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 38
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On October 11, 1893, Mr. Bennett was united in marriage with Miss Julia Luce, who was born in Richmondsville, Sanilac county, Michigan, a daughter of Theodore and Mary (LaMontague) Luce. Her family, an old Colonial one of Massachusetts, was prominent in the making of history before and after the Revolution, and all took active and honor- able parts in the struggle of that period. Bartlett Allen Luce, the grand- father of Mrs. Bennett, migrated from Massachusetts to Michigan in early life, and was one of the pioneer settlers of St. Clair county. He became the owner of thousands of acres of land, and in Port Huron and the surrounding country he carried on a mammoth lumbering business until his death, which occurred in 1842, after which the business was conducted by his son Theodore, the father of Mrs. Bennett. Theodore Luce was the first white settler in Huron county, in which he settled when he was twenty-one years of age. At that time his father pre- sented him with a mill and a mammoth traet of timbered land in Huron county, and he henceforth made that distriet his home, operating many mills at various points in the county and beyond its confines. He was twice married, his second wife being Mary LaMontague, who was the mother of Mrs. Bennett.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have one daughter, Marie. The Bennett family occupy their cottage at the beach during the summer season, and when in Port Huron are at home in their residence on Military street. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett and daughter are members of Grace Episcopal church.
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LUCE FAMILY. Mrs. Lewis T. Bennett (Julia Luce) is the daughter of Theodore and Mary (LaMontague) Luce. Theodore Luce was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, November 8, 1818, and came to Port Huron in 1834 with his father, Bartlett Allen Luce, who was the son of Benjamin Luce and Damaris Allen. Benjamin Lutee was born in Tisbury, Massachu- setts, in 1787, and was one of four brothers, the others being Dr. Charles F. Luce, born in Tisbury in 1795; Henry Luce, born in 1800; and Jashub B. Luce, born in 1785, and a lawyer by profession. Dr. Charles F. Luce was a surgeon in the United States army with the rank of major. He died at Fort Moultrie, South Carolina, of yellow fever. Bartlett Allen Luce was a lumberman and pursued that business throughout his life- time. He came of Revolutionary stock on both sides of the family. His father, Benjamin Luce, served in the coast guard, Martha's Vineyard, during the Revolutionary period. During the war of 1812 a large can- tonment for prisoners was built in Pittsburg, and Bartlett Allen Luce served as quartermaster in the regiment which had charge of it. At the end of the war he came through Detroit into Canada with his regiment to effect an exchange of prisoners, and so had his first glimpse of that section of the country in which later he was to settle.
Benjamin Luce was one of those to organize the first Episcopal church in Pittsfield (St. Stephens) and he served as senior warden from the time of its organization until his death in 1834.
Bartlett Allen Luce, the son of Benjamin Luce, married Sarah Janes, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. She came of old Colonial stock, her father and three brothers having served in the Revolution. The brothers were Captain William Janes, Henry Janes and Colonel Ethan Janes. The latter had command of the regiment which, at the time Lafayette paid his historie visit to the United States in 1825, was detailed to meet the distinguished guest at the New York state line and escort him to Pitts- field. The three brothers were in the state militia, two serving with the rank of colonel and one as a captain. Bartlett Allen Luce and his fair bride made their wedding trip from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, to Liv- ingston county, New York, in a chaise drawn by a tandem pair. Mr. and Mrs. Luce were the parents of six children: Sarah E., Benjamin F., Theodore, Charlotte, Jane C. and Charles H. In 1834 Bartlett Luce, accompanied by his son Theodore, came to Michigan, settling in Port Huron and bringing his family on later. At that early day there were no homes on the south side of Black River; all was Indian reservation from there down to the Bunce place, and on the north isde of Balek River much of the property belonged to the military reservation. Mr. Luce bought a large tract of land around Port Huron and erected mills, lumbering in the district from that time on. At one time he owned half of the present site of Algonac and the upper island (Harsen's Island) across from Algonac, in addition to a considerable land lying north from there. He built one of the first residences in Port Huron, which still stands on Military street. He was one of the founders of Grace church, and it was due to his efforts, together with those of Nicholas Ayrault and John Wells, that Chaplain Reighley, who was stationed at the fort, or- ganized the church on February 3, 1840. Of the five vestrymen chosen upon organization, three were members of the Luce family by ties of blood or marriage, and among the thirteen original communicants there were representatives of three generations of this family, while one of
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the first three infants baptized in this church was a grandson of Bart- lett Luce. When Bartlett Allen Luce died in 1842 he left his widow and their six children. Two of their sons, Benjamin F. and Theodore, were connected aetively with the lumbering industry, while the third son was engaged in banking in Iowa. The three daughters had married and established comfortable homes of their own as Mrs. D. B. Ilarrington, Mrs. Thomas Donahue and Mrs. L. M. Mason. The aged mother of Mrs. Luce, Damaris (Allen) Luce, also survived him, and of her ancestry it is altogether fitting that a few words be entered here.
