USA > Michigan > St Clair County > St. Clair County, Michigan, its history and its people; a narrative account of its historical progress and its principal interests, Vol. II > Part 16
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GUSTAVUS W. KUHN. There are certain staple articles which have been an absolute necessity to the forward march of progress and the advance of civilization. Travel has always been the means of widen- ing mankind's scope, the medium that has brought about our present
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civilization, and. naturally, travel has always necessitated the use of a means of conveyance. The manufacture of carriages and wagons is one of the time-honored occupations, and closely allied with this has been the making of harness, and both have had among their ranks men of the highest character. Gustavus W. Kuhn, of No. 938 Military street, Port Huron, is one of the best known harness makers in Port Huron. and many years of experience have fitted him to produce goods of a superior quality and lasting endurance. Mr. Kuhn was born at New Baltimore. Macomb county, Michigan, October 28, 1865. a son of Henry and Eliza- beth ( Meier) Kuhn.
Henry Kuhn, who was a tanner by trade, came to Port Huron in 1866. and erected a tannery on Military street, near the railroad bridge. Eventually he sold his interests and became a dealer in leather findings, hides and tallow, and he continued to follow this occupation until his death, August 30, 1896.
Gustavus W. Kuhn grew to manhood in Port Huron, where he re- ceived a common school education, and at the age of fourteen years be- gan to learn the trade of harness maker with an elder brother, H. J. Kuhn. When he was eighteen years of age he went to Saginaw and worked in a tannery, as an employe of the leather department. but after four and one-half years came back to Port Iluron and entered the business of his brother, whose partner he became in 1889. Seven years later he sold his interests to his brother and began a business of his own in the basement at 936 Milwaukee street, his father's old stand, and in 1906 he bought his brother's concerns, the two now being oper- ated as one firm. The building was erected by Mr. Kuhn's father in 1872, and after the latter's death Gustavus W. purchased the structure from the other heirs and is now sole owner.
Mr. Kuhn was married at Plymouth, Indiana, June 10. 1890, to Miss Margaret Haslanger, daughter of William and Anna Haslanger, and one child has been born to this union, Margaret, who is now attending the Port Huron high school. Mr. and Mrs. Kuhn are members of the German Evangelical church. Politically he is a Republican, and has been active in the ranks of his party, serving five years as police commis- sioner, until the new form of government was adopted, and being ap- pointed to that office by A. A. Graves. He is very prominent in fra- ternal circles, belonging to the Knights of Pythias, in which he has held all of the chairs and represented the local lodge in the Grand lodge five years in succession ; the Modern Woodmen of America, in which he served as banker for a number of years; the Elks, in which he has filled all of the chairs except the highest ; and the Modern Maccabees and the Royal Neighbors. ITis wife is a popular member of the Pythian Sisters.
Mr. Kuhn's success in the business world is but the just reward of a life of industry, as he has been the architect of his own fortunes. Like many of the other successful business men of Port Huron he started in life with no advantages except a determination to win, a sense of busi- ness honor and upright principles and an inexhaustible capacity for work. and his success is therefore all the more gratifying to him. He hears an excellent reputation among his fellow-townsmen, who know him to be a man of progress and a friend to all movements that will be of benefit to Port IJuron.
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GEORGE FISH was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, on March 15, 1832, and is the son of Rebecca Howard Fish, who was born in Connecticut, in 1798, and of Elijah Fish, a native of Vermont, born in 1788. Both he and his wife ended their lives in St. Clair county, he in 1871 and she in 1836, three years after they came to Michigan from Pennsylvania. Elijah Fish lived a life full of enterprise and adven- ture. He was engaged in lumbering and was rafting timber on the St. Lawrence river to Quebec, when the War of 1812 broke out. His timber was confiscated and he was given sixty days to get off from British soil. He enlisted in the American army and served as pilot on the St. Lawrence river. When he first came to St. Clair county, in 1833, he settled in Marine City. Here he stayed until 1845, when he bought his farm in Kimball township, where he lived until his death. His son George became identified with Pine river and with the logging business. There were five children in the family of Elijah and Rebecca Fish. Henry lives in St. Clair; he was for fifty years a captain on the lakes and is now retired. Esther was the wife of Charles Beatham. She died some years ago. Two other daughters, Jane and Sarah, are also deceased. Both were married, Jane to Mr. Evans, and Sarah to Mr. Smith. The former sister died in 1873 and the latter eight years earlier. George is the other surviving member of the family.
