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 88
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 88
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buy judiciously, sell advantageously and are now realizing a fair profit off their invest- ment. They have secured a liberal share of the public patronage, and seldom fail to re- tain the trade of a customer once secured. Their business methods are strictly honora- ble and will bear the closest investigation, and they keep abreast with the enterprising spirit of the times, which is manifest as strongly in mercantile circles as in other walks of life.
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on the 16th of June, 1887, Mr. Cordes was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Klein, a native of that city and a daughter of John and Margaret Klein. She was an estimable and cultured lady who won friends wherever she went. Her death occurred in Leland July 6, 1895, and many friends as well as her immediate family mourned her loss. She left two children, Bertha A. and Stella E.
Mr. Cordes has already endorsed the measures of the Republican party, believing that its platform embodies the best and most practical ideas concerning good government that has for its object the welfare of the ma- jority. He has held the office of township treasurer of Leland township for several years and he takes an active interest in the growth and success of his party. His relig- ious faith is indicated by his membership in the Catholic church. His connection with any undertaking insures a prosperous out- come of the same, for it is in his nature to carry forward to a successful completion whatever he is associated with. He has earned for himself a reputation as a careful man of business, and in his dealings is known for his prompt methods, which have won for him the deserved and unbounded confidence of his fellow men.
WILLIAM M. GREILICK.
A history of Grand Traverse county could not possibly be complete without some account of the Greilick family. The pro- genitors of the family were among the ear- list settlers of the county. The subject of this review, William M. Greilick, was the youngest child of Godfrey and Theresa Greilick, who located in Norrisville, in 1856, when William M. was only two years old. The parents were Austrians by birth, but were reared and educated in Germany where the father became an accomplished linguist. English, however, was beyond his capacity, for though he lived in America many years before the unfortunate accident in which he lost his life he never mastered the intricacies of the language. He met his death, in an ac- cident, while working at a pile driver in Traverse City, when he was sixty-three years of age. William M. Greilick, the sub- ject of this review, was born in the city of New York, April 28, 1854. His parents had lived in America only six years at the time of his birth. When an infant, only a few weeks old, the family moved to Chicago, where they lived two years, then moved to this part of Michigan, in 1856, where the family and their descendants have since resided. The family consisted of six children, viz : Joseph E., one of the most enterprising manufac- turers of Traverse City, died in 1893; Anton was a skilled blacksmith, but turned his at- tention to the manufacture of lumber, in which he has been very successful, resides at Norrisville, Leelanaw county ; John, who was associated with his brothers, Anton and Ed- ward, in the manufacture of lumber, died in 1898; Mary, wife of Frank Brusch, resides in Traverse City where he conducts an ex-
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tensive meat market; Edward, the junior member of the firm of Greilick Brothers, which has operated in the manufacture of lumber most successfully for many years past, died in 1899; William M. is the sub- ject of this review. His early life up to the time that he was twenty-one years old was spent at Norrisville. He was required to go to work as soon as his strength permitted him to be of any use, and only the most mea- ger privileges of securing an education were accorded him. At the time when he was twenty years old he had not attended school more than one year in his life. He bent every energy and practiced the most rigid economy that he might have the means to defray his expenses while attending school, and his worthy purpose was accomplished. For two years he attended school and, hav- ing a natural aptitude for learning, is now better informed than many whose education was more thorough and complete. After leaving school, he worked for his brother in the saw-mill the greater part of the time for eleven years. Part of the time, when the mill was not in operation, he busied himself with such work as he could find to do, spend- ing a number of months working in Milwau- kee. Meanwhile, having secured much knowledge of the business of the millwright, he was employed by his brothers at Sutton's Bay in that capacity and as general manager. He held this position for eleven years, then came to Traverse City and has resided here since.