Damaris (Allen) Luce was of English antecedents. She was the direct descendant of Sir Thomas Allen, of Exeter, England. The first of the Allens to visit this country was George Allen, born in 1568, and who settled in Martha's Vineyard in the latter part of the sixteenth century. Damaris Allen was the daughter of Benjamin and Eleanor (Athearn) Allen, and was one of nine children. She was born in 1763 and died in Port Huron in 1848, six years after the demise of her son, Bartlett Allen Luee. Captain Allen, the father of Damaris Allen Luce, was known as the wealthiest man in Martha's Vineyard. Ile was the owner and master of a fleet of whale ships. He was a skilled harpooner himself, and usually acted in that capacity when on a trip. Twice after harpooning whales his boats were destroyed by the wounded monsters, and he was rescued with difficulty by his ship's erew. He met his death while transporting stock from Martha's Vineyard to Nantucket Island. Captain Allen was the owner of a large plantation in Martha's Vineyard. As previously mentioned, Damaris Allen married Benjamin Luce, who with his brothers migrated from Martha's Vineyard after the Revolu- tion. They were the parents of four sons: Jashub B., born in 1785, a lawyer of considerable note; Bartle Allen, born in 1787, who migrated to Michigan and settled in Port Huron, there carrying on an extensive lumbering business, as mentioned elsewhere in this review; Dr. Charles Luee, born in 1795, a surgeon in the United States army; and IIenry Luee, born in 1800, who was manager of a line of stages. Jashub and Charles were graduates of Williams College in Massachusetts. They were exceptionally brilliant youths, and advaneed so rapidly with their studies that they were prepared to enter college two years before their age would permit them to matriculate. Benjamin Luce was engaged in the manufacture of linseed oil and other products of a like nature, and lived a life of usefulness in a commercial and social way. He was senior warden of the Pittsfield (Mass.) Episcopal church, St. Stephen's, the first to be erected in that city, from the time of its organization until his death, which occurred in 1834. Shortly after his demise his widow went to make her home with her son, Bartlett Allen Luee, of Port Huron, Michigan, and she remained there until her death, which eame in 1848, six years after the demise of her son.
Theodore Luce. the son of Bartlett Allen and Sarah (Janes) Luce, was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on November 8, 1818. As a lad of sixteen years he accompanied his father to Michigan and he was his father's constant companion in the years which followed. When he was twenty-one years of age his father presented him with a valuable mill and a traet of land in Huron county, in which eounty he was the first white settler. In later years he owned mills at various points in the distriet, notably one at Alpena and one at Richmondville. The latter
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named town was at one time a lively mill town, and was settled, named, and the land surrounding owned largely by Mr. Luce. He disposed of the greater part of his lumbering interests about 1870 and became identi- fied with the plate glass business, erecting a factory for its manufacture at Crystal City, which, with somewhat increased general facilities, stands today, and is known as the largest concern of its kind in the world. In 1876 Mr. Luce, owing to ill health, retired from active business, and he passed away in Detroit on January 25, 1904, at the age of eighty-six years of well directed endeavor.
In 1855 Theodore Luce married Caroline Richmond, of New Bruns- wick, New Jersey. Two daughters were born to them: Caroline Rich- mond and Charlotte Macon. Mrs. Luce died in 1864, in Richmondville. and in 1867 Mr. Luce contracted a second marriage, Mary LaMontague becoming his wife. Three children were born to them: Frank; Julia, who became the wife of Lewis T. Bennett; and Theodore, Jr.