Mr. Fish has passed all but the first year of his life in this county. He attended the district schools and also those of Port Huron for several winters. In 1849, at the age of seventeen, he began rafting, and for thirty years followed this and scaling. He ran rafts to Detroit and Toledo, as well as to New Baltimore. One season he ran nine million feet of pine logs into Detroit. In 1872 he was married and the following year built the house in which N. S. Boynton lived at the time of his death. It was not until 1877 that Mr. Fish moved to his farm, although he had bought eighty acres of it twenty years before. He has gradually added to his place until now he owns three hundred acres.
Mrs. Fish is the daughter of John S. Kimball, the first lumberman in the northern part of Kimball township. The three daughters born of her marriage are dead, but the two sons, George and Arthur, are living in this county. George has been for four years supervisor of his township. In 1882 George, senior, was holding the same position in Kimball town- ship. He has also been clerk of his township and a member of his dis- trict school board for ten years. He is now justice of peace and has held the office for twelve years. In politics he is a Republican, and he is fraternally connected with the Knights of the Maccabees. He is one of the county's most substantial and most prominent citizens, whose four score years have been spent in labors which have built up the region in which he has his home and to whose every interest he has given his best efforts.
JOHN L. BLACK. A well-known and prosperous attorney-at-law, John L. Black, of Port Huron, is well versed in legal lore, and in the practice of his profession has conducted and won many important suits, in the meantime building up a large clientele. A native of Canada, he was born June 17, 1857, in Strathroy, Ontario, a son of John and Jessie (Campbell) Black, natives of Scotland. His father settled in Ontario on immigrating to Canada, and was there engaged in business as a
NON ageneral
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lumber dealer for several years. Neither he nor his wife are now living, both having spent their last days at the home of their son John, the father living with him ten years and the mother thirteen years prior to her death.
Completing his early education in the public schools of his native town. John L. Black was in business with his brother in Watford, Ontario, for three years. Coming to Michigan in 1878, he located at Port Huron on the third day of June, and the ensuing four years studied law in the office of Atkinson & Stevenson. In 1882 Mr. Black was elected justice of the peace, a position which he held one term, after which he was circuit court commissioner, and for two terms was judge of probate, in each capacity rendering efficient service. Since 1896 he has devoted his attention entirely to the demands of his profession, his practice being extensive and lucrative. His office is located at 222 Huron avenue, in Stevens block, and his home is at 1403 Willow street, where he has improved a valuable property.
Mr. Black married first, in 1886, Eliza J. Walsh, who was born in Port Huron, a daughter of John and Margaret (Grady) Walsh. She died Jannary 3, 1894, leaving one child, Bonnabell Black, who was graduated from the Port Huron high school with the elass of 1896, and is now her father's stenographer. Mr. Black married for his second wife, in 1900. Julia L. Walsh, a native of Port Huron. Politically Mr. Black is a steadfast Republican, and fraternally he belongs to both branches of the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen, and of both branches of the Knights of the Maccabees. Religiously, he is a member of the Presbyterian church, while Mrs. Black, true to the faith in which she was reared, belongs to the Catholic church.
One of Mr. Black's uncles, Archibald P. Campbell, enlisted for sery- ice at Port Huron during the Civil war, and served as colonel of the Second Michigan Cavalry.
WILLIAM F. WAGENSEIL. The present sheriff of St. Clair county is one of the most popular business men and citizens of the entire county. Sheriff Wagenseil has spent practically his life time in this county and has identified himself in many ways with the business and social ac- tivities of his community. Ile is a self-made man, has won his way through his character and effectual efforts, and is esteemed both for his competent management of official duties and bis individual worth as a citizen.