While naturally of a kind, generous dis- position, William M. Greilick was never mar- ried. He is, therefore, innocent of any do- mestic ties or family relations and seems to enjoy his condition of single blessedness. In politics he is strictly independent, with a de-
cided leaning for the Republican party and candidates, but caucus nominations or the actions of a convention have no binding effects on his vote. In religion, although baptised and reared in the Catholic church, to which most of his relations belong, he is peculiarly independent, satisfying his con- science by a strict adherence to the Golden rule. He is a frank, candid man, intelligent beyond others whose life has been devoted to long hours and hard work, but the most re- freshing feature of his disposition is a pas- sion for minding his own own business and the granting to all people a similar privilege.
ISAAC GARTHE.
All credit is due to the man who wins success in spite of great obstacles and by per- sistency and industry gains a competence and a position where he is respected by his acquaintance. The history of Isaac Garthe is a record of such a man-one who has be- come strong and self-reliant through strug- gling with difficulties which would have overpowered many a man of less courage and resourceful ability. Coming to the United States in early manhood, he readily adapted himself to the changed conditions which he found here and has worked so con- tinually and effectively that he is now num- bered among the substantial agriculturists of Leelanaw county. Mr. Garthe was born in the kingdom of Norway on the 28th of Au- gust, 1842. His father, Christen I. Garthe, was a sailor in early manhood and afterward engaged in farming. He wedded Miss Ger- trude Ansnas and both were native of Nor- way. The mother died in that country in
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ISAAC GARTHE RESIDENCE
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the winter of 1856, when about thirty-six years of age, and the father continued to re- side there until July, 1868, when he emi- grated to America, hoping that he might im- prove his financial condition in the new world. Continuing his journey westward, he at length arrived in Leelanaw county and settled in Leelanaw township, where he lived until his death, which occurred in the spring of 1872, when he was in his sixty-sixth year.
Of a family of six children Isaac Garthe is the eldest. He was reared in Norway and followed the occupation of farming in his native country until the spring of 1867, when he bade adieu to home and friends and sailed for the new world. He was then a young man of twenty-four years, full of hope and determination. He had no capital, but his strong resolution and energy stood him in stead of money and have enabled him to ad- vance continually on the road to prosperity. He became a resident of Leelanaw township and since that date he has continually fol- lowed farming here. He first worked as a farm hand until he had acquired capital suf- ficient to enable him to become owner of a tract of land. In the spring of 1873 he made his first purchase, thereby becoming the pos- sessor of fifty-five acres on section 33, Lee- lanaw township. He took up his abode here and has since lived upon the farm, which, owing to his capable management and un- tiring efforts, has been greatly transformed. He has erected a good set of farm buildings, has planted numerous shade and fruit trees, has placed his fields under a high state of cultivation and today has a farm which is rich in its equipments and accessories, being one of the model farm properties of this sec-
tion of the state. Mr. Garthe has also ex- tended the boundaries of his land until the place now comprises one hundred and for- ty-seven acres, of which about one hundred and twenty acres are improved.
On the 28th of September, 1872, in Lee- lanaw township, Mr. Garthe was united in marriage to Miss Synnor Oien, who was born in Norway October 21, 1846, and who came to America in 1872. Mr. and Mrs. Garthe became the parents of nine children, of whom six are now living: Gertrude, who is the wife of Ole Martinson ; Stanley ; Chris- tine, who is the wife of Thomas G. Ray; John, Carl L. and Anna L., who are still at home. Those who have passed away are Randa, Carl L. and Arnt.
Mr. and Mrs. Garthe are well known Christian people, holding membership in the Evangelical Lutheran church of Northport. Mr. Garthe was instrumental in establishing this church and has done everything in his power for its upbuilding and for the exten- sion of its influence and his political support is given to the Republican party and he has filled the positions of justice of the peace and overseer of highways. His time and at- tention, however, have been mostly given to his business interests and he is now the own- er of a fine farm. His success is creditable and indicates the force of his character and his life of energy and determination. Mr. Garthe has never had occasion to regret his determination to seek a home in America, for in this country, where opportunity is unhampered by caste or class, he has steadily worked his way upward, gaining not only a financial success, but also the respect and good will of the community in which he has . cast his lot.