The Luce family are of Scotch-English ancestry, while the Janes family claims a pure English ancestry. The first Janes to come to this country was William Janes, who came to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1638, with John Davenport and others. Captain Seth Janes, the descend- ant of William Janes, was the father of Mrs. Bartlett Allen Luce. After the Revolution, in which he and his three sons all took prominent parts, Captain Seth Janes settled in Pittsfield and married Elizabeth Francis. He was the first man to plant shade trees in Pittsfield, an example which bore most excellent results, the city being famous today for its magnifi- cent and luxuriant shade trees. He was also the first native American to import blooded stock from England. He made two trips across the water for that purpose, visiting the stables of the nobility in order to find the most improved stock for his American stock farms.
RUDOLPH ANDREAE. A man of great intelligence, industry and broad capabilities, Rudolph Andreae, late of Yale, Michigan, was for many years one of the leading business men of this section of Saint Clair county, and prominently identified with the promotion of its highest in- terests. A son of Charles Andreae, he was born in Wurtemberg, Ger- many, April 22, 1845 and died in Yale, Michigan, February 11, 1901, while yet in manhood's prime.
Born in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1815, Charles Andreae was there bred, educated and married. Learning the trade of a weaver, he followed it for awhile in his native country, but was scarce contented with the financial results of his labors. Determining, therefore, to come to Amer- ica to seek his fortune, he left the Fatherland in 1845, and, accompanied by his family, embarked on a sailing vessel and at the end of forty-five days was landed in New York City. Proceeding to Ohio, he found work at his trade in Ashland, a manufacturing village, and remained there three years. Going then to Essex, Canada, he bonght a tract of timbered land from the government, and was there engaged in farming until after the death of his wife, in 1859. Removing then to Chatham, Canada, he resumed work at his trade, his boys also finding employment in the mills. In 1869, in company with John L. Fead, he embarked in business at Lexington, Michigan, building a small woolen mill and operating it sev- eral years. Selling his interest in the mill in 1881, he settled in Yale, and, having taken his sons into partnership, built a small one-set woolen
Rudolph Condrial
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mill, thus establishing a business which has since developed into the present organization known as the Yale Woolen Mills, which furnishes employment to one hundred persons. Until 1905 this plant was operated under its original firm name of C. Andreae & Sons, and was then en- larged and incorporated under its present name. Charles Andreae mar- ried Louisa Eartly, who was born in Germany, and died in Essex, Can- ada, in 1859, when but forty years of age, leaving three children, one of whom, Rudolph, is the special subject of this sketch. The sole survivor of the family is William V. Andreae.
Rudolph Andreae was an infant when brought to America by his parents. Entering the mills as a boy, he became familiar with the work of every department, and after the death of his father he and his brother William continued the business under the old firm name of C. Andreae & Sons. Mr. Andreae's sons have succeeded to his interest in the plant, which is now carrying on an extensive business under the name of the Yale Woolen Mills. Mr. Rudolph Andreae was a man of ability, integrity and talent, and his death, which occurred while he was in the midst of life's most useful and honorable activities, was deeply deplored through- out the community. Ever ready to lend a helping hand to any worthy cause, he did much for Yale, his actions and motives being animated by the broadest spirit of humanitarianism and unquestioned publie spirit. He was identified with the Democratic party in politics, and in addition to having served a number of terms as a member of the council was school treasurer for years.
Mr. Andreae married, September 25, 1873, Lene Wolfel, who was born in Bohemia, Germany, August 20, 1852, being the youngest of a family of thirteen children born to John and Anna (Wonderlick) Wol- fel, of whom two boys and five girls are now living. She came to the United States in 1868, and at Lexington, Michigan, met and married Mr. Andreae. Six children were born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Andreae, namely : Frederick Charles, who died in 1897, at the age of twenty-three years; Frank W., of Yale; Edward, of Yale; Rudolph Ernest, in the woolen mills in Yale; Clara Louise, living with her mother; and Walter W., also at home.