William F. Wagenseil was born at Hamilton, Ontario, August 28, 1857. Ilis parents, JJacob J. and Caroline ( Ernst ) Wagenseil, were born and reared in Germany. and shortly after their marriage came to America and located in Hamilton, where their oldest son, William, was born. The father was an upholsterer and was engaged in the furniture business at Hamilton, but a few days after the birth of his son William he came to St. Clair county and engaged in farming in Broekway town- ship. A few years later he moved to Port Huron, where he followed his trade until his death, which occurred when William was eleven years old.
The latter received his education in the public schools of Port Huron. At the early age of eleven years he began clerking in a grocery store, and continued this oceupation until he was twenty years old.
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He was married, in 1883, to Miss Julia Unger, who was born and reared in Port Huron. Her parents, Oswald and Mary Unger, are old and respected citizens and have resided at Port Huron since 1856. The three children born of their marriage are: Oswald, who graduated from the engineering department of the University of Michigan, and since he was twenty years old has been an electrical engineer for the New York & New Jersey State Telephone Company, having his residence in New York ; Camilla the second child, lives at home; and Hugo is a grad- uate of the Port Huron high school with the class of 1911. Mr. and Mrs. Wagenseil have worked together in providing a good home for their children and affording them the best possible advantages, and both for this and their own worthy accomplishments they have won the esteem of the people of Port Huron.
Mr. Wagenseil gave up his place as a clerk in order to engage in the grocery business on his own account, and he also conducted a wholesale fruit business. In these lines of trade he was engaged for a number of years and had a successful career as a merchant, a record which won him the confidence of the citizens and made him a suitable candidate for official honors. His father, on moving to the United States, neglected to take out naturalization papers, so that as soon as the law allowed the son went through these formalities and became a citizen legally as well as in fact. In 1893 he was elected to the office of city clerk of Port Huron, and served continuously in that capacity until 1909. He then turned over the office in order to take up the duties of sheriff, to which he had been elected, and is now serving the county in his second term.
Mr. Wagenseil was reared in the German Evangelical faith, and he and his wife are both members of that denomination and their children were all confirmed in this church. Fraternally he has taken an active part and has connection with a number of the local orders of the city. He has filled all the chairs in the lodge of the Knights of Pythias. This was originally a German lodge, and he was the last commander in that and also the first under the English ritual. He also has membership with the Masons, in Fort Gratiot Lodge, No. 374, F. & A. M., with the Woodmen of the World, both branches of the Maccabees, the Patriotic Patricians of Pompeii, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He was lecturing knight for the order of Elks until he took up his duties as sheriff. He is also a member of the German Aid Society.
JOHN BRUIN. One hundred and forty broad and fertile acres in St. Clair county are the property of an industrious and eminent citizen. Mr. John Bruin. He was born in Osborne township, Ontario, Canada on April 26, 1870, the son of Patrick and Mary (Dwyer) Bruin. Mr. Patrick Bruin was born in Ireland, in the month of January, 1835. Mrs. Bruin's birthplace was Osborne township, Ontario. Mr. Bruin came over to Canada in 1847 with his father, who located on a farm in Bedolph township, Canada, where he remained until 1878, when he came to this county, establishing his residence in the southwestern part of Wales township. His home was there until October of 1909, at which time he moved to Lenox, now Richmond, Macomb county, where he is now passing his declining years with his wife. They are the parents of six children : Margaret, widow of James Burns, resides in Riley town-
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ship; John, whose name heads this sketch; Winifred and Mary, both living in Detroit ; Stephen, who remains at the old home in Wales town- ship ; and Martha Anne, who is at home with her parents.
Mr. John Bruin received his early education in the schools of On- tario and in the district schools of Wales township. Until he was twenty-two years old he lived at home with his parents, but at that age he bought a farm of sixty acres from his father and began farming independently. In his management of the farm he has shown much skill and an acute perception of the usefulness of modern appliances. Ile takes an interest in procuring the latest farm implements. From time to time he has added land until at the present time his farm eon- sists of one hundred and forty acres of splendidly developed and im- proved land. In addition to his regular stock, Mr. Bruin makes a specialty of fine blooded horses, which he favors particularly.
Ile is a member of the Roman Catholic church in Columbus town- ship. The Democratic party has had in him a firm defender and up- holder for many years, although he has never aspired to any office. As the record of his accomplishments up to the present time indicates, Mr. Bruin is a man of much natural ability. developed and perfected by dint of perseverance and determination.