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GRAND TRAVERSE AND LEELANAW COUNTIES.
JOHN HOXSIE.
John Hoxsie, supervisor of Acme town- ship, Grand Traverse county, Michigan, and proprietor of the East Bay Woolen Mills, was born on a farm in Palmyra township, Lenawee county, Michigan, July 13, 1851. He was one of nine children born to Leonard S. and Mary (Underwood) Hox- sie. Both parents were natives of New York. They settled in this county in 1864, the mother dying in Traverse City at the age of seventy-nine years.
Mr. Hoxsie spent his boyhood on the farm and was educated in the common schools of Acme township, his practical na- ture absorbing a vast amount of knowledge, not only from his books but from his habit of close observation. He has been a resident of this county almost continuously since his thirteenth year and is one of the most suc- cessful and prosperous business men of the community, his early habits of thrift and en- ergy causing him to begin his career at an early age and his shrewdness enabling him to take advantage of the best opportunity. His first venture was in the saw-mill and lumber business, in which he was engaged for about ten years. He then formed a part- nership with John A. Scripture, under the firm name of Hoxsie & Scripture, erecting the East Bay woolen mills at Acme in 1884. This venture was something of an experi- ment on the part of these enterprising young men but it has proved to be a paying invest- ment and they have since operated the mills with flattering success. Their goods are known far and wide for their superiority and those who have been patrons once are sure to remain patrons of the firm. Judi- cious advertising, good goods and fair and
upright dealings have been the motto of the company which has enabled them to build up an immense business and keep the entire con- fidence of their customers.
John Hoxsie was united in marriage to a most estimable lady, Miss Jennie Rich- mond, of this state, by whom he has one child, Bertha. He has always affiliated with the Republican party, taking an intelligent interest in politics as affecting the public and he was one of the most satisfactory supervi- sors that ever served on the board in Acme township. He also acted as township treas- urer, being capable and efficient. Mr. Hox- sie is courteous and affable in his manner and few men can lay claim to as many warm friends among their wide circle of acquaint- ances. He is a member of East Bay Lodge No. 264, Free and Accepted Masons.
JOSEPH TAYLOR.
Joseph Taylor has been an honored member of Grand Traverse county for a period of almost forty years and during that time has become closely identified with the history and development of this thriving locality. He was born in Portage county, Ohio, October 3, 1844, and is one of eleven children born to Mathias and Eliza- beth (French) Taylor. During his early childhood his parents became residents of Lorain county, Ohio, where they engaged in farming for several years, and, later, they moved to Williams county, where they conducted the same business. In March, 1865, Mr. Taylor enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and Ninety-fifth Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, and served until the following
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December, when he returned to Williams county. In October, 1867, he left his na- tive state and located in Grand Traverse county, Michigan, purchasing a small tract of land, consisting of forty acres, and con- verting it into a model home which attracts the pleased attention of the most casual passerby.
Mr. Taylor was joined in marriage April 20, 1867, at Ransom', Hillsdale county, this state, to Miss Mary A. Howe. She was born in Cambria, Hillsdale county, July 7, 1846, and is a daughter of Joseph G. and Lois (Osborne) Howe, who after- wards moved to Illinois. Joseph Howe was born in New York, August 1, 1812, and died February 4, 1887. He was a car- penter by trade and in politics was a Demo- crat. Lois Howe was born January 20, 1810, and died November 23, 1853. They were the parents of five children, of whom four are living. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor has resulted in the birth of one child, Bertram W., who wedded Miss Louise Paul, and they have one child, Ren. Mr. Taylor is a member of McPherson Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of Traverse City, and takes pleasure in the re-unions of the old veterans. He is a man of quiet and unassuming manners and has never taken any part in political or public life.
JUDD H. BUELL.
From the age of nine years Judd H. Buell has resided in Michigan and is now making his home on section 15, Grand Trav- erse county, where he carries on general agricultural pursuits. Being brought to the west at a comparatively early period in the
development of this state, he became imbued with the spirit of progress and enterprise which is very dominant in Michigan and these elements have been manifested in his business career and also in his citizenship, for Mr. Buell is a man who while promoting individual interests has also aided in advanc- ing the general prosperity and the welfare and upbuilding of his community are mat- ters of deep interest to him.