AVANEL C. COLLVER. One of the substantial citizens of Port Huron, known for his sterling honesty and his kindly broad-minded outlook on life, is Avanel C. Collver. Mr. Collver was born in Monmouth, Illinois, February 13, 1867, the son of Mark and Mary E. (Upper) Collver. His mother was born near Jarvis, Ontario, in the Dominion of Canada. She now makes Her home in Port Huron with her son Avanel, the immediate subject of this sketch. Besides her son she is the mother of two daughters. Mary A. is now Mrs. Fletcher, and makes her home on a farm near Thornton, Ontario, Canada, and Kate B. was united in mar- riage to a Mr. Dalton, and resides at Hamilton, Ontario.
The maternal grandparents of Avanel Collver were Canadian born. His parents left the Dominion to immigrate to Illinois in 1866. They spent a short time in Illinois and then before finally settling on a farm near Jamestown, North Carolina, spent time in thirteen states. After several years on the North Carolina farm the family returned to Canada and remained there for some time, the mother finally locating in Port Huron, Michigan, in 1901.
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The early life of Avanel Collver was spent on a farm with his parents. He attended the country schools in Norfolk, Haldimand county, Canada, until he was thirteen years old. From his sixteenth to his nineteenth year he worked continuously for a man in Simcoe county, Ontario, working on a farm. At the age of nineteen he entered the employ of David Maxwell & Sons, manufacturers of agricultural implements, and learned the machinist's trade. He remained four years with the firm, which did business at Paris, Ontario, but later moved to St. Mary's, Ontario, where they are still in business. In the fall of 1890 Mr. Collver left Canada and went to Detroit, where he still worked at his trade. In March of the following year he removed to Port Huron, and accepted a position in the Grand Trunk locomotive shops, where he remained for fourteen years, and gained an enviable reputation as a skillful and industrious workman. Mr. Collver then engaged in an inde- pendent venture, and established himself in the meat business on Lapeer avenue, Port Huron, and continued in the same for ten months. In May, 1906, he made his final change and located at his present store, where he deals in groceries, flour, feed and shoes.
Politically Mr. Collver is allied with the Republican party, and has given his share of public service to the community as a member of the school board of Port Huron. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Mod- ern Woodmen of America, the Woodmen of the World, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Daughters of Rebekah. He was at one time a delegate to the state convention of the Woodmen of the World, and is at the present time master of the drill staff of the Daughters of Rebekah, Lake View Lodge, No. 26. He holds insurance in the Banker's Life.
At St. Mary's Ontario, Canada, on April 8, 1890, Mr. Collver was united in marriage to Miss Eliza J. Teskey of St. Mary's. Two children have been born to this union, Myrtle K., born June 23, 1891, and Cecil F., born June 13, 1893. Mrs. Collver is the daughter of John and Francis Teskey, who came from Limerick, Ireland, in 1861 and settled in Quebec, Canada, where Mr. Teskey became a member of the mounted police force and served for several years. Eliza J. was one of ten chil- dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Teskey. Of the others, Albert E. learned the barber's trade when a young man and taught the trade to four of his brothers. After following that trade for several years he made a change and is now teaching music and is engaged in the insurance business at Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The names of the others in the family are John C., William H., Walter J., George, Fred J., Bert C., Robert J., and Charles C. To the present Mrs. Collver was left the care of her brothers after the death of her mother, the youngest of the children at the time being eighteen months old. For ten years the sister continued to be the mother of the family until, in fact, the time of her marriage. Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Collver, Myrtle K., after her gradua- tion from the Port Huron schools, clerked for her father and then con- tmued the study of music, which she had taken up at the age of nine, under Professor Buckley, of the Toronto College of Music. She is now studying under Professor Berryman and is herself a teacher of instru- mental music. Her brother, Cecil Collver, after he had finished his work in the Port Huron public schools, clerked for a time in his father's
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store. After two years he went to Wauseon where he was an apprentice pattern maker. He is now at Albion, Michigan.