GEORGE W. SMITH. Prominently identified with the growth and success of St. Clair is George W. Smith, of the firm of Recor & Smith, dealers in hay, grain, agricultural implements, general hardware and automobiles. At the head of an enterprise which contributes materially to the commercial prestige of the city. Mr. Smith is entitled to the honors particularly due to the self-made man, his snecess having been founded securely upon fidelity, loyalty and persistence, and by no means due to the assistance of indulgent fortune and friends. In the legiti- mate channels of trade he has won the suecess which always crowns well directed labor, sound judgment and untiring perseverance, and at the same time has concerned himself with the affairs of the community in an admirably publie-spirited fashion. Ile has held the offices of alder- man of the Second ward of the city of St. Clair, and is at present a member of the board of public works.
Mr. Smith is a native of Canada, his birth having occurred in Court- right, Moore township, Ontario, January 14, 1871, his parents being Francis M. and Elizabeth ( Kerby) Smith. His father, who was a native of New York, went to Canada to purehase farming land, which at the time of his coming was cheaper than in the Empire state. In the schools of the Dominion young George received his education and his boyhood was passed amid the rural surroundings of his father's farm. At the age of fourteen years he bade farewell to his desk in the country sehool- room, for the family severed old associations and removed to China township, St. Clair county, Michigan, and engaged in farming.
George W. Smith ean by no means look back over a pampered youth, for at the age of fifteen years he was forced to start out independently to make his own livelihood. Being already familiar with the seerets of seed-time and harvest. the young fellow hired ont as a farm hand, for the modest compensation of fifty dollars for seven months' work. Find- ing that he was not likely to become wealthy at that rate, he abandoned farming after a few years and secured a position on the boats plying
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the Great Lakes, this during the season of 1896. Coming to the con- clusion that a sea-faring life was not exactly to his taste, in the spring of 1897 he came to St. Clair city and secured employment with the firm of Johnston & Recor, dealers in hay, grain, agricultural implements, etc. Later the firm changed to Recor & Son, and Mr. Smith continued as an assistant of the new firm. Proving faithful and efficient in minor eapac- ity, he was given more and more to do and in the spring of 1909 he be- came a member of the firm, the name being changed to Recor & Smith.
Mr. Smith laid the foundation of a happy household and congenial life companionship on January 30, 1911, when Miss Margaret A. Fra- leigh, of St. Clair, Michigan, became his wife. Like her husband, she is a Canadian by birth, her birthplace having been London and her parents Frank and Mary (Nixson) Fraleigh, both of Canada. Mr. Frank Fraleigh is an electrical engineer and he and his wife both reside at present in St. Clair.
In polities Mr. Smith is to be found marching beneath the banners of the Republican party and he is influential in party affairs. As pre- viously mentioned, he is a member of the St. Clair county board of public works and for three years was alderman from the Second ward. He is affiliated with the time-honored Masonie order, and in the years 1908, 1909 and 1910 was master of Evergreen lodge, No. 9, F. & A. M., at St. Clair. He and his wife attend the Congregational church, of which they are generous supporters, and enjoy the confidence and esteem of the community.
LUCIUS RALPH LISCOM. In many cases the remarkable development of modern business enterprises in the United States may be traced to the activities of men of the present generation, comparatively young men, but possessed of that keen understanding that enables them to see and grasp opportunities and the courage and energy to bring their undertakings to a successful conclusion. Prominent among the younger business men of Port Huron, Michigan. may be mentioned Lucius Ralph Liscom, an electrical contractor and dealer in electrical supplies, ma- chinery and fixtures at No. 329 Water street. He was born in Port Huron in July, 1877.
Mr. Liscom's parents, L. G. and Susan (Clark) Liscom, were natives of New Hampshire, and now live in Port Huron, where they located in 1871. Lucius R. Liscom received his education in the public schools and the Port Huron high school, and his first employment was in the offices of the Port Huron Engine and Thresher Company, with which concern he remained for ten years. In the meantime he had established himself in business with his brother, Arthur Clark, the latter conduct- ing the establishment until Mr. Liscom severed connections with his employers, and they have one of the most successful business houses of its kind in the county. Mr. Liseom is a man of more than ordinary business ability, and his progressive ideas in the handling of the affairs of his establishment have brought its product favorably before the public. He takes an independent stand in politieal matters, and is fraternally connected with the Knights of Pythias and the Masons.