Mr. Buell claims Pennsylvania as the state of his nativity, his birth having oc- curred in Ridgebury, Bradford county, on the 16th of August, 1845. His parents, George and Harriet (Sturgis) Buell, resided for some years in Bradford county and on leaving Pennsylvania they made their way to Livingston county, Michigan, where Mrs. Buell died at the comparatively early age of thirty-two years. Her huband, surviving her, departed this life in Byron, Shiawassee county, Michigan, at the advanced age of seventy-five years.
Judd H. Buell, the second of their three children, was a lad of nine summers when he came with his parents to Michigan and upon the home farm in Livingston county he was reared. Surrounded by environments of frontier life he shared with the family in the hardships and trials which fall to the lot of the early pioneers and he also assisted in the task of developing a new farm. As time advanced and his strength increased he more and more assumed the labors of caring for the home property. In Livingston county he was also married, the wedding being cel- ebrated on the 22d of March, 1871, at which time he led to the marriage altar Miss Mary Christie, who was born in Ray township, Macomb county, Michigan, on the 22d of March, 1851, her parents being Robert and
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Catherine (Ferguson) Christie, both of whom are natives of Scotland. Leaving the land of hills and heather, they came to the new world and are still residents of Liv- ingston county. Of their five children Mrs. Buell was the second and she was reared in Macomb county. At the time of their mar- riage the young couple removed to Gen- esee county, Michigan, where they remained for six years and on the expiration of that period they went to Shiawassee county, this state, where Mr. Buell remained until the spring of 1880.
That year witnessed his arrival in Grand Traverse county and he settled upon the farm which has now been his home for twenty-three consecutive years. He owns eighty acres of land and modern improve- ments have been placed upon the farm through his labors. He has erected good buildings, neatness and thrift characterize the place, while in the management of his business affairs Mr. Buell displays marked energy, determination and sound judgment.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Buell have been born ten children, namely : Mary R., who is now the wife of Frank Harris; Hattie M., at home; Carrie M., who is the wife of Clinton McRae; Alice E., Robert J., Grace P., Ma- bel C., George C., Daisy M. and Pearl W., who are still under the parental roof. The parents attend the services of the First Meth- odist Episcopal church of Traverse City and hold membership with the denomination. Mr. Buell has been called upon to fill a number of positions of public trust and responsibil- ity. He acted as township treasurer of Gar- field township for several years and has also been township supervisor for a number of years and in public office is found very loyal and faithful. There are in every community
men who without any particular effort on their part leave an impress upon the com- munity which can never be effaced. Mr. Buell is one of this class. With his own hand he has shaped his destiny. He is a man careful, prudent and honest and, there- fore not by genius, but by the due exercise of his good qualities and his business sagac- ity he has won for himself a creditable standing in financial circles. In all of his dealings he is strictly fair and just and his word is as good as any bond ever solemnized by signature or seal. Genial and courteous, he has won many friends and has the good will and esteem of the entire community.
STEINER C. GARTHE.
Steiner C. Garthe, who is a representa- tive of horticultural and agricultural inter- ests in Leelanaw county and an ex-probate judge, is classed among the representative citizens and leading men of this portion of Michigan. His home is on section 32, Lee- lanaw township, and there he has a rich and arable tract of land, devoted largely to the cultivation of fruit and also to the pro- duction of cereals best adapted to soil and climate. From the land of the midnight sun Steiner C. Garthe came to the new world. He was born in the kingdom of Norway on the 7th of March, 1851, and is a son of Christen I. and Gertrude (Ansnas) Garthe, who were also natives of the same country. In early life the father followed the sea and when he ceased to be a sailor he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, to which he continued to devote his energies until his life's labors were ended. In the winter of
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S. C. GARTHE
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GRAND TRAVERSE, AND LEELANAW COUNTIES.