GEORGE H. MARTIN, rural carrier on mail ronte No. 4, is undoubtedly one of the best known men in St. Clair, and at the same time one who enjoys the unqualified friendship and esteem of his wide circle of friends and acquaintances. A native of St. Clair county, born there on his father's farm on January 27, 1860, he has been a familiar figure in and about St. Clair all his life. Ile is the son of John and Catherine (Sehriner) Martin, the former of whom was born in England. He eame to Canada in his young manhood, remaining there for some time, but decided to go to the Lake Superior mining district, where he might secure employment in his own line of work, that of a miner. He stopped in St. Clair county on his way, and here he remained. First he began work on the farm of Captain Clark, as foreman on the farm, and it was there he met the young woman who afterwards beeame his wife. Shortly after his marriage Mr. Martin bought forty acres of farm land, upon which he builded him a log house, humble, but comfortable and meeting in every way the requirements of his common-sense wife. IIe soon added a twenty-acre tract which adjoined his original "forty" and his next purchase was that of eighty acres situated some three miles from his home, but which he worked to good advantage, and prospered in a most pleasing manner. When the Civil war broke out Mr. Martin did not hesitate to leave his place in his wife's care while he offered his services to the Union. He enlisted in Company H of the First Michigan Light Artillery, and was wounded in the service, but remained therein until the close of the war. He later died in China township as a result of disease contracted in the war.
George H. Martin attended the district school as a boy for some years, giving some of his time to the regular farm duties until he was twenty- two years of age, when he left home and for a few years drifted here and there, with no settled occupation. Later he entered Cleary's Busi- ness College in Ypsilanti, and after his graduation therefrom he returned to China, where he again engaged in farming as in former years, and which he continued actively and successfully until his appointment to the position of rural carrier on Route No. 4. This is a short route, covering a distance of sixteen miles, and gives him an occupation requir- ing only part of his time and attention. He was appointed in October, 1906, and since that time has been the continuous incumbent of the office. Mr. Martin was postmaster of China for some years previous to his appointment as local carrier, and was clerk of China township for two years. He has also been a member of the China school board. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of St. Clair and of the Order of Gleaners.
On October 3, 1885, Mr. Martin married Miss Catherine B. Cham- berlin, danghter of John and Blanch (Kenyon) Chamberlin, of China, where she was born, and where John Chamberlin was a farmer, who bought and shipped hay, grain. apples and farm produce in general. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Martin. They are Olin Parmely, in the employ of the T. J. Millikin Drug Company, and Ember H., en- gaged in the automobile business with Recor & Smith.
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JAY O. WEST. Those travelers whose duties call them to Port Huron, Michigan, will generally find themselves directed to the Hotel Winder- mere, on Gratiot Beach, for their stay, and will be delighted to find that their comfort will be assured, the accommodation of this popular hostelry being modern in every respect and the service admirable. The proprietor, Jay O. West, is a well known and highly esteemed citizen of Port Huron, where he has been prominent in business and public life, and he has all the requirements that go to make an ideal host. Mr. West is a product of the farm, having been born on his father's tract, situated near Union City, Michigan, September 12, 1859, and is a son of Amos P. and Ann E. (Pierce) West.
When Mr. West was about four years of age his parents moved to Union City, where Amos P. West became interested in shipping grain and dealing in agriculturists' supplies and farming implements, and at that place Jay O. West received his first schooling, later spending three years in the public schools of Ypsilanti. In the latter city he was married, October 11, 1882, to Miss Jennie L. Tilden, a former schoolmate, and they had one child, William Watkins, who now lives in Detroit, and is en- gaged in the manufacture of jewelry. After his marriage Mr. West removed to Chicago, where for a number of years he was the proprietor of a teaming business, and in 1888 he went to Fayetteville, Arkansas and until 1890 was employed on a salary, getting out ties and hardwood lumber for various railroad companies. During the latter year Mr. West first came to Port Huron, purchasing his present place when there were only about a half-dozen cottages on Gratiot Beach. At that time the Windermere Hotel covered a plot thirty by one hundred feet, and had a dining room and sixteen guest chambers, but in 1891 the increase in business caused Mr. West to increase the size of his hotel to one hundred and eighty-two by forty-four feet, and erect an addition to the building, and he now has seventy-five guest chambers. The cuisine of Mr. West's hostelry has always been excellent, and the service and equipment un- surpassed. Everything that could be done for the guest to make his stay pleasant and home-like has been looked after by Mr. West, whose genial, courteous nature has done much towards making this establishment one of the most popular in this part of Michigan. In 1891 Mr. West's first wife died, and in 1894 he was married to Miss Mary E. Jenks, of St. Clair, Michigan, daughter of Bela W. and Sarah (Carleton) Jenks. Mrs. West is a graduate of the State Normal School, and for a number of years was a successful and popular teacher in the Michigan public schools.
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