In 1903 Mr. Liscom was married to Miss Mabel Randall, who was born in Port Huron, in 1878, a daughter of William and Agnes (Lovett)
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Randall, natives of Canada, the former of whom is deceased, while the latter survives.
S. D. Clark, the maternal grandfather of Mr. Liscom, who was born in New Hampshire, of Revolutionary ancestry, settled in Sarnia, Canada in 1856, and there spent two years. being engaged in erecting Grand Trunk stations, his business being that of a railroad contractor. Ile erected buildings from Point Edward to Stratford. and from Sarnia to London, Canada, and in 1858 he came to Port lluron, where he erected buildings for the Grand Trunk Railroad at this point and along the Detroit division. Two years later. however, he moved back to New Hampshire, where he was engaged in farming until 1871, when he again came to Port Huron. and entered into partnership with William Kirch- maier. They conducted a drug store for some years, but eventually Mr. Clark went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he worked for the American Plate Glass Company, of Crystal City. On his return to Port Huron he became superintendent of public work and superintendent of ceme- tery, but retired some time prior to his death, which occurred in 1905. when he was eighty-five years of age, while his wife passed away in 1892, aged sixty-nine years, and both are buried in Lakeside cemetery. One of their sons, William E. Clark, enlisted and served in the Union navy during the Civil war from New Hampshire, as did also Mr. Lis- com's three uneles on his father's side, Frank, Charles and Samnel Lis- com, who served in the Union army.
Mr. Liscom may well be termed one of Port Huron's self-made men, for the success he has attained in the business world has been the result of years of elose attention to the work on hand and a constant display of enterprise. He is regarded as one of the progressive and public-spirited citizens of Port Huron, and may be counted upon to support all meas- ures which have for their object the ultimate good of the city. The Lis- eom home at No. 902 Iluron avenue is often the scene of merry gather- ings. as both Mr. and Mrs. Liscom are well known in social circles and have many warm personal friends.
JOHN HULL. Numbered among the prosperous and well-to-do agri- eulturists of Grant township, Saint Clair county. is John Hull, who has been a resident of this part of the state for nearly half a century, and as a tiller of the soil has accomplished a satisfactory work, having by means of persistent industry and thrift accumulated sufficient means to insure him peace and plenty during his remaining years. A Cana- dian by birth, he was born April 7. 1836, a son of Cornelius IIull. His grandfather, Daniel Hull, was born, reared and married in England. Crossing the Atlantic with his family, he located in Canada, and was there a resident until his death. He had two sons, Cornelius and Wil- liam, both now deceased.
Cornelius Hull was born in England, but was brought up and edu- cated in Canada, and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death. He married Margaret Moran, who was born in Ireland, and as a girl accompanied her parents to Canada, where they engaged in farming. She married. and after the death of her husband came to Saint Clair county, loeating in Berlin township about 1875, and there
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spending her remaining days. She reared thirteen children, of whom eight were living in 1912.
The second child of the parental household, John Hull attended the district schools until sixteen years old, and was subsequently employed as a farm laborer. When twenty-nine years of age he settled in Grant township, Saint Clair county, Michigan, and having purchased a tract of land on section ten has since been actively and successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising, his land being under a good state of cultivation and yielding profitable harvests each season.
Mr. Hull married, December 12, 1870, Jemima Roberts, who was born in Canada, May 3, 1846, a daughter of Noah and Sarah (Freeman) Roberts, who located on a farm in Saint Clair county, Michigan, in 1857. Six children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Hull, of whom two died in infancy, and one daughter, Bertha, died at the age of twenty- eight years. Three are now living, namely: William N., single, is now in Detroit; Jessie, wife of T. W. Chapman, and Joye E., single. Politically Mr. Hill is Republican, and has served acceptably in various township offices. Religiously Mrs. Hull belongs to the Methodist church.
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