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1856 he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died at that time in Norway when but thirty-six years of age. He con- tinued to live in their native land until twelve more years had passed and then he came to America, taking up his abode in Leelanaw township, Leelanaw county. He was not permitted to enjoy his new home, however, for a very long period, for he died in the spring of 1872, when in the sixty-sixth year of his age. His family numbered six chil- dren, of whom Steiner C. is the fifth in or- der of birth.
Mr. Garthe, whose name introduces this record, came to America with his father, be- ing at that time a youth of seventeen years. He had obtained his education in the schools of Norway and after coming to the United States he turned his attention to farming and fruit raising. This has since been his business and he now owns about seventy acres of improved land. His orchards cover seventeen acres and include many fine fruit trees, so that he annually produces a great variety of fruits. The products of his place are celebrated for their size, quality and flavor and the shipments from the Garthe farm find a ready sale upon the market. Mr. Garthe has made a very close and systematic study of the best methods of producing fruit and grains and has a comprehensive knowl- edge of the needs of different kinds of fruits and cereals.
In Leelanaw county on the 21st of March, 1878, was celebrated the marriage of Steiner C. Garthe and Miss Elizabeth Bahle, also a native of Norway, born on the IIth of December, 1855. She was a young maiden of fifteen summers when she came to Amer- ica with her parents, Esten and Mary Bahle. Mr. and Mrs. Garthe are now the parents of
ten children : Christopher, Gertrude, Esten, . Mary, Christine, Seth, Charles, Anna, Isaac L. and James H. Of these Christopher died in infancy, but the others are still living and are yet with their parents.
In public affairs Mr. Garthe is prom- inent and influential and his opinions carry weight among his neighbors because he is known to be a man of patriotic spirit, of progressive views and of high ideals. He has held the office of probate juge of Lee- lanaw county and he served in the position of township supervisor of Leelanaw town- ship from 1886 until 1900, with the excep- tion of one year, so that his incumbency cov- ered thirteen years. He votes with the Re- publican party and is unfaltering in his al- legiance to its principles. In township and county affairs he has been quite active and he has served as a delegate to various county and state conventions of his party. Both he and his wife are devoted members of the English Lutheran church and in its work he takes a very active and helpful part.
HENRY VOORHEES.
All readers of good literature will recall how graphically, and with how great appre- ciation, Washington Irving writes concern- ing the old Holland settlements in the state of New York, noting the characteristic traits of the sturdy men and women who have played so important a part in our national history and have left a patrician line to hon- or their memories as representatives of the true Knickerbocker stock, and in the beau- tiful lake county of Seneca, in the old Em- pire state, were early found representatives
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of this fine old Dutch ancestry, and the sub- ject of this review may well look with pride upon his genealogy and hold in affection the county and state in which he was born and in which he was a representative of an old and honored family of Holland extraction. He is now an influential citizen and retired farmer of Traverse City, and is to be dis- tinctively regarded as one of the pioneers of Grand Traverse county, which was a verita- ble wilderness at the time when he took up his abode in the midst of its sylvan grades, so that a review of his career is signally apropos in this publication.
Henry Voorhees was born in the town of Lodi, Seneca county, New York. Mr Voorhees was born on the 2d of April, 1833, being a son of Henry and Eliza Voorhees, who passed their entire lives in that county, where the paternal grandfather was num- bered among the pioneer settlers. Our sub- ject was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm and received a good common- school education, and he there continued to reside until he had attained the age of about twenty-six years, when he joined a vege- tarian and temperance colony which pro- ceeded to the state of Kansas and located itself in the vicinity of Osawatomie, Miami county, and he was there living at the time when John Brown made his famous and historic raid. He remained a part of one year in Kansas and then returned to New York, where he continued to reside until 1869, when he came to Michigan and settled near the Grand river, at Nunica, Ottawa county, on a tract of new land. To its culti- vation he devoted his attention until the spring of 1874, when he came to Grand Traverse county and purchased two hundred acres of land on the Houghton state road,
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