainly bears out the truth of the statement. He was married in Craw- ford county, Pennsylvania, August 17, 1863, to Miss Julia Gill, a native of Cuyahoga county, Ohio, and one child, Jennie May (Mrs. Albert Cornell), was born to them. Mr. Smith has been affiliated with the Repub- lican party and has held a number of offices, among them being that of school officer and justice of the peace. He is a member of Earl Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of Wexford, and is a man generally respected and honored.
CHARLES A. HANNAFORD.
Through thirty-seven years Charles A. Hannaford has been classed with the citi- zens of worth in Leelanaw county, who have fostered those movements upholding the in- tellectual and moral stability of the com- munity, who have promoted its substantial development and have brought about its present prosperity and advancement. That he is numbered among the early settlers is indicated by the fact that at the time of his arrival here he entered land from the gov- ernment, becoming owner of a tract which was still in its primitive condition, awaiting
the awakening hand of the agriculturist to become productive and fertile.
Charles A. Hannaford was born in Solon, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, on the 26th of February, 1836. His father was Reu- ben M. Hannaford and his mother, in her maidenhood, was Susan Foster. Both were natives of New Hampshire and they were married in 1828. Unto them were born eight children, of whom the subject of this review is the fifth. Both the father and mother died in Cuyahoga county. Upon the old family homestead at Solon, Ohio, Charles A. Hannaford was reared, and in 1855, when nineteen years of age, he left home and went to Winnebago county, Illi- nois, where he was employed at farm labor for about a year and a half. During that time he was married, on the 17th of November, 1857, to Miss Helen Sill, a native of Ohio, born in Avon, Lorain county, on the 25th of July, 1840. Her parents were Albert and Mercy (Daily) Sill, both natives of New York, and the former died in Clinton, Iowa, and the latter in Boone county, Illinois. They became the parents of nine children, Mrs. Hannaford being the fourth in order of birth.
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.